your zip saw breaks in the middle of a pelvis on about the second and a half deer? sorry, couldnt help posting this after seeing the Zip Saw. Gerber handsaw, much better for cutting the pelvis. anyone else have that problem with zip saws?

slayer

I use the gerber saw too and like it alot, works great.

Although I have no experience with the zip saw.

I like using a skill saw. Only problem is draging that darn extention cord throught the woods. jk

What are you using a saw for? Are you cutting your deer up and packing them out of the woods? I'm not being a smart ass, I'm really curious. The only thing I carry is a 4 or 5 inch folding knife.

Paul

No. I use a zip saw or a Gerber folding hand saw to cut the pelvis in half after i gut the deer so the blood drains out of the carcass. it speeds cooling so the deer doesnt spoil. easier to drain all the bone fragments and pieces of lung and heart and blood out of the chest cavity. speeds cooling up and gets all the junk out of there. i figured just about everythign does that. everyone around here does anyway.

slayer

I only carry a folding knife myself. The only time I've ever used a saw was when butchering, and then only 3-5 cuts the most, 3 to quarter and 2 to make spare ribs.

Oh, that's not the way I was taught. I do it very surgically. I trim around the anus, then go to the throat and sever the wind pipe and esophagus. After that I feel for the bottom of the rib cage and make an incision just below the diaphram. Ever so carefully cutting thru each layer at a time. Maybe about a foot or foot and a half long. Just big enough to get my hands in and get the internals out. Then I reach down and pull the anus and colon into the deer and remove the guts and set them aside. I then cut the diaphram, reach up and pull the esophagus down into the cavity and remove the heart and lungs. Every thing comes out as one connected piece for the most part. Then I push the wound back closed and drag the deer out.

If I shoot one during the day, it is most likely being processed by evening. If I shoot one in the evening I will hang it over night and get it done in the morning or next afternoon. Truethfully I don't know what happens to it after I drop it off though. I don't do my own processing.

I was told that how you field dress a deer is very dependant on how the meat will taste. The less it is contaminated by dirt leaves, or the deers body hair, the less gamey it will be. Also the area where you hunt and what the deer eats effects it. Our deer in ohio and lower MI taste a lot like beef because they eat alot of corn and other things beef eat. Go up north and the deer taste different because the have a different diet (Pine needles from what I am told) .

Maybe everything I have been told is a bunch of crap, but I know the deer me and the people I hunt with kill taste very good compared to other venison I have tasted. Not exactly like beef, but pretty close.

I think I remember in hunter safety when I was a kid that they showed field dressing a deer by spliting the pelvis. I didn't really pay attention since I had no intention of hunting deer, or anything else for that matter really. I did pass the test however My step dad wanted to take me squirell hunting and I had to take it to get my small game liscence.

I don't really know how others field dress deer, I've never asked them. I only know how the few people I hunt with do it.

Thanks for answering my question though, and not getting offended or anything.

Paul

I do not cut through the pelvis untill I have it home where I hang it for the night before taking it to processing (depending on weather).

I like Paul try to keep the deer cavity as closed up as possible after field dressing to keep it clean inside. Once I get home I will cut through the pelvis then hang it and at times I will rinse the cavity with cold water if debris get in the cavity from the drag out.

If I know that I will be able to get my deer to processor within a reasonable amount of time, I only open the deer from the pelvic bone to the sternum. I do not saw or cut any bones because the bone grit can get into the meat, and fresh bone grit has the tendency to taint. Smell the sawed bone and you will see what I mean.

However, in some circumstance you may have to part a carcass out to pack it out of the field. I suggest cutting the muscles and tendons to separate jointed parts, and a very fine-toothed saw if sawing bones is necessary.

I hang my deer with head up, or if I process on the ground, which is rare, I lay the deer on an incline with its head upward. I do this to keep the organs and blood from dumping into the chest cavity, which I do not open.

I reach up into the deer, cut everything loose, and let it dump. Once the greater mass is out, I reach up and cut off as much as the esophagus. I then cut loose the anus and sexual organs, and pull the organs out.

Once done, I completely wash the deer down with clean water. I saturate terry-cloth towels and scrub the inside of the deer. I also scrub the hide and remove all blood. Coagulated blood and body fluids are one of the offenders for tainting meat. If I know I am going to have to clean the deer in the field, I carry two 5-gallon containers of fresh water and a pile of towels.

If I will be transporting the deer to where water is available, using a garden hose I blast the interior and exterior until all loose blood and other loose material is cleaned out. I then saturated the exterior of the hide to expedite the cooling, and then prop open the incision to let air get in. A good butcher loves a clean deer and a deer that has not been mauled by improper field processing.

Less handling, cutting, sawing; and the removal of as much blood as it possible makes a huge difference in how the meat will taste. The problem is, many of the processors do not return YOUR deer meat to you. Many often estimate how much poundage of meat you will get out of the deer and end up giving you the meat from other deer that has been mixed in with your deer meat.

These two deer were field-cleaned using only a sharp 4" folding knife. As you can see, not splitting the deer wide open reduces mess and exposure of interior to contaminates

I specifically asked about that with my processor. They said the basic processing like steaks, roasts and chopped meat was from the deer you brought in. If you ordered anything special like hunter sticks, jerky or the like it may not be, do to the time effort and amount that needs to be done. They just weigh the amount they used from your deer and give you back that amount when you pick it up. I usually just get whole backstraps, steaks and burger when I do it, so it 's all mine.

That is a good point to make, and it's something you should ask when you go somewhere.

Paul