I've always been a "Hang em by the Neck" kind of guy myself but, I'll hang a Buck that's getting capped or a Big hog by the hocks w/ a gambrell.

I've cleaned more animals than I care to think about and I've gotten it down to a pretty good art I guess. W/ only a pocket knife and a rope I can pretty much hang a deer sized animal by the neck and Quarter them quite fast but, I notice alot of guys like to Hang them by the hocks on a Gambrell every time and break out saws, hachets, etc. I guess it has alot to do w/ your mentors that got you started in the sport.

How do You like to skin your game?

This is assuming you don't have to quarter in the field and can get to a tree or hoist.

Reloader

For a meat deer, I'll skin them from top down whichever way they happen to be hanging. I haven't saved a cape yet, but if do, I'll probably hang it from the hocks.

I hang mine by the neck for gutting and by the hind legs for skinning. Lawdog

Hang by the hind legs. Skin, then gut, then quarter all from the same position. I use a receiver hitch mounted winch pole with a manual boat trailer type winch. Yes I skin completely before gutting...it reduces the hair in the meat and I usually have a cooler with ice handy to drop quarters and trimmings into.

I use 3 tools, a good knife, a bone saw if handy, or a set of long handled tree trimming bypass loppers. The loppers do a great job on bones with a minimum of fuss or bone chips getting into the meat, but for game that I save the ribs on, the saw works better seperating the ribs from the backbone.

I always gut in the field and hang by the hocks. I did not even realize that it was done other ways (hang by the neck) until I had seen a picture of it a few years ago.....amazing!

Idaho "Culturally secluded" Vandal

The does & spikes are hung on a gambrel (upside down). But for some weird reason, I think a mature buck deserves to be hung by his horns...just looks more dignified and he's earned it.

In most cases we don't hang our animals. We gut and skin and quarter them on the ground. If its not to far to hall them out then we will haul them and hang them, but only to skin them. I ussually debone all our wild meat immediatly. For the last number of elk, I've left the hide on and quartered them, the meat stays cleaner for hauling.

I was told a long time ago by an old rancher, if it is food hang from the hocks, to stretch the hind quarters, if a trophy hang by the horns to keep the head clean, I have done it that way for years.

It all depends on how close I am to where I clean them vs. where I killed them, and how cold it is.

I've got 110 acres in north Alabama. It isn't a far walk to the back of the fields, so when I killed deer there, I'd bring them back to the house whole, hang them from the hocks to gut and skin.

I like them upside down to gut because there's no blood draining down into the hams and tenderloins. All of the blood drains out the head/neck region.

If I'm somewhere distant, like my spots in KY vs, the 1 hour drive home, I gut in the field. Does get skinned head up. Buck's, head down. I save all capes and sell them to taxidermists if they want them.

I start skinning just enough to roll the hide over a ball, precut around legs. Chain it, then hook it up to the truck, put it in reverse, and back up a few feet and it's done in about 8-15 seconds.

Doc,

I know what ya mean about pulling the hide off. We've put golf balls under the hide, tied a rope around the ball, and pulled the hide off. One of the local packin' houses has several racks and several ATV winches setup. They winch the deer up alittle make the hide cuts they need, tie another winch cable to the hide (this winch has a pulley on the ground beneath the animal), then winch the deer up w/ the high pulley and pull the hide off w/ the winch that goes through the low pulley. It's pretty neat and those fellas have it down pat heck, if we had to skin a few thousand a year, I'd imagine we'd have a pretty good system worked out too.

On the gutting and blood on the hams note, Alot of folks kind of smirk when I tell them I don't gut alot of my deer especially in the hot part of Bow season. We hunt close to our camps so, getting to a skinning rack doesn't take to long. I take the deer from the field whole, hang them on the rack by their neck, ring the neck, ring the legs, cut just under the hide from the legs all the way to the neck ring, then pull the hide off. After the hide is off, I cut the shoulders off, cut the Backstraps off, Hull out the neck meat, and cut both hams off by hitting the ball joint w/ my knife. That only leaves the ribs and loins but, I really don't like loins when it's that hot outside and they've been sitting on the guts for a while anyway. That little process only takes about 10-15 mins.

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