ORIGINAL: Bob1961
ORIGINAL: scoobasteve
I am an experianced meat-cutter, and a hunter. If you want to do it right, follow these steps.
5 cut the gut out and let it fall, then reach in, and cut any tendons that hold the guts in. remove them and disguard.
done deal!
you don't gut it in the field BEFORE you bring it home ??? wow.....................bob
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Bob when moose or elk hunting if we don't have to we won't field dress until the animal is hanging. Reason being we often need to get the animal through some water and/or muck before it can be hung and skinned. I prefer to keep such off my meat, especiallywitha limited amount of clean water at my disposal. If this is not possible the animal is quartered, game bagged and trailered back to camp. In the case of a moose this may mean several hours and trips.
Deer though I FD immediately like most because of:
A) logistics (live in the city, travel, temp, etc)
b) dragging/loading (less hands, not as equipped, etc)
Most would agree that freezing meat vs spoiled meat will be better, so if you don't have the means to hang your meat safely then you must do what you need to do. It is possible to fridge age it after it has been flash frozen.