I think the way to mentioned is a waste of meat, there is a lot more meet on a deer than the Backstraps, Loins and Shoulders. So to me, Its a Waste. But this is a first as far as not gutting them.

I always field dress. Easier to get out of the woods, lets them blled out quicker, and in Minnesota we have to register all deer intact.

Good Luck!

i am at least glad that someone else has experienced it the way i saw it done.[8D]

in virginia ITS THE LAW to field dress a deer before leaving where it was killed

we gut them where they lay and then skin them when we get them back home, which depending on where were hunting can be 20 min. or a day or two, the meat shouldnt spoil even if you dont gut it right away.if it was to do that than why do some bow hunters let them sit over night when they get one towards dusk?

I have never heard of it being illegal to not feild dress a deer. When i used to be in a hunt club we never dressed out deer on site. All deer went back to the house and we cleaned all the deer there.

I just had to go re-read the Virginia hunting regulations and I can' t find anywhere that says it' s required you have to field dress a deer before leaving the place of kill. I couldn' t find any mention of field dressing at all.

Where exactly does it say this?

Takes me about 4 minutes to gut a Canadian WhiteTail.The others can have a smoke and its done about the same time. If I' m going to kill it , I' m going to use the whole thing...BT

Thunderdogg - I think you are right I don' t see anything about it anymore in the regulations book. I thought that years ago it was in the DGIF manual that you had to gut it before removing it from the woods. maybe not though. I would rather gut him in the woods anyhow

I never gut the deer, unless it is a looong drag. I hang it up by the legs and skin it out. You don' t loose anymore meat than field dressing them. You can get the tenderloins. All you have to do is slowly cut the stomach lining (near the legs), and the stomach starts to fall out of the way. You can push the stomach out of the way enough to cut out the tenderloins. It may take a few times to figure it out. Field dressing a deer is too messy.