What are some of your deer gutting tips

[Loosearrow]

Loosearrow is talking about the tenderloins. He said "the butcher steaks on the inside of the spine." The backstrap is on the outside along the spine. You can still remove the tenderloins without gutting the deer, but you have to go elbow deep and work blind, my FIL does it. The only time he gets the ribs is if someone else wants them. I am another one that never splits the pelvis until quartering the animal.

Didn't see your post when I answered. The hide is peeled back past the spine and the tenderloins (outside backstraps) are like a roundish fillet from up around the shoulder/neck area down to the area where the hip is. Comes out real nice. That shiney membrane over the outside top of them is where I get the sinew from. Just fillet it off the meat with no knicking and scrape it clean with a spoon and wash it and smooth it out on a cutting board till it drys. Kind of looks like a piece of masking tape. Once dry like a thin rawhide you can tear long strips off and rub them between your hands to made strings to sew stuff up with. I have an old braintanned pipebag that has the beads applied with thin sinew threads. Tough stuff. Get it off the meat or you will chew it all day. Sorry, didn't mean to change direction. One thing leads to another.

 

[bacman99]

I split the pelvis. I like to have the hips to be completely apart to help in cooling.

I recommend a knife with a drop point blade, and blade length not over 4" long. While working in the chest cavity the drop point is safer and the blade length makes it easier to use.


Just my two cents your miliage may very.

 

[desmobob]

small (sharp) knife, insure you've cut all the way around the anus- I use gloves and then pull most of the connective tissue off w/ my hand (occasionally using the knife to free anything really stubborn- rarely)

once you've reached the point of pulling the "guts" out (should be all be one piece from the trachea down) lightly pull on the lower guts to see if everything is freed up (bladder/anus/penis or vagina) if not- pull lightly from the anus end (I have a grip on each end- using a light see-sawing action) - if still not free use your gloved hand and try and remove any remaining connective tissue- once everything is freed up it will all pull through freely w/ the guts as pictured in the above posted tutorial

unlike that tutorial- I always split the rib cage (going just along the edge of the sternum where the ribs are attached- fairly easy going vs right up the sternum)- it aids in getting the trachea/lungs/heart out and hastens the cooling of the meat. as some have also posted I never split the pelvis in the field (unless I'm forced to quarter an animal)

practice makes perfect

This is the way I do it, too. I tried splitting the pelvis once and found it was no easier than just freeing everything up and pulling it back through and out with the rest of the guts, and some of the best meat got dirty and dry.

Just keep cutting around the anus and rectal "tube", pulling it out as you go, until it looks like it's free of any of the small bits of tissue connecting it to the deer. Then do the same from the inside.

Some people actually tie the end of it closed before pulling it back through and carry a piece of string or big twist tie for the purpose. I never thought that was necessary.

Good hunting,
desmobob

 

[R.H.Clark]

Most of my deer are killed close to home.If at all possible I will wait to gut untill I have hung the deer.I will skin first with the deer hung from the back leg tendons.Unless it is very hot and you need to cool the deer fast as possible I don't see any harm in waiting a couple hours to gut.

I've done dozens both ways but the ones I skinned before gutting were much cleaner with a lot less hair and dirt to get off the meat.

 

[Kismet]

OK...finally found it. A poster nic'd Rancid Crabtree put up the most thorough step-by-step whitetail processing detail I'd seen. WITH pictures. Originally posted on Ramanon's forum. I think he may do local deer processing in season and has some professional equipment. Enjoy.

http://forum.ramanon.com/showthread.php?p=645366#post645366