I usually volunteer to do it for my buddies. I have one of those knives that has a gut hook, made by Kabar. Makes the job much easier. I don't volunteer to do someones gut shot deer though. Now they are nasty.

I don't gut them either...and I don't leave the tenderloin in...you can get to those by making a small incision straight into the backbone at the shortribs...feel inside until you feel the tenderloin, run your knife blade between the tenderloin and upper ribs, cut the tenderloin at the top, slowly work your fingers down the tenderloin and cut at the bottom...Pull straight out and it comes out in your hand.

I also hang my deer in the barn and bone out, only thing I use a saw for is to cut the front legs off if someone wants a shoulder roast....I bone out the hams, and later seperate the 3 main muscle groups into small roasts, or cut for steaks.

I may be wierd but I have never minded after the shot chores. Well unless gut shot...then YUK...[:'(].

I use a 3.5" drop blade and zipper the hideup to the rib cage, then split the pelvis and release theesophagus, diaphram, connective tissuesand dump them wherethey lay by pulling from the esophagus to anus (leaves a nice clean track inside, less messand full gut pile if done properly). Finally remove the tarsal/scent glands and disgard (this knife is now out of commission until it can be washed). I now tag the animal and the rest ofthe job is completed at home by a light rinse with clean cool water for the inner cavity and skin immediately.

I usually let it hang for 24 hours then debone for the freezer. If to warm of temp I quarter and fridge age it for a couple days before cut and wrapping.

My tip is get the carcass cooling asap, this means field dressing, etc. If you have the luxury of a walk in cooler or meat locker the skin can be either removed asap or left on. If not and the temp is above 40, i'd skin asap and let the entire carcass get cooled then deal with the meat how you choose.

Well i find that there are really only three things you need to cut a deer. A knife that is about 4inches long and has a gut hook, a hatchet, and rope. If your alone tie the two hind legs to trees so the deer is doing the splits. Then take your knife and slice the deer open then take your hatchet to split the centre of the pelvis then use it to cut the brisket of the deer so you can cut the esophagus and the detach the heart and lungs easily.Then pull the heart and lungs out and use your knife or gut hook and run it along one side of the guts cutting and thing that is holding the guts in place. Then flip the deer to the side that the guts have already been unattached from the inside. Then just pull on the guts and just by pulling you should be able to pull the guts out tearing the rest of the tendins holding the guts in and by doing this you avoid chopping the tenderloins all to crap. Hope this helps(fyi the whole pulling the guts out doesnt work on larger game such as moose or elk also most of the time you should be able to cut through the brisket with just your knife but not all the time especially on elk and moose.)

You might want to take a look at HuntFlix's Game Care Section. We have severaltitles on field dressing and butchering on DVD, including Deer Processing 101, from Seneca Creek Productions.



This title, like all of the 550+ titlesin our library, is available aspart of our unique "Unlimited HuntingDVD Rental Program" and is also in stock and available for immediate purchase.

-- FLIX

make a little hole near breast plate, stick your fingers in there and lift up and "unzip" it like a jacket, cut membrane and split pelvis, reach up as far as you can and cut esophagus and give a good pull and heart and "tube" will come right on out. good knife will do it all and just simply dump out. If you hit the stomach, you are going to have a stinky mess, gag reflex will kick in :-) other than that no big deal to me, it is a great way to warm up hands in late season hunt too. heck we argue over who is going to gut one if its cold out.

LOL...I mean guys here in IA
HCH[/align]

g5...look no farther.....i wouldnt say i LOVE to do it....but i dont MIND it in the least and am the guy that when i hear a gunshot from my hunting party i show up with the knife out and ready to go at it...me and the drive leader are the deer gutters...noone else likes it or is fast enough at it....ours aint pretty...and a little messy...but its done quick and painlessly..start between the hind legs...open up the hide up to the breast bone...farther if you want..then do the skin underneath the hide the same way.....cut open diaphram...reach as far up the windpipe as you can go and CAREFULLYslide your knife in and cut it as high as you can....most everything should spill/tear out now....but not the intestines and such...for that you gota cut around the anus and pull that out...and remove the bladder without puncturing it.....then spill it all out...i can drain the blood myself right there by picking up the deer by its front legs..i just grab it and lift it up....most guys cant...most guys cant even drag a deer themselves....when im back at the farm we rinse them out with water from the hose and hang em up....i dont care whats what inside of the deer..the basic priciple is if its in there get it outa there one way or another...theres little tricks and such and everyone got their own method...mines not exzactly scientific....and i usually always forget the bladder..sometimes if i dont feel like it ill leave the anus.....i take it to a butcher so i really dont care and never noticed anything diffrent..my first deer..the guy i was with helped me gut it...took us like an hour.....i never wanted to shoot another deer again....it was like a danged science project...there was no mess...no nothing..we cut off all the glands...genitals anus etc etc....it was CLEAN...but took way to long..after that i knew what needed cut and just started doing it my way...i dont mind blood and guts...part of the end result of hunting.....and my hands are normally FREEZING...nothing warms them better then a warm gut pile....gutting deer really isnt hard though....you can make it hard and time consuming like that one guy did with me...but to me...that deer tasted the same as any other deer......ive took them straight to the butcher...ive waited a week.....glands...no glands...etc...they all taste the same.....to olddddd deer are tough though.... i just dont buy into that"gamey" taste stuff...to each his own......and we all got a diffrent way of getting the guts out....i know a guy that uses and exzacto knife...i know guys that saw pelvic bones...(which will break easy with a decint pocket knife and i do do sometimes..when i feel like it lol)

If I am by myself I don't gut it, I lay it on it's side and start skinning the back to get to the tenderloins and back straps. After that is accomplished, I skin on down to the hind quarters and rump roasts. I try to salvage the front shoulders as much as possible, and leave the carcass for the coyotes in an out of the way area...

If I'm with my buds we make it a party/celebration and get it done with as much camraderie as possible...

Same here...