Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

I know we have several new hunters in here every year.....and some who've never field dressed and butchered a deer.

If you're in one of the aforementioned groups.....there's no shame in asking a friend who has one down to call you to help out and learn. There are also numerous videos available on the net for sale and for free.

I could think of few things MORE unethical than having meat spoil.....because a hunter didn't know what he was doing (once he had a deer down) and couldn't get in touch with someone to help him in time.

If you live within a reasonable distance of me.....send me a PM. I'll either call you when I get one down....or you can call me when you or one of your friends does. I'll be glad to come to you. Most here are probably close to a fellow HNI'er....and if you need help....these guys are really good about doing so.

Know what you're gonna do BEFORE you have one down. It's only right. Know the condition your meat must be in (quartered? skinned?) to be accepted by your butcher/processor. Know who your taxidermist is.....where he lives......etc...before the time comes when time is NOT on your side.

Good luck.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

1. spoon it:D

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

I knew I could depend on you to bring that up!:D

Even if you convince a bunch of new hunters to follow your lead, it's still WRONG!!!!:D:D:D

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Well that's helpful...:eek:

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

It's all I got this Monday morning;)

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

I say if it's a doe mount it!!!!
I remember 30 years ago shooting my first and looking down at it and wondering what the heck I was gonna do. At that time I had never even seen a deer field dressed. I was lucky though when some guy walked up and did the deed for me.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

I was in that boat not too long ago. I was fortunate enough to be able to call my brother in law. He came out to the woods and gave me step by step instructions. He wouldn't help drag it or dress it. It was a lesson day for me. I'm grateful he made me do it all with his guidance. I too would be happy to show up and help out a novice.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

If any one is in the foothills or surrounding areas, I'd be more than glad to help. We have a winch and gambrel at the house and scales.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Here's one way of field dressing that I usually post every year for new hunters. I hope it helps again this year.
www.angelfire.com/bc/canuck2/gutting.html

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Good advise Jeff ;)count me in in my area.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Very nice walk-through Canuck.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Fine gesture and offer there GMMAT, and very good advice ;).

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Helping someone is a good deed! Wasn't that long ago that I helped a elderly gentleman with a deer.The ironic part of it was he builds knives and is long time hunter and he was sitting on the ground with a razor knife and didn't remeber his glasses!Poor old soul would have had a hard time filling out his tag if it weren't for me.But I was more than glad to help him to keep him from a violation or possible jail...at his age he woulda been easy prey in there! Ask the Rev about this whole hunt Greg!:DReally and truelly if I come across someone that needed help I would be glad to assist them,the care of game when you get it down is as important as the rest of the hunt.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

My offer goes (for those close) for tracking, dragging, etc..., too. Shoot me a PM if you're close.....and I'll get you my contact information.

I was fortunate enough, my first year, to be able to go to a friend's farm for the opener of ML season. We field dressed and butchered 14, that day....and it helped me, tremendously.

Call your friends. Tell them to caall you when THEY have one down (if that happens before you get one down).

Good luck to all!

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

jeff - hope you know it goes both ways.

If anyone has any questions about skinning for taxidermy or advise in general, PM me or call me - #'s on website below . Please keep in mind what you do in the field is directly related to what you get back from the taxidermist. Do yourself a favor, as Jeff stated, find your taxidermist before you need him/ her.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

nc....

Do everyone a favor and make a post on field care for your "trophy". It would be greatly appreciated....and it may save someone a lot of heartache. I "almost" messed up my first, due to poor advice.

I wish you'd do that.;)

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

How bout a link to my site with field care? Way too much typing and all the gutting and field care is there.


http://nctaxidermist.com/NC-Taxidermy-FIELD-CARE.html

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Greg:

One thing I did differently (and thanks for the link) on my last one.....was I didn't make the "Y" incisions down the legs. I cut them off above the knee and pulled everything inside out. I never had to cut the cape, other than the one I made WAY far back on the thorax and part way up the stomach.

I did this at the suggestion of someone, and it was appreciated (he told me). WOuld you suggest this method? It's tricky.....and time consuming....but it's also a "better safe than sorry" approach.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Jeff, I think you are talking about leaving the legs as a tube of skin...for lack of better words. I was told this was unneccesary by the taxi doing my pronghorn out in SD. He says taxis make that incision anyway....so as long as you follow the back/inside of the leg with that incision then all is well....follow the armpit back to the end of the cape back halfway up the body.
We made that cut ourselves for time purposes, and asked him when we dropped it off it was better to turn the legs inside out leaving no cuts on the legs and just the skin....but he said it really isnt neccesary because when they show up the first thing he does is make that cut.

Maybe nctaxi could verify or disprove what this guy told me.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

I suppose you may be correct.....but if I'm the taxi....I'd as soon make that incision, myself. Know what you're getting, that way. He's gonna remove the antlers, too.....but I don't do that for him, either. There's likely a good reason why.:D

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Jeff - it is better to "tube" the legs and leave it for the taxi to do but out in the field with temps being high it is better to hurry than take your time and it def. takes longer to tube. The main thing that I tell everyone is to look at a mount and see where not to cut and figure 3" - 6" beyond that. I've had them brought to me with the throat cut, etc. The brisket (arm pit area) is the hardest place to conceal a mistake.

TEmbry - the key to that statement is the back of the leg. As stated above if you cut the front brisket area, it is very hard (if not impossible) to hide.

Another important thing that I want to bring to everyones attention is that some states are not allowing deer heads to be brought back in without being cleaned. WV was added to the CWD list this past season and a new one was added this year. PLEASE find out what is expected of you if you are hunting out of state. In NC they will confiscate your vehicle if you are caught bringing an "unclean" deer into NC. Spend some time with your taxi or one that will explain to you how to properly clean and cape out a deer. If you bring a deer that has CWD into a "clean" state and discard the head "out back", you have released CWD into your state. Studies have proven that after 1.5yrs of decaying into the ground deer can contract CWD from the grass growing there. Please use caution and extremem measures to not spread this disease. I cannot stress this enough!!!!

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

For those of you who may not be familiar with a deer mount........


See this area between and including /\ /\ /\the front legs. DON"T CUT THERE!!!






Also a case of shameless self promotion, at it's finest:D

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

Great post, offer and advice! Also, don't forget to anticipate warm weather conditions at the beginning of the season. If you have a chest or extra freezer, buy several bags of ice, throw them in there and forget about them. You can use themto help cool down the deer before you can get it to butcher if you need to. You can always use the ice to cool down some beers or Cokes for your buddies if you don't need it for a deer.

I started hunting 5 years ago on my own and had no idea how to field dress, so I went to a pro shop and bought a $5 video in the bargin bin that showed me everything. But the Web is full of good links showing you how to do this, as the one in this post illustrates. The important thing as GMAAT states is to figure out what you need to do ahead of time. It still took me almost an hour to field dress that first deer with all my fumbling around. Now I can do it in 5-10 minutes. Good luck and good hunting everyone.

RE: Well I hit one AND found him....NOW what?
 

It's a ton easier to have someone to learn from. But from the teacher's standpoint, it's hard to teach the hardheaded. Try to approach everything with an open mind, even when it seems a little far fetched. When you have the experience, you can always weed though the BS.