Processing/Skinning Frozen Deer

[Ridger]

Any tips or recommendations for skinning and processing a frozen deer?

Was fortunate enough to harvest a buck last week and with the temp drop, I've had a frozen deer hanging for a week now.

I've thought about throwing a space heater in for a few hrs before, or possibly trying the golf ball skinning process...

Anyone experience this with any tricks or tips?

[rick_iles]

We have had moose freeze solid years ago. The butcher had to thaw them out to skin and process them.

[bellerivercrossbowhunter]

You will need to unthaw it. I had to process one in Michigan a few weeks back and it was frozen. Had to bring it in the garage to unthaw & skin it. No way I could get the hide off or cut the meat when it was frozen solid...

On the plus side the meat was extremely tender after a few days of hanging...

[sawbill]

Forget the ball trick. It won't work.
Be prepared to have very frozen and unfeeling fingers by the time you're done.

[Gerald]

You will need to unthaw it. I had to process one in Michigan a few weeks back and it was frozen. Had to bring it in the garage to unthaw & skin it. No way I could get the hide off or cut the meat when it was frozen solid...

On the plus side the meat was extremely tender after a few days of hanging...

How do you unthaw something that is frozen?

[sawbill]

You'll have to bring it into a garage or shed that's heated and it may take a full day to get to where you can handle it.

[MikePal]

You should be able to cut off all the appendages and then quarter it up with a sawzall /recip saw with out losing too much meat then bring the parts into the basement to thaw

I got my skinned while the carcass was still warm, but then it froze over night. I did a quick quartering while it was still hung, brought the pieces in and left it for a day then deboned it the next morning.

If you have a small chainsaw it will work well too, you just lose a bit more meat. The chain oil will wipe off the exposed meat after your done cutting and it's still frozen.

[Ridger]

Sounds like this will be some extra work! Lol

I'll likely have to bring it to the garage and get a space heater on it... sounds like it may take the better part of a day?

Does this sound right?

[sawbill]

What Mike says. You can use cooking oil instead of chain oil for chain lube if you go that route.

[Ridger]

Do I need to worry about spoilage from warming it up to skin/process and refreezing?