Field Dressing Preference - Do you split them?

[Jeremy K]

Whats with the contamination comments ,are people rolling them out of the woods like a log? 

[grampy]

Step By Step.....for me.

Put on my gut gloves.

Cut around butt.

Make small cut forward of pelvis, just big enough to get two fingers in.

Using the two fingers to guide tip of knife to bottom of ribcage.

Pull out guts, cutting away connecting tissue, pull down bowel and bladder.

Reach in, grab windpipe with left hand.

Cut windpipe, pulling out lungs and heart. Put liver and heart in the gloves.

Done in less than five minutes. Now the work begins, getting it out and hung up.

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Sleep like a baby.........

 

 

[Moho81]

Whats with the contamination comments ,are people rolling them out of the woods like a log? 

For me it’s a lot of swamp water. Really don’t want an open cavity going through knee deep swamp water. Other than the water nothing else stops me from doing it where they fell.


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[TreeGuy]

For me it’s a lot of swamp water. Really don’t want an open cavity going through knee deep swamp water. Other than the water nothing else stops me from doing it where they fell.


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Jeez. Don't you know that swamp water is a secret redneck marinade good for all wild game ?!!

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[cdbing]

First deer I killed I split the pelvis and sternum. That was the 1st and last time.

Last deer this year got semi- processed in the field and taken out in game bags.

Most deer get gutted where they fall, using the long gloves and double latex wrist length gloves. No sternum or pelvis cuts. I put the long gloves on only to reach up into the cavity to cut the windpipe etc. Once gutted, the outer latex gloves go into the long gloves and get turned inside out and packed out. Once carcass is loaded onto truck the 2nd pair of latex get removed and wipes are used to clean up as needed.

When I hunted in GA & FL, the custom was to bring carcass out whole, then hang and process the deer with a half drum underneath to catch the guts, etc. Toting and emptying the half drum was an unpleasant chore though.

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[Moho81]

Jeez. Don't you know that swamp water is a secret redneck marinade good for all wild game ?!!

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I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit


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[Jeremy K]

Ive seen deer at the processor and the hole in the stomach didnt even look big enough to get a basketball through , i couldnt help but wonder how much got left in there.

[ATbuckhunter]

I never do. I cut around the anus and reach in and cut the wind pipe with the chest intact. Nothing against doing it the other ways, its just I was taught it this way, and its what words for me

[Hock3y24]

I used too, but it’s completely unnecessary. I no longer spilt the sternum or pelvis as it just opens up your flank meat and roasts to contamination and air. Sure I get a little more messy and have to carry a long knife for the anus but it’s worth it to me. I gutted 12 deer this year and 10 last year so I’ve figured out what’s easiest and best for the meat. I never cut though bone even to remove the legs and hip, hate the bone dust.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Hock3y24

[Hock3y24]

4 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Whats with the contamination comments ,are people rolling them out of the woods like a log? 

Once you cut through and expose the meat to air anything is possible. Especially when it’s above freezing and there are still bugs flying around. 

[nyslowhand]

1 hour ago, Jeremy K said:

Ive seen deer at the processor and the hole in the stomach didnt even look big enough to get a basketball through , i couldnt help but wonder how much got left in there.

.... and your deer is stacked next to these less than ideally field dressed ones. I was afraid of the answer, so I never asked a processor how long those deer laid stacked up. Not to mention at peak harvest times, those stacks can be .. big!

[Five Seasons]

17 hours ago, NYBowhunter said:

I have never used gloves , to me they just get in the way. I have a stream and just wash up after I’m done. I don’t break the ribs or rear end, I just reach up (long arms) and cut the throat and pull out the heart. Depending on the time, usually if it’s dark out I’ll just gut  the deer back at camp, if early enough just gut  them where they lay.

they are clumsy I agree. I'm not sure I've ever made it through a deer without still getting some blood on my hands somehow, but they do make cleanup a lot easier and are super cheap and easy enough to carry. I'm ok with my manliness lol. The added bonus for me is that they make a good bag to store liver and heart for transport on the way out. 

[Jeremy K]

10 hours ago, nyslowhand said:

.... and your deer is stacked next to these less than ideally field dressed ones. I was afraid of the answer, so I never asked a processor how long those deer laid stacked up. Not to mention at peak harvest times, those stacks can be .. big!

