HANGING DEER WITH HIDE ON ??

[LittleJohn]

Hey guys just was wondering everyone's thoughts on this.

The wife and I were out hunting with my buddy and his wife here in Montana this weekend. My buddy and his wife both tagged out on 4 point whitetails. We did the normal field dress and game carted them out to the truck.

We followed our friends home to help hang and skin. To my surprise my buddy said he doesn't skin his deer until he is ready to cut them up. He split the brisket and took out wind pipe and left hang.

It was 55 degrees as a high the last few days and 4o degrees as a low at night. I have never heard of anyone doing this. He said he has been doing it that way for 30 years and has never had a problem

Just wondering if anyone else does this

Thanks Guys

Just curious
John

[Ridgeratt]

I'd guess it's a personal preference but I have not seen many sides of beef hanging with their jackets on. I get the coat off them as soon as I can. It's to easy to pull a hide while it's warm.

[3nails]

 Yeah I don't know about that. IMO you need to get guts out, hide off, any remaining hair/dirt off and hanging asap. To hang for more than a couple days temps need to be no higher than mid 40's. I believe the lack of following these steps is why some people think venison is gamey. Cut and wrap yourself without ever sawing into a bone and removing all fat greatly helps with taste as well.

[7mag.]

It's much easier for bacteria to grow with the hide on. The hide traps heat. It's also easier to get the hide off if you do it right away.

[7mag.]

Yeah I don't know about that. IMO you need to get guts out, hide off, any remaining hair/dirt off and hanging asap. To hang for more than a couple days temps need to be no higher than mid 40's. I believe the lack of following these steps is why some people think venison is gamey. Cut and wrap yourself without ever sawing into a bone and removing all fat greatly helps with taste as well.

I completely agree.

[Mark251]

Interesting.... I've always skinned a deer ASAP but it's just the way I was taught to do it many years ago.  It might be worth a call to a butcher or a meat processing company to get their take on it.

[mp.hunter]

My dad and I shot bucks in South Dakota one year. 65-70 degrees in November that year and all the people that were hunting the farm we were also hunting all hung there deer up and left the hides on. We couldn't believe it, saw 15-20 deer like that.


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[UBA]

Yeah I don't know about that. IMO you need to get guts out, hide off, any remaining hair/dirt off and hanging asap. To hang for more than a couple days temps need to be no higher than mid 40's. I believe the lack of following these steps is why some people think venison is gamey. Cut and wrap yourself without ever sawing into a bone and removing all fat greatly helps with taste as well.

I completely agree.

I second that. Get it off

[lokidog]

Once the animal is cool, it does not matter if the hide is on it or not.  Kind of like the people that put insulated cups over their outside faucet to keep it from freezing.  With no additional heat from the inside, it will stay the same temperature as the outside. 

I think the side of beef analogy is off in that the hide is removed for sanitation reasons as well as cooling.

I've always left my hide on until I am ready to butcher as I don't like that dried out layer on my meat. One argument could be that the skin/hair could actually help keep it from getting as warm during the day if the cooler period is longer than the warm one. 

 

It's much easier for bacteria to grow with the hide on. The hide traps heat. It's also easier to get the hide off if you do it right away.

I agree with the removing it right away is easier, but I would disagree on the bacteria thing.  If there are no penetrations in the skin, it is a sealed membrane.  You might get some bacterial penetration around wounds and incisions, but, fortunately, skin is pretty impervious to bacteria.

[7mag.]

Once the animal is cool, it does not matter if the hide is on it or not.  Kind of like the people that put insulated cups over their outside faucet to keep it from freezing.  With no additional heat from the inside, it will stay the same temperature as the outside. 

I think the side of beef analogy is off in that the hide is removed for sanitation reasons as well as cooling.

I've always left my hide on until I am ready to butcher as I don't like that dried out layer on my meat. One argument could be that the skin/hair could actually help keep it from getting as warm during the day if the cooler period is longer than the warm one. 

 

It's much easier for bacteria to grow with the hide on. The hide traps heat. It's also easier to get the hide off if you do it right away.

I agree with the removing it right away is easier, but I would disagree on the bacteria thing.  If there are no penetrations in the skin, it is a sealed membrane.  You might get some bacterial penetration around wounds and incisions, but, fortunately, skin is pretty impervious to bacteria.

I was referring to the trapping of heat, and the wound area. I've seen some wound channels that we didn't find until we skinned the animal. If we would have waited, we would have lost an entire quarter.

[Boss .300 winmag]

I leave it on if hunting the east side till I get home, if I'm home and temps are low will let hang a couple days then skin it for a period in the fridge 4-7 days.

[Magnum_Willys]

In montana with windy zero degree days we leave hide on to avoid freezer burn.  Not unusual to see animals with the hide on frozen in the back of the truck for days.   I wouldn't want to do it above freezing though.   At 55 degrees seems crazy.

[Bob33]

With the entrails out, a hung deer can cool pretty quickly if the temperature is right. Once the animal is completely cool, the hide does no harm. In fact if night temperatures are cool, the hide can keep the meat cooler during the days until it is cut up. It can also protect from insects and dirt. I've left hides on a hung deer in cool weather for a couple days with no problems. As a general rule it is better to remove it.

[syoungs]

We had a guy bring us one in to process 2 years ago with the hide on, wrapped in a blue tarp, under his trucks canopy, during rifle season, shot it on a saturday, brought it to us friday. Never seen such a rotten mess.

I've also had em come in hide on, where they has been taken care of, and not seen a problem. I personally get it off as soon as I'm back to camp and can hang it to skin.

[LittleJohn]

Yeah I don't know about that. IMO you need to get guts out, hide off, any remaining hair/dirt off and hanging asap. To hang for more than a couple days temps need to be no higher than mid 40's. I believe the lack of following these steps is why some people think venison is gamey. Cut and wrap yourself without ever sawing into a bone and removing all fat greatly helps with taste as well.

Ive always been taught to bleed, gut, and skin asap. Trim all fat and don't saw any bone. I guess it depends on how you were taught. My dad is an old wet side logger and I guess thats how he was taught.

I just cut my wifes deer today. This is the 6th full day of hanging in the garage. Smelled sweet as pie.