Gutless method of field dressing a critter.

[CraigC]

I started doing this several years ago, except I go ahead and debone in the field. I carry nitrile gloves, several large ziplock bags and a folded up tote sack just for this purpose. This after a lifetime of doing it the "old fashioned way". God, what a difference it makes. I no longer dread killing something.

 

[Nature Boy]

Excellent post!

 

[skeeterfogger]

Works. Quarter, place in ice chest and cover with ice. Just started using this method and it's great.

 

[caribou]

Cool
I skin first and then legs, then gut quite often. I just make different cuts to the skin depending on the skins outcome, one way for this, one way for that.
When you keep the skins, its much more blood free.

 

[North61]

Learned to hunt Caribou with Inuit people and this is now all I know how to do! It upscales nicely too moose and bison. As an old fart I am totally fine to do a solo Yukon moose. It's been a long time since I stepped in a gut pile.

 

[buck460XVR]

We are not really allowed to do that here in Wisconsin. Seeing as we have to keep the head attached to one of the limit of 5 piece and remove all body parts other than the entrails anyway, most of the time, it's still easier to do it the old fashioned way. Basically it's a CWD and a lead exposure to eagles thing.......


Here's how it reads.......

Quartering Your Deer.......Hunters may divide a deer into as many as five pieces to facilitate removal of the carcass from the field, but the head must remain attached to one of the five parts of the carcass. The hide and lower legs, if removed, do not count as one of the five parts. Only one deer that has been quartered may be stored or transported at a time prior to registration, but quartered deer can be transported with other intact deer. The lower legs up to the tarsus joint (ankle or hock) on the hind legs and up to the carpus joint (wrist or knee) on the front legs may also be removed. All parts of the deer, except the entrails, must be removed from the field.Deer must be kept intact while afield, except for field dressing, skinning and quartering.

 

[LNF150]

This is my former wife working on her NM elk. I do gutless a little different than starting off coming down the spine first, but the end results are similar.



My 'gutless' buck from 2019.

 

[bearcreek]

Problem with this method is it leaves a bunch of meat for the coyotes. We take all the bones and the meat on them and cook them down in a turkey fryer. End up with 15-20 extra lbs of meat (from a whitetail) that would otherwise get left in the woods.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Problem with this method is it leaves a bunch of meat for the coyotes. We take all the bones and the meat on them and cook them down in a turkey fryer. End up with 15-20 extra lbs of meat (from a whitetail) that would otherwise get left in the woods.

Im not tracking here. When I take the ribs and neck the only thing left is a spine with some thin scraps of meat on it. Definitely not 15 or 20 lbs.

 

[bearcreek]

Im not tracking here. When I take the ribs and neck the only thing left is a spine with some thin scraps of meat on it. Definitely not 15 or 20 lbs.

I can see how my post could be confusing. Using your method doesn't necessarily leave that much in the field, as long as you cut out and take all the ribs, shoulders, spine, and neck. At that point though, you're still left with the same pile of guts on the ground.....Not sure what the advantage would be at that point, unless perhaps you're doing it to pack the deer out.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I can see how my post could be confusing. Using your method doesn't necessarily leave that much in the field, as long as you cut out and take all the ribs, shoulders, spine, and neck. At that point though, you're still left with the same pile of guts on the ground.....Not sure what the advantage would be at that point, unless perhaps you're doing it to pack the deer out.

Disassembled for packing is the main advantage. Much cleaner to handle is the other advantage. Ease of carry on your back for a long or short pack out.

obviously if you can back up a truck or a rv to the kill site and load whole for processing in a controlled environment there isn’t much need for completely disassembly in the field.

BTW

I never take the spine or the pelvis. Those are left in the field the way I do it.

 

[kalielkslayer]

Nice photo story.

Almost all of our elk come out on horses so this is a “no-brainer.” In cool/cold weather, they get hung and depending on how far the horses are, we may pack out the backstraps the same day. Otherwise, depending on the weather, the elk may hang there 2-3 days. In warm weather (archery) once it’s hung, we try to get it out the same day.

In Colorado proof of sex must be attached to one quarter. On a bull, 3-4” of the scrotum, on a cow, a few inches of hair including a mammary. I don’t like leaving any hair, but it’s the law.

