Quick questions before my first deer hunt.

Z

zackstab

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Location
Regina sk
In Quebec on private land incase that matters.

-After the shot, Ive heard wait 20-30 min?
-Skin then gut or gut then skin?
-If gut first--> Do I skin when I get home? (2 hour drive)
-Hang the deer up for skinning and gutting is best right?
-Ive seen people who cut through the chest to gut, some that dont, whats better?
-Best way to transport it in a vehicle?
-How long should I let it hang before butchering it?

Any other things a noob might not think about let me know. I will be with one other person.
 
I usually gut then skin once I get home. I gut them on the ground then hang to skin. When gutting I typically only open as far as the chest, I have opened them all the way to the jaw before, but I find there to be so much more hair on everything after. I usually transport them in the bed of a truck with the skin on, if I have the jeep I roll a tarp out in the back and lay the deer out on it. I have hung deer typically 5-7 days depending on when I get time to butcher it.
I do all of this when close to home. For hunts that are further away like you're going to do, I gut and skin hanging from a tree. Getting the meat cool is very important to keeping it from spoiling. If I have a long ways to go to get home in the early season I butcher in the field, if it is late season and cool enough I just lay a tarp out in the truck box under the topper or tonneau cover and lay the carcass out on it.

Waiting 20-30 minutes after the shot is plenty. Depending on how good the shot is you can wait less, a good shot in the boiler will put them down fast. Usually with my bow I will wait quietly for about 15 minutes, then move up to where I shot and start looking for initial blood to start trailing and then wait a few more minutes before going after it. With a rifle I usually head right up to the shot place and start looking for blood right away, but wait 15-20 minutes for following up.
 
Hopefully the other person has taken deer before, that would help a bunch. 5-10 mins if you're pretty sure you made a good shot, but very important to either take a compass bearing, or memorize a tree or something in the direction the deer was, because when you do start walking up to where you hope it dropped, it may be easy to get a bit confused. If it's not there, now you have to start to track.
Traditional method is to drag the deer to the road, or somewhere nice to work on, then gut, then load into vehicle (2 guys is nice for this part) then bring home, hang up, then skin, then butcher.
Don't hang for gutting, the guts will fall out on your feet.
The crucial thing is to get the heat out of the meat as soon as possible. If it is warm out, skin the animal right after gutting and either put the quarters and other edible meat in game bags to take home, or just put the whole deer into a single game bag and take it home that way. You don't need to hang wild game, they don't have the same enzymes as beef to break down the fat.
My new favorite way is the gutless method, google that if you want.
 
okay shoot the deer then wait 20 minutes unless you see the deer go down and stay down .then once you locate the deer you must tag the animal then roll on to its back and remove the guts split up to the neck and remove the wind pipe .wipe clean with rag or paper towel to get it dryed out .next step is to get it to you car or truck and load it up for the ride home or to butcher .once home you will want to get it hung and skinned if warm out and let the animal or at this point the meat ¨relaxes .then cut or have a butcher cut and wrap .good luck Dutch
 
If you know you made a good shot (double lung) then there is no need to wait. Just go get it

In our group, we gut right away (Cut out the rectum first, gut it up to the ribs, cut the diaphram, cut the throat from inside, pull the whole works out in one piece and the back end will come out with it if you did it right)
Then we skin it right away, in your case I would do that as well because they skin better when hot.
Then we cut the rib cage open and hang them up - in your case you will go home to hang.
You could hang it where you are if possible for a couple days then go home ??
If you are butchering yourself, let it hang 3-4 days in cool weather then cut it up.

Have fun and good luck
 
You have a choice when gutting. Some use a saw to cut the sternum, some like me use a knife and run up the side through the cartalidge and some don't bother and go eblbows deep to cut the widepipe.

Find a mound of earth or log to prop up the deer so everything drains towards the butt. Remember that you are supposed to keep something attached to identify the ###. Tag it when you find it.
If you are going to use a gut hook mind the tip of the knife so you don't puncture the guts.

If you are new to tracking then I strongly suggest you bring trail tape to mark where you came from and where you spot blood so you can find your way back to your stand. This is also good for if the trail goes cold you can go back to your last blood spot and start again.

The idea behind waiting to track after a shot is to let the animal lay down and die. If you hit its vitals but say only hit one lung it could take a bit. If you start pushing bush the animal will just keep pushing itself to get away from you. It needs to be able to feel tired and want to sit in order to bleed out. This will also save on dragging time.

Its always a good idea to bring a compas in the bush and to get a bearing. I'm not skilled with a hunter but even I can do the "in on red, out on black" method of navigating.

I'm sure others here will have more good advice.

Oh. Here's a big one. To resist "buck fever" you need to stay calm.
When that deer comes out infront of you in range your heart WILL be pounding and adrenaline rushing. I had the shakes aftee my first successfull hunt.

Breathe, stay calm and ease that trigger back. Don't jerk it or you could miss and its heartbreaking.

Have fun!
 
