Quartering in the field

[the blur]

So I meet this guy who was back at his truck to get his hack saw.  He shot a deer, and it ran down a step hill into a gulley.    No way he could drag it out.  2-3 men couldn't drag it out he said.  Too steep terrain, Deer too big.

He said he was skinning it, and quartering it in the field; and then back packing it out.    HOLY SH!!T.

I'm not sure what I would do.  I wouldn't even know how to skin and quarter a deer.  Never mind back packing 100lbs out.

Sounded like 8 hours worth of work. 

(No ATV's allowed in area)

What would you do ??

[Doewhacker]

Oh no ATV's aren't allowed what do you do????

            ???

haha We drag all of our deer out, I don't think quartering one up is to hard but it would be made harder out in the woods. Its something you may want to learn some day, its a part of hunting.

[Bleitten04]

If it was that difficult to where I didn't think I could drag it out and there was no atv access I would hang the deer from a tree and then skin it and quarter it right there.  Really isn't to bad.  A freshly killed deer also skins much easier then a frozen one that may have been hanging for a few days.   

[arrow nocker]

I just did my first one this season.We would drop them off before.Had no money so i said what the hell.Wasn't hard.I just called my uncle and he gave me an explanation on what to do.Hardest part would be not getting hair on the meat.Next one will go smoother though.Bet it only took them like 15 to 30 mins to quarter it.And two guys could back pack it out in a trip a peice.Hell i don't own a wheeler or a snow mobile and if i were to shoot a deer behind my house with a lott of snow on the ground,i would quarter it up and backpack it.It is a loooong hill from my hunting spot to my house.I use a homade cart when there is no snow on the ground.A sled if there is a little bit of snow.Hadn't got one when there is a lott of snow yet.

Aloot of the state lands i hunt i am way back in the wood.Lots if hills valleys and ridges.Since i did my own i would rather backpack it a mile and a half than drag it like my son and i did with his first 8 pt.Took us 4 hours.We could hardly lift it on to the tailgate we were so pooped.Cart wouldn't been too helpful with the terain we had to drag through.Woulda took us 1 hr.quarterd up.

[Bleitten04]

Ok I got a question now.  What if you are on state land and your maybe a couple miles from your vehicle.  If you skin it and quarter it right there is it ok to leave what you don't take for meat there or do you have to take that with you?  I usually hunt private property and just dispose of it there.  Is there any laws saying what your suppose to do with your non deer meat even if hunting private property?

[the blur]

Whatever remains will be scavenged by coyotes rather quickly.

It just seems like a daunting task to do in the field.

It will certainly make me think about the terrain I hunt in for next season.

[Bleitten04]

Whatever remains will be scavenged by coyotes rather quickly.

It just seems like a daunting task to do in the field.

It will certain make me think about the terrain I hunt in for next season.

yea i know it would be gone but is there any laws saying you can't leave a deer carcass assuming the rest of the deer is tagged properly.  Also if you just hung it from a tree it would be the same as hanging it in a garage or swingset or something. 

[arrow nocker]

you have to bring the head with you so that you can prove its gender.The bones can be left behind.Its posted on the dec website or in the book somewhere.Its almost an assured thing for some one that hunts way back in the aderandacks to have back pack it.

[the blur]

dumb question....

but couldn't you just saw it into 2, or 4 sections, hide and all, and drag it out in piece meal ?  and let the butcher worry about it ......

[Four Season Whitetail's]

We do it on letchworth if they end up to close to the river and to far from a trail.There has also been times we just cut it in halves.We left one down there this year,a nice 9pt,and went to get more help and when we got back down there a black bear had decided that he wanted it more than us.We did not disagree with him in the pitch dark with no guns.Went back down the next day and found he had buried what he didnt eat!!!!

[NYBowhunter]

Its just as easy to skin and quarter a deer on the ground as it were hanging. The only difference with skinning and quartering on the ground, you better have a good back and knees . The 8 point my uncle shot this year went to die in the ditch next to the river on my property and I could not get my ATV down there. I dragged the deer to the other side of the river and started to go up the other side of the ditch, but it was too heavy for just me to handle (my dad and uncle are in their 70's). So what we did was use about 50 plus feet of rope and tied it to my dads truck which was at the top of the ditch on the road and got him out that way.....that was the hardest retrieve yet.

[arrow nocker]

dumb question....

but couldn't you just saw it into 2, or 4 sections, hide and all, and drag it out in piece meal ?  and let the butcher worry about it ......

wouldn't sugest sawing through the hide.Hair would be all in your meat.Go to youtube and watch how to butcher a deer.It is really easy to quarter one up.

[Fletch]

Unless you have a good pack and game bags to carry the quarters out I would not go that route for fear of getting the meat dirty and it would dry out quicker losing more meat. And the pack because carrying 4 quarters is not going to be easy either. If you planned and packed for it it would be no problem it is not hard to skin and quarter a deer. You do need to have proof of sex check on specifics there, but as someone mentioned head most likely as well with a tag. It is also illegal to leave any meat so I am not sure how technical they get but a call to a DEC officer could probably narrow that down.

