On our hunting farm we do both. Sometimes we gut em where they fall and most often we throw them on a fourwheeler and bring them up to the farm where we can hang em and gut em. When we gut em at the barn, we drop all the mess into a big plastic tub, load that on a fourwheeler and go dump that.

JUST A REMINDER TO ALL - WORD OF CAUTION! Watch out for broadheads that could be inside a deer's cavity when gutting.

One thing gutpiles are really good for is drawing in coyotes and feral or wild dogs. Can't tell ya how many times we've checked piles and sharpened our marksmanship another notch. Watched dogs eat every last morsel including bloody paper towels.