Who in here feild dresses deer?

[Texan_Til_I_Die]

It takes less than 5 minutes to gut a deer and leave the mess in the field. I'd rather do that than have to carry some nasty bucket full of guts back out to the pasture and dump it.

[The Kid]

OK, Im not a well-traveled deer hunter as in trips to OH, CO, etc.... And I can certainly see the need to reduce weight for big animals that have to be moved a long ways to get to camp.

But....

Why do so many of you field dress deer? Is it just a yankee thing? Nobody, and I mean nobody down here ever does that. I'd much rather drag the deer a hundred yards or more or throw it on the atv and get it back to the convenience of the skinning rack and a 55gal drum to drop all the goodies in.

Not knocking it, just wondering what I'm missing.

:eat:

This is how I do all my deer, that way nothing gets on the meat deer hair, dirt or what have you, just take a wheel barrel and get rid of the waste after

[buckee]

I'd rather field dress em and feed the eagles, etc, but it depends on where they drop. If I'm too close to the farmhouse, I'll just load em up and take em home and field dress them in the yard before hanging.

[MCH]

Definitely not a "yankee" thing. Everyone around here guts their deer before the drag.

[ChrisSeb53]

i dress them at the edge of the field where i hunt, then throw the goodies back into the tree line... especially if i hit it a tad far back and clipped the stomach or something... i dont want that to taint the meat... just what i was brought up to do... haven't really known any other way

[Dawg]

Here at home we gut them, then drag back to the vehicle. In Colorado, we drag them back to the truck and gut them at the camp due to the fact that we hunt private land and don't want to leave gut piles on the land owners property.

[Hunt or be Hunted]

me and Dad drag it a little bit a ways from the stand, Gut it. Day later come back with your bow, Shoot some Yotes! Ain't no need dragging it's guts when you can leave em in the woods.

[RangerClay]

I totally understand the long drags William, and the heavy deer Al. But I'll drag a 180lb buck 100 yards before I get into thinking about field dressing. Like I said, I think it's more of a yankee thing.

100 YARDS! :jaw: I cannot remember the last drag I had that was less than 300-400 yards.

I always field dress where they drop. Why would anyone want a big stinking bag of guts in the garage is beyond me? I must admit that for the first time this year I moved a gut pile down the hill and away from my stand.

Things that come into factor:

1. Southern deer are smaller than northern deer.

2. Southern land (i.e. Mississippi) is all flat land. You come drag out a deer at our Adirondack camp and I bet you will rethink field dressing.

[ny_gun]

I gut my deer right where they fall.

[Mach1]

I've always thought it odd that people don't field dress them where they lay and leave the guts in the field. Everyone I know of does it that way.

[Buckhunter76]

I gut mine where it falls to make it lighter, plus I feel I'm giving back to Mother Earth what Iv'e taken, lol. And I think it helps to cool the meat faster especially if its kinda warm out, theres only very few deer in the 15/16years Iv'e been hunting that Iv'e had to put bags of ice in due to gutting them right there where they fall. To me its a plus all the way, lol. Not knocking no one that doesn't, we are all different thats what makes everyone special, God Bless.

[gzilla45]

Up until this thread I thought everyone gutted them in the field where they lay. I don't think I know of anyone that does it back at camp. I guess I'd rather leave the guts in the field then next to the meat pole.

[Dawg]

2. Southern land (i.e. Mississippi) is all flat land.

Not 100% true. MS does have some nasty hollers and hills. Of course its nothing like the Rockies or Smokies, but needless to say, there are some good sized hills.

[rhine16]

I don't gut my deer until on the skinning rack. We have several gut buckets with handles. Skin the deer, all remains go in gut bucket, take the bucket to our gut pit and dump.

In most places our deer fall, you can get some type of vehicle to em. I've drug deer 4-500 yards but usually you drag em a few yards to the nearst trail or logging road and come get them.

Not 100% true. MS does have some nasty hollers and hills. Of course its nothing like the Rockies or Smokies, but needless to say, there are some good sized hills.

Correct... I hunt in those hollows and hills.

[redkneck]

Up until this thread I thought everyone gutted them in the field where they lay. I don't think I know of anyone that does it back at camp. I guess I'd rather leave the guts in the field then next to the meat pole.

See below..... Rhine's posted our standard operating procedure down here.

I don't gut my deer until on the skinning rack. We have several gut buckets with handles. Skin the deer, all remains go in gut bucket, take the bucket to our gut pit and dump.

