Big game hunting: What happens after you shoot it?
03-06-2012, 08:08 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 1
Big game hunting: What happens after you shoot it?
Can somebody detail for me the process leading from a freshly shot animal lying in the forest to a freshly cooked animal lying on your dinner plate?
How do you extract it from the location, when/where does the skinning and cleaning occur, etc.
How do you extract it from the location, when/where does the skinning and cleaning occur, etc.
03-07-2012, 06:13 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,320
The process is basically the same no matter whether your tablefare came from a commercial meat packing plant or from the forest floor.
Shoot, confirm its dead
Enviserate it, remove it from said forest floor
typically this involves either dragging or carrying...depending on distance and size of beast (bigger animals may have to be cut into smaller pieces or quartered)
remove hide, legs to the knees, head and all non edible parts
wash all remaining blood and hair from carcass
hang if you desire in a cool place
cut and wrap meat in portions appropriate for consumption
freeze
thaw
cook
eat
Shoot, confirm its dead
Enviserate it, remove it from said forest floor
typically this involves either dragging or carrying...depending on distance and size of beast (bigger animals may have to be cut into smaller pieces or quartered)
remove hide, legs to the knees, head and all non edible parts
wash all remaining blood and hair from carcass
hang if you desire in a cool place
cut and wrap meat in portions appropriate for consumption
freeze
thaw
cook
eat
03-07-2012, 07:12 AM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Montana
Posts: 750
Shoot it...Tag it....Take pictures...Field dress it on the spot ( if acceptable )...remove it either to a game processor or to where it will be cut up...After skinning and cutting up or after getting meat from game processor, freeze it...thaw out before cooking and eating.
03-07-2012, 01:40 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Central VT/Big Horn WY
Posts: 1,543
Really depends on the animal also. For example, when I kill an elk I don't field dress it. We remove each quarter, back straps, neck meat, and inside tender loins, and antlers if it is bull. The parts are packed out and hung for a few days. We then cut the muscle groups off the quarters, cut into steaks, package and freeze. Since a deer is much smaller than an elk (or moose or caribou), I may field dress it if I can get it out whole. If not I will do the same as the elk by taking it a part. Also you can remove the meat off the bone in the field to cut down on weight if need be.
03-09-2012, 10:17 AM
#8
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: North Central Illinois
Posts: 848
Really depends on the animal also. For example, when I kill an elk I don't field dress it. We remove each quarter, back straps, neck meat, and inside tender loins, and antlers if it is bull. The parts are packed out and hung for a few days. We then cut the muscle groups off the quarters, cut into steaks, package and freeze. Since a deer is much smaller than an elk (or moose or caribou), I may field dress it if I can get it out whole. If not I will do the same as the elk by taking it a part. Also you can remove the meat off the bone in the field to cut down on weight if need be.