Field Dressing Help
10-26-2007, 05:06 PM
#1
Giant Nontypical
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Chatham, Ohio
Posts: 8,834
Field Dressing Help
My family has killed 4 deer over the last couple years and we have feild dressed them all by the way my dad used to do it in the 80's. The way he does it works but it takes awhile and we always seems to mess it up a little and cut something that were not supposed to. So what im looking for is some tips for feild dressing deer to make it easy and quick. Last year my i watched my cousin feild dress a doe lighting quick but we dont hunt together enough for him to teach me his methods at the moment. Any tips will be gladly appreciated.
10-26-2007, 05:15 PM
#4
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Dallas TX
Posts: 442
RE: Feild Dressing Help
yeah it was a joke, we were coming home from hunting and my uncle took me and his neighbors kids hunting and we all never got a deer yet so hes like who wants to practice gutting a deer? lol we were all like yeah you can do it and we will watch from a long long way away.
10-26-2007, 05:15 PM
#5
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Roanoke, Va
Posts: 3,562
RE: Feild Dressing Help
Ever think about trying one of these? I have one and it works great. No worries with cutting into the stomach or intestines.
Forgot to add, I make a small incision with my knife and then use this tool.
Forgot to add, I make a small incision with my knife and then use this tool.
10-26-2007, 05:25 PM
#6
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: Feild Dressing Help
it aint surgery...doesnt have to take long OR be completely messy.
start down between the hind legs. lift up hide and insert knife. insert your non-knife hand into slit..index finger on one side of blade, middle finger on the other. open JUST the hide..leave the..."membrane" alone..zip it open clear to the rib cage.
go back down do the same to the "membrane" that holds the guts in. dont cut anything but that membrane. dont go deep..finger on each side of the blade, edge up towards you again and lift as you cut to stay away from the guts. go clear to the ribcage again.
now i go up, get through the diaphram(part seperating lungs and heart from the guts)..once through that, reach wayy up as far as you can. grab the esophogus with your non-knife hand. insert hand with knife CAREFULLY..blade pointed away from other arm and towards the carcass. get above your other hand holding the esophogus and cut it. most everything aughta drop right out now except intestines.
go to the anus. cut around the whole anus the whole way around as deep as you can. i like to find the intestine and pull on it from the inside as i cut from the outside so i can free it and remove the bladder.
the only thing you dont wanna do is pop the stomach, intestines and bladder. but, it happens. heck, sometimes a bad shot happens and it happens anyways...if that does occur, its nothing a little water cant fix. throw it in a creek, hose it off, whatever...ive went out of my way to get to a creek plenty of times.
i can gut a deer in about 5 minutes...by the time the person is done filling out the tag, im about done. (yes i gut other peoples deer...great practice...)
theres 100000 different ways and im sure i forgot steps..but thats the basics...
one guy that taught me made it into a major operation...i bet it took dang near an hour. but, i didnt have a drop of blood on me and it was NEAT. i dont care about gettin bloody and dont care how neat it is, so long as its done and its quick(rifle season habit..we do our hunting by driving in rifle season...the longer it takes to gut deer the less time we have to hunt. only me and 1 other guy are allowed to gut deer lol..only because the rest would take days to get it done..)
im sure theres directions and probably pics and videos online...do some searching...search youtube for videos as well....
start down between the hind legs. lift up hide and insert knife. insert your non-knife hand into slit..index finger on one side of blade, middle finger on the other. open JUST the hide..leave the..."membrane" alone..zip it open clear to the rib cage.
go back down do the same to the "membrane" that holds the guts in. dont cut anything but that membrane. dont go deep..finger on each side of the blade, edge up towards you again and lift as you cut to stay away from the guts. go clear to the ribcage again.
now i go up, get through the diaphram(part seperating lungs and heart from the guts)..once through that, reach wayy up as far as you can. grab the esophogus with your non-knife hand. insert hand with knife CAREFULLY..blade pointed away from other arm and towards the carcass. get above your other hand holding the esophogus and cut it. most everything aughta drop right out now except intestines.
go to the anus. cut around the whole anus the whole way around as deep as you can. i like to find the intestine and pull on it from the inside as i cut from the outside so i can free it and remove the bladder.
