Posted: 11/29/2012 8:25:13 PM EDT
|
Hey yall so Im sure youre gettin annoyed with my deer hunting threads lately, but i secured a place to take a doe this holiday antlerless season.
Is field dressing that hard? Is there an easy way to learn? Im a life long hunter but dont know any deer hunters to teach me, im watching you tube videos and it seems alright. Im basically just scared im gonna screw this up and ruin my first deer hunt. Do any meat processing places field dress for you? Can anyone recommend any meat processors in the Norman/OKC/Edmond area? Thanks guys! |
| You're going to have to do it in the field (hence "field") for one main reason....food safety. The faster you get the guts out the faster the meat will cool. Especially here in Oklahoma where the temps are usually way too high to not gut it immediately. Learning from a video isn't ideal but I guess if it's all you have and you really pay attention it would work. I would REALLY try and find someone to go with you that knows how to do it. It's not impossible but there is a learning curve. |
|
Quoted:
You're going to have to do it in the field (hence "field") for one main reason....food safety. The faster you get the guts out the faster the meat will cool. Especially here in Oklahoma where the temps are usually way too high to not gut it immediately. Learning from a video isn't ideal but I guess if it's all you have and you really pay attention it would work. I would REALLY try and find someone to go with you that knows how to do it. It's not impossible but there is a learning curve. Thanks for the reply, Im workin on it but the landowner is kinda spooky about others coming on so I think its just me as of now. I will report back! |
|
I haven't any field dressing pics except the rocket j squirrel processing.
main thing is to keep it clean as possible; don't knick the guts and get shit/piss all through the deer. easiest way is to hang the deer up,(you can do this whole process with the deer laying on the ground too) cut around the butthole not cutting through it; pull it out a bit, tie it off with a piece of string, then cut upward through the abdomen, chest cavity/ribs to the throat, now with a sturdy blade or saw or axe cut through the pelvis being careful not to knick the bladder or guts. now the diaphragm will have to be cut loose from the deer's inner ribs and the esophagus cut through and you can start pulling out the entrails ; (if you got the deer hanging the guts will spill on out when you cut through the abdomen). here's the rocket j processing: it isn't a deer so you won't be skinning it first or cutting off it's head but you get the gist of things to be. 
ETA: look through the deer hunting page in the outdoor forum; iirc somebody did a pictoral of their deer processing; course it might be in the archives now 
|
Im sure theres youtube videos of it. It had been like 7 years since my last deer I shot n dressed out n everything....I had no videos to help me, just knives.....I went to cuttin n guttin n it looked like a murder scene but I got it done n luckily I didn't hit intestins or nothin so it was a bloody mess, but it coulda been worse. 
|
| Get a Butt Out tool. It makes the removal of the anus much easier and cleaner for the meat. Use a gut hook if you can to avoid cutting the stomach or guts while opening the body cavity. Get the guts out and as much blood as possible. We usually take two of us to grab the deer by the front and back legs and hold it open belly down to shake any blood out if we don't have a hose readily available. But hanging a deer head down makes it easier to skin, then drop the guts into the skin to bag up and throw away. It also makes for much less blood in the meat. |
|
There's lots of different little tips and tricks. I lay mine down and cut the belly skin, then insert my gut hook and open them up from top to bottom.
Try really hard not to cut open any guts or ther stuff. I use a saw or small ax to open rib cage and pelvis bone. I reach up and cut the throat and start pulling the insides out going towards the butt. Go slow and easy cutting around the butt area. I either hunt in my yard or family farm which is only 2 miles away so I always bring mine to the house where I have a water hose handy. Good luck. Where will you be hunting? Maybe one of us doesnt live too far away. |
I field dressed my first deer this season. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The doe died on a slight incline so after cutting open her belly I rolled her over so the guts fell out down the incline. Since something was still connected I reached in and put my hand behind the organs and start pulling gently. Once I found whatever tissue was holding things back I cut it. After a couple of cuts things fell right out. There isn't much besides the esophagus, diaphragm, and anus to cut anyway. I didn't open up the ribs so I had to reach up into the chest to cut the esophagus. I would have liked a sleeve length glove at that point but if I don't have one next time I won't mind much. Cutting around the butt was the hardest part. I didn't have a butt-out tool or anything and I wasn't about to shove my finger up a dead doe's ass for a better grip. 
