Quartering a moose with Sawzall

Why do I split the spine and quarter? Well that is how my Dad showed me 50 years ago. After it has hung for a couple of days it is a rigid piece of meat to tie to a backboard to haul out. It worked but today I am not the one carrying the backboard either.
 
Like they say, there is more than one way to skin a cat! Like gutting, I don’t open the belly in the center anymore, I leave the animal on its side and starting at the sternum tip, I follow the rib cage towards the back and then go along towards the hip... never get blood past my wrist and never have to fight to get an animal on its back, it faster and cleaner that way for me anyway!!
 
caver77 said:
I think you'll find the long pruning sawsall blade to work best for you.
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A pruning blade worked best for us. Make sure you have a lithium batteries ( I use Milwaukee Fuel Sawazall) if it is colder than -5C...the other kinds ran our of power before the job was done.
 
Longwalker said:
Why on earth would you split a carcass along the spine into quarters? Is it a requirement of you butcher? It is a much more difficult procedure than is necessary. But I understand that some butchers only want carcasses that look like they came from a commercial abattoir. If that's the case, my comments are not relevant.
I find that home butchered meat is higher quality if I do all the butchering with a knife and do not use a saw on the bones. Bone "sawdust" is the worst thing for creating off flavours in stored game meat. Sharp edges of sawn bones are actually quite hazardous. I have a few scars on my hands from handling sawn or (even worse) quarters split with a hatchet.
So I carry 6 close weave cotton meat bags and a small fine tooth folding saw in the field. Or they are available in my truck. No hoist required. An animal is skinned on the ground, and the top layer taken off before the carcass is flipped over on the open hide and the process repeated. Shoulders are easily removed with a knife. Hind legs too. Use the hand saw to take off the top rib slab, close to the back but not hitting the rib steaks. Repeat on the other side. Then cut the spine crossways between 2nd and 3rd rib stumps. Bag two rib slabs together, each hind leg separately, and each spine section separately. Fronts may be separate or combined into one bag depending on the size of the animal. Each meat bag is small enough to put on a pack frame without getting a hernia or putting your back out. You will have easy to handle pieces, clean meat, no bone shards, and meat still on bone for proper ageing. We've done dozens of animals this way at our camp. It results in better meat and saves effort.
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This doesn't apply to field butchering, but for farm butchering. I have a Wellsaw and Sawzall. The Sawzall is faster, the Wellsaw is straighter, if that makes sense. The reason for splitting carcasses down the spine is for certain cuts of meat. You can't get a t-bone or ribeye if all you're doing is deboning and making roasts,stew,burger,etc. Not saying what you're doing is wrong, just pointing out why splitting a carcass is done.
 
bearkilr said:
This doesn't apply to field butchering, but for farm butchering. I have a Wellsaw and Sawzall. The Sawzall is faster, the Wellsaw is straighter, if that makes sense. The reason for splitting carcasses down the spine is for certain cuts of meat. You can't get a t-bone or ribeye if all you're doing is deboning and making roasts,stew,burger,etc. Not saying what you're doing is wrong, just pointing out why splitting a carcass is done.
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Why split the spine just so you can get a t-bone when you can carve out the back strap and the tenderloin, and then cut them both into steaks as you see fit? No bone marrow or chips smeared over the surface of every steak, not to mention the seriously reduced risk of CWD by not splashing the spinal cord all over everything too.
 
rral22 said:
Why split the spine just so you can get a t-bone when you can carve out the back strap and the tenderloin, and then cut them both into steaks as you see fit? No bone marrow or chips smeared over the surface of every steak, not to mention the seriously reduced risk of CWD by not splashing the spinal cord all over everything too.
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For butchering an animal, splitting down the spine and then splitting the two halves leaves you with 4 manageable pieces which are easy to hang and cool well. You can still debone the meat the way you mention after. I won't get into the CWD thing, all I'll say is that anyone who's worried about it should just stop eating venison.
 
bearkilr said:
For butchering an animal, splitting down the spine and then splitting the two halves leaves you with 4 manageable pieces which are easy to hang and cool well. You can still debone the meat the way you mention after. I won't get into the CWD thing, all I'll say is that anyone who's worried about it should just stop eating venison.
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Oooo.... Good point! Although I am worried about trichinosis too, so maybe pork and bear have to go. And I think about salmonella fairly often too so likely should stop eating chicken, or eggs, or California lettuce. Oh, and don't forget e coli so there goes hamburger and, well ...... water.

Anyone who doesn't respect the possibility of CWD is just as dumb as anyone who doesn't respect the possibility of other food born pathogens. Get real.
 
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