the only thing you dont wanna do is pop the stomach, intestines and bladder. but, it happens. heck, sometimes a bad shot happens and it happens anyways...if that does occur, its nothing a little water cant fix. throw it in a creek, hose it off, whatever...ive went out of my way to get to a creek plenty of times.
i can gut a deer in about 5 minutes...by the time the person is done filling out the tag, im about done. (yes i gut other peoples deer...great practice...)
theres 100000 different ways and im sure i forgot steps..but thats the basics...
one guy that taught me made it into a major operation...i bet it took dang near an hour. but, i didnt have a drop of blood on me and it was NEAT. i dont care about gettin bloody and dont care how neat it is, so long as its done and its quick(rifle season habit..we do our hunting by driving in rifle season...the longer it takes to gut deer the less time we have to hunt. only me and 1 other guy are allowed to gut deer lol..only because the rest would take days to get it done..)
im sure theres directions and probably pics and videos online...do some searching...search youtube for videos as well....
10-26-2007, 10:10 PM
#8
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Washington State
Posts: 102
RE: Feild Dressing Help
Cay4,
I'm a very visual learner, so watching videos really helped make it make sense for me. I love to read, but for something like this, it's great to actually watch somebody demonstrate. Check out all of the variousField Dressing/Game Processingtitles we have at HuntFlix. I learned something from all of them, but I completely changed my method after watching Deer Processing 101. I've actually known guys to take this DVD with them on hunting trips.
The things you want to be most careful about cutting, off the top of my head, are the gut sack, the bladder, and the cape up where the taxidermist will working. I open the chest at the top, away from the gut sack, then I can get my gut hook (or gizmo like the Gerber ducsauce mentioned) in to open the animal up. I like using a Steel Stick surgical chest spreader to open up the chest cavity so I don't have to reach up blind to cut the windpipe. You'd be amazed how roomy it can feel in there!
You may also be able to find some good video clips on the internet that will show how to empty a deer and take it apart.
-- FLIX
I'm a very visual learner, so watching videos really helped make it make sense for me. I love to read, but for something like this, it's great to actually watch somebody demonstrate. Check out all of the variousField Dressing/Game Processingtitles we have at HuntFlix. I learned something from all of them, but I completely changed my method after watching Deer Processing 101. I've actually known guys to take this DVD with them on hunting trips.
The things you want to be most careful about cutting, off the top of my head, are the gut sack, the bladder, and the cape up where the taxidermist will working. I open the chest at the top, away from the gut sack, then I can get my gut hook (or gizmo like the Gerber ducsauce mentioned) in to open the animal up. I like using a Steel Stick surgical chest spreader to open up the chest cavity so I don't have to reach up blind to cut the windpipe. You'd be amazed how roomy it can feel in there!
You may also be able to find some good video clips on the internet that will show how to empty a deer and take it apart.
-- FLIX
10-27-2007, 08:50 AM
#9
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location:
Posts: 23
RE: Feild Dressing Help
I assume since you've dressed deer before, you know a little about it, so I am just going to give you some pointers on what makes it easy for me.
All I use is a heavy bladed knife and a Swiss Army knife. After opening the deer up, I cut up through the rib cage, and then trim around both sides of the cavity to make sure everything is freed up, then I use the saw on my swiss army knife and cut through the pelvic bone. After that, I reach in and cut the windpipe, and using that, I pull everything out in one pile.
People want to make this complicated, but it isn't. I've watched people take all day doing this, removing piece by piece. I once gutted a deer for my wife's grandpa, and he said he never seen someone gut a deer so fast.
Not bragging, but it only take me about 2-3 minutes tops.
All I use is a heavy bladed knife and a Swiss Army knife. After opening the deer up, I cut up through the rib cage, and then trim around both sides of the cavity to make sure everything is freed up, then I use the saw on my swiss army knife and cut through the pelvic bone. After that, I reach in and cut the windpipe, and using that, I pull everything out in one pile.
People want to make this complicated, but it isn't. I've watched people take all day doing this, removing piece by piece. I once gutted a deer for my wife's grandpa, and he said he never seen someone gut a deer so fast.
Not bragging, but it only take me about 2-3 minutes tops.
