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

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

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?

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

my
brother in law says we should take the hides off first, then eviscerate
so we wouldn't have any hair. Will let him see how it goes before I
jump in.

Lots of folks (me) like to
take a rag soaked in cider vinegar to the deer after it's skinned to get
hair and debris off. It repels the hornets until you can get a bag on it, or
inside a cooler. It all goes away in a short time. I use straight vinegar,
with a bowl underneath to catch the drips, and can be re-used as you go
along up to a point, depending on how much blood etc get in it.

The only hair is from opening the body cavity to eviscerate it, and my
brother in law says we should take the hides off first, then eviscerate so
we wouldn't have any hair. Will let him see how it goes before I jump in.
Still don't think we want gut piles around the yard or have to make a trip
to the dump. Let the scavengers find 'em in the field.

"pheasant16" <kiavan02 at (no spam) yahoo.com> wrote in message <SNIP

The only hair is from opening the body cavity to eviscerate it, and my
brother in law says we should take the hides off first, then eviscerate
so we wouldn't have any hair. Will let him see how it goes before I jump
in. Still don't think we want gut piles around the yard or have to make a
trip to the dump. Let the scavengers find 'em in the field.

Mark,

A couple years ago, a friend from Texas came to visit me in northern
Wisconsin. We grilled a couple of venison steaks on the grill and what we
didn't realie, was that my friend Rob didn't really like venison, but was
too polite to say so.

After dinner (which he ate two good sized steaks), he asked what the meat
was. When we told him simply whitetail steaks, he couldn't believe it,
saying he'd never had such wonderful tasting deer meat in his life, and he
deer hunted for years. He asked my wife what she marinated the steaks in,
and she said the only prep she'd done was salt and pepper.

He asked me what I'd done to the deer and I said, "the only thing I did
was shoot it, field dress it, then brought it home, immediately skinned
it, boned it, trimmed it and put it in the freezer. He looked at me
blankly and asked, "Field Dress It?"

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.

He now field dresses his deer and says the quality of the meat is much
better.

Who knows, he might have even discovered the tenderloins in there.

A couple years ago, a friend from Texas came to visit me in northern
Wisconsin.  We grilled a couple of venison steaks on the grill and what we
didn't realie, was that my friend Rob didn't really like venison, but was
too polite to say so.

After dinner (which he ate two good sized steaks), he asked what the meat
was.  When we told him simply whitetail steaks, he couldn't believe it,
saying he'd never had such wonderful tasting deer meat in his life, and he
deer hunted for years.  He asked my wife what she marinated the steaks in,
and she said the only prep she'd done was salt and pepper.

He asked me what I'd done to the deer and I said, "the only thing I did was
shoot it, field dress it, then brought it home, immediately skinned it,
boned it, trimmed it and put it in the freezer.  He looked at me blankly and
asked, "Field Dress It?"

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.

He now field dresses his deer and says the quality of the meat is much
better.

I hang by back legs but first cut hide above leg area, strip down
towards body and cut off legs.
Do same for front as it makes hide removal easier.  Since it is
generally warm around here in early bow and muzzleloader seasons, I
remove hide and quarter on day of kill.  When weather is cold, I'll
hang by head as drainage is better if you're waiting a while to remove
hide.

When you cut around legs, slit hide down legs and circle from under
hide to cut.  If you make leg cut from outside, you'll cut a lot of
hair and it's messier to keep off meat.

For knife, I like my Buck folding hunter.  I use in the field and to
remove hide.  Traveling light in the field I have a cheap, 2 inch
folding Cabela's knife, that I've gutted a couple of deer with.

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

A couple years ago, a friend from Texas came to visit me in northern
Wisconsin.  We grilled a couple of venison steaks on the grill and what we
didn't realie, was that my friend Rob didn't really like venison, but was
too polite to say so.

After dinner (which he ate two good sized steaks), he asked what the meat
was.  When we told him simply whitetail steaks, he couldn't believe it,
saying he'd never had such wonderful tasting deer meat in his life, and he
deer hunted for years.  He asked my wife what she marinated the steaks in,
and she said the only prep she'd done was salt and pepper.

He asked me what I'd done to the deer and I said, "the only thing I did was
shoot it, field dress it, then brought it home, immediately skinned it,
boned it, trimmed it and put it in the freezer.  He looked at me blankly and
asked, "Field Dress It?"

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.

He now field dresses his deer and says the quality of the meat is much
better.


Very peculiar....... I was just watching a "hunting show" the other
day where they were bowhunting trophy (of course) whitetail deer down
in Texas.. They were also apparently being sponsored by one of the
side by side 4 wheeler manufatcurers as they were wheeling around
quite alot on one. Then towards the end of the show after the trophy
deer was procured they showed the hunters driving off with the deer
loaded onto the flatbed rack on the back with the deer facing back
towards the camera and the belly fully exposed and there wasn't a mark
on it??? I wondered...... Geezzz, they didn't even gut it out?? I
thought maybe they didnt want to get their nice new side by side
bloodied up or something??? Must have been alot of work lifting that
nice big buck up there....
Steve

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