graphic - dressing small game with big knives

[Hard Knocks]

I wanted to try to put together pictures of a few how-to's as the chance arises. This thread is going to start off with pictures of cleaning a grouse for table fare with a Busse NMFSH. I'm not necessarily a big (larger blade) knife guy, preferring blades in the 3.5" to 4" range for general use and belt carry. But the big blades have their uses, too, and I like to try to be proficient with either.

If you would like to contribute your own pictures, tips, etc., please feel free to post them up. Somewhere on this forum I've seen a guy prep a rabbit with a large Busse, and he did a fine job. Stuff like that would be most welcome :thumbup:

If you would prefer not to see the images this thread will contain, please go no farther.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Busse NMFSH vs blue grouse, skinned, not plucked.

Make initial cut just through the skin of the lower belly. Don't get into the meat, just break the skin.

Lay your knife aside for a minute. A lot of small game can be skinned readily by hand after the initial cut. Pull the skin and feathers away from the breast, up the neck, and down both legs and upper portion of wings and back. This is a good time to use your fingers to peel the the craw up towards the head so that it will be out of the way when you remove the head. Do so somewhat carefully, you can break it. If you want to see what your bird is feeding on, pull the craw off and open it up away from the rest of the cleaning.

After you've got the bulk of the skin off, slice the area above the tail, but do not remove just yet.

 

[Hard Knocks]

Find something suitable to do some light chopping against in order to remove the wings and feet. This old stump worked well enough.

Repeat for the neck. The NMFSH sailed through these cuts, as well it should have with its heft.

Make a slice, gingerly, across the meat just below the breast, and bend the legs away from the breast to expose the insides. Take it easy here, this is where you'll cut something you would rather not.

Pull the guts out and down toward the tail and away.

Finish off with a couple cuts to pull the last of the intestinal tract away.

Clean off any remaining feathers and you've got yourself an edible bird, set here in the creek to chill out.

This bird was going straight to the pan, but if you've got to transport, check your local regulations. Fish & Game here requires transported birds to have at least one fully-feathered wing intact. Hope this proves helpful to some, cheers.

 

[Sosa]

Nice. It would be great to see a pic of the finished table fare.

 

[Texas_toothpick]

A perfect walk through. Thanks HK

 

[fast14riot]

Good job with a less than ideal tool. Normally I carry at least a slip joint which would make short work of these, but I get the point of your post. Well done.

-Xander

 

[GingivitisKahn]

It's not my first choice of tools (usually, I do this just to make sure I still can) but I've cleaned quite a few squirrels and panfish and so forth with my Becker BK9...

 

[Hard Knocks]

Nice. It would be great to see a pic of the finished table fare.

Thanks man. Sorry, no pics of the bird in the pan, and it is long gone now. I'll try to remember that for the future though :thumbup:

A perfect walk through. Thanks HK

Thanks bud. Good to see you here.

Good job with a less than ideal tool. Normally I carry at least a slip joint which would make short work of these, but I get the point of your post. Well done.

-Xander

Hi Xander,

Yep, you understand what I'm trying to show I think, as I had a SAK clipped in the pocket and a 4" GSO on my belt. I will say this.......the big blade made short work of the job. I didn't have to break any joints that are sometimes stubborn with a small slip joint, everything cleaved readily. My father started in on a ruffed grouse the same time I started on the blue. He was using the Schrade slip joint he always carries, and even though I was very slow, what with the picture-taking, you can see the ruffed is done just in the next to last picture. If it had been head-to-head, the blue would have been done much sooner, even though it was the bigger bird. I'm not necessarily stumping for big blades, I've done many birds with the SAK. I'm just trying to show how it's a bit different, not necessarily better or worse, to accomplish some tasks that aren't normally associated with a big blade, and I figured most of us would already be familiar with the process using smaller blades.

Thanks for your comments, and good luck on that upcoming deer hunt I've seen you post about :thumbup:

Dave

It's not my first choice of tools (usually, I do this just to make sure I still can) but I've cleaned quite a few squirrels and panfish and so forth with my Becker BK9...

