Hunting is the "brother" of football and fishing among men's entertainment and leisure activities. But it is not enough to get an animal or a bird by known methods, it is necessary to carry out a number of manipulations with prey. In the article we will focus on refreshment. This process provides access to meat.
Main stages
Getting meat can be divided into the following stages:
- direct hunting;
- blood drawing to improve meat quality;
- checking the condition of the animal (you need to make sure that it is not sick);
- refreshment;
- gutting;
- butchering.
You can make a mistake and spoil the extracted meat at any stage, even at the very first. For example, if a bullet hits the wrong place. It is also important to properly harvest the caught game, transport it and protect it from adverse effects for further manipulations.
What is refreshment?
Refreshing - this means removing the skin from the prey. It is best to do this as soon as possible after the killing of the animal, because the skin is likely to be damaged. This does not apply to all animals, but primarily to those that are problematic to hang on their hind legs. For example, a boar needs to be freshened up immediately, and rabbits and hares can be hung up fresh.
Methodology
This process is always carried out slowly. If you hurry, the technology may be broken, and the skin will be damaged.
Of course, for each type of animal, the methods of performing the procedure are slightly different, but to refresh is to first of all mean to remove the skin, therefore the basic canons and rules are similar.
There are 2 ways to perform manipulation:
- Handset - for small animals (e.g., hare or rabbit).
- Plast - for large animals and artiodactyls.
Consider the example of an ungulate animal how to properly refresh a carcass.
They lay it on its side and make a cut over the hooves around. Next, cut along the inside of the hind legs, connecting the incisions where the pelvic bones connect. The skin is separated, but on the sacrum is left connected to the muscles.
Do the same with the front legs. Only the internal incisions here go towards the chest. Then from the tail cut to the sternum in the sternum and neck. It is better to separate the skin with your hands using a wooden spatula.
After separation of one part to the ridge, the animal is transshipped and repeated with the second half, and then the skin is also separated from the ridge.
Advice
Here are some suggestions to help prevent mistakes:
- The probability of damaging the skin will be less if an incision is made in the direction of the muscle tissue, and not to the skin itself.
- It is impossible to refresh frozen game; first it must be left to thaw in a warm room.
- It is better to have two knives for the manipulation. One sharp - for cuts, the other - with a rounded end, which is useful when the skin will need to be separated from the meat.
After freshening up, the carcass must be washed with clean water.