Dressing Deer
 

After the kill....For people that live on the property that they hunt orare close to. Do you dress the deer in the field or back home. I have done it both ways. I like dressing the deer in the field myself, but it sure was nice dressing the deer next to garden hose and some old towels.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

When I hunt close to home I just get the deer home and take care of it all.... But when I have a drive ahead of me I always gut and fill with ice.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I always gut them where they lay. That way I don't have to drag the extra weight and I don't have to mess with disposing the guts later.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I always take water in jugs with me so I can get it done in the field. The piles will get eaten up so theres no waste. Plus I'm sure the garbage man would prefer it that way.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Yep. Me too. Don't need water for field dressing. I wear good latex gloves, take off my jacket, roll up my sleeves, and that's that.The less time the innards are in there is less time my meat might get tainted.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

The only reason I use water for field dressing is to clean the inside chest cavityand wash excess clots out.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Not saying your wrong, and not saying I'm right. Just a suggestion. I never use water. I field dress the animal, and if the temps stay below 40 degrees, I'll let it hang two or three days, head down, to bleed it. Tenderizes the meat really nice ;)! Warm weather, I'll quarter it, cut out the rest, and let everything sit in the fridge for two or three days. Let nature tenderize your meat Water does nothing for the taste, and can actually taint it. Not always, but why take the chance?

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Please explain to me how water can taint the taste of meat...

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I was wondering the same thing but I didn't know for sure.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I gut my deer out as soon as I recover it, after tagging it of course. This allows the meat to cool as quickly as possible.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I gut it wher it lays unless hes in some water or in a tight spot .
The coy dogs and black birds usualy have it gone within a day .
I use the short and long dispoable gloves .
If I get bloody or want to clean my knife I,ll use snow or a creek ./

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Becausein warm weather, damp meat will spoil faster than dry meat.In cold weather, the water potentially could freeze meat in the carcus. Both can taint the taste of the meat.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I do both, some areas I gut on site, others I take to the barn and clean them out. I hunt a cattle farm in mason, wv and the farmer prefers me to field dress in the barn.I prefer to gut in the field when I have the option.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I take it up an old logging road and field dres it on a loped bank. Then..to the house.....and I use the gambrel in one of my buildings. And yeah.....I use the garden hose to wash everything off before putting it in a cooler for up to a week, before I take it to the processor.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I almost always gut the deer as soon as possible, pretty much where it lays! I will also use some clean water (if I have it) to help rinse out the cavity and aid in cooling if at all possible. Never heard that water can taint the meat in any way, or detract from it's taste??!! That's a new one. The quicker you can get the animal to cool, the better!

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Well...I throw mine in a cooler with ice for about a week, been doing this for 40 some years, no tainted meat yet...

When I bow hunt the temps are usually in the 80s...So I clean them on the farm...I have 2 trees about 6 feet apart with eye bolts in them, I throw the deer on the rack of my 4-wheeler, carry to the skinning trees and use a rachet pulley to attach to the eye bolts and pull the deer up with the
4-wheeler...I then skin them and throw the boned meat into the cooler and ice down on the way home...This leaves the carcass in the woods for the other critters to clean up and the meat is on ice usually within 2 hours of the kill...I drain the water every day or two and add about a quart of vinegar to help pull the blood out...

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Thats why i do that as well.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Where it falls, well at least within a few yards.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

in the feild usely where they lay unless it is on someone elses property or it dies in a creek " DEER SEEM TO DO THAT A LOT"

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I gut them out in the field . i pick a good spot usually with in a couple yards of where they fell put on gloves and go to it

RE: Dressing Deer
 

I gut mine in the field also...scavengers have to eat. Then i'll bring the deer to my Dad's after getting it tagged, skin it, wash it down, let it dry then hang it in his walk-in-cooler for 2 or 3 days before butchering it.

RE: Dressing Deer
 

Where it is recovered for the most part but always within the woods from which it was harvested.