I Skinned a Deer Last Night

[gunDriller]

A neighbor ran over a deer in front of my house.

They were standing in my driveway, wondering what to do, when I pulled up.

It was a young female deer. In obvious pain, rear legs shattered. Ran in front of their truck.

I guess they were kind of in shock. I said the obvious, "we have to put it out of its misery".

The guy had a mini-32 in his truck. He got it out and he shot the deer through the top of its head.

It took a few minutes to stop moving.

Then he helped me lift it into the back of my truck.


It took me a while to cobble together the tools. Something to hang it from. I strung it up by the tendons in the rear legs.

I got the tools -
Knives
Knife-sharpener
Box-cutter knives (very sharp new blades) for cutting the skin & making initial incisions.
Ladder + 2 x 4 + Ropes for tying it up.

It weighed about 70 pounds. It was hard to tie up, one rope for each leg. The first incision I made was through the skin behind the tendons in the lower leg, to slip the rope through.

I took some time to sit & think & sharpen the knives.


The actual act didn't take long. To remove the skin, I cut around the legs, down the belly, basically making a pattern that would allow me to remove the skin in one piece.

Some parts of the skin came off real fast, others were surprisingly stubborn.

I sawed off the front legs first. I put the part with the meat in a stainless steel bowl, put the hooves in the plastic bin where the guts were about to fall.

Then I sawed off the rear legs. Since they were what was holding the carcass up, well I knew I was coming to the end of the task. The rear legs was where most of the meat was.

I tried to get every scrap of meat. Scrutinized the neck, the rib-cage, & cut every piece of meat I could find. But not the tongue.

Once I cut the last second leg off, it was just a deer's head with a spinal cord and a rib cage, laying in a plastic box, swarming with flies. I put the top on the box to keep the flies off - for the time being.


I washed the meat in a bucket, the water in which grew redder as I worked.

I cut the meat off one of the front legs & one of the rear legs. My kitchen needed cleaning anyway, I didn't want to struggle with that. So I froze one rear leg & one front leg. The rear leg is like one of those 10 pound roasts.

Today I will put the remains in one of the compost piles and cover it up with 3 feet of hay or something.

Trying to use all the parts, not let anything go to waste.


I got a bit of poison oak from it, it turns out. Not surprising. A deer lives in the woods, the fur is covered with poison oak. Guess I got some when I was holding the deer over my shoulder, tying it up. Then some more when I was skinning it.

I had some open cuts on my right hand (from poison oak). So I wore a plastic glove on that hand.

Altogether, pretty damn grim. Nothing really joyful about it.

I had never skinned a dear before. I watched it done on an adult deer when I was about 10 years old. Then I watched a Youtube video about a year ago. That was my training, in addition to common sense.

Anyway, now the deed is done. So I'll be eating deer for lunch today ! Hope it's good.

I found this interesting thread on 'what deer tastes like' -
http://washington-hunters.com/cooking-and-recipes/deer-taste/


I forgot to mention, near the beginning I did put a bucket under it to let it bleed out. I cut the neck arteries with one of the super-sharp blades. It didn't bleed much. It had been dead about an hour at that point.

[freespirit]

good for you! venison is delicious, hope you enjoy it!

[MNeagle]

Wow, I'm surprised your neighbors didn't know enough to finish the poor thing off. At least he had something to do it with once you mentioned it. Did they stick around to help you w/ the cleaning/processing?

One of my favorite childhood food memories was venison jerky a neighbor made. Have never tasted anything nearly as good (or tender) in jerky since then. A lost art I guess.

Best of luck w/ your new source of protein!

[Canadian-guerilla]

i came across 2 roadkill possums this week
and was thinking about starting a " Roadkill " thread

no pictures/video ?

get the free meat now
cause when TSHTF, the hungry sheeple will get past the sqeamish factor

[Tumbleweed]

Gundriller: Another way to get the meat in a hurry is roll the deer on it's belly. You could cut the legs off before rolling on it's belly but you don't need to. Forget about gutting it out. Split the hide down the back. Skin the hide down to the ground both sides. cut the back straps out all the way up to the neck. cut between the shoulder blades and rib cage to free the front quarters then finnish skinning the hide away from them. You do the same thing with the hind quarters but that is a little more difficult because you need to find the hip joint and separate the leg from the hip. It gets easier with practice. The carcass is pretty accessable and you won't miss much meat.

