Advice for a newbie on field dressing deer

I'm with the crowd who saws or chops (sawing is better) open the breastbone and pelvis, especially the pelvis. The back legs flop open and everything just slides out much more easily. You do have to carry another blade but it's not a big deal. I have a kershaw setup with a skinning blade and a saw you swap onto the same handle in about 5 seconds, very nice. Also I'm not a fan of gut hooks or wyoming knives. Sorry.
 
The first time my partner and I shot a buck all we had for advice was a photocopy out of a magazine on how to clean a deer, there were no computers back then! This is how it went;

Step 1 - stand in awe of actually shooting a buck.

Step 2 - look at photocopy

Step 3 - argue/discuss what you're looking at

Step 4 - make the first cut

Step 5 - repeat all of the above for 2 hours.

I wish I could go back in time and do it all over again, the first deer is the best.
 
Always have a second knife ready to go.
I swear by the "Butt out II".
We hang by the neck, everything falls out nicely.
attach rope to skin behind neck, other end to a vehicle and pull the skin off.
 
A guy I work with is going deer hunting for the first time this year. Aside from asking me all sorts of questions, he has spent a lot of time on You Tube studying all sorts of how to videos. Some real good ones on there. Maybe give that a try.

DF:D
 
The answer to the head up, head down question, is....Yes.

Sideways could work too, but it seems a bit awkward to achieve anything useful, just from considering it.

Cheers
Trev
 
^^^^ It's a good idea to have one of those larger containers of black pepper with you in case it's warm out. Sprinkle the pepper on any exposed meat and it keeps the flies off it and laying their eggs. More so needed back at camp when hanging the animal to drain than right when you field dress
 
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TonyMo said:
^^^^ It's a good idea to have one of those larger containers of black pepper with you in case it's warm out. Sprinkle the pepper on any exposed meat and it keeps the flies off it and laying their eggs. More so needed back at camp when hanging the animal to drain then right when you field dress
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cool, this is the first time I've ever heard of this.
 
i don't use a 'gut-hook' but if you want to, if you make the cut from the top down you will be going with the grain of the hair and it'll be almost like a zipper. this is opposite to the way I use my knife blade tip positioned between the index and middle finger of my off hand and start at the bottom and guide the blade up.
If you try going 'up' the same way with a gut hook, you will be going against the lay of the hair and having to continuously stop and clean the accumulation of fat and hair from the crotch of the gut hook, and it more than likely will take the edge off pretty quick.

a lot of guys laugh, but I wear disposable gloves now, I find that it actually helps grip slippery innards and don't mind that it makes clean up faster either!

there are a few good dvds out there that I wish were available when I started, oh wait, dvds hadn't even been thought of then jeepers!!!

anyway, you'll watch a few videos on youtube and talk to some guys and get out there and as mentioned it'll likely take you a 'tad' longer than everyone else on the planet it would seem, but when you're finished it'll be one the great memories you get to keep and share for the rest of your life!!

all the best and like an old timer once said to me," I'd worry more about finding a deer first and getting it on the ground before frettin' about taking it apart"

TB
 
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