A few years ago on a Wyoming meat antelope hunt we were on private lands where you couldn’t drive off road except to retrieve game. I did this method on the tailgate of the truck 6Xs. So much easier then bending over. Did the same thing on a Utah antelope this year. I’ve almost forgotten how to do it any other way.

 

[GKP503]

Your photos and instructions are clear and well written. But (there is always a but, and I'm it today) you are making this old meat inspector cringe. This method exposes the meat to contamination from the environment. Leaving the hide on the carcass until it is in a packing house (or your kitchen or garage...any more controlled clean environment) protects the meat from dust, dirt, flies, handling fumbles, etc. Stuff that gets on the meat from the environment is not going to rinse off with a hose. Federal meat packing regulations require trimming off the contaminated surface with a sterile knife, one that has been dipped in boiling water before it contacts the carcass, otherwise you are just spreading the contamination from one area to another.
Cooking the meat completely (internal temperature at least 165 degrees F) compensates for a lot of dressing errors. Those who prefer their venison rare might be advised to protect the meat by leaving the hide on for later dressing.

One trick I use when gutting a deer in the field: wash the inside of the carcass with vinegar. The acid helps prevent bacterial growth for a while until the carcass is in a cooler. Many beef packing houses spray carcasses with acetic or lactic acid to help control E. coli growth/contamination.

I understand that packing out the whole animal, especially a large one like an elk, may not be practical. In such instances, the dissection you have outlined is a good way to go as long as consideration is given to avoiding contamination after the meat is exposed. Again, cooking thoroughly covers a multitude of sins!

I agree with J-Bar on leaving the hide on at least for an elk, tried that change 3 seasons ago, it results with much cleaner meat (maybe a bit of hair but on contaminants)

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

Your photos and instructions are clear and well written. But (there is always a but, and I'm it today) you are making this old meat inspector cringe. This method exposes the meat to contamination from the environment. Leaving the hide on the carcass until it is in a packing house (or your kitchen or garage...any more controlled clean environment) protects the meat from dust, dirt, flies, handling fumbles, etc. Stuff that gets on the meat from the environment is not going to rinse off with a hose. Federal meat packing regulations require trimming off the contaminated surface with a sterile knife, one that has been dipped in boiling water before it contacts the carcass, otherwise you are just spreading the contamination from one area to another.
Cooking the meat completely (internal temperature at least 165 degrees F) compensates for a lot of dressing errors. Those who prefer their venison rare might be advised to protect the meat by leaving the hide on for later dressing.

One trick I use when gutting a deer in the field: wash the inside of the carcass with vinegar. The acid helps prevent bacterial growth for a while until the carcass is in a cooler. Many beef packing houses spray carcasses with acetic or lactic acid to help control E. coli growth/contamination.

I understand that packing out the whole animal, especially a large one like an elk, may not be practical. In such instances, the dissection you have outlined is a good way to go as long as consideration is given to avoiding contamination after the meat is exposed. Again, cooking thoroughly covers a multitude of sins!

I was taught to use salt, as I'm dressing, to keep flies off and help keep the meat from spoiling. I've never got sick off my own kill before, or made anybody sick that I know of, but if that's just wrong I'll stop passing it along to people who ask. Is salt as effective as vinegar?

When I leave the kill site, I leave bones and skin, head and guts. Let the swamp critters have the best parts, nutritionally.

 

[J-Bar]

I was taught to use salt, as I'm dressing, to keep flies off and help keep the meat from spoiling. I've never got sick off my own kill before, or made anybody sick that I know of, but if that's just wrong I'll stop passing it along to people who ask. Is salt as effective as vinegar?

When I leave the kill site, I leave bones and skin, head and guts. Let the swamp critters have the best parts, nutritionally.

Salt is a great preservative if you use enough of it. Bacteria need water to grow. Preserving meat with salt means getting enough salt on the surface to create a high osmotic pressure in order to dehydrate any bacteria on the surface. Sugar works too. It’s the reason you can leave a pie on the counter without having to refrigerate it. The high sugar content keeps any water in the pie from being available to bacteria.

I never considered using salt or sugar as a field preservative, because I think you would have to use a lot of it to be truly effective. I think I will get better bacterial control with much less vinegar, and not have as much potential change in flavor.