[Bleitten04]

Alright thanks guys.  I was just wondering because where I normally hunt I can always get an atv to where the deer dies.  However I was thinking of hitting up some state land during ML hoping there wouldn't be many people.  If I end up getting something way back in I really don't feel like dragging the whole thing out LOL!!!

[steve863]

I think one should always take into consideration where one will be hunting.  If one knows that they won't be able to get a deer out of the place or probably have a heart attack getting it out, then one should probably not hunt there.

[Doc]

We have a ravine that is about 200' deep with some very steep shale walls. Basically, unless you are familiar with rock-climbing equipment, you are not going down there. It is further boxed in with two waterfalls. The bottom one is 90' (straight down no way around) the upper one is about 30' - 40' (almost straight up). If a deer goes over the edge, it's just plain gone. I remember shooting a doe that I thought was far enough away from the edge, but didn't realize that when they are on a pretty good slope they can slide real nice on snow even after they are dead. No, she didn't make it to the edge, but only because I was pretty darn quick getting down there. But steve863's comment kind of reminded me of this area and that particular incident. It could have been ugly. However, I do know that even with the best intentions, it is possible to have a deer wind up in an unretrievable location.

[Lawdwaz]

West of the Mississippi, a fair amount of game animals are skinned/quartered or boned out and taken out on a horse or on your back.  Piece-o-cake.

I've done it before, east of the Mississippi on my own deer and helped quarter a bull elk I shot in Colorado that went out on Ernie the mule's back

It really is a cool experience that everyone should do at least once.

[NYBowhunter]

West of the Mississippi, a fair amount of game animals are skinned/quartered or boned out and taken out on a horse or on your back.  Piece-o-cake.

I've done it before, east of the Mississippi on my own deer and helped quarter a bull elk I shot in Colorado that went out on Ernie the mule's back

It really is a cool experience that everyone should do at least once.

My Uncles told me stories of a place in the Catskill region that took place many years ago where a guy would guide you into the mountains for a deer hunt that was all done by horseback. I think it was along rte. 42 if I'm not mistaken???

[Dinsdale]

Whatever remains will be scavenged by coyotes rather quickly.

It just seems like a daunting task to do in the field.

It will certainly make me think about the terrain I hunt in for next season.

Very easy to do, but yes you do need to be prepared for the carry.

You treat it as two sides; not front and rear. Doing one side, then rolling over to the other. Nothing will touch the ground unless you are sloppy.

I debone everything and if given extra time cape it; if for a mount.

In a way its easier because the animal is warm; skin pulls with minimal cutting and easy long strokes of the blade, and the joints and muscle are flexible for manipulating the carcass. Without the bone, even the biggest deer packs well.

I carry a piece of 3 mil plastic sheeting, about 5 ft square to toss cuts on, a few kitchen size trash bags, one knife to work along bone, a Piranta for flesh cuts(skinning and muscle)and caping.

You can do a meat doe in very short order.

[Santamour123]

When we had our camp in the middle of the aderoundacks.  Sometimes were were 10 miles from camp on foot.  At times this would be the only way.  Once you get used to it you can skin and quater a deer in 30 minutes.  As for the remains.  We have cameback 2 days later to nothing!

[erussell]

Also don't forget you need copies of tags for each seperate pc of deer that is quartered. At least thats how I interpret the law. Anyone see anything different?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Also don't forget you need copies of tags for each seperate pc of deer that is quartered. At least thats how I interpret the law. Anyone see anything different?

If you are taking it out in one trip with multiple people one tag would be good...but as soon as the pieces are seperated you would need multiple tags (copies)....must have to get one of those pocket Xerox machines

[bubba]

I know I am in the sticks, but I also know I have enough friends that we would get it out.  Or I would hire an amish guy and his horse and pull it out that way.  I would suspect the guy witht he hacksaw was doig something more of the illegal persuasion.  Or, at the least, I would have offerd to help even if I did have ot walk and carry or drag. 

[Doc]

I have one place where I would have to use ropes to repel down to get to a deer that goes over the edge. It's a ravine that is approximately 200 feet deep with straight vertical shale walls. I had one close call there last year when I dropped a doe in her tracks but she was doing the death kick thing for a bit, all the while sliding closer and closer to the edge on the snow. Fortunately she stopped about 10' from the edge. They love hanging around the edge of that thing. Even quartering is not an option there. There are no options.

[genesee_mohican]

Sometimes deboning in the field is the only good option, unless you want to spend days getting the beast out. I hunt a few miles off the road in pretty steep terrain. I always carry several bags and a knife ready for the task. Here is a good video that shows how to debone on the ground:

**Note that you don't need to 'gut' the deer and you don't need a saw.

With a friend or 2 you can pack the deboned meat, hide and skull out in one shot.

As far as tagging goes:

Per the NYS DEC website under the "Tagging" section: "You do not need to attach the tag to the carcass while it is being  dragged or physically carried from the place of kill to a camp or point  where transportation is available."

http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8305.html)

You do need to tag each bag before loading into your vehicle for transport.  Under the "Transportation" section: " All portions of deer or bear meat being transported by the taker shall  be individually tagged and the tags shall include the name, address, big  game license number, the date that the portions were cut, and the  signature of the taker. "

As far as leaving the ribcage behind....are you supposed to bag the gut pile and take that out too?

G.M.