Field Dressing Course

[MD]

My wife would kill me if I didn't bring every bone home. She lives for her bone-based soups

I have often skinned deer out on the ground like in Video # 2, using the hide or a nice grassy or mossy spot to do it cleanly but I do not leave any bones. I skin out one side, take the front leg/shoulder off, then turn it over and repeat. I cut the head off, separate the chest/neck piece from the rear back and hindquarters, and bag each one of these sections in my meat bags. I'll either do this right on the spot or if it is close enough to the truck, drag the beast as close to the truck as possible. I have done a buck on a tarp on a gravel road right beside the truck.

I often have to make several trips back and forth for all the pieces, but I am convinced that I get more meal recovery out of an animal than most people. I utilize all the ribs for example, cutting them into strips for roasting.

Go for the boneless method if that is your choice, fine, it's just not for me.

Here are a few pics of part of the process. The first photo shows one side skinned with the one shoulder removed

The second photo shows the fully skinned carcass without shoulders before I remove the head at the cervical vertebrae and separate the ribs from the back at the last rib.

 

[saskgunowner101]

You will accidentally knick the stomach and spill the bladder.

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I don't agree with this at all actually. In this age of internet videos and information, we can strive to teach new hunters to take their time field dressing, do it right, and 2-3 deer down the road, worry about being more efficient. Whether you crack the pelvic bone and work with a careful eye and patience of a surgeon, or core the butt out until the inner plumbing loosens, getting piss and turds all over can be avoided.

 

[Potashminer]

Some years ago, when looking at local butcher shops about getting sausage done (used to have choices for that at one time!!!), one shop had multiple deer hanging - brought in to be "done" - bladder still in one. Bits of lung and pieces of entails in another. Butcher said all was going into same mix with his big mechanical de-boner and mixer machines and that is what everyone got as "deer sausage" - guts, hair and all. We did not use that place, but could see his point, I guess - no one going to pay him to do the clean up that should have been done by the "hunter" in the first place. Seeing and hearing that was prime motivator for us to gear up to do our own butchering and sausage making - to the extent for several years we would also butcher hogs at a friend's farm, for sausage mix - was all on us how everything was handled - from the killing shot to the smoking to the feed that the pigs got - was all on us what was the result. And some of our first efforts were pretty grim!!!

 

[MiG25]

If possible I prefer to bring deer home whole where I can hang them, skin, then gut. Beats dressing them bent over and keeps them cleaner. I live close to where I hunt and a deer isn't going to spoil in 1-3 hours.

 

[BigUglyMan]

Potashminer, its funny you mention that you like to use a smaller knife when skinning or gutting. I'm with you there! After trying a few knives I had laying around turn you my favorite size is a very small knife to use for 95% of field dressing/skinning/deboning

I started with a 6" "buck knife", then just getting smaller until I had my smallest knife and it works perfect with total control

my main knife is a 2.75" fixed blade Gerber (I understand to knife snobs this wouldn't even be used as a paper weight, but it works for me) about 1/16 thick and my backup/knife for bigger things is my folder that lives in my backpack it has a 3.5" blade and about 1/8" thick so I can whack it to split bones or joints

one day soon I plan on spending some money and buying a nice 2-3" fixed blade knife for fishing and hunting.

These ones just got finished and sharpened last night. My cousin has bought a handful of them by now and now his brother and his daughter want one. And I was building these just to have a few in stock!