OK guys, here is the thread that originally came about last October. This is from Elkampmaster who frequents the Big Game forum. This explains it pretty well.
ELKAMPMASTER 10/28/03
In another thread we got " off topic" into this interesting discussion so I thought it deserved its own thread......
FIELD DRESSING USING THE ALASKAN METHOD:
Using the " Alaskan" method you don' t cut the sternum nor the pelvis, you don' t fool with the tricky business of cutting out the rectum or urinary tracts and you leave the gut pile inside the carcass. It works very " slick" if you aren' t wanting to save the hide. An added benefit is that it reduces one' s contact with the areas that are more prone to harbor CWD and it drastically reduces the " blood bath" factor. This is the first year we have used it and all agreed, that unless we want the hide for something we won' t be going back to the " old way." The transition was easy, but you DO need to have it thought out in advance.
Check out the Alaskan Method at:
http://home.att.net/~sajackson/bugle.html
Notes:
(1) We use a box cutter on the " hide cuts" down the back bone, down the sides, and down and around the legs. We we reverse the blade at " half time" and replace the blade after each animal dressed and quartered -- this gives easy " controlled depth cutting" and replaces our Wyoming Knife and/or Gerber Zip Knives which are designed for gutting and but which " suck" at the hide cutting task elsewhere -- they will do it but they are highly erratic. The box cutter makes the initial set of hide cuts in a flash and gets you down to skinning in a hurry plus they are inexpensive.
(2) Keeping evidence of sex on the meat is trickier with this method than with the traditional. I encourage that you make the cuts around/between/through the testicles or udder that will allow the evidence to stay with the meat well BEFORE you get into the wholesale skinning mode -- that way if you are carving away on the " back side" between hide and flesh and work your way " down in there" you will come to your earlier cut rather than blazing right through there and severing the evidence of sex.
(3) We use a " baby knife" (a little, little folder with a 1.25" blade) for getting out the tenderloins (it IS a snug fit -- so DO be careful of your fingers)!
(4) The Gerber folding saws work great for cutting the legs at the " knees" and for removing the head (at the 4th vertebrae) for CWD testing. It is light, yet sufficiently " stout."
Never Go Undergunned, Always Check The Sight In, Perform At Showtime,
EKM
ELKCAMPMASTER 6/20/04
Charlie,
It will work for deer and certainly that could be good practice for an elk, but it is going to be more inconvenient because usually with a deer you can just gut it, grab it by the antlers and drag it out. Doing the Alaskan method on a deer is going to leave you with 4 quarters, 2 backstraps, and 2 tenderloins --- so unless you debone and pack it out anyway, then you will probably consider it to be a hassle for a deer (except for eductional value).
Liver and heart? If you want these items, then use the traditional method.
The tenderloins are under the spine in the body cavity and are located well to the rear of the critter and the ribs do not bar access to this area. These are accessible via the Alakan method and before we did it the first time it was one of my major concerns. A cross section of the spine creates a + and if the critter is standing up, then the backstraps lay in the top two "corners". The tenderloins are in the bottom two "corners." Of course when the critter is dead and laying on its side this picture is rotated by 90 degrees. Sooooo, the critter is down, and laying on its side, and you've cut the hide down the back and skinned the hide downward and have a big flap of hide laid down towards/over the belly, first, you’ll cut out the front and rear quarter on that side, and then the backstrap on that side (it was laying in the corner “trough” of the + cross section of the backbone). Regarding the tenderloin, again with the critter laying on its side, you will find the tenderloin “trapped” under the spine (in the lower corner trough of the +) and above the “gut body cavity” in fact the “gut compartment” will be laying right against the tenderloins sandwiching them against the spine. Skinning the hide off of this area is not enough. Behind the ribs and ahead of the pelvis you will need to gently slice (don’t poke) through the layer that lies under the hide but not cut/slice clear through down into the gut pile, just open it up enough to see the tenderloins.
