RE: field dressin
 

I may be a day late and a dollar short on this thread, but this might be useful for somebody:

http://www.angelfire.com/bc/canuck2/gutting.html

RE: field dressin
 

I gut right away and use a schrade old-timer sharpfinger, I'd say the blade is about 2.75". Open up the cavity and skin around the pelvis. Puncture the pelvic bone and split it open, then cut around the anus and pull it back through the inside. Spill out the belly contents and start cutting the heart lungs out. I place the liver and the heart in plastic bags and then throw them back in the chest cavity, drag my deer to the road to a pick up sight and put in the veh. Gutting takes bout 10min and I have never considered it a chore, the work begins when you have to drag/carry the deer to the road. My wife has done 2 or 3 deer of mine and she doesn't mind unless she opens the stomach in the process[:'(].

RE: field dressin
 

Thanks canuck 2, thats real helpful!

RE: field dressin
 

Well guys here is how i was taught after the kill when using a firearm you cut it and bleed it out then you go down the ribcage to the pelvis i use a saw and cut the pelvis in half but be careful you dont want to sever the bladder or the cord for the penis or anus. then you cut around the anus and tie it off. I like to use string from the grocery store, and once you have him all cut out and arround you can just tip him up, this does work better if you are on a little bit of a side hill. and all the guts just spill out. We have to check them in so we dont half or quarter them. Then hike back up to the pickup. and your on your way.

RE: field dressin
 

Sounds like the previous replies have procedures for you to try. I assume since you have questions on field dressing. Below isa cool linkto a video on Butchering your deer. Good Luck.

http://fw.ky.gov/video/deerfield.wmv?lid=1038&NavPath=C151C158

RE: field dressin
 

One more thing to add...I clean our deer within 2-3 hours of killing...Hang them in the barn, skin out...then I debone them...don't use a saw to cut through the pelvis bone, don't have to fool around with the bladder....I can remove both hams if the person receiving the meat wants this done....I just take my knife and follow the backbone and come back around the entire ham....then I find the ball and socket joint.... I then put my knife blade between the ball and and socket and pop it apart, this releases the ham from the body of the deer....cut off the leg bone and you can throw it in the cooler....I prefer to bone out each muscle group of the ham while I'm cleaning...This way you don't have to freeze any bones. Sometimes the receiving party wants a whole ham to smoke, bake or whatever....

Once you learn to either bone out the meat, or remove the ham from the body without a saw, you don't go back....by the time you mess with the bladder, saw through the pelvis and cut the legs off...I'll have the hams deboned and in the cooler....Just another method to try.

RE: field dressin
 

thanks! real helpful!

RE: field dressin
 

Lots of good advice in this post. I field dressed for the first time by myself last year. I bought a video from the local farm supply store that I think I've seen advertised on here before. Was in the clearance bin for $6 bucks. Anyway, very helpful to see close up shots of what you all need to do. And after the first time, it's very simple. Just zip them open and cut everything out. I got two does last year. The first one took me about 45 minutes.:DThe second of which took about half that time because I knew more about what I was doing.

Both of mine were taken by archery and the first at the beginning of October. It was hot (high 70s). What a friend recommended and what I did in that case, was have about a half dozen milk jugs in the freezer full of frozen water. After I dressed the deer and got it home, I stuffed the jugs in the body cavity and covered it with a tarp until I could get it to the processor later in the afternoon. Worked pretty well at cooling the doe down quickly.

RE: field dressin
 

Speaking directly to you question of field dressing.

This is not a messy job at all if done right. All the processing organs are contained in the body bag and all you need to do after opening up the belly is to keep this bag intact. Pull the flanks away as you cut away the bag from the cavity, on each side to the back bone. The bag is held in then at the throat and ass and you can cut the throat high and trim around the anus to pull the pipe out of the pelvis. Dump over the animal and the bag will fall out - all intact and with very little mess or blood besides the shot in the lungs/heart you made. I generally leave theother organs in until I getthe animal out to keep the cleanlike the rest of the meat.

Butchering is even easy than this - if you know the cuts you will get some good steaks - if you don't you willget less meat andtougher on the grill! If you don't knowthebasic cutsof theanimal let someone do it who knows. Butchering is easiest the closer to the kill you get - but you also should hang the animal for some time to drain off the blood from the muscle and for gods sake hang the thing nose up!

RE: field dressin
 

yeah, hope that Dad is in the area and he's in a hurry to go home. :)

Because he can dress a deer out in 1/10th the time it takes me, and 1/4th the time of anyone else I've seen.