How to Make a Deer Skinner

Many deer hunters take the deer they harvest to a professional processing plant to be cut up into edible portions of meat. But this is an expensive option compared to butchering the animal at home. One of the most vexing parts of the process for many is peeling the skin off the animal to expose the meat inside. Fortunately, however, there exists a labor-saving technique. Armed with a few items and expertise, a hunter can turn a stout tree, a heavy rope and a golf ball into a deer-skinning machine.

Things You'll Need

  • 1/2-inch nylon rope, 20 feet
  • 3/8-inch nylon rope, 10 feet
  • Stout tree
  • Hunting knife
  • Tree limb loppers
  • Golf ball
  • Pickup truck
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Instructions

    • 1

      Locate a stout tree with a sturdy limb projecting out from the trunk more horizontally than vertically. The limb should be a minimum of 8 feet off the ground. Both tree and limb should be able to withstand a pull of 300 to 400 pounds with very little bending.

    • 2

      Throw a length of 1/2-inch nylon rope over the limb of the tree at a point on the limb where the rope will dangle parallel to the trunk but approximately 3 feet away from the trunk.

    • 3

      Tie one end of the 1/2-inch rope around the neck of the deer you plan to skin.

    • 4

      Hoist the deer high enough that its back legs are not touching the ground then wrap the rope around the tree trunk and tie it securely so the deer is dangling by its neck.

    • 5

      Cut the lower legs off the deer first by cutting through the leg bones with a limb lopper just above the knee joints on the front legs and just above the hocks on the rear legs. Finish removing these lower-leg portions by cutting with a hunting knife.

    • 6

      Make a cut just through the skin from where the deer was opened during the field dressing operation, proceeding on up past the brisket and up the underside of the neck, stopping just below the rope holding the deer off the ground.

    • 7

      Make an incision that encircles the neck, cutting just through the skin - no deeper - on the neck, beginning from the terminal point of the cut you made in the previous step. This cut will extend around the back of the neck and continue across the throat until you've connected the cut with your starting point.

    • 8

      Starting at the cut you made in the previous step, use your hunting knife to cut between the skin and the neck meat, peeling the loose skin downward, in the direction of the ground. Continue drawing the skin down from your cut around the top of the neck until you have a flap of skin hanging from the deer's neck about 8 inches long similar to the appearance of the back collar of a sailor's uniform shirt.

    • 9

      Tie a slip knot in the end of a section of 3/8-inch nylon rope.

    • 10

      Poke a golf ball under the skin "collar" you made in a previous step. Position the ball just over the deer's spine and push up from the bottom so that you can see the bulge in the flesh side of the skin.

    • 11

      Loop the slip knot you tied in Step 9 over the bulge created in Step 10 and pull the slip knot tight. The bulge made with the ball provides a secure, non-slip anchoring point.

    • 12

      Tie the opposite end of the 3/8-inch rope to the back bumper or towing hitch of a pick-up truck.

    • 13

      Put the truck in gear and drive slowly forward. The 3/8-inch rope will tighten and begin to pull the skin off the neck of the deer, across the shoulders, down the torso, over the hips and finally down the back legs. Once the skin has pulled free, the deer will be skin-free, hair-free and ready to be further processed into venison steaks, roasts and chops.