Extraction. We use a little “baby folder knife” with about a 1.5” blade. A small and narrow bladed knife is your friend here as the space is tight, the bone features to follow are many, AND your fingers are going to be right in there. Make the first cut vertically along the vertical side of the “bone trough” created by the spine (remember the + cross section?) and the tenderloin, this one is easy and “safe” --- just meat and bone. This first cut will loosen one side of it. Now comes the tough part, the risky part for your fingers, and the good place for the little, little knife --- push the “gut bag” away from the remaining side of the tenderloin to get yourself a little bit of room and go in cut under the tenderloin and “fillet” the tenderloin (we start at the back end) off of what was once the “roof” of the body cavity (when the critter was standing up). Getting the initial cut establishing one “end” of your tenderloin piece of meat and getting enough of it filleted off to allow you a piece of the tenderloin to get ahold of so you can pull on it as you cut it is the “hard part” so don’t give up --- think “surgeon” not “butcher” at this point. The rest is just going slow and careful. Some folks at this point say the just grab them and "tear" them out. This may be possible, but it is a little like taking a cracked fingernail and just pulling on it instead of cutting it --- it don't always tear where it is supposed to --- so keep cutting, don't try to "yank" them out. Be careful of your fingers and careful of the gut bag as it is always right there and just inviting you to cut it.
I’m always amazed on these butchering deals that the tough spots (like the tenderloins) is always left out of the discussion. Another place where no one I’ve seen get real specific on the “how to do it” is how cut out over to and locate the hip socket without “butchering” the hind quarter. But that is another story… hope this stuff makes sense, I can "see" it clear as day, but there is nothing like doing it or helping do it to have it down pat.
Good Luck and Good Hunting,
EKM
ELKAMPMASTER 6/20/04
Charlie,
If you look at the picture of the cow, "before and after", you can see one of the "troughs" where we took out the back strap, it is a good 2 1/2 maybe 3 feet long (depends how far you go up into "neck" territory) and about 4"x3". This trough is bounded by bone on two sides. The tenderloin was immediately below this backstrap trough, but to the rear of the critter with the "wings of the vertabrae creating the separation between them (+).
Hindquarters. The back end of the critter is always where the dirty work lies BUT the good news is you can avoid almost of that [but if you have a bull you still don't want to (and don't have to) fool with the ureathia]. [Also don't forget how you are going to get evidence of sex (testacles or udder halves) to stay with those two rear quarters, not hard but you have to think about it before you go skinning up a storm.]
Now, just pretend you are doing the traditional method and are making the same cuts through the thin flesh to expose the pelvis so you can cut it with your saw or hatchet. Once you expose flat bone of the pelvis near the centerline (where you would normally cut it), turn your blade 90 degrees and start following (filleting) along the pelvis bone laterally to the "outside" and lift the hind quarter meat up enough out of the way with one hand so you can see what you are doing and keep cutting with the other. The distance you have to go is amazingly short (maybe 5-6" or less) on an elk and you'll come to the obvious ball joint which you will work your way through and then that hind quarter is just a few more slices away from "coming off". When it does it should immediately go into a game bag and getting hung in the shade of a tree right away to stay clean and cool (as should the other cuts as they "come off")*. BTW we skin all the hide off the quarter, down to just below the "knee", before cutting quarters off of the animal.
* If you are deboning then there is more work to do before putting it into game bags (assuming you are leaving with it right away). One fellow I know carries a 6' by 6' piece of plastic and 4 landscaping stakes. This is his deboning area and that is all that is done on that plastic is cut meat from bones --- no hide, no hair, no dirt, no nothing else. he holds the quarter vertically with the leg in his hand and the big end of the quarter on the plastic. About two or three slices and the meat is all off of the bone in big chunks. Then he bags it up in equal weight groups for packing into panniers (or onto your back).
With an elk (way back in) about the only way to handle them is to make "smaller parts" out of "big parts" --- the Alaskan method works great for that.
This part is better than shooting them, gourmet elk coming up!
EKM