Warning! Deceased critter content! This morning's buck...

Codger_64

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Today was the opener of the youth deer hunt and my friend's nephew had some luck.

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I had intended to do a complete "how-to" photo series on this deer but my son was called out of town and it is near impossible to cut and photo at the same time. I will do so with the next few deer though.
 
Very nice, sir.
Thanks for sharing.

I look forward to seeing a complete how-to, if you get the chance.
 
The way I do it confuses some folks. For instance the above buck is hung head up. That is because the young nimrod field dressed it and made a mess. I stood less chance of contaminating the meat by hanging it that way. I prefer to have them brought to me whole. Then I open them from the inside out and don't loosen a bunch of hair that gets on the meat. Hides cut from the inside have very little loose hair flyng around. And too, the cavity was nice and clean until they opened it and drug it through the sticks and leaves. Not to mention that somewhere out in the woods tonight lies a perfectly good heart and liver.

With any luck, I'll have another to work up tomorrow morning. If not, regular season is just starting. I'll be happy to answer and questions. But I will add that my way is in no way the only way to dress a deer. It is just what I have found to work best for me.
 
How many times did he shoot it? What kind of gun? And a big congrats to the "young nimrod", err I mean nephew....lol
 
One shot just behind the shoulder - pass through. I'll have to ask what rifle he used but it was a scoped bolt action (maybe a 7mm-08). He is 13, I think, and a crack shot with eyes like a hawk. I prefer a head shot when it is available, but it usually is not. He does want to keep the antlers, his first eight point. The meat from this one will be fillet steaks and jerky.
 
The way I do it confuses some folks. For instance the above buck is hung head up. That is because the young nimrod field dressed it and made a mess. I stood less chance of contaminating the meat by hanging it that way. I prefer to have them brought to me whole. Then I open them from the inside out and don't loosen a bunch of hair that gets on the meat. Hides cut from the inside have very little loose hair flyng around. And too, the cavity was nice and clean until they opened it and drug it through the sticks and leaves. Not to mention that somewhere out in the woods tonight lies a perfectly good heart and liver.

With any luck, I'll have another to work up tomorrow morning. If not, regular season is just starting. I'll be happy to answer and questions. But I will add that my way is in no way the only way to dress a deer. It is just what I have found to work best for me.

I have helped work up a few deer, and it is always interesting to see the differences in technique.
The ones I have helped have all been hung from their heels, but it makes sense to hang them from their heads, to allow better drainage of blood, etc.
You prefer to get deer that haven't been field dressed? In your experience, how long does one have between death and field dressing before the meat spoils?

Hopefully I will be able to pick up a late winter tag and get a chance kill my first deer.
 
That looks pretty cool, your lucky you get the opportunity to do man things. I grew up in Texas, but unfortunately moved to CA when I was 11. When Im done with college Im moving back to the sticks so I can do the cool things in life. Would you sell some antlers, always wanted a pair to hang on the wall.
 
I have helped work up a few deer, and it is always interesting to see the differences in technique.
The ones I have helped have all been hung from their heels, but it makes sense to hang them from their heads, to allow better drainage of blood, etc.
You prefer to get deer that haven't been field dressed? In your experience, how long does one have between death and field dressing before the meat spoils?

Hopefully I will be able to pick up a late winter tag and get a chance kill my first deer.

I hope you do. It can be a very rewarding pastime and a good learning experience, even if you don't score a deer for a while. You learn to really tune into your environment. Filling a tag, occasionally or often, is just icing on the cake.

It depends on a lot of things. Air temperature is low like it was today (low 40's warming to mid 50's), a deer doesn't spoil fast. There is plenty of time to recover, load transport to a check station and bring it to me. I still have plenty of time to do my work, meanwhile the deer is still cooling down. In fact, rigor was not complete when I finished some four to five hours after the shot. But if there is a lot of tissue damage, contamination by stomach contents and urine, water from dragging through ditches and puddles, warmer temps etc., the time lessens. Or increases with lower temps, less internal tissue damage, no spilled stomach or bowel, bladder contents. Insects are a factor too. Left exposed, flys can blow a carcass pretty quickly. Today, I only saw one fly and no wasps. Yellow jackets love a fresh carcass and, while they do little real damage, they do make the work miserable with repeated stings. If the weather had been much warmer, I would have skinned and hung the deer in a muslin bag in the shade until tonight. Another factor is lactic acid in the muscles. If the deer was stressed prior to death (ran, multiple shots, etc.) the meat will taste stronger and, I think, spoil faster. I can't prove that though. So maybe that one is just a "Codger's Myth".

There are several old hunter myths that I have discarded. Cutting off leg glands for one. Why do it? You just contaminate your knife. Slitting a throat. A good bleed out makes for tastier meat, but how much blood is left after the deer is opened and entrals removed? And since I do the whole process, I bleed the butchered meat twice before making the steaks or jerky.
 