Go to youtube and watch several of the videos on field dressing deer. Then when you're out there things will come back to you and it shouldn't be hard. |
Drop the guts into the skin?  Thats a bad idea if you plan on trying to save the skin. and thats also a helluva lot of weight to drag and hang in a tree, especially if you happen to be by yourself. You'll save 30-ish lbs by guttin the deer before you drag it anywhere.
|
| One of the best (I think) tricks I saw on youtube was to stop at the first convenience store you see and buy a bag or two of ice. Stuff them into the chest/abdomen to help cool down the meat. I had an hour and a half drive back plus a stop for lunch and there was still about 1/3 of the ice left unmelted. |
|
Quoted:
One of the best (I think) tricks I saw on youtube was to stop at the first convenience store you see and buy a bag or two of ice. Stuff them into the chest/abdomen to help cool down the meat. I had an hour and a half drive back plus a stop for lunch and there was still about 1/3 of the ice left unmelted. I hate hunting when its warm and although I did hunt all through black powder season I passed on deer and didnt shot a buck until rifle season on one of the cold mornings we had. I dont move very fast to begin with and I sure dont want the warm weather pushing me to go faster. That ice does the trick though and you really have to gut them quick when its warm. Maybe some time Oklahoma will see real winters again. |
|
Quoted:
Drop the guts into the skin? Thats a bad idea if you plan on trying to save the skin. and thats also a helluva lot of weight to drag and hang in a tree, especially if you happen to be by yourself. You'll save 30-ish lbs by guttin the deer before you drag it anywhere.Drag a deer? 
Only poachers and truck stop queens do that. 
Real hunters drop them where you back the truck up to them, then roll them onto the tommy gate to get them into them into the truck. Usually we have the deer hanging within 30 minutes of dropping them. 
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Drop the guts into the skin? Thats a bad idea if you plan on trying to save the skin. and thats also a helluva lot of weight to drag and hang in a tree, especially if you happen to be by yourself. You'll save 30-ish lbs by guttin the deer before you drag it anywhere.Drag a deer?
Only poachers and truck stop queens do that.
Real hunters drop them where you back the truck up to them, then roll them onto the tommy gate to get them into them into the truck. Usually we have the deer hanging within 30 minutes of dropping them. that's easy to do when you shoot them right next to the road like your dad does 
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Drop the guts into the skin? Thats a bad idea if you plan on trying to save the skin. and thats also a helluva lot of weight to drag and hang in a tree, especially if you happen to be by yourself. You'll save 30-ish lbs by guttin the deer before you drag it anywhere.Drag a deer?
Only poachers and truck stop queens do that.
Real hunters drop them where you back the truck up to them, then roll them onto the tommy gate to get them into them into the truck. Usually we have the deer hanging within 30 minutes of dropping them. that's easy to do when you shoot them right next to the road like your dad does
Hell, he's so good he gets them to jump up in the back of the truck before he shoots them. They're all standing beside the road waiting for him to come by.
Speaking of gutting deer, when do you want him to bring over that bottle of scotch you guys are going to drink on your deer stand/front porch?
|
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Drop the guts into the skin? Thats a bad idea if you plan on trying to save the skin. and thats also a helluva lot of weight to drag and hang in a tree, especially if you happen to be by yourself. You'll save 30-ish lbs by guttin the deer before you drag it anywhere.Drag a deer?
Only poachers and truck stop queens do that.
