Skin or not to skin deer.

[Boarmaster]

You all with walk in coolers. We hang our deer for about 5 to 6 days before butchering in our walk in.
Do you all skin before hanging them in the cooler or hang them field dressed only and skin the day of processing. We have time restraints on when we process and need to process the Saturday after the one week season at this location. So hanging for longer is not possible.

 

[chancey]

if I can get a buck straight to the walk in, I leave the hide on, makes for less rind to trim off. I also stick a piece of Saran Wrap on the exposed part of the tenderloins to keep the rind off of them. I will say that skinning a 37 degree buck is a little more time consuming though. We also hang longer than you’re planning due to your time constraints, generally about 12 days. Don’t think you can go wrong either way I just prefer to have less to trim.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I don’t hang deer at all if I can help it. Ideally, it’s fully processed within a couple of hours of shooting it. A clean kill, immediate field cleaning, drag to the house, skin it out, quarter it, process each quarter, and immediately into the deep freezer has always resulted in great meat.

But, on the occasions when that hasn’t been possible, we hang it with the skin on. That gives us the option to have someone else process it if we don’t have the time or energy to do it ourselves.

 

[mtnbound]

I take the hide off. Dealing with hide and hair afterwards I find is a pain. I also don’t hang it for very long before I process it, typically a day max.

 

[Boarmaster]

In Alabama , weather permitting I hang the deer outside with the skin on until I cut it up. My question was for guys with access to a walk in. Also I think its relevant to the crusting that we only have them in the walk cooler for a max of. 5-6 days. Some may only be in there a day or two depending what day they got killed. We hunt Monday thru Friday then everyone gets together on Saturday and we have butchering party. Then I drive two day home. I should have been more clear in my OP.

 

[Jermh]

I like to hang for week or so and prefer skin on. I just don't like that rind layer that you've got to mess with if you skin before hanging.

 

[chancey]

I like to hang for week or so and prefer skin on. I just don't like that rind layer that you've got to mess with if you skin before hanging.

If you don’t like rind you should try sticking Saran Wrap on the exposed part of tenderloin also. I hate having to trim that delicious small piece of meat, I want every bite I can get!

 

[Danny Hoey]

If you don’t like rind you should try sticking Saran Wrap on the exposed part of tenderloin also. I hate having to trim that delicious small piece of meat, I want every bite I can get!

I take the tendies off as soon as it gets home.

 

[casey36]

We skin ours, then hang. We have always just done it that way. Hang, skin, and quarter. Back straps and immer loins never hang. They seem to go pretty quick!

 

[Jermh]

If you don’t like rind you should try sticking Saran Wrap on the exposed part of tenderloin also. I hate having to trim that delicious small piece of meat, I want every bite I can get!

I should have clarified. I will pull tendies before hanging...good odds they'll get eaten that night lol. If not they would pretty much be a waste after hanging for a week, but I do like the saran wrap idea.

 

[RockAndSage]

There might be some animal/regional differences here - I don't know anyone who hangs mule deer hide-on, as it seems to be a problem in causing the "gamey" taste some describe. The slightest bit of hair, bone chip, or fat in the processed meat seems to lead to that gaminess. So, in my friends and family circles, the deer are always hung hide-off, with every bit of hair picked off the exposed flesh, for 7-10 days. Fat is cut off during butchering. I haven't heard of any of this being necessary with whitetail, but also don't pay much attention to whitetail stuff.

Would be curious about what guys do out here with elk and antelope - hide on, or off?

 

[Q_Sertorius]

There might be some animal/regional differences here - I don't know anyone who hangs mule deer hide-on, as it seems to be a problem in causing the "gamey" taste some describe. The slightest bit of hair, bone chip, or fat in the processed meat seems to lead to that gaminess. So, in my friends and family circles, the deer are always hung hide-off, with every bit of hair picked off the exposed flesh, for 7-10 days. Fat is cut off during butchering. I haven't heard of any of this being necessary with whitetail, but also don't pay much attention to whitetail stuff.

Would be curious about what guys do out here with elk and antelope - hide on, or off?

In my experience, for whitetails, the “gamey” flavor tends to come from the disagreeable fat in venison. Particularly if the fat is at all rancid. Unlike beef, trimming off as much fat as possible is pretty important.

It can also come from not having a clean kill - getting the blood out of the body as quickly as possible. A cleanly killed deer that has died from a tension pneumothorax and promptly been cleaned doesn’t need to be hung. The blood has already pooled into the chest cavity and been removed when the deer is field dressed.

Some species also have musk in the skin or on the hide, which can cause terrible taste if it gets on the meat. I’ve never encountered that with a whitetail though.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

No skin, easier to use the rock and rope method to skin them while they are still warm. Little rind doesn't bother me or the dogs..

 

[112Savage]

The Scots and the Brits generally hang skin on after gutting and removing head and fore/hind legs. I’ve been doing this, and it makes skinning harder. I don’t know that I’ve seen a tremendous meat loss compared to skin off over 7-10 day hang time. The English say that if the skin isn’t removed then that part of the carcass can’t mold and is still sterile. I think there are several podcasts about this on “into the wilderness” and “backcountry hunting” podcasts

 

[KenLee]

Remove the hide and wash meat off with a rag and water hose. Place in cooler after it drips water off, or wipe down with dry cloth

 

[gbflyer]

After the last one I left the hide on I’m never doing it again. I’ll take the rind loss.

 

[hibernation]

When I had access to a walk-in, I preferred to skin them before hanging up. It's just so much easier skinning fresh than after a few days. Never hung them long enough for the crust to become a real issue.

 

[flyfisher117]

Growing up every animal we ate that I didn’t like was hung hide on.

As an adult I started getting the skin off asap. Coincidentally I have not had an animal since I didn’t like the flavor of. Anecdotal at best but that’s how I roll now.

 

[Dave Thomas]

I skin before hanging. Easier and less to do on Sunday before going home. Not hanging that long as I'm usually only able to hunt weekends except for Thanksgiving week.

 

[Benny119]

I always take the skin off. It is so much easier to do so before they are completely cooled down. But kind of like the Saran Wrap idea on the tenderloins I wrap the outside of the animal in the thin painters plastic. It sticks right to the meat and keeps that outer layer from drying out. Just wait for it to cool for awhile before you do that otherwise you’ll have a lot of condensation under the plastic.