My clan does it on the ground on it's back.
Split the skin down from the Neck slash to the pelvis.
Core out the rectum.
Start by slicing through the chest muscles just off to one side of the center ( sternum), exposing the ribs. Standing facing the head with a foot on either side, push your knife in; cutting edge toward the animals head ( the entrails and chest cavity material will be relaxed against the backbone, back from the knife path). Draw back til only the tip and an inch or two is inside, cutting edge resting against the bottom of the ribcage , push down, in & toward the jawline. Should cut through the rib rather easily, continue til you are through the ribcage at the neck. Very important; down, in and away. The femoral artery is in your leg is about 10-12" on either side of your cutting path; you will bleed out in about 45 seconds if you lose control and stick yourself in it.
Now you are good to get the windpipe and drag the whole mess out from top ( neck) to bottom. A few strokes here and there on the way down to free the chest cavity and the entrails ( if you are good the entrails will stay encased in a membrane) but it should come all in one.
My Dad does it this way and he's about 140 lbs soaking wet. Not power; technique. He'll split the pelvis with a sharp knife; a knee on the inside on of either one of the deer's, push down on the bared pelvis dead center with a sharp knife...push the inside of the deer's knee's down to earth by knee dropping on each side simultaneously and pushing down hard with the knife.
Splits the pelvis like an apple. Very cool and much harder to do than you think.
Do yourself a favor and pack a small 1st aid kit and a bottle of single use crazy glue containers. It's freaking awesome at closing cuts.
 
Bigbubba said:
If you know you made a good shot (double lung) then there is no need to wait. Just go get it

In our group, we gut right away (Cut out the rectum first, gut it up to the ribs, cut the diaphram, cut the throat from inside, pull the whole works out in one piece and the back end will come out with it if you did it right)
Then we skin it right away, in your case I would do that as well because they skin better when hot.
Then we cut the rib cage open and hang them up - in your case you will go home to hang.
You could hang it where you are if possible for a couple days then go home ??
If you are butchering yourself, let it hang 3-4 days in cool weather then cut it up.

Have fun and good luck
Click to expand...

This to a T is how we do it as well.

None of my deer have ever required a wait. For the most part they've been bang flops. The rest have been dead by the time I tracked them.
 
Riverboy said:
Hopefully the other person has taken deer before, that would help a bunch. 5-10 mins if you're pretty sure you made a good shot, but very important to either take a compass bearing, or memorize a tree or something in the direction the deer was, because when you do start walking up to where you hope it dropped, it may be easy to get a bit confused. If it's not there, now you have to start to track.
Traditional method is to drag the deer to the road, or somewhere nice to work on, then gut, then load into vehicle (2 guys is nice for this part) then bring home, hang up, then skin, then butcher.
Don't hang for gutting, the guts will fall out on your feet.
The crucial thing is to get the heat out of the meat as soon as possible. If it is warm out, skin the animal right after gutting and either put the quarters and other edible meat in game bags to take home, or just put the whole deer into a single game bag and take it home that way. You don't need to hang wild game, they don't have the same enzymes as beef to break down the fat.
My new favorite way is the gutless method, google that if you want.
Click to expand...

Why do you say I dont need to hang it but others do? Can you explain further why hanging is pointless for wild game? Also, my grandfather was a butcher when he immigrated to Canada, he will be butchering the deer. If I dont need to hang it, and were to skin it in the field, could I just bring it to his house to be butchered immediately?
 
Lots of good advice here so far. If I could add a tip Ive used for years, is that I carry pruning shears with me, it makes it easy to snip branches to get a clear shot from my tree stand, but it also works excellent for cutting the breastbone open when cleaning. Its a lot easier and safer than using a knife. Ive also used them on a calf moose and its cut through, but on anything larger the bone gets to thick.
I gut them where they drop, and skin them as soon as I get home, they skin a lot easier while warm. Do a google search on the golf ball method of skinning.
 
Magellann said:
Lots of good advice here so far. If I could add a tip Ive used for years, is that I carry pruning shears with me, it makes it easy to snip branches to get a clear shot from my tree stand, but it also works excellent for cutting the breastbone open when cleaning. Its a lot easier and safer than using a knife. Ive also used them on a calf moose and its cut through, but on anything larger the bone gets to thick.
I gut them where they drop, and skin them as soon as I get home, they skin a lot easier while warm. Do a google search on the golf ball method of skinning.
Click to expand...

I considered the golf ball method but I live in montreal and everyone here cant stand the sight of something like that but gladly stuff their faces with meat every night...
 
We gut in the field - that's it. Once registered and home, we hang it and cut off the forelegs, split the sternum, open the neck/remove esophagus, and make sure everything is clean. Then we hang it in the cold room, skin on, for at least a week before butchering. Take the tenderloins off after 2 days.

If you hang it with skin off, you are going to lose a layer of exposed meat.
 
If you don't open the chest of the deer, make sure to cut the throat of the deer above the hard lump at the base of it's neck. This way you will have something to pull on to remove the wind pipe. I have eaten a deer that was shot poorly and butchered immediately, it was tough as nails. Never had a problem with deer that have been hung for a few days in cool temps (under 5 degrees or so)
 
Ok so the general consensus is to hang it for a few days for tenderness. I think being my first gutting.. Imm leaning in the direction of cutting the sternum open. I want the deer as clean as possible.

Is it a lot more difficult to remove everything chest closed or should I be able to do it?
 
There are several different methods as you have read here.... i personally don't split the ribcage and go in elbows deep....

Unless i am losing daylight i ALWAYS wait 20 minutes.... unless the deer is dead on the spot....

My suggestion would be to find an illustrated guide online and print out a copy and bring it with you..... once you do one you will never need it again....
 
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