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That looks pretty cool, your lucky you get the opportunity to do man things. I grew up in Texas, but unfortunately moved to CA when I was 11. When Im done with college Im moving back to the sticks so I can do the cool things in life. Would you sell some antlers, always wanted a pair to hang on the wall.

I grew up on a farm next to the Missisippi river and hunting was, at that time, also considered a "boy thing". My friends and I got our own guns and began hunting alone at around eight years old. We didn't have deer there then though. I didn't begin hunting deer until I was in my early 20's and had moved to the woods of Central Arkansas. I don't sell antlers, but occasionally have spares that I give to knife makers and crafters who request them. You can certainly find them at flea markets and even on eBay if you look.
 
Great Thread Michael, I really look forward to more posts with photos. I have processed a few deer in my days but never feel confident, I would like to see how you do it.
 
On my lease, we usually take them straight to camp, where we have a pretty good processing station without field dressing them where they were shot. We can get them there within the hour usually and it's no big deal. Any longer than that and I'd think about dressing them where they were shot. Doing that, though, creates the problem of dragging them out while opened up which is messy and dirty for the meat. Sometimes I elect to just sacrifice the tenderloins, leave the guts in and take the shoulders, neck roast, hams, and backstraps. Then you never even have to gut then at all unless you want the liver and heart. I think the biggest thing is getting them cut up and on ice as quick as possible. They really do hold in a lot of heat if you wait a long time. Over the years, I've noticed the ones that hang a while, gutted or not, before being cut up and iced down don't taste as good. Now I just try and get it done asap and I have good results.

It used to take me a long time to process one, but now I just get the skin started and feet cut off, split the skin down the middle and legs then pull it off with a 4 wheeler while its hanging. Then take the parts listed above and I'm done in less than half an hour. I've got a buddy that feeds the rest to his dogs. Win-win.

If I didn't have access to the hunting camp set up that I have, I think I'd carry the equipment with me, in my vehicle not on me, to hang them in the woods, get them cut up and in the ice chest rather than take them all the way home if it was more than an hour away. YMMV.
 
Thanks Ryan. "Back in the day", I was a member of a 200 member hunting club on 45,000 acres of woodland. I had butchered deer before that, but there I became the club butcher, besides tagging out with three to four deer per year myself. And the deer given to me by folks who liked the hunt but who didn't like the meat. But really, I grew up hunting small game and birds and waterfowl, plus a fair helping of fish. And they really aren't all that different, just in the details and the scale. But... being a Southern boy, I've never killed an elk, moose, carabou or a bear. So I would need some pointers with those.
 
On my lease, we usually take them straight to camp, where we have a pretty good processing station without field dressing them where they were shot. We can get them there within the hour usually and it's no big deal. Any longer than that and I'd think about dressing them where they were shot. Doing that, though, creates the problem of dragging them out while opened up which is messy and dirty for the meat. Sometimes I elect to just sacrifice the tenderloins, leave the guts in and take the shoulders, neck roast, hams, and backstraps. Then you never even have to gut then at all unless you want the liver and heart. I think the biggest thing is getting them cut up and on ice as quick as possible. They really do hold in a lot of heat if you wait a long time. Over the years, I've noticed the ones that hang a while, gutted or not, before being cut up and iced down don't taste as good. Now I just try and get it done asap and I have good results.

It used to take me a long time to process one, but now I just get the skin started and feet cut off, split the skin down the middle and legs then pull it off with a 4 wheeler while its hanging. Then take the parts listed above and I'm done in less than half an hour. I've got a buddy that feeds the rest to his dogs. Win-win.

If I didn't have access to the hunting camp set up that I have, I think I'd carry the equipment with me, in my vehicle not on me, to hang them in the woods, get them cut up and in the ice chest rather than take them all the way home if it was more than an hour away. YMMV.

Yes, that is another way. I would miss the heart and liver though. And those tender inside tenderloins on either side of the backbone over the bowels. And I've used the hide jerk method before. I guess I just don't get in that much of a rush any more. There is an upright freezer on my back porch behind that deer in the picture. I partially freeze the meat, then take out one joint at a time for processing, breaking down into individual muscles, removing all fat and connective tissues and bones. Then I partially refreeze (just stiff) to run through the electric slicer, rinse and drain thoroughly, then either package and refreeze or marinate overnight (12 hours) to make jerky.
 
Great thread Codger. It's good to see so many first timers on here wanting knowledge. My best advice is to not worry too much about not doing it exactly right. Experience is king. I think the best thing you can do to positively affect the outcome of the taste of your kill is to get it broken down and cooled off as quick as possible. Then you can take it and have sausage or jerky or whatever made out of it.

FYI my 12 YO got his first one this morning. It's on ice waiting to be ground up with some pork in the mix tomorrow. It was a fantastic day for both of us. He started last year and got skunked which gave him a bad taste. Boy is he jacked up about hunting now though. lol.
 
jcoffman, great news! There is no deer like the first! Congrats to the young man! I agree, there isn't any one way to dress a deer. And not that much worry about doing it wrong. Did you get a picture? I'd like to see it if so.