The hind quarter you froze is easy to slice for jerky if you would like to try that. When you're ready to do something with it lay it out on a table and as it thaws you can cut large, thin strips of meat for jerky. Remove all the fat from the strips. I lay them in ceramic bowls and season each layer. You can let is marinate for a few days then smoke and dry it.

I like to fry up deer meat in a cast iron skillet. I melt a little coconut oil in the skillet and get it hot. Sprinkle the meat with quite a bit of sage and thyme seasoning. Get it frying slow with onion and bell pepper. Just before it's ready to eat mix a teaspoon of beef bullion with a half cup of water and add to the meat and vegtables. Let it cook down a little. Really good eating!!!

Always keep an eye out for game wardens when you're doing things like that;)

[LastResort]

I'm just about out of last falls deer in the freezer. I have seen a few road kills over the past few weeks on my way to work. Its just to hot at this time of year for me to do anything with them unless I have the time right there and now to deal with it. I usually like to let the deer hang at least a couple days which wouldn't work out so well this time of year either. Good score for you!

[gunDriller]

i came across 2 roadkill possums this week
and was thinking about starting a " Roadkill " thread

no pictures/video ?

get the free meat now
cause when TSHTF, the hungry sheeple will get past the sqeamish factor

actually i got both pics & video.

will post as time allows.

a 70 pound deer yielded about 25 pounds of meat & 45 pounds of guts & bones. or, maybe it was 20 & 50.

it's a fair amount of work, i can see why people pass on a 10 pound road-kill, even if they have experience skinning.


i am deliberating which compost pile to put it in, the radiation-free compost pile that is under a canopy, or the larger compost pile that has 1 1/2 feet of rotten wood as a base.

i was going to put the remains on top of the pile, then give the flies a few hours to lay their eggs etc., then cover it over with 2-3 feet more of compost feedstock (a layer of straw, a layer of manure, a layer of straw).

from experience, once the flies lay their eggs in it, it disappears fast ... except for the bones.

also from experience, if i don't cover it up very thoroughly, it will get dug up.

[bellevuebully]

Good score gundriller.

That thing about draining the blood.....that isn't going to happen unless the system is pressurized (ie..the heart is pumping). The first thing the oldtimers used to do after shooting a deer was to run up and slice the neck....basically useless. But I can understand why you did it.....most would just based on what they have seen and heard in the past.

On a trauma induced kill, really the best thing you can do is keep your workspace and the deer nice and clean (dirt and hair free) and freeze the meat asap. Don't try to salvage traumatized meat. Go for the quality, unharmed meat. Wrap in freezer paper (butchers wrap) if you can....meat will stay freezer-burn free for many months if wrapped properly.

If you like to bbq, here is a suggestion (in addition to the other great idea's above).....I like to keep it simple...I pour a liberal amount of olive oil on the meat an hour or two before I bbq, then bbq with sea salt and pepper and maybe a little Montreal Steak Spice. Let the bbq get really hot then idle down to medium heat. Put steaks on and close lid for 3-4 minutes (until bottom side starting to show a little done-ness). Flip, reseason. Same drill. Cook to taste. I like mine a little fleshy coloured, but not dripping. If you prefer well done, you can always re-baste a little olive oil after a flip. The olive oil really helps venison on the bbq because the low-fat content of the meat tends to produce a dry finished product.

Mmmmmm. I'm getting hungry.

Enjoy.

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

In South Texas- Heat is often a problem. Since we ain't always able to hang em for a few days- we just soak the quaters and other cuts in ice water for 2 or 3 days- gets the blood out nicely.

[Awoke]

A lot of people that have taught me a lot about hunting have all said one thing in common:
Don't use water to wash your wild game meats.

They always suggest patting dry, wiping dry with a clean cloth, etc. I believe the concern is that water can carry a lot of bacteria that can go crazy on the meat, but I'm not sure. Either way, I never put water on my game meats.

Good job skinning your first deer! I'm looking forward to skinning at least two this hunting season. I'll be dissappointed if I don't get to put two in the freezer.

[gunDriller]

Wow, I'm surprised your neighbors didn't know enough to finish the poor thing off. At least he had something to do it with once you mentioned it. Did they stick around to help you w/ the cleaning/processing?

One of my favorite childhood food memories was venison jerky a neighbor made. Have never tasted anything nearly as good (or tender) in jerky since then. A lost art I guess.

