Myright, there are several ways to dress out an animal that are effective. There are also several ways that people do year afer year "because thats how Pops taught me," even though it is difficult, slow or wasteful. Here are some tips I have learned for a deer or other larger animal.
You want to get the guts out of the animal without fouling the meat. You really don't want to rupture the gut sack or bladder as this can impart a really nasty flavor to the meat and make the rest of your job MUCH harder than it needs to be.
To reduce the liklihood of that happening, I recommend working from the top down, rather from the bottom up. Here's what I mean:
1) First, attach your tag and place the animal on its back. (Think submissive puppy.) Use logs or rocks to prop it in this position. If there is a slight degree of slope, position the head uphill. By doing this, the gut sack will settle low in the abdomen and you can make your initial cut just under the solar plexus. As the guts should be safely out of the way, you should be able to cut through with only empty space under your blade. Nevertheless, it is a good idea to cut careful and verify that you have missed the guts. (Heart and lungs are not a problem).
2) Once you have made your initial incision, cut the hide upwards toward the head, on top of the sternum. (If you are planning on mounting the head there is a different procedure.) Above the top of the sternum, form a "Y" with cuts leading toward each leg. This will allow the hide to pull away from the carcass so it is out of your way. You may need to slice though a little connective tissue here to get the hid to cooperate.
3) Next, cut or saw upwards from your initial incision, though the solar plexus, completely spplitting the ribcage. Pull the ribcage open and prop oit that way with a forked stick. If you have eniough cordage and conveiniently situated trees, you can tie off the two sides of the rib cage so you can work unhindered.
4) Once the chest is open, reach up inside the animal's neck and sever the windpipe. Be very careful here! You are using both hands and a knife, which are proably slippery with blood, in an are where you cannot necessarily see what you are doing. One way to increase your awareness of where exactly your blade is in relation to your other hand is to cradle it with your index finger along the spine of the blade and your other hand going in second. Once you have cut loose the windpipe you should be able to pull it out, removing the lungs and heart with it. It is kind of like pulling the guts out of a trout.
5) Now you can start working your way down. Carefully cut the hide away from the abdomen,
from the inside out. You will notice that the hide and skin are seperate layers. It is usually easier to cut the hide first and let it fall out of the way, then come back and carefully cut through the skin. This will reduce the liklihood of puncturing the gut sack and will minimize hair getting on the meat. Cut straight down the middle all the way down to the genitals. Go past the genitals to one side or the other and stop just short of the anus.
6) Cut around the anus, freeing it from the hide and pull it out away from the carcass. I have found that twist ties or rubber bands come in handy for sealing this bad boy up before you thread it back through the hole you cut and out of the animal. Similarly tie off the uretha and cut it away from the genitals.
7) At this point you can remove the entire gut sack intact. You'll have to slice a little connective tissue up toward the spine, but then you should pretty much be able to roll it out of the carcass. NOTE: If you pull this off on your first big game animal, all by yourself, without any help - GOOD JOB! You've just dressed your first animal! At this point you can transport the animal for processing elsewhere, hang it to cool, or continue to process it in place.
WOW! I didn't plan to go into this much detail! I'll stop here and if you want I'll pick it up from this point in another post.
-- FLIX
