Ok only 2 weeks to go until the MN rifle season starts so lets get
some action going!?!  First question:  Just wondering how most hunters
hang their deer to process?  We've always hung ours head up but have
always had trouble getting alot of hair on the meat when taking the
hide off.  Then its a hassle to get the hair off the meat.  Sometimes
end up picking it off one hair strand at a time.  This year we plan to
hang with the hind legs up using a gambrell hanger.  If we are so
lucky enough to get a deer that is... Wondering if removing the hide
is any way easier and if getting hair on the meat would be less of a
problem??  Would appreciate any help on this.  second question:  My
wife, if she gets a deer, would really like to gut it out herself this
year.  She has been assisting me doing this the past few years.  She
wants to get a good knife and is interested in the swing blade knife
that has been advertized on some of the hunting shows and is in the
Bass Pro and Cabellas catalogs (sells for about $60).  Has anyone had
any experience with this knife and would it be worth the money??
Thanks again for any opinions on this!
Steve

On Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:51:17 -0700, Steve <kskenter at (no spam) 2z.net> wrote:

On Oct 24, 2:58 pm, "Steve at (no spam) OutdoorFrontiers.com" <go-
fish... at (no spam) charter.net> wrote:


First, a lot of folks have "skinning racks" or similar at their camp (I don't
know of a ranch, lease or camp without one, in fact). A couple of posts, a
cross-bar, and most often, a boat trailer winch or similar with a t-bar
gambrel/spreader. Some places field-dress while others clean at the rack (and
use a "gut bucket" to haul off to a specific location - some folks hunt coyotes
over them). If the hunt you saw took place on ranch/hunting camp that did the
latter,

it probably did take much longer to get the non-field-dressed deer "rack
dressed."

Ok only 2 weeks to go until the MN rifle season starts so lets get
some action going!?! First question: Just wondering how most hunters
hang their deer to process? We've always hung ours head up but have
always had trouble getting alot of hair on the meat when taking the
hide off. Then its a hassle to get the hair off the meat. Sometimes
end up picking it off one hair strand at a time. This year we plan to
hang with the hind legs up using a gambrell hanger. If we are so
lucky enough to get a deer that is... Wondering if removing the hide
is any way easier and if getting hair on the meat would be less of a
problem?? Would appreciate any help on this. second question: My
wife, if she gets a deer, would really like to gut it out herself this
year. She has been assisting me doing this the past few years. She
wants to get a good knife and is interested in the swing blade knife
that has been advertized on some of the hunting shows and is in the
Bass Pro and Cabellas catalogs (sells for about $60). Has anyone had
any experience with this knife and would it be worth the money??

It turned out that in his part of Texas, they shoot a deer, then bring it
back intact where its hung, skinned, boned out while hanging and the guts
are never removed as when it's hanging head down, all the "guts" fall into
the rib cage. Then once the meat is off, the entire carcass is then hauled
off to someplace for the coyotes.

Steve at (no spam) OutdoorFrontiers.com wrote:
It turned out that in his part of Texas, they shoot a deer, then bring it
back intact where its hung, skinned, boned out while hanging and the guts
are never removed as when it's hanging head down, all the "guts" fall
into the rib cage. Then once the meat is off, the entire carcass is then
hauled off to someplace for the coyotes.

Horse pucky. I have lived in Texas my entire life and hunted all over
the state.

What you describe is not a "Texas method", but a "lazy, city-dweller
method".

Hanging - unless you have a REAL meat locker, don't do it.   You'd be
much better of packaging it down into meal size portions and putting
into the freezer the same day you kill it than you would to try to hang
it without the proper facilities.

Knife - I use a $15 fillet knife (short blade) I bought from Wal-Mart
for my skinning & processing.  The key is to keep the knife SHARP.   A
cheap sharp knife if infinitely better than an expensive dull one.- Hide quoted text -

I hear ya on keeping it sharp... If the knife I'm using doesn't make

Nope, I happen to know this gentleman and his family have lived in Texas for
a while. Well, considering that his great-great ran a stage coach way
station in the 1800's and he and his family ranched as well, this man and
his family are not "lazy, city-dwellers."
....
They said, "That's where we're from, San Antonio, Texas!"

