After reading the axe thread in the survival forum and looking at hunting axes I decided to see how an axe would work out to skin and quarter a deer. This might be useful information in a survival situation where a person was stuck without a proper knife but had an axe.

The axe I used was an ordinary hardware store axe with a forged steel head. To prepare for the exercise the axe head was refinished with an orbital sander until it was quite a bit more polished than it came from the factory.

Next I reshaped the edge taper with a file and then honed it with a puck type stone. It was then ready to cut trees but not fine enough to cut up meat. To finish the edge I honed it on an Arkansas stone with oil and finished with a leather strop. The axe would shave hair at the start of the skinning process.

Texas deer season started this past weekend so I took the axe to camp and asked if I could skin the first deer brought in to camp. After explaining what I wanted to do the other guys thought I was either messing with them or had gone off the deep end. Being a good natured bunch they agreed to go along with it.

The first deer brought in was a 95lb. Doe on Saturday morning. The hunter that shot it agreed to help by holding the deer steady when necessary and also taking the photos.

The axe was indeed sharp enough to cut the hide cleanly. I had no trouble making the cuts but at first cut too deeply and several times cut through the hide and well into the meat. It was difficult to get used to making precise cuts because of the weight of the axe, the handle bumping into things, and the way I was holding the axe in one hand. It got better as things went along. It would have been much easier to use a smaller axe such as a pack axe.

For the skinning part of the operation I used slicing motions exactly as if I had been using a knife. The only time I actually used a chopping motion was to split the pelvis, breast bone, and to cut the hams off the pelvis. To cut the shanks off the hams I put the leg on a piece of board and used the back of the axe to break the bone and then the blade to cut off the meat. The quartering went really well. That was surprising. It was a lot easier to cut the backstraps off than I had thought it would be. The front shoulders also came right off.

The entire operation was done without resharpening or touching up the edge. The axe was still plenty sharp after finishing the deer.

The only thing that I would do different if I had to do it again would be to go much slower and be more careful with the initial cuts in the hide.



Cutting around the back legs to start the skinning operation.

Cutting across the back legs.




Taking the front legs off by cutting through the tendons and snapping the leg backwards.


Cutting across the insides of the front legs.


Making the ventral cut from the throat all the way down to the anus.


Splitting the pelvis to take the colon out.


Cutting out the wind pipe.


Splitting the breast bone.


Opening up the chest cavity and the abdominal cavity.


All the entrails have been removed from the carcass.


The carcass has been hung and up and the skinning is getting started.


Skinning about halfway finished.


Skinning finished.


Parallel cuts have been made on each side of the spine and one of the backstraps is being removed.


Backstrap.


Removing a front shoulder.


Chopping one of the hams off the pelvis.


One ham off.


Removing the shanks from the hams.


Cutting the neck off the rib cage.

Photography credits to the hunter who shot the deer. Thanks for the help with this story Chris.

wow I have never gone hunting and have never seen anyone skin a deer but some how i didnt think it would look that bad interesting

Awesome post, Headless.

Thanks.  

I've never skinned or cleaned a deer (my dad was a terrible hunter and fisherman), but I learned a bit more from this post in addition to others I've read.

That's pretty cool

Perhap cutting off about half of the handle would have made the job easier. It would unusable for lumberjacking if you did that.

So based on your experience, a sharp hatchet is a very useful tool.

RS

Very true. A hatchet or smaller pack axe would have been much easier to use for this job. Whatever tool you use spending some time getting it good and sharp is the important thing. Someone said "Give me ten hours to cut down a tree and I will spend the first six hours sharpening the axe."

good job and write up.
Ive seen small "hunter's" axes used while in Canada hunting to do this on larger game and deer. But i like a knife..kinda of one of those use the tool for the job deal, imho. But great pics and good job.
I went the oppsiste route and went to the smallest knife i could use,then to the biggest and now back to a decent 3-4 inch camp knife/hunter style.

then again i use a saw,hedge clippers/pruners to snap the legs off etc

Normally I use a small folding pocketknife for the entire job. That is all you need for processing a deer but thought it would be a fun experiment. I guess that if need be you could cut up a deer with a razor blade or bit of broken glass.

