deer skinning made easy

[Lloyd Smale]

we shoot lots of deer doing crop damage shooting. Some years over a 100 and i HATE skinning deer. I just bought an air skinner. Its a deal that uses an air compressor to inflate the hide and make it much easier to remove. I was skeptical but was willing to try it for the 30 bucks it cost. How be dammed if this thing doesnt actually work.

[skullmount]

;-) Saw one used a few years back...pretty cool !

[44man]

That sounds like a good idea. I bought one of those claws from Cabela's. We have also yanked them with a car and rope tied around a ball in the neck skin.

[44man]

Do you have a picture of how it works?

[Dan Cash]

we shoot lots of deer doing crop damage shooting. Some years over a 100 and i HATE skinning deer. I just bought an air skinner. Its a deal that uses an air compressor to inflate the hide and make it much easier to remove. I was skeptical but was willing to try it for the 30 bucks it cost. How be dammed if this thing doesnt actually work.

Only way this thng is of any use is if I can get my wife to use it.

[280Ackley]

I've never seen or heard of such a thing. But after going to the Air Skinner website and watching the video, there will be one with me next year. Looks like a great product and like you Lloyd, I hate skinning.

[44fanatic]

Tried that last year with one deer and my 2gal air compressor, didnt work for me. Porbably cause of my small air compressor and my nozzle attachment (saw it on Youtube). Finished that deer and another deer with a rock tied in the hide and yanked it off with the truck. Took the hide and the shoulder (that was shot) off on both deer.

[Three44s]

Don't shoot'em with a shotgun first ..........


Three 44s

[Old Ironsights]

Interesting... Bet you've got to have a pretty good compressor though.

[montana_charlie]

It is the thought of the skinning job that has always made me hold off on that elephant hunt...

[shooterg]

Slaughter houses/rending plants been using air to separate the hide for a long time - still a dirty job in one of those places but makes it go a lot faster.

[Storydude]

I let the processor take care of that job LOL.

My guy charges under 100 bucks for dressing, butchering and packaging. I feel it's worth 2X that LOL

[Lloyd Smale]

I could buy a good used car every year for what it would cost me to have a butcher cut up my deer! Now when I shoot something bigger like a buffalo i will then have a butcher do it. But even if i had one deer the 100 bucks they charge sure isnt worth the 40lbs of meat you get back.

[lwknight]

That video lead me to another of 2 guys trying to use a vehicle to pull the skin off.
They tied the head up in a tree and the rope to a vehicle and pulled the head off.
I got a good laugh out of that one.

[cajun shooter]

skinning is so easy I don't understand the fuss. Take and cut the deer around the neck and lower leg. Take a golf ball and insert it under the neck hide about 3-4 inches down from your cut. Tie a piece of heavy cord under the golf ball with the hide. Tie a piece of rope in a slip knot over the golf ball and attach to rear bumper or trailer hitch. The deer should be hanging by the neck off the ground with rump towards ground. Ease forward and watch the truck do all the work. I can do the entire prep in 10 minutes easy. I don't know how they did that unless they used no golf ball. I will be willing to make a wager as I have skinned deer this way for over 35 years.

[ole 5 hole group]

But even if i had one deer the 100 bucks they charge sure isnt worth the 40lbs of meat you get back.

You must be hunting somewhere down around SW Texas way where the rack is half the critters weight.

[Storydude]

I could buy a good used car every year for what it would cost me to have a butcher cut up my deer! Now when I shoot something bigger like a buffalo i will then have a butcher do it. But even if i had one deer the 100 bucks they charge sure isnt worth the 40lbs of meat you get back.

NY=2 deer.

last year, a buck and a doe cost me 122.37.

My time>My money. I'd rather do something else than spend 2-3 hours per deer butchering. Shoot, gut, dress, toss in truck, drop off on way home, get phone call 24 hours later, pick up nice wrapped hunks of chilled meat.