In most places our deer fall, you can get some type of vehicle to em. I've drug deer 4-500 yards but usually you drag em a few yards to the nearst trail or logging road and come get them.

Correct... I hunt in those hollows and hills.

I just can't see leaving guts in the field, esp since you already have to dump the carcass anyway, so we all just dump guts, hide, carcass and all in a designated gut pile, far enough from the camp as to not be an odor issue in a hole, or ditch on our property.

[wtnhunt]

I just can't see leaving guts in the field, esp since you already have to dump the carcass anyway, so we all just dump guts, hide, carcass and all in a designated gut pile, far enough from the camp as to not be an odor issue in a hole, or ditch on our property.

Yep, we skin and process our own, so we also dump the carcass and guts at the same time.

[LifeNRA]

I field dress them where they fall....its just alot easier for me, and at least twenty plus pounds of stuff I don't have to throw in the truck. I have to place a tag on the animal before moving it at all here in Illinois, so I just soon be done with the cleaning part immediately, and it saves meat spoilage, I want the deer cooled asap. al

Ditto. I want the carcass to cool down ASAP! Besides, no butcher will take it if its not field dressed!

[Tony]

I totally understand the long drags William, and the heavy deer Al. But I'll drag a 180lb buck 100 yards before I get into thinking about field dressing. Like I said, I think it's more of a yankee thing.

we dont have too many 180 pound bucks here in Iowa.:poke: it really sucks to drag a 250 pound buck 400 to 500 yards back to the truck. most times i have a long drag, then a hour home. why not lighten the load by 50 to 70 pounds and get the deer cooled off faster.

most gut piles here in Iowa dont last more than 3 days. plus i dont want any of the nasty little critters that come to the gut pile to eat.

but i hear you all down south eat Opussums, so maybe you can shoot a few off of the gut pile out behind your house.:D

Tony

[redkneck]

I've only killed one deer here all my life that went 210, and killed a few that were in the 185-195 range.

I'll eat a lot of stuff.... and boy do I mean a lot of different things I have tried over the years. Possums aint on the menu at my camp!

We'll cook up a turtle, coon, and God only knows what else once in a blue moon, but I draw a line at a possum until the day comes when I am d@*# hungry.

[pointing_dogs_rule]

I recently saw a video clip , where someone did a study of deer gut piles & the animals that come to them in the field. The video showed that deer were usually the first to visit them. Some even licked and sniffed on them.

I believe that fact. The deer are attracted to the smell of the stomach contents. (alfalfa or whatever).

good luck to all

the dog

[hunterbobb]

In Wisconsin you have to take the deer to be registered. This can sometimes take hours depending on where you hunt. Leaving the guts in that long can taint the meat. Plus if you take the deer to a meat locker to be processed they won't take it if hasn't been field dressed.

:gun2:

[hunter1109]

i feild dress every deer i get but i dress it were it falls we have so many yotes out here it dose not matter if you gut it out in the feild

\

[Tetro]

We clean them where they lie. If we get them at nightfall then it sometimes gets down at the camp wheres theres light. On our main run the piles don't bother the deer too much, We've bagged deer within 100 yds or across the field from the gut piles.

[redkneck]

I think it's just a cultural/climate thing. Joe, your doe wasn't that big and only about 150 yards behind the house if I read right, but you still gutted her? Also down here we NEVER clean a deer in the garage, which I can understand not wanting to bust a gut inside. The weather here does get into the teens, but generally we all have a place outside to deal with whatever we need to deal with but never ever in the garage. I guess now we're on the fourth page I can say that only me, al, and rhine are doing it right. :clown:

[GWSmith]

LOL...2 very good reasons:

The average deer live weight that I consider taking here ranges from the upper 180's to the 220-230lb....drag that.

Contrary to popular belief it seems I do prefer allowing the body cavity to cool as quickly as possible. Even going as far as to take it to a nearby stream to rinse out the inside. It does not promote spoilage to open it up and cool it off. Every muscle group is covered by a membrane protecting it and can be rinsed off to eliminate a majority of any debris right after you hang it up to bone it out.

Just remember that the muscles, and the digestive tract which is now more than likely perforated, is no longer being cooled by circulating blood.

In most cases the surrounding air is cooler than the muscle tissue...cool it off or cook it as quick as you can.

If you dont believe thats a good enough reason....cook up some of that hamburger that slipped out of the grocery bag and you found it a day or two later in the truck...LOL