GBhunter

i like to and have always been taught to gut it where it falls, unless it is where other deer might see it. it feeds the animals like some people said and it is much easier to get o;ut of the woods, but if you hunt near houses or something like that you may want to gut it at your house, put the entrails into a garbage bag and put it into the freezer until garbage day.

JeramyK

I always gut before leaving the field. I' ve yet to learn how to skin a deer though.

wimp

Interesting, I' ve never heard of skinning before gutting.

I gut it where it falls and skin it when I get home, unless its really cold I' ll let it hang with hide on until I' m ready to butcher it.

timbercruiser

Most of the time we carry the whole deer to the shed/cooler and have him hanging in 35 degree air within the hour. We skin first at the cooler.

txbowjunkie

I field dress it where it lays and skin/quarter when I get it to camp. It' s usually pretty warm where I hunt until very late in the season. Meat will go bad if I let it sit to long.

I also agree that it makes that drag alot easier.

buc617

We go fetch our deer (always in the evening) with the 4 wheelers, gut em on the high field, so we don' t walk or hunt near the piles. We hang the deer w/ the skin on for as long as possible - weather permitting.

WThunter

If the entrails are damaged I will field dress them. If not I take them home and skin first and gut second if the weather is cool. Bacteria is already in the body of the deer when it is alive. The lining of the entrails is a barrier. When you start cutting you are more likely going to expose the meat to the bacteria. Bacteria is everywhere. Opening up the body cavity makes it easier to expose the meat than waiting until you get to a clean area with water. I find the meat taste better when I get the skin totally away from the deer before opening it up. The skin is full of musk scent and so forth. I hang the deer by their head and the entrails will fail out easily with a few slices of a knife.

Coastie

I guess you really do learn something new every day. I' m 56 years old and have been around hunters and hunting my entire life. I have never before heard of anybody skinng a deer before gutting it let alone carrying it home to do the gutting. Each to his own I guess.

OregunHntr

Gut it where you dropped him or her. Waiting until you get it hung up to skin it will keep alot of the dirt off of the meat. I have found it' s easier to skin it when
the meat is still a little warm. I prefer to skin it as soon as I get it hung up.