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its not really hard. just roll it over, cut the belly open (from ribcage to pelvis). and pull the guts out. the guts may need a little help to cut them away from the walls. dont forget to cut around the poop shute and pull that out as well. i did it with no instruction really the first time and its not much differnet from gutting a fish

propmahn
save the world, reload your brass

I am new to the sport, and have been reading about field dressing a deer. The book I have says to cut all the way up through the rib cage up to the jaw, removing the windpipe and lungs as well as the organs in the gut. Is it necessary to make the cut through the rib cage, or is the cut from the ribcage down sufficient?

I think the cut down from the ribcage is sufficient, but it does have a downside. As time goes by, and especially if the weather is warm, the esophagus/tracheal area can really serve to spoil your meat quickly. The higher up you can sever both tubes, the better. It's easier to reach up there and sever them nice and high if the rib cage is opened up. A split rib cage also increases air circulation and cools the meat off faster. Some people I know don't cut all the way through the ribcage, but rather just go in (carefully) by the neck and make the cuts there. I don't think they do this on deer that they want head-mounts on, though.

Nate

Rick I have never cut one above the rib cage, I have always cut through the ribcage and then reached up into the neck as high as I can and cut the esophogas/windpipe as high as I can, I have never had the neck meat spoil, but then again I skin them out, cut the head off and then finish trimming out the esophogas/windpipe afterwards.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club

Visiter, this is a link to Whitetaldeer.com, how to fielddress, an affiliate site to huntingnet. http://www.whitetaildeer.com/howto/fd/ or try any of these found on Google search engine http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...+dressing+deer

The best of luck in all your hunting endeavors!!!

God Bless,
Dave

I'm always happy to post my page, hoping it can help someone.

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

At a quick glance Canuck_2 looks like a real decent guide. No sence in repeating it all here. He reminds people of the big mistake of getting into the stomach....

I have always split mine down all the way to the neck, preserving cape first if needed, and then sticking a 2x4 sideways in the rib cage to hold it open while I wash it out and it cools. This is back at the house though, not in the field. In the field I just get the esophagus as far up as I can.

If it is the least bit warm and we can not get to locker, we put a bag of ice in the rib cage.