Dirt2

I personally don't prefer the "no-gut" technique, and I have tried it on one elk and one deer. To each his own, though, it seems like a lot of folks on here like this method.

See, I have not taken an animal (deer, antelope, or elk) out whole in five years. I quarter literally everything I kill. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment, but I hunt back off the roads as far as I can get. Even meat tag does usually drop 1-2 miles off the nearest road. Dragging something that far is cruel and unusual punishment.

I got excited the first time I read about the no-gut deal, so I tried it a couple times. My complaints:

1) You are in constant danger of punching into the guts with an errant knife stroke and making a real mess. We've probably all experienced this unpleasant situation in normal field dressing. With the no-gut technique, you can get into a mess the entire time you're removing each hind quarter. Maybe I'm just a spazz with a knife...

2) Make no mistake, getting out the t-loin with the guts in there is a chore. Especially is this so if you're dealing with a deer or antelope with a smaller t-loin.

3) With the guts still in, it makes more weight you have to deal with once you get the top two quarters off and then have to flip the animal over to get at the other two quarters. This is especially true with a good-sized elk, whose guts might weigh in at 150+ lbs.

How long does it really take to do a basic gutting job? Remember, because you're just going to quarter it immediately anyhow, you really don't have to worry about things like reaming the butthole or cutting out the windpipe. You just whip out the gutpile in 5 minutes and then it's out of your way for the rest of the process.

Again, this is heavy into an opinion area, and individual results may vary, so do whatever you want. If you're elbow-deep into an elk or deer in the first place, you did something right! The rest is details!