I hear ya , it's one of my goals to be set up to properly process a deer in the future.

[Five Seasons]

12 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Ive seen deer at the processor and the hole in the stomach didnt even look big enough to get a basketball through , i couldnt help but wonder how much got left in there.

I'll add that when we get the deer hung up, we always take time in the garage with a headlamp and a few beers to trim up any extra crud left behind and access areas that were harder in the field. Pull out the tenderloins and drink a few more beers. When we used to bring our deer to a processor he always said our were some of the cleanest and you wouldn't believe what some guys left behind, the worst and most common the gal bladder... sometimes punctured!

[turkeyfeathers]

12 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

I never do. I cut around the anus and reach in and cut the wind pipe with the chest intact. Nothing against doing it the other ways, its just I was taught it this way, and its what words for me

Wait wait . How long of arms do you have to cut out that anus and then reach in to cut the windpipe ? 

[ATbuckhunter]

3 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

Wait wait . How long of arms do you have to cut out that anus and then reach in to cut the windpipe ? 

I guess long enogh? I reach up to the base of the neck and chest and pull out the trachea 

[Five Seasons]

2 minutes ago, ATbuckhunter said:

I guess long enogh? I reach up to the base of the neck and chest and pull out the trachea 

your post implies you reach up through the butt to the wind pipe. I got a good laugh.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Belo

[ATbuckhunter]

Just now, Belo said:

your post implies you reach up through the butt to the wind pipe. I got a good laugh.

Didnt even realize that haha

[Culvercreek hunt club]

5 minutes ago, Belo said:

your post implies you reach up through the butt to the wind pipe. I got a good laugh.

Yeah, kinda made me wince reading it...lol

[NYBowhunter]

43 minutes ago, Belo said:

they are clumsy I agree. I'm not sure I've ever made it through a deer without still getting some blood on my hands somehow, but they do make cleanup a lot easier and are super cheap and easy enough to carry. I'm ok with my manliness lol. The added bonus for me is that they make a good bag to store liver and heart for transport on the way out. 

Yeah I guess, but for some reason I just hate wearing any glove even when working on things outside in the cold. To me the gloves  just get in the way.  I always have a plastic shopping bag in my backpack to hold the liver and heart.

[fasteddie]

I never cut the pelvic bone or cut very far into the breast plate . I wear the surgical gloves . I tried the arm length gloves and they tore so I stick with what works . I use the Butt Out Tool and carry some small zip ties . My sons do the same and that works well . I am very careful reaching in to cut the wind pipe as I cut a finger many years ago in freezing weather . I usually have 2 or 3 plastic bags to put the gloves in after the work is done . The deer doesn't get moved any further until it gets put on the sled . The bag with the gloves gets tossed in the open cavity so it doesn't get lost . Do whatever works for you . 

I usually drag a downed deer off to the side of a trail if that's where it dropped . The guts , etc are usually consumed by fox or yotes within a couple days . 

 

[dbHunterNY]

18 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Whats with the contamination comments ,are people rolling them out of the woods like a log? 

speaking for me i rarely shoot a deer and can drive right up to it unless it's during rifle season at the farm. we really don't have much for flat ground out this way either. if i crest a hill i'm letting that thing slide or roll down it however it will within reason as i'm usually beat by the time i've dragged it to the top. when i drag up and down hills through leaves and forest floor duff on the ground that all tends to come into contact with where the cavity was opened up. also processing my own there's a lot of brisket meat at the bottom of the chest leading up into the neck. when you cut up through this you get loss from the drag out or getting dried up from hanging same if you cut up through the neck too early in the process to remove all the wind pipe and esophagus.

[dbHunterNY]

never clarified but most of the time i use baler twine from the farm to tie off the ahole. it rots eventually unlike a plastic zip tie.

[Five Seasons]

another nice thing about the shoulder gloves is that they're bright orange and if your deer dies in unfamiliar territory and you leave to get the quad or cart, they're great for quickly finding that dead deer again

[G-Man]

I reach up and cut esophagus, and I ring the anus /vulva/ penis. ,i do not split pelvis  not cut up past cartilage on sternum,  can gut deer in a min or so this way.. the key to this is a 2.5 in blade preferably  a drop or clip point 

Edited January 23, 2020 by G-Man