Real hunters drop them where you back the truck up to them, then roll them onto the tommy gate to get them into them into the truck. Usually we have the deer hanging within 30 minutes of dropping them. that's easy to do when you shoot them right next to the road like your dad does
Hell, he's so good he gets them to jump up in the back of the truck before he shoots them. They're all standing beside the road waiting for him to come by.
Speaking of gutting deer, when do you want him to bring over that bottle of scotch you guys are going to drink on your deer stand/front porch?
hell anytime he's out in the woods; shoot a deer and leave the booze on the porch; I'll be home sooner or later. |
|
A couple of other questions.
Since its antlerless season I will obviously be targeting a doe. 1. Do I need any scents like urine or estrus or deer drags? 2. Any particular calls that attract does? Or should I just shut up and be still? 3. What time are the deer usually movin this time of year? 4. What kind of scent blocker or covers should i use? (detergent, soap and shampoo, spray)? Any other tips or pointers? Thanks fellas! OK HTF is definitely the best! |
| Deer will move from sun up to sun down.....sometimes more in the morning n in the late afternoon. It just depends on the deer, my old man has killed plenty in the middle of the day. Shut up n sit still in a place where theres rubs and scrapes....ull be in a good place there. I used a scent killer spray and a pine spray on my clothes before I headed to the woods. Once in my blind I sprayed more scent killer and pine scent....then around 07:30 I killed my deer.....not sayin them things helped, but I had a 20 yard shot on the doe I killed. |
| Take it slow. Take your time, don't be in a big rush. Be prepared for it really stink, depending on where you hit the deer, you may gag at the smell. I've done probably a dozen or so deer, and my deer look like a surgeon dressed them, I've seen some that looked absolutely horrible, but the job was done none the less. I learned from a VHS video, it' not that difficult, don't make it out to be a bigger deal than it really is. You'll do fine. |
|
I stopped field dressing my deer this year. Look up the no gutting method on youtube. Basically, you skin what you need and quarter it and never touch the gut cavity. You get all the meat, non is wasted. I have just done it twice, but I no longer have to bring the mess home. My dog tends to find the leggs for months after and bring them home.
|
| Here's something that hasn't been stressed enough....make sure you have a good knife with a very sharp blade. Your average "sharp" knife isn't going to work very well. You need something with a quality blade that will take an edge and hold it. If you don't have a way to sharpen as you go bring two super sharp good knives. I have a Buck Vanguard with a gut hook that I keep specifically for skinning. It is never used for anything, not even cutting string, so I know when I need it that it's going to be ready. If you don't have a really good skinning knife get one. |
|
Quoted:
Here's something that hasn't been stressed enough....make sure you have a good knife with a very sharp blade. Your average "sharp" knife isn't going to work very well. You need something with a quality blade that will take an edge and hold it. If you don't have a way to sharpen as you go bring two super sharp good knives. I have a Buck Vanguard with a gut hook that I keep specifically for skinning. It is never used for anything, not even cutting string, so I know when I need it that it's going to be ready. If you don't have a really good skinning knife get one. I would also suggest a fixed blade knife. I had a decent folder, but cleaning that thing was a *****!
|
|
Quoted:
I stopped field dressing my deer this year. Look up the no gutting method on youtube. Basically, you skin what you need and quarter it and never touch the gut cavity. You get all the meat, non is wasted. I have just done it twice, but I no longer have to bring the mess home. My dog tends to find the leggs for months after and bring them home. So how do you remove the tender loins, (Not talking about the blackstraps.)without gutting the deer. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
I stopped field dressing my deer this year. Look up the no gutting method on youtube. Basically, you skin what you need and quarter it and never touch the gut cavity. You get all the meat, non is wasted. I have just done it twice, but I no longer have to bring the mess home. My dog tends to find the leggs for months after and bring them home. So how do you remove the tender loins, (Not talking about the blackstraps.)without gutting the deer. If your backstrap is black you better toss it lol. J/K.....you're going to open a can of worms with that question. I suspect many hunters never even remove the tenderloins. Most people I've known consider the backstrap the tenderloin even though they aren't. |