Skinning A Deer – Hunting Doesn’t End With The Winning Shot
Although it does not sound like the most exciting task in the universe, it is important to skin a deer once you return form your hunt or while on your hunt. Once you have hunted down the elk, antelope, goat or deer that you were aiming for in your hunting adventure, you need to find out how exactly to go about skinning the animal so that you can get the most of your kill. In case you are just a novice at hunting, this is the article you need to read so that you have enough information on the day of your glorious hunt.
Skinning the deer is essentially a very simple task. The general idea behind it is following the built guidelines on the deer’s body and work from there. The muscle and skin tissues of the deer’s body are separated from each other by protective membranes, making it much easier to skin the animal as a sort of blue print is made available to you. It is far better than searching for a rug in pitch dark. It should be relatively easy to peel the skin of the meat due to the membranes, thereby preventing any chance of tearing either the skin or the meat.
A very important aspect when it comes to skinning deer is using your hands and your body weight. These two vital tools make the taks of skinning deer incredibly simple. In fact, it takes only around fifteen minutes to skin a deer entirely without much complication.
The first thing you need to do is hang the deer. In this manner, you can make complete use of your body weight and apply the right leverage for the skinning process. Additionally, this way the meat stays clean too. It does not make much difference whether the deer is hung from the legs or from the neck. Ensure that the deer is skinned within one hour of its death. This will make the process of skinning far easier.
Ensure your knife is sharp. If the deer is hanging by the legs, search for the tendon that connects the lower leg to the rest of the leg. Then use the knife to poke a hole between the bone and the tendon there after which you should use your fingers to feel the lump created by the double jointed bone of the deer. On locating the lump, sever the leg at the end of the double joint. Here cut the tendons and the skin and snap the leg over your own, using your own body leverage to snap it.
Once the deer’s leg has been broken in this manner, make a number of incisions in and around the tendon areas. Ensure there is a hole between the lower leg’s tendon and bone. Make incisions near the front leg too. Then follow the same procedure to break the front legs. This done, you can begin skinning the deer. With the help of your thumbs and finger tips, start to pull off the skin near the lower leg incisions.
In essence, pulling the skin off a deer works quite the same way as pulling a pair of jeans or a tight jacket off. Although it might feel a bit strange, the meat below is worth the effort. Once you have pulled off the skin, the meat will be ready and the whole process was much easier than you initially thought. It only takes fifteen to twenty minutes, so do not hesitate in doing it yourself.