Field dressing
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 26
Field dressing
As taught by my dad I have always field dressed my deer where they fall and the sooner the better. But if you are hunting from a stand and plann on hunting there again(the same day or even the next day) would the gut pile spook the deer from that area?
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Starlight, Indiana
Posts: 547
RE: Field dressing
I don't think so, I gutted a doe a few years back and pulled her up on a ridge and two hours laters the giant I had been seeing came in, I guess she was in esturs.Yes I screwed this chance of a life time up. Aim where you want you bullet to hit!
#7
RE: Field dressing
This year I got a doe on opening day of archery season. After the shot I waited on stand for like an hour just to make sure i gave her plenty of time to go down. while i was waiting i had a small button buck walk down the same trail the doe took and when he saw/smelled the bloody arrow sticking in the ground he went on full alert! You could just see the body language difference, looked like a coiled spring haha. anyways he walked around the arrow and continued on his path but i would def say he was a little spooked.
If you aren't going to hunt that spot again for a few days I would say go ahead and dress it out right where it falls. Any scent will have disipated by then and coyotes or other scavangers will likely have it cleaned up. If however you plan to hunt that spot later that day or even the next day I would not gut it too close to the stand. Instead I would drag it to an area a little farther away (~100 yards seems plenty far enough) and gut it there.
If you aren't going to hunt that spot again for a few days I would say go ahead and dress it out right where it falls. Any scent will have disipated by then and coyotes or other scavangers will likely have it cleaned up. If however you plan to hunt that spot later that day or even the next day I would not gut it too close to the stand. Instead I would drag it to an area a little farther away (~100 yards seems plenty far enough) and gut it there.
#8
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 451
RE: Field dressing
you can make the choice for yourself, but when i hunt i want no extra disruptions. i always leave the woods or atleast go to a crick to pee, i always remove the deer from the woods before gutting the deer. why would you want to invite extra coyotes to your hunting spot, or freak out some deer that happen to be scared of death, and most are without a doubt afraid of a getting too near a fresh gut pile. the more you hunt, the more you will realize that it is the small mistakes that ruin your chance at a big buck, or even that doe. to me it is exactly the same thing as walking an extra half mile to stay hidden to get to your stand instead of walking streight through the deer to get to your stand.