I know my guy gets like 60 bucks an hour from me, but I"m paying for the convenience, and his skills.

Much like my Gunsmithing customers pay me to sight in scopes. Takes me 15 min and I charge WAAAY more than I should. :coffee:

[fatnhappy]

It is the thought of the skinning job that has always made me hold off on that elephant hunt...

for me it was the uphill drag

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

Great skinning idea!

And while I'm not overly happy to do the butchering, I am picky about my cuts and how it comes back.

In short, there are good cuts of meat and good cuts poorly cut just because that is the way a butcher does it.

So, like or not, I cut my meat and then enjoy quality eating for my efforts.

I want my roasts to not have wild grain patterns and same with the steaks.

One small steak with proper grain pattern/direction is worth a dozen big but cross grained steaks any day!

Keep em coming!

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[RP]

http://http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg31/Ricky1965/HUNTING/deer050-1.jpg I use a old crane but if you made a rack and used a boat winch iam sure it do the same thing. I use a golfball at base of crane hook hide to it then winch the deer out of the skin. Also splitting the hide down the back not the belly helps alot. I tried the aircompresser was scared the deer was going to explode did help out some but not like the crane trick.

[Mk42gunner]

I've always hung deer by the rear legs, never had a problem skinning them; coyotes on the other hand can be tough to get the hide off of.

On butchering: I may not make the cuts a butcher would, but I have always managed to get them into eating size chunks.


Robert

[Rockydog]

Not much to skinning a deer if you do it while they are still warm. Most of the time when I shoot a deer the hide is off within 2 hours. Sooner if possible. I hang them with a gambrel on the back legs, split the hide from the pelvic bone up too the hock by running a knife underneath the hide. Pull that hide down to the tail. Cut the tail bone off and pull the hide down to the front legs. Cut the legs off at the knee, slide a knife up underneath the back of the leg to meet the body hide where it's been split for field dressing. Skin the legs out and pull the hide down to the base of the skull. Decapitate and have a nice day. If the deer is warm it's a 10 minute project, 15 at the most. My venison tastes better too. IMO leaving them hang to age just adds to the gamey flavor and the warm meat just gives any bacterial contamination from wound channels etc. more time to grow. RD

[Adam10mm]

We use an air hose for rabbit and squirrel. Haven't tried it on deer. We just make a small cut, then stick the blower attachment thing from the compressor inside the hole and turn it on.

[Southern Son]

In Western New South Wales for a while the Roo shooters would skin the Roos before they took them to the chiller. Most of them had a small electric motor on the side of the tray on the back of their ute. This drove a chain (about 3/4 inch links) and the chain wet to the rear of the ute where it went around an old tyre rim before completing the circle by going back to the motor. To skin the Roos the shooter hoisted the head shot Roo on a small crane on the back of the ute where they would gut them and then make the first cuts on the skin (around the neck, down and then around each leg, etc.), then they would start pealing the skin at the neck before putting a hook through the folds of skin. The hook was then hooked on the chain and the motor did all the work.

During a good season (lots of rain), some of those Roos shooters would have to skin more Roos in a couple of weeks than most farmers would shoot deers in a year.

[Lloyd Smale]

