Do you split the pelvic bone on a deer when gutting?

Cut the bunger and or baby maker loose. Open the belly, cut the diaphragm around, reach up and cut the windpipe off, grab it and pull everything out at once. If it takes you more that 5 minutes to gut a deer there's something wrong with what you're doin.
 
billdick said:
I always hang the deer up and tube skin it and debone right there and leave the guts in but shift them to the side to take out the tenderloins. A whole deer easily fits in the spare fridge to age a little. No need for a saw or splitting things, our ancestors never did.
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We got onto this years ago and I really prefer it. We hang the deer in a shed, out of the wind, and take our time removing the meat.
 
People can split the pelvis on their deer if they want. Doesn't bother me. I have a folding Gerber saw in my pack. I've never used it.

I like to keep the abdominal opening as small as possible to avoid getting debris into the body cavity on the drag out. So I just open it from the brisket point to the genitals on a buck or udder on a doe, and extract the guts that way. No big deal cutting around the anus and puling the lower intestine out.

I have bits of twine or string along and sometimes punch small holes in the edges of the opening and sew the hide buck together to keep the insides clean after dressing out too. I had to do that last year because after dragging the deer out of the bush I had to roll him down a pretty step mucky gravelly bank down to the road. Woulda made a mess of the insides if I'd had that wide open.
 
Butcherbill said:
Yes, I split the ribcage and the pelvis with a small saw so it takes a minute or two. The WT doe I just field dressed took 17 min from first cut to guts out with cutting the ribs and pelvis, no mess and no hassle. I cut both sides of the pelvis with the saw and remove the center section, no sharp bone shards to nick the bladder or poop chute as I peel it out.
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Done it many different ways since 1st. in 1971. Just like Butcherbill , I now do cut the ribs & pelvis with my Wyoming Saw. I like to see just what I am doing all the time with cutting instruments.
 
9 out of 10 times, I simply do gutless and bone the animal out where it fell.
Generally because where I hunt I have to pack frame or calf sled it out, there are no quad trails, just bush.

If I do gut a deer, I first open the rib cage up to just before the lining that separates the lungs from the stomach, wedge the chest open with a stick and flip the deer over to drain the chest cavity out of blood so it doesn’t pour into the gut area and make a big mess. I do not do that with moose though, animals too big to toss around.

And, if gutting, I also pull out my little folding saw and cut through the pelvis, only takes a minute, and I snap the legs open, cut and get hold of windpipe and pull the entire contents out in one shot with a bit of cutting here and there.
 
I usually quickly split the pelvis with my Wyoming Saw. Works for me but may give the gutless method a try to change it up.
 
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