Best of luck w/ your new source of protein!

the neighbor was going to take it to a "wildlife rescue" place that converts roadkill to dogmeat, uses it to feed rescue dogs or something.

he was really upset. my guess is, he's killed & butchered a lot more deer than i.

it was a young female, possibly pregnant. he was on the verge of tears, really upset. i can see why he didn't want to skin it.

i tried not to look too much at the guts when I was working. thankfully, i did not have to deal with a deer fetus. once the deer was dead, everything was quite still.


i decided to put it in the compost pile a little further from my home. deer guts is basically a source of nitrogen. the base of that pile is carbon (rotting wood). so i will add a layer of nitrogen (manure, wild peas/bean plants, deer remains) then top it off with a few feet of carbon (hay or yard waste), then put some big logs on top to keep the critters off.

not wanting to have the deer head show up in one of my neighbors' backyards a week from now.

[Tumbleweed]

Gundriller I forgot to mention an easy way to get rid of the hair. If you have a small propane torch like you can solder with just use that on the individual hairs stuck to the meat. There will be a little zzzzzttt sound and the hair is gone. Wipe the meat off with a damp clothe or wash it off.

[7th trump]

Not to be a downer but since your neighbor is a little upset he wouldnt call the DNR about this would he?
Who all witnessed the firing of the hand gun and field dressing the deer?
You should have called the sherif, county or even local to come over to put it out of its misery and had them issue you out a tag for the meat. They are usually free when they write them out for these type of cases.
If they find out they can charge you for poaching and firing a weapon probably within city limits.
Hope you are in good standing with your other neighbors so they dont call.
DNR are relatively nice to deal with, but they are higher up the food chain than the damn sherif is. They can take your vehicle and homes for poaching.....and technically you poached the deer by putting it out of its misery.
Your innocent in my book to put the deer out of its misery and not letting it go to waste, but unfortunately not innocent to the state for illegal harvesting state property (revenue resources....deer tag).

[MNeagle]

Not to be a downer but since your neighbor is a little upset he wouldnt call the DNR about this would he?
Who all witnessed the firing of the hand gun and field dressing the deer?
You should have called the sherif, county or even local to come over to put it out of its misery and had them issue you out a tag for the meat. They are usually free when they write them out for these type of cases.
If they find out they can charge you for poaching and firing a weapon probably within city limits.
Hope you are in good standing with your other neighbors so they dont call.
DNR are relatively nice to deal with, but they are higher up the food chain than the damn sherif is. They can take your vehicle and homes for poaching.....and technically you poached the deer by putting it out of its misery.
Your innocent in my book to put the deer out of its misery and not letting it go to waste, but unfortunately not innocent to the state for illegal harvesting state property (revenue resources....deer tag).

7th;
Wow, what an eye-opener. But you're right.

New motto: SSS.

[7th trump]

Not to be a downer but since your neighbor is a little upset he wouldnt call the DNR about this would he?
Who all witnessed the firing of the hand gun and field dressing the deer?
You should have called the sherif, county or even local to come over to put it out of its misery and had them issue you out a tag for the meat. They are usually free when they write them out for these type of cases.
If they find out they can charge you for poaching and firing a weapon probably within city limits.
Hope you are in good standing with your other neighbors so they dont call.
DNR are relatively nice to deal with, but they are higher up the food chain than the damn sherif is. They can take your vehicle and homes for poaching.....and technically you poached the deer by putting it out of its misery.
Your innocent in my book to put the deer out of its misery and not letting it go to waste, but unfortunately not innocent to the state for illegal harvesting state property (revenue resources....deer tag).
I've never had any run ins with the DNR, but my younger brother had three years ago when he thought it was legal to shoot a deer on his property because it was jumping a 7 ft tall fence into the garden which they devistated the garden after three nights.
Well the neighbor he wasnt getting along with (brother shot the neighbors roaming doberman for tearing up his hunting yellow lab pup and going after my niece) called the DNR who showed up two days later to find it hanging in his garage.
One DNR knew my brother well and couldnt do a damn thing about it but talk the other officer into a smaller fine..............2000.00 and no hunting what so ever for two years.
Could have been worse because the other DNR officer told my brother we can take all his vehicles right now and have him arrested on the spot. They didnt take the house with the land (4 acres) because hes not a poacher and only shot the deer to stop it from eating all his garden.
They took his 1400.00 shotgun until the hunting permission was restored. They were being nice to him by returning it because they usually auction off guns that are used in poaching.
Only thing that saved his ass was he knew the one officer and works for the county grating roads and repairing bridges.

Just be carefull!

[Awoke]

That's why I keep and axe in all my vehicles. If anyone hits a deer and it needs to be put out of it's misery, *wack*. Done.