First, follow the game laws where you are: Here, the deer has to be tagged before it can be moved. Then it has to retain evidence of sex until checked at a check station. Butchering and boning in the field isn't allowed unless the Warden happens upon you and checks it for you first.

Second, do what you can to keep the meat fresh. More than once when the weather was warm and transport was going to take I while, I packed the chest and abdomen with bagged ice. When you get a deer down, you have a duty to concentrate on taking care of that deer until it is safely packed away, even if it is just to carry it to a processor.

Third, waste not - want not. Make use of all edible portions that you can. I used to save the tarsel glands to use as drags on future hunts. Mature deer pee on them and rub them together mixing secretions with urine. More than once I had a deer follow my drag trail to my stand while using them. There are other scent glands that can be used as well. How do deer track each other? There is a gland between the toes that excreets a waxy substance. You can scrape it out and use it as a lure on your next hint. There is a preorbital gland too. Deer rub this on trees as markers. I hate wasting hides but I really cannot afford today's tanning costs.

I could tell about my first deer if you want, but it is really more funny in retrospect than a story of great skill and cunning.
 
nice buck rut is just beginning here. I have access to a walk in cooler so aging the meat for about a week makes a hug difference. Even a big buck in full rut tastes mild after the enzymes get going for about a week at 41 degrees. Most people don't realize the amount of work that happens after the bullet/arrow finds ts mark. dragging,dressing,packaging etc makes it taste all the better.
 
I'm pretty inexperienced. I have only shot one deer. I cleaned it out and skinned it my self, but took it to a meat processing company that we like. They do an excellent job on the meat, their jerky and pepper sticks are the best I have ever had.

I helped butcher an elk a while ago, but we had "adult" supervision. He just handed us quarters, and told us to take off the major muscles, trim, and cut into steaks.

My neighbor hangs a couple beef every year in the cold to age in his garage, then processes them. He promised to call me over to learn this year. He will typically butcher one, sell the meat, and it pays for another one for his family. He literally never "pays" for his beef, because he has this skill to do it for others who don't know how.

I would like to learn more about the process my self. I know it is not rocket science. My real questions are just on what cuts of meat should be cut up in what way to take advantage.


I make my own jerky on a smoker. The next deer or elk I shoot I am going to make a fair amount of the jerky in my back yard, though I don't have a big smoker. Just a grill with a side box.

When you get a helping hand for photo's please post them up. The more I can learn, the better.

I did not buy a deer tag this season.
 
There I was (all good stories begin that way)... I was young but not a stranger to hunting, just never deer. My buddies had been hunting in South Arkansas for most of a week, but with no sucess. But they were camping and getting dirty and seeing tracks and building stands and hunting hard. I had to wait for the weekend before I could join them on my first deerhunt. I arrived in camp early that morning, asked a few questions, got a few pointers while they winked and nodded and poked each other. The three of us set out on foot down a logging road. He had gone maybe a half mile and they stopped and told me to hunt "over there somewhere", pointing off the road into a holly bottom. It was fairly open with a few honeysuckle thickets. So I shrugged and traipsed out about a hundred yards in the dry leaves (crunch...crunch...crunch) and sat down with my back against a holly tree. Being a smart hunter, I loaded my clip with it's two shells and put one in the pipe. A three shot bolt action shotgun. Maybe that is what they were laughing at?

Well, I had just opened my brown paper lunch bag and started in on a boloney sandwich when I heard a noise in front of me. I looked up and saw a deer walking right to left about thirty yards out with it's nose to the ground. So I set my sandwich down on the bag, picked up the shotgun, thumbed off the safety and shot. The deer dropped. Ok. So I put the safety back on, laid the shotgun down and went back to eating my sandwich. I had just finished it when my buds came walking fast back up the road.

"Did you shoot?" Yeah. "What was it? Where did it go? Which way did it run?" It's laying over there. "Where?" Over there. see that antler sticking up? Well to cut it short, they helped me drag it back to camp and field dress it, then suggested that I leave. There was a one deer limit in those days, but I though it odd that they didn't want me to stay and camp with them.

I had hunted with that old shotgun for years and knew how it shot. I became an obsessed deer hunter though after that. My buds all had fancy rifles, but I used that old shotgun. And foe some years it was.. "WHo shot?" Mike. "Did he kill it?" You heard him shoot didn't you. Amd more than once it was "My god! What kind of auto is he shooting?" An old bolt shotgun "Yeah, but he just shot 'bam-bam-bam!!' " Then he has three deer down. He'll need help tagging and dragging 'em.

So there is my windy tale. Sordid and hard to believe but true.
 
nice buck rut is just beginning here. I have access to a walk in cooler so aging the meat for about a week makes a hug difference. Even a big buck in full rut tastes mild after the enzymes get going for about a week at 41 degrees. Most people don't realize the amount of work that happens after the bullet/arrow finds ts mark. dragging,dressing,packaging etc makes it taste all the better.

"When the deer is down, the fun is over and the work begins"... one of my favorite sayings.
 
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