Some of you guys know that I help my local meat packing guy with deer processing. I've done it for years, and I used to actually enjoy it. Not so much, anymore. Yes, I'm getting older, but we seem to have an abundance of deer killers that don't have a clue on how to properly field dress a deer.

C'mon fellas....the azzhole NEEDS to be removed, along with that little "balloon-looking thingy", filled with liquid. Yes.....I actually heard that today. :rolleyes:

I would gamble to say that everyone here on HH knows how to properly care for their venison...but please,,if you know a buddy or someone new to the sport, please educate them on the proper care of their harvest. I've thrown so much meat away that could have been saved, due to folks not knowing how to care for it.

Rant off...

PS....I used the term "deer killers", because I still believe those who call themselves "hunters" know what the heck they're doing...

Use that stuff to flavor the ground meat.....lol

We charged them for it 10.00 extra most just handed over the money no problem lol

I don't know why is so difficult for some to cut the rear end out... It is easy...

Apple core


Just toss the spincter in with their ground
That fluid filled thingy keeps the tenderloins moist lol

I butcher my own but I have a buddy that has an uncle that literally takes a saw and cuts that pelvic bone completely out and almost takes half of both hindquarters out when he does it. They don't kill many but when they do I quarter them out for them. I told my buddy to never bring another one over he touches I won't do it

Weed also I will say I am not a fan of the butt out tool but we gut smack that pelvic bone and pull the track out and cut out

Weed I also help at a locker and last weekend we got one that still had the heart and lungs in it... You're right, some people are just out there to kill something so they can tell everyone they did. Have no idea what to do with it when they somehow get lucky and do.

I'd starve if I had to eat some of the crap guys drag in to get processed.

Carry on, guys....just venting.

We break the pelvis with an axe and pull the legs back and crack it. Gives you full access to take out the ahole. Its easy and nothing wasted

If only there was something that people carry around religiously that could show them 100's of videos on how to field dress and clean a deer?

Exactly what we do John guess I left the hatchet part out very easy. Weed this is why I never have sausage made cause it's made in big batches and you see what people do to deer

When I fisrt started hunting when it came to the gutting part on any game that we were hunting I was not one to chip in so to speak. But my dad says if you kill it you clean it and you do it right. Being that he worked in the meat conversary at Standard foods (in the day when they cut their own meats)he taught us the proper way of gutting and cleaning of meat. what seemed to be a real chore back then has become second nature.

To me the butchering process is just part of deer hunting. Guys who take all the meat to a processor miss out of the enjoyment you get as you put that last package of venison in the freezer.

And, the most important part is you get to eat "the" deer you shot and not a meat mixture made of several deer that you know nothing of how they gutted or kept until it went to the butcher. h.h.

I never found a need for a butt out tool. Just cut around then pull and trim to remove

I like 'em... but you still got to finish it out.

I've found the trick is really getting in there and feeling around. You can’t be squeamish at all. Get in there elbows deep if you have to, start moving stuff around, anything the moves, gives, stretches or squishes comes out. After the initial incision, I basically only use my knife to cut what is keeping something from coming out. That way you're not hacking around in there and accidentally puncturing or slicing the stomach, bowels, bladder and whatnot. You don’t have to know the anatomy (although you should and it’s not that hard to learn). Just clean it out. From where the esophagus/trachea comes into the chest cavity all the way to the anus, if it’s not meat and bone, it comes out. If you couldn’t run a ¼ inch rod from where the anus used to be to the cut off end of the trachea in the neck without touching anything, you’re not done.

Alternative is the gutless method. None of the entrails are ever touched. Each front quarter comes off with the neck meat from the corresponding side all in one piece. Then the backstraps get fileted out. Then the two hind quarters are removed by fileting around the pelvis, with zero meat lost. And finally the tenderloins are taken, which is the only tricky part, but not bad. So then you have 4 quarters to hang, or take to the butcher. No reason to take backstraps or tenderloins to a butcher. Just eat or freeze those

It may not be for everyone, but the gutless method is common on big game hunts out west, where you have to pack out the carcass on your back. Nothing to prevent using it on whitetails off the back 40 either. The other benefit is that it gets the meat cooled down much faster.

If you have cell signal and telecheck your animal on the spot I guess a guy could quarter it out with this method? Wonder if a hunter would get in trouble if you did this on public land in Indiana.....sure would be handy in certain situations if you were prepared.

Head must stay attached to the deer until you have your CheckIn confirmation number. After that you're free to butcher it as you please. Public land may have their own rules on leaving carcass parts afield, depending on the property.

Interesting.

found this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZZZqSFMSZQ

getting the tenderloins out looks quite simple on video. I might have to try this method... Telecheck makes it easy to get them checked in quick in the field.

Yep, used this method a few times on IN deer, as my hunting buddy prefers it to quartering while hanging. He was shown this by his father in law who used this many times out west, as well as every IN deer...but he has the luxury of his own farm and tractor to use. Never guts an animal.

Also used this method myself in CO this fall with first cow elk harvest.

I am lucky to have been trained by the most ornery old ba$tard on the planet. He taught me well.

I didn't field dress my cousin's deer this year, for only one reason - to see if he actually knew what he was doing. He didn't. I smiled.

Yay me.

I field dressed my first deer in three years... Made a few mistakes, but I got it done and cleaned out thanks to a water hose...