[gunDriller]

Not to be a downer but since your neighbor is a little upset he wouldnt call the DNR about this would he?
Who all witnessed the firing of the hand gun and field dressing the deer?
You should have called the sherif, county or even local to come over to put it out of its misery and had them issue you out a tag for the meat. They are usually free when they write them out for these type of cases.
If they find out they can charge you for poaching and firing a weapon probably within city limits.
Hope you are in good standing with your other neighbors so they dont call.
DNR are relatively nice to deal with, but they are higher up the food chain than the damn sherif is. They can take your vehicle and homes for poaching.....and technically you poached the deer by putting it out of its misery.
Your innocent in my book to put the deer out of its misery and not letting it go to waste, but unfortunately not innocent to the state for illegal harvesting state property (revenue resources....deer tag).

i never heard of such a law - but i suppose that's usually how it works - a person is accused of breaking a law they didn't know existed.

i didn't shoot the deer. i hauled off a deer somebody else shot, and butchered it.

i never dreamed that that would be illegal.

if anybody was to report it as an alleged crime, we would certainly learn a lot about that particular neighbor.


anyway, at this point, i can say honestly that i put the body in a compost pile.


it tastes like beef, but it's a little gamey.

[big country]

what 7th trump says is the truth. Legally speaking you needed to call the game warden or the sherriff. Report that you hit a deer with the car (or someone did). Even if you shot it to put it out of its misery, never heard of that mattering, the sheriff or game warden would've done that anyways. They will show up, investigate that it was actually hit, and issue you a tag that says you're allowed to keep it (99% of the time).

Having untagged animals, even all chopped up, in your freezer is a big poaching no-no. I would eat that deer ASAP and leave no evidence it ever existed.

[Tumbleweed]

it tastes like beef, but it's a little gamey.

gunDriller did you try the sage, thyme and beef bullion with bell peppers and onions? that should help with the gamey taste. That's what I have out for supper this evening:)

[gunDriller]

what 7th trump says is the truth. Legally speaking you needed to call the game warden or the sherriff. Report that you hit a deer with the car (or someone did). Even if you shot it to put it out of its misery, never heard of that mattering, the sheriff or game warden would've done that anyways. They will show up, investigate that it was actually hit, and issue you a tag that says you're allowed to keep it (99% of the time).

Having untagged animals, even all chopped up, in your freezer is a big poaching no-no. I would eat that deer ASAP and leave no evidence it ever existed.

WOW !

they are really into the control thing.

i think/ hope that in this case, i am OK.

perhaps one neighbor gave me a hint on what to say. he said, "last time this happened, i buried it in my backyard." if anybody asks me, that's what i'll say. i'm just the helpful neighbor that hauled off the carcass of the deer my neighbor shot, and buried it. or composted it.


in any case, if they're going to arrest me, they better do it quick. the evidence is disappearing fast.

i must say i feel contempt for a government that may put me in the position that i 'did something wrong', simply because i worked with another neighbor to load the carcass he shot in the back of my truck, and didn't call the cops for 'permission'.

in common law terms - which the government perhaps could care less about - we, the neighbors, had consensus. there was a second neighbor that went to get his .22, but then the guy who hit the deer told us that he had a .32, and he did the deed. nobody said anything about, "maybe we ought to inform the Gendarme (police)".


as a newcomer to the world of hunting, it just seems so odd - as if the government would say i'm in possession of stolen property. it sounds like the 'safe' thing to do is, throw away the meat. which i don't plan to do.

i wasn't looking for ratification of the wisdom of keeping a low profile, but i guess this is an example. in another time, i might have offered a neighbor one of the hams (well, it looks like a ham, the rear leg).

[LastResort]

Here in Ontario You just have to call the MNR within 2 days of taking the road kill. They send you a tag in the mail. We've never had them come investigate or anything like that.

[Tumbleweed]

gunDriller the reason I posted a different method of getting the meat is because it's fast and cuts your exposure to prying eyes to a minimum. It can take just a few minutes then you can get the hell out of there. All you need is a three and a half inch pocket knife. I hear poachers use this method;)

[Canadian-guerilla]

Here in Ontario You just have to call the MNR within 2 days of taking the road kill. They send you a tag in the mail. We've never had them come investigate or anything like that.

is there any penalty if one doesn't call the MNR within 2 days ?

[LastResort]

is there any penalty if one doesn't call the MNR within 2 days ?

Never have bothered to find out. Best to avoid the whole situation of getting in crap I figure.