Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and still in the early learning stages of hunting. I spent last season in the Wildlife Management Areas here in North Alabama and I will again this season. One question I have been asking and have gotten mixed answers about is whether to field dress the deer in the WMA or wait until you get back to the house/camp. Also, if field dressing inside the WMA, should I leave the guts or bag them and take them out? It seems logical that the sooner the deer can be cleaned out the better. These are simple enough questions but I am having a heck of a time finding a straight answer. Thanks in advance for any comments.

Most times I wait until I can get home,but it's only a thirty minuet drive.

That's about the same for me, 30-40 minutes from home most of the time.

Most of my hunting is done in KY so maybe there is a cultural difference, but nearly everyone I know gut their deer in the field, either where it fell or after a short drag out of the immediate area...

It is entirely natural and the gut pile does not last long, sometimes it is already gone by the next day...

I usually gut in the field but try to get away from everyones hunting area and stands
daddus
Depends where you are i guess

Some places that I've hunted did not allow you to dress game in the field. Most of their reasoning was that it attracted predators. Iffy at best, predators are already there. Others think it scares game away. I have killed evening deer over a mornings gut pile. So that doesn't hold much truth either.
Myself, I never gut deer at all anymore. After skinning it out I get all the meat that I would normally get without skinning. Including the tenderloins and flank meat, the only meat left is ribs which isn't much loss.

Everyone I know just guts it where it lies. Unless its right under their stand.

Gut it where it falls. No way am I hauling an animal anywhere to gut it, certainly not to my house. Gut pile is usually gone in a day or two, critters gotta eat too. And in my experience, it doesn't hurt anything to gut near a stand. I've killed deer within 10yds of a gut pile numerous times, they don't pay any attn to it.

Thanks for the replys. Its good to be able to get some real answers finally.....looking forward to this forum.

Never occurred to me that someone would drag a deer out of the woods with the guts still in it. Not only is getting the guts out of the carcass a good idea, if you open it up, it's going to start cooling faster too. Plus, why drag that extra weight? You gotta take 'em out anyway, might as well do it quick.