I enjoyed it and learned something too.

You do that better with an axe than I can do with a knife

Nice work!  You mentioned it early, but I agree that it looks like it'd be way easier and probably relatively efficient with a small, 'Boy Scout' axe/hatchet.  I can't believe your edge held up so well without resharpening.

Great writ up and pictures. I generally use a 4" knife for most of the job and a hatchet to split the pelvis.  Maybe I'll try to use just the hatchet this year.

I usually just field dress and take to an abatoir but a small hatchet is still the best way to split the pelvis to clean out the entrails.

Very skilled job and great photos. Thanks for the lesson.

Gransfor Bruks Hunters Axe

wow

Excellent post. My only exception is that deer skin much easier when you skin from front(head) to back (tail). In fact the skin will mostly pull off without the need for a blade if you go front to back.

I have always gone back to front.  If the deer is fresh the hide comes off almost on its own weight, just a little pulling or slicing of some light paper weight membrane....  if the deer had hung for a week or more in weather around freezing its a lot of work either way.

I try to have a double bit axe in my truck in deer season... one side razor sharp for meat and the other side for wood.  If I could only have one edged tool in the woods it would be that axe. I have a friend in Maine that can have the hide off a moose and the meat in chunks in no time flat and a good looking job at that.

However, a 3-4 inch blade does most of my work on a deer.  While presentation might be lacking a bit, I would not go hungry with just an axe.

Nice post and good pics!  

yeah that is what i was getting at lol..
great job though  again!

We have used a hatchet on moose and caribou. Use what you have to butcher an animal if you forgot your knifes at camp. Nice work on the deer. Thats cheating though doing it on a table.

Thanks for the great post!! Very informative and quickly bookmarked!

Nice job. Great pics.

nice work, never seen that done.

Great informative post for all those who've never prepared an animal.

I carry a well sharpened, solid steel one piece hatchet with a two sided sharpening stone when I go into the woods. It is sharp enough to do what you did above, just a little easier to handle.

If I could only have one tool, it would be a hand axe or hatchet.

i'm not a hunter, but i am a biologist and i do have a lot of large and small vertebrate dissection under my belt.

excellent OP.  i would add to the chorus of "hatchet/shorter shaft" by saying that holding the axe-head in your palm edge-out and curling your fingers over the butt should give you more control of the edge during the skinning process.  intuitively, it seems like an easier task in-hand than by the neck as in the photos.

Good Post...It kills me to see the post from the guys who have never killed or quartered a deer or any game...Come on fellas!

I can almost taste the tenderloin

Not to brag but the last deer I skinned was skinned with a flint knife I knapped myself....

Too bad it was 2 seasons ago...

wow, just wow. .

thanks for posting

Wow!  Thanks sir.

Totally agree that a hatchet or smaller axe would have been a lot easier to use. The hunter who shot the deer asked me several times if I were getting tired because of the sheer weight of the axe. I was determined to finish the job and did infact slow down when my hands started to tire so as not to get hurt. The axe was getting slick and it took more concentration as the job progressed.

I tried several grips and holding the axe just behind the head worked best for me. I alternated between the heel and the toe of the edge depending on which direction the cut was going.

xxxxx

That is very impressive. How did the flint knife do on cutting the hide? I would imagine that a freshly knapped flint edge would be quite sharp.

Paul Bunyan would be impressed.

Oddly enough, the only deer I ever helped butcher was fresh roadkill. Some of my buddies have not been the most successful deer hunters, then again I've been pretty unlucky at it myself.

Excellent post and nice photos...Thanks for taking the time to educate us in Axemanship Headless_T_Gunner.

well done- thanks for the post

First time hunting will be this season - great to see this!

awesome work, now who does your hair?