Finally if you trim away visible contamination rather than trying to wash it off, and use a meat thermometer to get the meat above 165 degrees F, the chances of getting sick are vanishingly small. Thorough cooking absolves many sins!

 

[BigBore44]

Quarter whole with skin on. Back straps taken without the skin. To take the neck, cut all the way around at the base of the jaw, then all the way around the base of the neck where it meets the shoulder. Now slice from top cut to bottom cut all the way to the cervical spine. Peel as you cut around the spine leaving the skin on. Can use the neck to wrap the back straps with. Everything else stays. Can do it in the field or in your barn when it’s hanging. If I want the tenders, it’s getting gutted. It’s only a minute of extra work to gut a deer.

 

[memtb]

We started using a similar method about 10 or12 years ago. Along with some of the aforementioned reasons.....we like it for the speed! When you make a late evening kill on an elk in grizzly country....you’d like to “exit stage right” as quickly as possible! Even if you can’t get the quarters out before you have to give up for the night......you can put some distance between the parts you want and the parts the grizzly likes! memtb

 

[Woodbridge]

Glad to see that you still harvested the inner loins!... too many that use the gutless method leave those little gems in there for the coyotes!

 

[CoalCrackerAl]

My neighbors buddy cuts his deer up in the woods. He then loads it up in a cooler on his ATV.

 

[Robert]

I took a doe again this year and used this method to great results. I was able to get the inner loins out without having to gut her and I got everything I wanted. Loaded it all in my pack and walked out to the truck.

 

[rust collector]

Good information. Due to CWD, our game & fish department wants the parts of the critter than won't be eaten left where it was taken. This method makes that much easier. Seems like I always struggle with those hip joints.

 

[JFrank]

We started using this method as well.

 

[westernrover]

I dressed gutless this year but started skinning at the rear fetlock and go up the abdomen and from the breast to the carpus (front knee). This keeps the hide intact and useable. I break the femurs out of the pelvis and pull the rear quarters out. The front quarters are only attached by muscle and tendon at the humerus. With the four quarters off, I cut the hide around the neck - I'll cut higher because I don't keep the cape, just the skull (Euro mount), so I have more neck on the hide. I pull the hide off the back last (as opposed to first as shown in this thread). This is the whole point of my post. You can do a gutless method and still get the hide.

This whole time the hide has been under the carcass. Once it's off, I'll spin the carcass around on the hide and take out the backstraps and anything else. Then I set the carcass which at this point is just the ribcage, guts and groin to the side and fold up the hide. Everything but the skull goes in five game bags, the skull goes in a white plastic bag, and all is packed out to the 4x4 where a rotomolded cooler with ice packs is waiting. Did a muley in the snow this year so everything was cool.

My reasons for gutless and quartering are:

• I can quickly divide up a 200+ pound deer into loads one person can carry for a mile or more.
• Most of the meat can be put in a cooler immediately.
• I cannot fit a whole carcass in my vehicle (a small SUV with 3 or 4 people in it).
• I can still keep the hide.

 

[kelljp]

Seen this method several years ago, gentleman from Georgia said this was common in his club camp
Only difference from illustration is he would hang deer by neck in barn at camp. Seen him do several deer in an evening on our old lease.

 

[Mogas]

Hunting in a "remote" area? Packing meat out? Walking uphill in the woods? That is not hunting! Hunting is FUN! That is called WORK! You can stay at home and find WORK! Remote for me is my back yard. I pack a cup of coffee and go sit in a nice chair in under my Carolina carport Outbuilding with no walls. Just a roof . This is where I park my trailers. My son builds a make shift blind and we sit and look at the feeder that set to go off at 8 AM and again at 5 PM. I just go an hour before the feeder goes off. Sometimes 7AM seems just too early to get out of bed. I crossbow hunt and the feeder is 35 yds from the blind. After shooting my deer, I finish my coffee and watch my son go look for my deer (what else are children for?) he brings it back field dressed and I help him hang it in the cooler (work).. By this time, I need another cup of coffee if I went for the "EARLY" hunt and I go back to the house. All that walking to and from the outbuilding can work up an appetite. I should attach a picture of the cooler but then that means I would have to figure how to get the picture out of my flippy phone and onto my computer. What I have done in the past is take a picture and forward to a friend and have them send it back to my Email. then I can put it in a folder and then attach it to a post, but all that is Work!