If I know that I will be able to get my deer to processor within a reasonable amount of time, I only open the deer from the pelvic bone to the sternum. I do not saw or cut any bones because the bone grit can get into the meat, and fresh bone grit has the tendency to taint. Smell the sawed bone and you will see what I mean.

However, in some circumstance you may have to part a carcass out to pack it out of the field. I suggest cutting the muscles and tendons to separate jointed parts, and a very fine-toothed saw if sawing bones is necessary.

I hang my deer with head up, or if I process on the ground, which is rare, I lay the deer on an incline with its head upward. I do this to keep the organs and blood from dumping into the chest cavity, which I do not open.

I reach up into the deer, cut everything loose, and let it dump. Once the greater mass is out, I reach up and cut off as much as the esophagus. I then cut loose the anus and sexual organs, and pull the organs out.

Once done, I completely wash the deer down with clean water. I saturate terry-cloth towels and scrub the inside of the deer. I also scrub the hide and remove all blood. Coagulated blood and body fluids are one of the offenders for tainting meat. If I know I am going to have to clean the deer in the field, I carry two 5-gallon containers of fresh water and a pile of towels.

If I will be transporting the deer to where water is available, using a garden hose I blast the interior and exterior until all loose blood and other loose material is cleaned out. I then saturated the exterior of the hide to expedite the cooling, and then prop open the incision to let air get in. A good butcher loves a clean deer and a deer that has not been mauled by improper field processing.

Less handling, cutting, sawing; and the removal of as much blood as it possible makes a huge difference in how the meat will taste. The problem is, many of the processors do not return YOUR deer meat to you. Many often estimate how much poundage of meat you will get out of the deer and end up giving you the meat from other deer that has been mixed in with your deer meat.

These two deer were field-cleaned using only a sharp 4" folding knife. As you can see, not splitting the deer wide open reduces mess and exposure of interior to contaminates