if i had to do one or two deer a year i probably wouldnt worry about it buy when crop damage shooting is going on i sometimes have to do three in a day. Even when warm doing 3 is a job and in deer season up here your deer is half froze by the time you get it home. Ive done the 4wheeler and trruck thing to and yes that works too. Both are better then the conventional way if not for the ease just for the fact that you end up with alot less hair on the meat. I personaly id 42 deer this year and even at 60 bucks a crack figure it out. Plus theres the fact that i get the meat the way i want it. Alot of butchers wont bone meat out they use a saw and leave the bone in and that doesnt cut it. I also have control of what goes into my buger and sausage meat. We do send about 20 a year to a local butcher but those are deer we donate to food programs. By law they have to be done by a butcher and the butcher does these for a fee paid by the food pantry. We did a little checking this year and found the butcher we were using was scarfing all the back straps for himself and i know that when he did my buffalo some of the meat seemed missing and i would guess that its a common occurance with alot of butcher shops. Also when a deer processer does your venison you have no control as to what venison you get back. If he is doing 4 or 5 deer at a time you may be getting venison from someone elses deer. That is especially true when you have him make up sausage. Not a real big deal but you dont know how long that other deer was hanging or how it was taken care of. Ive done alot of deer and have it down pretty well. I can take a deer from hide on to the freezer in about an hour and a half. Now even at 60 bucks thats at least 30 bucks an hour paying to do it when i can do it myself. Thats a new mold for every deer i do. Do 10 and ive just bought a new gun. No thanks ill do it myself. I guess i relate it to handloading and casting. Sure its easier to buy ammo but its not the same as taking the time to do it yourself. I also work on my own cars trucks and bikes when im capable. I dont allways save money doing it but theres some satisfaction to doing something yourself.

[montana_charlie]

It is the thought of the skinning job that has always made me hold off on that elephant hunt...
for me it was the uphill drag
You need one of those 'carts' for moving game the easy way...

[JIMinPHX]

There's some new skinning gizmo out on the market for skinning deer with compressed air???

I've been using compressed air for over 20 years. Some guys in Rhode Island that were off the boat from Portugal showed me that trick on a lamb back around 1984. I've been skinning just about everything that way ever since. You just put a little slit in the skin at an ankle, then stick in the nozzle of a compressed air gun, wrap your hand around the ankle real tight & open the valve. the animal blows up just like a balloon. After that, you slit the skin & the hide just falls right off.

[Southern Son]

You need one of those 'carts' for moving game the easy way...

Couldn't you just do what I have seen them do in movies, you know, where they just throw a deer over the bonnet and drive back into town (maybe they don't have four wheel drives in Africa????).[smilie=1:

[Rockydog]

If I'm going to have the butcher make hot sticks, weiners etc. I bone out my own meat and put it in the freezer until April or so. Then after everybody elses deer is long gone I take it to him and when he has a slow day he makes my sausage. No temptation to throw mine in with everybody elses that way. RD

[Storydude]

I know weight coming in, weight coming back and weight discarded.

This is not some mass production line butcher I go to. the guy is like 70 and only does 20-30 a season.

And usually he does each deer one at a time. Old school service and quality...not some joe shmoe busting out deer by the truckload.

[fatnhappy]

Couldn't you just do what I have seen them do in movies, you know, where they just throw a deer over the bonnet and drive back into town (maybe they don't have four wheel drives in Africa????).[smilie=1:
[smilie=w::-?
I'll pay you a dollar to see you throw a dead elephant on the hood of a toyota.

[toallmy]

Does anyone have a video of air skinning deer , or blowing the hide ?

[ascast]

we shoot lots of deer doing crop damage shooting. Some years over a 100 and i HATE skinning deer. I just bought an air skinner. Its a deal that uses an air compressor to inflate the hide and make it much easier to remove. I was skeptical but was willing to try it for the 30 bucks it cost. How be dammed if this thing doesnt actually work.

gotta picture?

[toallmy]

I just googled it - seams nice , but I think all the the people making the videos are using a little to much pressure . Am I the only one that hates skinning ?

[M-Tecs]

http://airskinner.com/

[mulespurs]

Just for grins look up on youtube "fastest deer skinner"
There are several of them but they can do it a minute and a half or so. Lots easier if the deer is still warm.

Then look up "boning out a deer". I saw one several years ago by a meats teacher who boned out 1/2 a deer in 8 minutes while he was explaining the whole thing. He could have easily done the whole deer in 8 minutes and be ready to wrap it up.

