ELKampMaster

Tending to your animal in the field does NOT necessarily mean taking its guts out. It IS handy to know how to do both the traditional field dressing method AND the Alaskan method so if you pursue something bigger than deer someday (stuff where you CAN' T grab it by the antlers and drag it off --- like elk), then you' ll be all set to quarter it and pack it out either on horses or on your back.

FIELD DRESSING USING THE ALASKAN METHOD:

Using the " Alaskan" method you don' t cut the sternum nor the pelvis, you don' t fool with the tricky business of cutting out the rectum or urinary tracts and you leave the gut pile inside the carcass. It works very " slick" if you aren' t wanting to save the hide. An added benefit is that it reduces one' s contact with the areas that are more prone to harbor CWD and it drastically reduces the " blood bath" factor. This is the first year we have used it and all agreed, that unless we want the hide for something we won' t be going back to the " old way." The transition was easy, but you DO need to have it thought out in advance.

Check out the Alaskan Method at:
http://home.att.net/~sajackson/bugle.html

Notes:
(1) We use a box cutter on the " hide cuts" down the back bone, down the sides, and down and around the legs. We we reverse the blade at " half time" and replace the blade after each animal dressed and quartered -- this gives easy " controlled depth cutting" and replaces our Wyoming Knife and/or Gerber Zip Knives which are designed for gutting and but which " suck" at the hide cutting task elsewhere -- they will do it but they are highly erratic. The box cutter makes the initial set of hide cuts in a flash and gets you down to skinning in a hurry plus they are inexpensive.

(2) Keeping evidence of sex on the meat is trickier with this method than with the traditional. I encourage that you make the cuts around/between/through the testicles or udder that will allow the evidence to stay with the meat well BEFORE you get into the wholesale skinning mode -- that way if you are carving away on the " back side" between hide and flesh and work your way " down in there" you will come to your earlier cut rather than blazing right through there and severing the evidence of sex.

(3) We use a " baby knife" (a little, little folder with a 1.25" blade) for getting out the tenderloins (it IS a snug fit -- so DO be careful of your fingers)!

(4) The Gerber folding saws work great for cutting the legs at the " knees" and for removing the head (at the 4th vertebrae) for CWD testing. It is light, yet sufficiently " stout."

More than one way to skin a " cat"

EKM

fur fish and game

I always field dress my deer right away. It gets gutted not long after shot then that same night I skin it so it can cool for a couple days since it' s cold enough here up north.

skeeter 7MM

Lee, the tenderloin is the teardrop piece of meat inside the body cavity and is the only muscle on animal that is never used, thus why so tender and it' s name sake. The backstrap is the strip loin(located on either side of the spine) not a tender loin, it is the choice meat for steak on both domestic and wild animals but is used daily and there for not as tender as the " Tenderloin" .

It is imperative to cool the meat throughly, wild meat rots very quickly and from the bone out (known as green rot), with this being said I always gut and skin ASAP. I have skinned then gutted which is a good method if you have the means and close to camp(also a good way to do it if you are caping for a shoulder mount), but most times I gut where it drops and then skin the animal down. Since I process all my own game and many friends game a year I can' t honestly see any benefit with not gutting, with an animal hanging I can work the knife by myself with little struggle (the bigger game elk and moose are much tougher and require a few pair of hands). Less weight to deal with both dragging or butchering is welcome IMO.

121553

That didn' t make sense to me either Skeeter, very well in clearing that up, the tenderloins and backstraps are two different pieces of meat, tenderlions on top and backstraps are straps of meat on the inside of the back that can be removed without a knife. My back straps never make it to the freezer, Bobby

fastmopar1k

Hey cloud 9- I belive it is a state law that the deer must be field dressed before removing it from the kill site. or am i thinking of wisconsin?

skeeter 7MM

Bobby, I think you meant to say[8D], the tender loin is the piece of meat on the inside of the body cavity and yes when fresh can be peeled out with just the hands( we refer to it as the tear drop, due to it' s shape[&:]). The backstrap is the pieces of meat running from rear to neck located on either sides of the spine and is where you get the T- bones and strip steaks from. Both are choice meat and never make it to long in my freezer [:-]but are 2 seperate muscles(or piece of meat).

Anybody confussed yet

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eatfishhunt

definitely field dress on the spot,cooling the carcass down is key. And take those dam windpipes out folks !

Winchester 308

Gutting deer is fun to do and should be done in the field. There aren' y many things more manly than wearing a good sized knife on your belt and using it to remove the heart of an animal you' ve killed while it' s still warm

remington_nc

Never have field dressed a deer. Kill em and have em hanging in less than 15 to 20 mins. I get just the hams tenderloin and backstraps and i never gut em. Just make the cut and let the guts fall down enough to get the tenderloins out. Then get the backstraps and then cut the hams off with the knife and i' m out. No mess.....