Denny

Like the preacher I was taught to get a knife into them asap, Bag up the liver and hart and truck them,unless of course you have a tractorAND make sure the old slop shute is clean. "Get some air in there boy"Also tenderloinsI take out at home ASAP so they don't dry out. Region I guess

alsaqr

i gut the animal where it lays in the woods or field. Carry a container of water in the truck for washing out the cavity.

nkyhunter

i may drag it a distance from the stand but most of the time ASAP

Champlain Islander

I gut them where they lay in the woods. I don't eat the heart or liver so those stay with the gut pile. I take the tenderloins out when I get the deer back home or to camp. When I hang the deer I wash out the cavity with cold clean water. I hang them for 3 to 5 days weather permitting of course and do my own butchering.

TNHagies

I don't have the option of driving up to my deer to load them. I normally have to drag them out a long ways as 4 wheelers aren't allowed on National Forest. Therefore, we've always gutted as soon as the pictures were done taking. So no more than 20-30 min after the kill. That being said, even if I didn't have to drag it more than 40 yards I'd still gut it asap because I just don't like the idea of all that junk laying in there next to the meet after being shot up.

Crazyfarmer

if the temps are above 40's then you better gut asap.. meat will spoil fast

During bow and ML season I wont gut my deer where I kill it since I dont like screwing up the area. Granted foxes and etc will dispose of them, but I dont like the smell getting in my prime hunting spots. I will gut on the spot if its a area I dont stand hunt and have a long drag. But If I can get a ATV to the deer then ill gut somewhere else about 10-15mins later.

the one thing I hate about gutting and then dragging a deer out of the woods is that leaves and everything end up inside the deer which makes for a mess when its time to clean the meator skin the deer.

but to answer the question, gut asap but if its cold out then you dont have to jump right in there. I know ive done some right after the kill and the heart was still beating LOL. But then again ive gutted some the next day since I couldnt find the deer that night and the meat was fine as long as temps were in the 40's or below

inhuntr

I gut it in the woods as soon as I find it. It would be a lot harder of drag with the guts still in it. Besides that there is not anywhere at my house where I could dispose of the guts.

sjsfire

I don't gut mine where I kill it. Take it by truck, tractor, or 4 wheeler out to another area of my buddies farm. Then you can set up on coyotes at the gut pile that night if you want........double the fun

Pygmy

It's mostly a regional thing...In the north and northeast, It's customary to rip the guts out as soon as the critter is shot...I've stood over a deer many a time with my knife in my hand, waiting for it to stop kicking so I can open it up without danger of being kicked.... Most local folks ( I live in western NY) wouldn't think of dragging a deer an inch with the guts in it, and due to the hilly/mountainous terrain, dragging for quite a distance over rough and steep groundis sometimes necessary...

In the south, many folks prefer to take it home or to camp and do the job there...Some of my internet friends in SC take the deer intact to a processor, and let him do all the gutting, skinning and cutting..

coonhuntingal

i gut mine in the woods, right after the kill