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What is the ideal height for a meat pole to skin deer? I have used bar rafters with a block in the past to pull them up and skin. Don't remember how though. I am having an outside garage built for my atv's and want to run the roof beam out a few extra feet over the lab to skin deer. I want it high enough but don't want the building any large than otherwise necessary. I am thinking 12' minimum. Would that be plenty or is 15' better?

Thanks.

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As to the title, it is more what a person does with it that matters.


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It depends what you're hanging on it

12' is too high for deer on my opinion.

My standing reach is only about 7' comfortably. So an 8' pole would be enough.

One pole we have requires ladders to get up to it, and it's a pain in the butt. It looks cool though....

[Linked Image]


I use ratchet straps and I prefer to be able to reach and adjust them by standing on a stool or bucket. Not needing a ladder.


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A whole lot easier if you use a cheap chain hoist or you will end up reaching high and stooping low. Not good particularly with a sharp knife. Slickest deal was when we did a deer for an old farmer, we used his fork lift.


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I would have have a block on it, then pull the deer up with an atv. So I can start low, but still have room to pull the deer higher as the hide comes off. I guess 12' should be big enough for even the biggest deer with that in mind.

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Electric winch

Raise it for neck work and caping
Lower it for gettin in there at the 'taint'

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I use a block and tackle when I am skinning and butchering a deer so I can change the height to suit which part of the deer I am working on for it to remain comfortable for me. If my bar is around 10 feet off the ground it gives me enough height to get a large deer completely off the ground but not too high so my extended block and tackle can't get down to the animal when it is flat on the ground to hoist it up. One word of caution though is to make sure the block and tackle is cinched up in the shiv and also the lead line tied off as a double insurance that it can't suddenly slip when you are using a sharp knife.


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A foot high is plenty but it needs to be 12' wide.

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Our meat pole is about 10 feet off the ground. Bought a small boat winch and mounted off to the side of one tree. Combination works like a charm.
We start off with the deers head level with our chest then slowly crank it up as we skin it.


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Just checked, the chain hoist in the garage is hanging from 10 feet, and another foot would be nice. Electric hoist would be nice but for one deer a year the cheap little Chinese hoist bought on sale works fine. And there's enough mechanical advantage that when you crank the deer up it stays there by itself. Easy enough to make you change height rather than reaching. A cousin uses come alongs. What a PITA.


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Helped a friend, the local vet, with the pull the hide off trick. He did a number of deer each season. My take was that for one deer by the time you get everything set up you may as well skin it the old fashioned way. And it's easy to rip the hide if it isn't loose which won't get you any points with the fur buyer.


The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh

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Originally Posted by nighthawk
Just checked, the chain hoist in the garage is hanging from 10 feet, and another foot would be nice. Electric hoist would be nice but for one deer a year the cheap little Chinese hoist bought on sale works fine. And there's enough mechanical advantage that when you crank the deer up it stays there by itself. Easy enough to make you change height rather than reaching.


I got a 440lb harbor freight elec for $79

Only have 9ft in my walkin cooler


Meat pole, lol...yellow jackets would eat my deer in 4 hours

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I hang with a gambrel at the hocks so I like a high attachment point for the pulley. Lower the body to start skinning and raise as needed. I don't like to stoop to finish pulling the skin down. Way easier when the carcass is high. Makes capeing easier too.

We hang our Black Bears and the height really helps there too.

Go as high as reasonable.


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Originally Posted by Ghostinthemachine

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We all hang deer with one of those, known in the trade as a single tree. Thought everyone did. Much better to turn the carcass than walk around it. And a fun shop class-ish project to make one. Gets the width the way you like it.


The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh

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Built this a few years ago, about 12’ high. Can’t be too tall but can be too short. Shot that deer with a 6.5 Creed. That’s all that was left! Boat wench is good to to raise animals, better made from metal than wood

Meat pole? I never heard it called anything but a skinning rack??? Where are you from?

[Linked Image]

Last edited by hanco; 08/30/19.
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The hayloft floor in the front of my barn is a bit over 10 feet high. The ridgepole is over 20 feet, and I've got a 3-sheave block & tackle and a gambrel attached up there. It's a simple matter to hoist a deer or two to a convenient working height for skinning/butchering or just hang one out of reach of the varmints if we want to age it for a few days with the hide on. That only works if the temperature is right- - - - -just a few degrees above freezing.
Jerry


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Originally Posted by hanco
Built this a few years ago, about 12’ high. Can’t be too tall but can be too short. Shot that deer with a 6.5 Creed. That’s all that was left! Boat wench is good to to raise animals, better made from metal than wood

Meat pole? I never heard it called anything but s skinning rack??? Where are you from?

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That fuggin creedless is such a beast!


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Figure that a deer is 7 feet from its back hooves to its nose when its hung up head down. Figure that you would like to be able to get his nose up to about waist height on you to avoid having to bend while working on it. For me that is about another 3 feet and I am a little guy so that's 10. I'd say rig up something with a small boat winch and a couple of pulleys to make it easy.


"Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants". --- William Penn

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