Hang the split carcass in a clean, dry place, 40 F 1-2 weeks

SKINNING A DEER © David B. Fankhauser, Ph.D.  Professor of Biology and Chemistry  University of Cincinnati Clermont College  Batavia OH 45103

Cutting slabs of ribs

Created 12 February 2008
This page has been accessed times since 16 December 2008.

This project arrived in a serindipidous way.  But the result was wonderfully delicious bounty of cuts, chops, and some ground meat. 

1 01_suspend_for skinning_PC010006	A seven point buck was hit by a van right in front of our house on a cold mid December evening just as we were heading out to a dinner party!  With my wife's assistance, we wheeled it in a wheelbarrow to a tree out back.   I used my truck to hoist the deer up to a height to make it easy for bleeding and evisicerating. See the next image for the way in which the rope was placed between the Achilles tendon and the tibia for a good knot . The deer was still qutie warm when it was strung up, and I immediately opened up the jugulars.  I eviscerated it and let it hang overnight in the chill air until the scene you see here.  (I saved the liver, heart and kidneys.)
2 02_rope_thru_heel_PC010007	To my surprise, even though it had seven points on its antlers, it was only a year old.  (You can tell by the teeth:  After one year, the central pair of incisors are lost and replaced by larger permanent teeth.  Thus, a deer with two large incisors is a year old.  One with four large incisors is two years old, etc.)
3 03_skin_folds_down_PC010009	The right rear leg was seriously damage by the accident, and I removed it. The height was adjusted to make skinning relatively convenient.  You can see that I began skinning at the top of the animal.  Use "fisting" to separate the skin from the body: FISTING:  Firmly grip the skin, force the fist of the other hand between the skin and body with a twisting and sweeping motion.  If you see muscle adhering to skin, go around to beyond the place and return with fisting motion to regain advantage.
4 04_skinned_carcass_PC010010	As the skin was removed from all but the neck, I cut the head loose from the cervical vertebra (between C1 (atlas) and the skull (the occipital bone).  I did not try to skin the forlegs, but rather left them on the skin. You can see that the right chest was damaged by the accident as well.
5 05_hang_in 40F_protected_area_PC010012	The skinned carcass was hung in an outbuilding which had a temperature range of between 30-40 F for a week to "cool" the carcass.  This is important as the "cooling" allows the muscle to "relax, and makes for much more tender cuts.
	BTW, this animal yeilded very mild, tender cuts of meat.  There was no need to make deer burgers except with spare scraps of meat.  I believe there are several reasons: 1)  Even though it was a buck, it was a yearling. 2)  It was immediately evisicerate, preventing the "gamey" smell from the viscera to penetrate the flesh. 3)  I was very careful to minimize hair on the flesh. 4)  It was hung for a week at 30 to 40 F. Here is my page on how this carcass was butchered.