On Oct 27, 1:00 pm, Chris Barnes <ch... at (no spam) txbarnes.com> wrote:
Hanging - unless you have a REAL meat locker, don't do it. You'd be
much better of packaging it down into meal size portions and putting
into the freezer the same day you kill it than you would to try to hang
it without the proper facilities.

Well, in northern MN about mid November, my garage is about as close
as one could get to a meat locker... Usually about 40 degrees and
usually lower.. Our goal, when we get a deer is to get it hung,
skinned, de-tenderloined the same day or evening it is taken. Then,
depending on the weather, (sometimes it can get up into the 40's or
higher daytime) we try to butcher and package on the 2nd or 3rd day
after at the latest.

Knife - I use a $15 fillet knife (short blade) I bought from Wal-Mart
for my skinning & processing. The key is to keep the knife SHARP. A
cheap sharp knife if infinitely better than an expensive dull one.- Hide quoted text -

I hear ya on keeping it sharp... If the knife I'm using doesn't make
a clean cut, I give it a few strokes on the sharpening stone. I was
actually asking about what knife is used in the gutting process? A
plain hunting / skinning knife or one with a gut hook? I don't like
the gut hook because it can get clogged up in the hair and cause
problems.

Steve at (no spam) OutdoorFrontiers.com wrote:
Nope, I happen to know this gentleman and his family have lived in Texas
for a while. Well, considering that his great-great ran a stage coach
way station in the 1800's and he and his family ranched as well, this man
and his family are not "lazy, city-dwellers."
....
They said, "That's where we're from, San Antonio, Texas!"


San Antonio *IS* a typical big city. Just like Houston & Dallas (and even
Austin). I repeat my claim above.

Steve at (no spam) OutdoorFrontiers.com wrote:
Nope, I happen to know this gentleman and his family have lived in Texas for
a while.  Well, considering that his great-great ran a stage coach way
station in the 1800's and he and his family ranched as well, this man and
his family are not "lazy, city-dwellers."
....
They said, "That's where we're from, San Antonio, Texas!"

San Antonio *IS* a typical big city.  Just like Houston & Dallas (and
even Austin).   I repeat my claim above.

I don't use a special knife.  I simply make 2 cuts:
First cut gets the skin, but not into the meat (abdominal wall).  The
skin there is loose, so a pinch will allow me to insert the knife blade
between the skin and the meat (blade up) and unzip the skin from nads to
throat.

Second cut then opens the abdominal wall, completely free from hair.

Ok, I'll give you San Antonio is a big city, but Burnet certainly doesn't
qualify as big at what, about 5,000 population? And Rob is NOT a lazy,
city-dweller. He's a very good outdoorsman, taught the way in the outdoors
by his father and grandfather, who come from pioneer stock. And that's the
way he learned deer hunting. Why field dressing wasn't done? I don't know
and Rob doesn't either, but it was simply the way things were done in that
region of the state.

I do however resent your implication that my friend is lazy as he certainly
is not. Taught differently? Yes. Lazy? NO!!!

Steve wrote:

A *real* meat locker has temperature controlled EXACTLY to within 2
degrees.   There is never "about" any temperature.

1 hour at a temp over 38 is long enough to go from "aging" to "rotting".

I don't use a special knife.  I simply make 2 cuts:
First cut gets the skin, but not into the meat (abdominal wall).  The
skin there is loose, so a pinch will allow me to insert the knife blade
between the skin and the meat (blade up) and unzip the skin from nads to
throat.

Second cut then opens the abdominal wall, completely free from hair.

A *real* meat locker has temperature controlled EXACTLY to within 2
degrees.   There is never "about" any temperature.

1 hour at a temp over 38 is long enough to go from "aging" to "rotting".

I don't use a special knife.  I simply make 2 cuts:
First cut gets the skin, but not into the meat (abdominal wall).  The
skin there is loose, so a pinch will allow me to insert the knife blade
between the skin and the meat (blade up) and unzip the skin from nads to
throat.

Second cut then opens the abdominal wall, completely free from hair.