[Hogdaddy]

In my younger years, After the deer was hung by the ( hind legs )
I'd have it sinned in 7 1/2 mins. Now I'm older, double that, though the deer is hung in less than 1-2 hrs max ; )
H/D

[farmerjim]

I am spoiled. I shoot the deer in my back yard. Hoist into the bead of my truck. Drive 2 miles to my friends camp. Unload deer at sloped concrete floor 16 foot tall skinning shed.
Hoist deer by hind legs with electric hoist. Make cuts on legs and belly to get skinning started. Lower deer to floor and attach steel wire loop to hide. Raise deer with hoist hitting any spots that stick with knife.Gut deer into tub. Cut off front legs with cable cutter, cut off head with meat saw. Wash down with hose and move deer 6 feet into walk in cooler. Total time hoist to cooler is under 10 minutes. Go home and come back next morning and process and package deer. Life is good.

[Grmps]

Air Skinner in Action

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YEMt_nY21Y

I wonder if you could try sharpening a ball inflating needle or if that would be too small.

[waksupi]

I let the processor take care of that job LOL.

My guy charges under 100 bucks for dressing, butchering and packaging. I feel it's worth 2X that LOL

Problem is, most times you won't get back your own meat. They do them in big batches. While you may have taken perfect field care of your deer, you are just as likely to get back some of Bubba's gut shot hairy mess.

[Down South]

Well, unlike the OP, I don't kill that many deer. Sounds like fun though. I usually kill 4-6 deer a year. That's all I need. Skinning can be a pain but it doesn't take me long. I process all of my deer meat from start to finish. I have the Lem grinder, tenderizer, meat mixer and vacuum sealer. I've put two on the ground so far this year and I really like to process two at a time.
Last week, I made 50 lbs of sausage and a lot of ground meat. The only fry meat I kept out of both deer was the tenderloin. I even ground the back straps up.
We use a lot more ground meat than fry meat.

[toallmy]

I generally removing the hide within a hour or two ' while it's still warm ' just because it comes off so much smother , but sometimes it doesn't work out something comes up . I think I'm going to give that air skinning a try on the next one . I lost my walk in cooler this year and the use of the forklift when I closed down my fish house this year, so yesterday I hung one behind my home in a tree like I did when I was a very young man .

[funnyjim014]

I used to be a Skinner at a processer. Most got done in 5 to 10min unless it was a cape out. No fancy tools, just a meat hook into neck just below jaw and a good sharp knife. I prefer 3in long and blade that was bout 5/16 at widest point with big handle. We had em custom ground from the worn out butch knifes. Used a old circler saw to cut legs off just above knee. Slit up each front leg comming together in center of breast. Slit from chest opening to top of neck. Loop around neck just past ears. While pulling ears start to separate hide.once the ears are free use them as handles to help skin neck out. Once half way down use your knee to pull hide off. Used to work 14hr shifts in high school, my hands hurt thinking about it

[EDG]

I used to watch the guys at Caddo Corner in Caddo, Stephens County , Texas skin deer in about 7 or 8 minutes. Cut around the neck and the front legs. They rolled a baseball size rock in the hide pulled down the back of the neck. They tied a rope around the rock and to the front bumper of an old jeep. One guy backed the jeep up slowly and the other caught the hide as it pulled off.

[CastingFool]

I used my air compresson on a racoon last year. Just cut a small hole in a back leg, stuck the end of the nozzle and blew it up a little at a time. You could see the skin separating from the body. All I wanted was the skin, to try to brain tan it. Certainly a lot less time consuming than using a knife.

[Omega]

I don't have problems skinning deer, because I do it while still warm. For that price I'll stick with what I am doing, looks cool, but unnecessary for me. And I'd have to trot my generator and air compressor out to my place every hunting season. What I may get, is a pair of these, my hands have started to cramp up now and then so these would help me maintain a grip without cramping up. https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61uQxSecDSL._SX679_.jpg

[toallmy]

I probably won't go hunting again this season , but I think on my next harvest I'm going to stop by my local tire service station and try to blow the hide loose on my way home . I watched a couple videos the only problem I saw was using to much air and blowing the bum hole .