I've just noticed after being an HNI member for a while now, but why is it that a lot of you guys hang your deer by the neck after killing them? I'm not sure if you guys skin deer backwards or what. It seems to be more common in the pictures of deer taken in the north. just curious.

Like you said, it must be a northern thing. Hanging by the neck AFTER it's dead is just plain backwards.

I hang from the rear legs and I live in Michigan

That's just how mean we are!!![:@]

We kill it, then hang it!!!

Oh c'mon. That's not nearly as mean as hanging it to kill it.

On a serious note, it just makes good sense to hang them by the neck to rinse and clean them. That way you don't have all the blood & junk pooling in the neck area. I do hang them by the rear legs to skin and bone them out, though.

I skin mine from the neck down. I've found it to be easier. Oh, and......if you gut them while hanging from their necks......boy is that a simple process.

Yeah, but if you hang them by the rear you don't even have to drop the guts.

We're just too lazy to take the drag rope off and hang it by the legs. I guess we figure the rope is already around its neck.

Well that answers a lot of my questions.

Mine get boned out right where they drop (unless there's bears around in which case they get gutted, dragged away from the gut pile and boned with a wary eye), put in my pack and then hanged in game bags when I get home/back to camp.