rockport

If I'm not getting the deer mounted I cut the esophagus from the outside (cut the throat) and I leave the ribs closed so the meat in that area doesn't dry up. The less meat exposed to air the better.

Father Forkhorn

1. Butt out tool is handy.

2. If possible, tie the deer's back legs to a tree or a post. It will keep them spread.

3. a head lamp--if you have to dress at night, it keeps your hands free since you don't have to hold a flashlight.

4. Don't forget your drag rope.

scottycoyote

maybe im doing something wrong, i use the buttout to get the intestines outside the body cavity, then tie it off with string. Then i cut around the anus and free it up and it all slides back up thru the body and comes out with the gut pile.

7.62NATO

No meat is getting exposed unless you are counting the ribs...not much there anyways. Tenderloins The more open the body cavity, the faster the carcass will cool. I actually use a stick to hold the cavity wide open. Never had a problem with anything drying out.

Good tip on cutting trachea from the neck. However, I do keep my neck roasts to that would be exposing meat for those of us who do.

7.62NATO

Dunno...not sure what you could do wrong though. Insert and turn until you feel it catch membrane, turn an additional 1/2 turn and slowly pull out. Anus comes out with the intestines...the little spikes catch it and tear it out. Then tie off and it slides back thru when you pull the rest out.

Tacswa3

Good tips, I like em'

I do use the butt out tool and usually have my head my lamp.

Champlain Islander

Years ago when I was in my 30's I hunted an area of northern Vermont called the Northeast Kingdom. It is all paper company lands and very remote moose type country. I hunted out of a camp and the next camp had a couple of old timers named Bert and Bub. From my recollection they were about the age I am now and had a lifetime of deer hunting knowledge. Bert was a short Frenchman with roots in Quebec and he was the consummate tracker. He taught me a lot about deer hunting the big woods. That roto cram thing, as he called it, that I mentioned was decades before that butt out tool came into use. He taught me how to get rid of all that "nasty stuff" in the deer's butt and I have used it with every deer I have killed since. Cut the circle deeply around the anus then pick a small branched stick from a bush or tree and push it through the body cavity and out the butt with the 2" y type branch inside the body. Just grab the stick outside the butt and twirl it for 4 or 5 turns and then pull it out towards the tail. It all comes out and I don't have to bring anything else in the pack other than a knife and drag rope. I am not trashing the butt out tool because it is pretty cool but that old Frenchman taught me to do the same thing with something that grows on every bush. Kind of a nice heritage he gave to me and I think of him fondly when I do it. Unfortunately both he and Bub are long gone now but the memories are still keeping them alive.

OhioNovice

I carry a hatchet and break the pelvis and ribs cage. Then I just cut a "U" around the anus and pull it out with the intestines. Cutting the rib cage lets you get the upper organs and esophagus out easier.

scottycoyote

yeah thats what i was saying, you said if i needed to cut the anus i was using the butttool wrong, but you still have to make some kind of cut to get it all free so it comes out with the guts, we are on the same page

NEhomer

Step one) Shoot a deer.

I'll get back with the rest after I've had the chance!