Skin and Processing Deer with Head up

[LB_hntr]

I hang, skin, and process my deer with the head up rather than head down on a gambrel.
This video talks about the advantages and why.

 http://tbwpodcast.com/video-33-why-i-skin-and-process-deer-with-head-up/

[ChuckC]

Good Podcast.  I, myself, disagree and do it way different, but hey, there is room for lots of ways to do the same thing.

Merry Christmas
CHuckC

[LB_hntr]

Chuck, I used to do it bottom up until i was shown this and i really like it. But not everyone will. a couple buddies love it and now do it like this as well. But another friend did not like it as well as on a gambrel. But i figured if it worked great for me and i really liked the method maybe others will as well. There are many ways to do this, but this is currently my favorite way!

Hind legs up for me, with the gambrel. I rarely gut animals in the field. I have been doing it that way for a loooooong time. You knoiw the old saying; "Old habits are hard to break!". And besides, I've gotten pretty good and quoick doing it the way I do.

Like Chuck said, different strokes for different folks!

Bisch

[Doug_K]

Most of the smaller bucks I've butchered I've hanged by the antlers and processed as you describe, but lately I've been hanging by the legs and basically fillet the different muscle groups from the carcass. This seems to save me alot of time.

I find skinning easier legs up as well (difficulty varies with the season), and for a cape you almost have to.

That said, I do like the blood draining aspect of head up.

[T Sunstone]

Thanks Jason, I'm going to try this.

[Pete McMiller]

I have always skinned and quartered deer head up and agree with everything in the video.  Everyone I hunt with has done it that way also.  The only animals I have skinned butt up were when I was trapping, for obvious reasons.  

Each to his own of course, there is no right or wrong way, just different methods.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

No thanks, I don't see any improvements that could speed anything up for us but thanks for the info. Got it down after 30 years of processing them pretty easy and dosent take long.

Tracy

[CoachBGriff]

Thanks for sharing... as always, I love your videos!  I've done'em both ways; I'm not sure which way I prefer yet.

[mwosborn]

Head up Head down - both work - whatever you get used to.  Head up for me - unless I have to cape one out then it is head down.

[Ken Taylor]

I prefer doing most of my "precision" skinning on a table (been skinning almost 50 years).

But for "meat" skinning and taking the animal apart, that is a method I like.

[fnshtr]

Done it both ways but now only do it on a gambrel hind legs up.

I prefer to drain the blood away from the hind quarters.

Always nice to have other methods and reasons though.

Thanks for the post!

[fujimo]

great video Jason.  great info- i will be doing this in the future   :D  

i also love this video of the actual processing stage- i learnt a lot from this video too
 

in S africa, we used to shoot an animal a week ( usually impala) for the camp clients, and then also deal with all the hunters harvests in the winter months-( admittedly though they were mostly trophy animals)
but we always just did them on a gambrel.

where i live now, we  have tags for 15 deer a year per licence- and so consequently we process a LOT of venison, and i have always skinned them on the gambrel, then flipped them head up to gut them afterwards.
then we let them age, then take them in whole for processing on the table, as in the video above-
why? just 'coz... thats  the way we always have done it since i was a kid, it works and just the way it was done...

 

but, i will be doing the initial processing as per your video from now on!!          

 but i will still take them in whole and process the carcass as per the link above- (see how he does the shoulders-pretty neat eh?) i just love his technique- i cant do an animal in 8 minutes- but i have certainly halved my processing time!!!
many thanks      

[KyStickbow]

I always skin and quarter with head down. Not that other ways don't work...I just prefer it that way.

[RedShaft]

I skinn my deer on what is similar to a hawg skinning trough. Look it up. Pretty slick.
I don't hang, kill it, skin it, quarter and cut up the next day. I just like getting it done.

[Whip]

I have always done mine hind legs up but I don't use a gambrel. I don't split the pelvis and then simply run a short loop of rope through the pelvis and hook to that with a book on my pulley set up. That eliminates the difficulties of cutting off the hind quarters and the sudden weight transfer when the first one cuts loose.
I may try head up sometime, but don't have any troubles doing it bottom up.

[LB_hntr]

Fujimo,  I will watch that video when I get to my computer tonight. I'm always excited to see different ways of doing things.


Thanks everyone for watching. As you can see from the posts some like it, some don't, and some have never tried it. Its always good to learn about new stuff and for me personally I have only done about 35-40 deer myself so I'm definetly not an expert but I really like head up. If you have never tried it give it a shot once and see if it does or doesn't work better for you.
Thanks again for all the support and checking out my stuff. We broke a new daily record today of 787 people going to my podcast site.......I greatly appreciate the support!!!!

[frank bullitt]

For those who don't do head up, I ask, what do you do with an animal without rear legs?

Sometimes your not given a choice.

[fujimo]

watcha mean frank- like fish?   :D  
you been hunting deer in wheelchairs agin?      :D

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I've always done mine with the head down, but I watched some guys in elk camp do a cow elk this way and they hadn't field dressed it. They dumped the guts in a barrel and had it skinned and quartered in record time. It was pretty impressive.

Might have to give this one a try sometime just for fun.