The Best Way To Field Dress & Butcher A Deer
Everyone has their own way, so we are curious to hear how folks dress/butcher a deer.
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Tagged with: Field Dressing Deer
Filed under: Deer Hunting
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Field dressing is the most important part. Try your best to keep it clean,I carry a canteen with water and rinse the inside out,then I take it home to skin it ,as for butcher it meat is a lot like wood try to cut aginst the grain,that macks for the best cuts of meat
This is a real good website ! I love Field-N-Water !
Also keep in mind when dressing/skinning it if you will want to mount the head, you must “cape” the deer out.
Field dressing is not hard just messy and sometimes a lil smelly.You will need a sharp knife, some rope to haul the deer with, and a large light or lantern if you have to dress the deer after dark some plastic bags for heart or liver if you want to keep them.
Lay the deer on its back with hind legs spread.Kneel down at the tail and cut out the penis if buck making the cut of the skin about 4-6″ in diameter and only deep enough to remove the organs (not a deep cut).There is a membrane that separates the skin and the innards, place the first two fingers of your less dominant hand (left hand for right handers) between the skin and that membrane. With the skin slightly raised with the fingers, insert your knife between the two fingers blade facing upward.You want to “cut” the “skin” but not the “membrane”.Run your fingers and knife up the middle of the deer slitting the skin all the way to the sternum (breast bone).When you get to the sternum you are entering the lung cavity.
Cut the sternum up as far as you can.It is not bone but cartilage, but it cuts with difficulty.It is useful at this point to break off a stick about 6″ to 10″ long to spread and hold open the sternum.Reach up in the lung cavity as far as you can and cut off the windpipe.
You will find a number of membranes that attach the innards to the body cavity, each of which must be cut to allow the innards to fall out at the appropriate time. Then cut around the vent(anus) grab the large intestine which attaches to it and pull it into the body cavity.Be sure that it is cut free so that it will fall out with the rest of the innards.
Now you can turn the deer over, and if you have done a good job of cutting the membranes the innards will roll out when the carcass is lifted slightly.Separate the heart and liver from the offal and put them in a”plastic bag”.Your deer is ready to haul out of the woods.NOTE some states game should be tagged as soon as possible!
If you are alone grab an antler and drag or with a doe use rope.Make a large loop with your rope and tie the free end also to the front legs so that you can pull the deer with your chest rather than your hands.”You will find it much easier”.
NOTE some states require deer to be checked in at a local check station with-in 24 hours!
Once the deer is transported to your home or camp hang it up by the head.If you have water, use a hose to clean out the body cavity.You can let it drip dry overnight if the temperature is 50 deg or below.But best if patted dry in warmer weather wet meat can spoil faster. In warm weather it is best to skin the deer, quarter it and get it into a cooler with ice or into a refrigerator immediately!!
Please use care with your sharp knife so as not to injure yourself!
The butchering process is hands on learned process that cant be taught by reading as well as doing it yourself!
1- 3 sharpe knives! one 2 inch blade for skinning one 4 inch blade for cutting sections and one 6 inch blade to cut steaks and cuts wanted!
2-sharpening steel!
3-plastic wrap freezer paper or freezer bags!
4-good cutting board!
5-place to rinse meat and paper towel to pat dry the meat!
These are some things I need I debone all my deer and never use a saw but you may want one if needed.Look at the muscles and cut along the muscle seperations and place each cut on board and the cut up as desired cuts.After doing a few deer you will be able to find the way to butcher for yourself and how you like to cut your game then!!
Be sure to field dress the deer as soon as possible. I like to put a stick inside to prop open the belly when I am done, to allow it to cool off more quickly. Then I take it home, skin it, and wash the inside out with a hose. A hacksaw is useful for cutting off the feet and head, and for cutting through the sternum. If it is cold outside I let the deer hang for 3 or 4 days before processing. If not I put ice in the rib cage to keep it cool and only let it hang for about 2 days. I cut the deer into 4 manageble peices for processing (4 legs, and front and back of body). I put a piece of plywood on my chest freezer to work on, and use my skinning knife to cut with. Most of the better meat I cut into strips for jerky (I like going with the grain for jerky, but others prefer with the grain). I also make some of the good cuts into butterfly chops or roasts. The rest I grind up for hamburger, sausage, or summer sausage.
I won’t go through the whole thing, just throw out a couple useful tips. 1) I use small zip ties or twist ties to tie off the anus, urethra, etc. so that there is no leakage on my meat during the field dressing process. 2) Roll the deer from side to side to expose the diaphragm on both sides for easy cutting. 3) A headlamp is the bomb for field dressing in the dark, and a steel spreader stick form Outdoor Edge is the bomb for holding open the chest cavity for dressing and cooling. 4) If you dress it cleanly, you really won’t need to wash it out unless you punctured something undesirable.
Buthcer with a friend, makes it go a lot faster.
HB
I usually just gut the deer wherever I shot it at. Then I proceed to drag it home and hang it in a barn for more thorough cleaning. Sometimes the deer will hang for a week or more before we actually get around to butchering it. This system has always worked well for me. It is rare that we have any bad tasting meat.