Gutless field dressing!
 

Well, I got a cow elk on Friday, and for the first time, I tried the gut less field dressing method. Let me say, I will NEVER gut another animal. That was the slickest field dress job ever. When I got home, I only had 10 minutes of work before taking the elk to the cooler, and Wednesday when I cut her up, there will only be the leg bones and shoulder blades for waste, what a way to go!

What say everyone else?

Later,

Marcial

Why not go all the way with the method and leave all the leg bones in the woods with the guts! It's the only way to fly!

Plan to do that with my deer this year. But handling 200 lbs of elk meat is a different story in 85 degree heat!

thats sounds nice! good job. never tried this method but ive heard about it. do you get the tenderloins? whats the approach if you do?

You can slice through just below the back bone in front of the hind quarter to get the tenderloins out. There are two similar muscles in the front that are worth getting as well. They are small on a deer, but decent on an elk.

Actually, it was pretty easy. After I cut the back straps off, I just very carefully cut into the gut cavity while she was on her side, and worked into the tenderloins and cut them out. Worked pretty good.

I did it on my muley and elk last year, it was great. However in Indiana it is illegal to quarter an animal -- you have to check it in intact before processing.

Usually this is not a problem, but I do have permission on one area where there would be the need to drag a deer 1/2-3/4 mile through very rough terrain; I only do turkeys there as a result.

Spaniel,

You can't leave evidence of sex attached to one quarter and check it that way, like the penis sheath, or part of the skin from the udder?

Luckily here, all we have to keep is the scalp and antlers or horns, and keep it along with the meat. Interesting how game laws are different in each state.

Later,

Marcial

Nope here in WI too we have to register the entire deer. Makes it a pain sometimes and why the regulation reads like ti does, haha, I don't know. Why the legs? WCL

Deer must be kept intact, except for field dressing and skinning, prior to registration.
The lower legs, up to the tarsus joint (“ankle or hock”) on the hind legs and up to the
carpus joint (“wrist or knee”) on the front legs, may also be removed. If the skin or

legs are removed prior to registration, they must be kept with the carcass until after
the deer is registered.

Exemption:

Registration Station. Registration forms are available at deer registration stations.

I did this for the first time in 2006 with a bull elk and like you said slick and snot and no other way to do it.

In Utah you are just supposed to have evidence of sex attached to the carcass. I suppose you could interpret that to mean the carcass has to be intact but it's just not reasonable to drag a big bull elk 2+ miles over rough terrain because soon you'd be guilty of wasting game.