Very nice. That must be a pretty big fox squirrel, or at least the 9 doesn't look as big as it would compared to one of our squirrels! Did you take it with the revolver?

 

[slight]

As my interest has moved to larger knives, I have often wondered how well they would work at hunting tasks. The biggest knife I have ever used is an endura on a deer. Though I did use a saw to remove the head.

 

[Hard Knocks]

As my interest has moved to larger knives, I have often wondered how well they would work at hunting tasks. The biggest knife I have ever used is an endura on a deer. Though I did use a saw to remove the head.

I've got a fix for that you might be interested in. I've got the pics taken, so when I can get the time, I intend to post up another how-to for taking apart larger animals into quarters and such with only a knife, no saw, by knowing where to hit the joints. The pictures I've got taken show it done on a bear, but removal of the head will be the same. I'll try to get that done before deer season. Cheers.

 

[22-rimfire]

Of course you can use a large knife to clean animals from squirrels to moose to bear. But I think it's easier in the long run with a smaller blade. I would use a larger blade for meat processing.

 

[Aias]

Excellent thread--thanks for sharing!

 

[the possum]

If the knife is big enough, ya don't have to search for joints in the neck. Just chop it off. I find a big knife handy for the same reason on smaller game, as illustrated. Cutting the feet off squirrels, or the wings off birds, can be a chore with a folder since ya have to find just the right spot for your blade to slip through the joint. But a chopper will handle the task in half a second. For dressing small game, it can depend on the method you use. When I skin squirrels, I just make a slit across their back so I can pull the fur from both directions. Doing it this way only requires a sharp edge; the blade length doesn't really matter.

 

[slight]

I've got a fix for that you might be interested in. I've got the pics taken, so when I can get the time, I intend to post up another how-to for taking apart larger animals into quarters and such with only a knife, no saw, by knowing where to hit the joints. The pictures I've got taken show it done on a bear, but removal of the head will be the same. I'll try to get that done before deer season. Cheers.

I would love to see it. I am always interested in learning to be a better hunter. Thank you.

 

[Hard Knocks]

If the knife is big enough, ya don't have to search for joints in the neck. Just chop it off. I find a big knife handy for the same reason on smaller game, as illustrated. Cutting the feet off squirrels, or the wings off birds, can be a chore with a folder since ya have to find just the right spot for your blade to slip through the joint. But a chopper will handle the task in half a second. For dressing small game, it can depend on the method you use. When I skin squirrels, I just make a slit across their back so I can pull the fur from both directions. Doing it this way only requires a sharp edge; the blade length doesn't really matter.

That's the way I like to do rabbits (we don't have squirrels to hunt here). Make the initial cut in the middle of the back and pull-skin. And then don't slit the belly to remove the innards, but kinda fillet it away while pulling up. I'd like to get some pictures of this, as a pic here will indeed be worth a thousand words, I think, to avoid confusion. Do you have any pictures of doing this on squirrels? That's a critter I will be unable to use for an example.

I would love to see it. I am always interested in learning to be a better hunter. Thank you.

I'll do my best to get that done :thumbup:

 

[Bugs57]

I used to use a stick with a branch angled backwards to remove the innards from game birds. Just break off the angled branch so it is about a 1/4 inch long basically you are making a gut hook. Shove it up their anus twist it around and pull out the guts.

 

[GingivitisKahn]

Very nice. That must be a pretty big fox squirrel, or at least the 9 doesn't look as big as it would compared to one of our squirrels! Did you take it with the revolver?

We have some big ones. I've been trying to take one off and on with that NAA mini for a couple of seasons and finally got that guy last year.

 

[Hard Knocks]

We have some big ones. I've been trying to take one off and on with that NAA mini for a couple of seasons and finally got that guy last year.

Very cool and not easily done, I'm sure!

 

[Hard Knocks]

I would love to see it. I am always interested in learning to be a better hunter. Thank you.

Got it started, link here.

 

[timw1]

For birds, I just turn them on their back, step on both wings close to the body, then pull legs straight up and turn them inside out!