I agree that in the south they let the butcher gut it. First time I hunted NC, my buddies looked at me strangly when they picked me up, covered in blood with two gutted deer there. They had never gutte deer in the field, always did it while butchering them.

And one of my leasemates now (he's 37) is from Texas and said he gutted a deer once when he was 13 on a lark. Everything else goes to the butcher.

For me, it largely depends on where I'm hunting. On my Eastern shore lease, I gut on the spot. I hunt a friends farm in North Central VA and will usually drag the deer out of sight into the woods (and away from trails) when I gut them just because I know his wife likes to hike the property (he has established hiking trails that make great shooting lanes in the woods) and I don't want her to have to see them.

The last deer I shot, I learned my mother in law fell and was in the hospital 10 minutes after shooting it and so I let the butcher handle ye gutting just so I wasn't a mess when I got to the hospital.

Wouldn't have even been a question a couple of decades ago.

Good Hunter Answer:
"Right where it drops! I can't see dragging all of that extra weight out of the woods."

Any experienced hunter, who drags a deer out of the woods, would know that guts mean weight.

Another important reason is to cool the meat as quickly as possible, especially in warmer climates, such as the South. Any cook or chef worth his cooking papers, know spoiled meat does not go good on a dinner table. Of course, some hunters would burn boiling water.

I gut her where she lies or to a near by clear spot

Where I hunt, a gut pile brings predators and disruption to the area. If you want a crack at a willey old buck or doe, don't leave the guts there! Drag it off at least a couple hundred yards. preferably to where you park and gut there. If you can't drag a whole deer that far you need to start a exercise program.

Depends on the time of year. If It's late season and I'm done hunting It's getting gutted where It falls. If It would be earlier In the year and I had another tag It wouldn't get gutted anywhere close to where I do my buck hunting. It's not the scent of the deer guts, It's all the human scent on the ground that would be a problem with a mature buck.