Skinned a lot of deer over my lifetime, always with the head up. I have seen a few skinned with the head down using a gambrel.
I skinned a doe by myself using a gambrel last week and was miserable the whole time. Then I skinned another doe by myself a few days later head up and it was no problem. Now I understand experience plays a role here, but dang it seems like the gambrel is just much more difficult. It’s also not lost on me that most butchered meat is done on a gambrel.
This is how I skin head up: Hang the deer by the neck and hoist. Ring the neck, ring the front legs, cut the hide down the throat to the brisket then down the top of both front legs. I skin the front legs back to the carcass then Skin the neck down far enough to wrap it around a tennis ball or rock, put another rope with a slip knot on the end over the ball or rock and pull the hide off with a truck or 4 wheeler. Remove legs quarter up, tenderloins, backstrap, neck meat and I’m done.
Do you prefer Head up or Head down and is there a specific reason you prefer that method? Let us know if you’ve actually skinned a deer both ways. If you have some other method besides those two tell us about your method.
I skinned a doe by myself using a gambrel last week and was miserable the whole time. Then I skinned another doe by myself a few days later head up and it was no problem. Now I understand experience plays a role here, but dang it seems like the gambrel is just much more difficult. It’s also not lost on me that most butchered meat is done on a gambrel.
This is how I skin head up: Hang the deer by the neck and hoist. Ring the neck, ring the front legs, cut the hide down the throat to the brisket then down the top of both front legs. I skin the front legs back to the carcass then Skin the neck down far enough to wrap it around a tennis ball or rock, put another rope with a slip knot on the end over the ball or rock and pull the hide off with a truck or 4 wheeler. Remove legs quarter up, tenderloins, backstrap, neck meat and I’m done.
Do you prefer Head up or Head down and is there a specific reason you prefer that method? Let us know if you’ve actually skinned a deer both ways. If you have some other method besides those two tell us about your method.