So I was playing Pepper with some good friends the other night and half of us say we just cut of that what makes a buck a buck and the other half all went nuts... sorry could not help it.
But for real what it the best way to do this. I have always been told to just cut it right off but to do it first so there isn't any way for the urine to get to the meet.
What do you think?
I usually do not cut off the rack first. Not sure why cutting off the rack would taint the meat with urine! :bigsmyl:
When you clean and cook trout, you leave the head on. Deer are no different.
Bowmania
Actually, the first cut should be around the anus. When it is cut free, pull it out a few inches, and tie it off. This will keep you from getting feces in the cavity later. Then cut around the genitals and follow the stem back to near the anus and cut it off. Next step is to slit the stomach about where the genitals were, and open the body cavity up to the sternum. Do this without cutting the underlying intestines. Cut the diaphram from the body wall and then cut the wind pipe as far forward as you can reach. At that point, most of the innards will just roll out of the body cavity with a little pulling and a few knife strokes. Pull the lower intestine back into the body cavity and out. Neat job and no meat ruined. QED.
i am confused, I thought urine was in the bladder.
I've never fooled around with a deer's private parts, and I've never had tainted meat. I gut them quickly. Just get the guts out, string it up and let it drain and cool. If you have acess to cold water, wash out the cavity.
I wasn't taught that way. I was taught as a kid how to do it exactly right, like surgery. I found out 40 years ago, you don't need to be all that careful. The only thing that matters is to get the guts out ASAP, hang it up.
IMO, gutting sloppily or perfectly, the biggest mistake is heading for the vehicle too soon. A deer won't cool down in a vehicle like it would hanging, draining, and propped open with a stick.
But, I don't hunt where it's warm, so maybe there are better ways.
Two more points: learned these from experience. If you kill a deer that has been running hard, chased by dogs or whatever, the blood is hot throughout the body. Regardless of preecautions to cool it, it won't taste right.
The other thing: If you butcher in the woods like me, don't pile the meat in one pile for transport, like in a garbage bag. Spread it out so each piece can cool.
Don't gut them unless you have to...The gutless method works great.
Leave the guts in it. Hang it by the back legs. Case skin it like a coon. Then cut the meat off the bones as you go. After all the meat is bones out, cut into the abd to get the inside tenderloins out. You do not get hair and gut all over the meat.
I do it like Orion, whether it's a buck or a doe. Either way, if you cut the genitals off, you are cutting through the urethra, and urine can spill onto the meat or your hands. Yuck. I also rinse the inside of the carcass thoroughly with water, no matter how well I've done the field dressing, to get the coagulated blood off. I've never had a problem with tainted meat, after doing this with a hundred or so deer.
I ALWAYS core out the anus when I field dress, and cut off the windpipe as high as I can reach. I cut the neck open all the way up to get the windpipe out. If the anus or windpipe is left in, and circumstances keep you from getting the rest of the processing done quickly, they spoil first and smell things up in a hurry. Double yuck. If the deer is going to hang for a while, it's even more important to get those parts out.
Down South, where most of my hunting is done, spoilage happens before you can turn around twice.
Some states don't allow boning the deer in the field and require a whole intact (field dressed) carcass to be turned in or checked in. Wisconsin is one of those.
You pretty much have to remove the guts in the field, hopefully just like Orion described.
Now, as to removing the horns . . .
ChuckC
My buddy brought this up,except he said when you get a bear he heard you have to cut off the p--- otherwise it will urinate all over it self.I said think about it...if you cut it off,won't it do that anyway.. :rolleyes: :knothead:
Just do the normal gut job and all is good. :thumbsup:
I do autopsy's for a living, and I do not cut the genitals off it is not necessary. And if you cut the bladder (that holds the urine) you will contaminate meat if you do not rinse it immediately the bacteria in the urine can carry any number of things.Animal starts to decompose the minute his heart stops bacteria in the blood start to take over and multiply,Then rigor will set in.The reason you get the "guts" out is to cool the temperature of the animal as to slow the bacteria growth and to help have a controlled decomposition ( AKA aging the meat)evenly throughout the animal.So let the buck go to heaven with his manhood attached so he gets a good seat in the big woods in the sky.
Just for a little clarity.
I do everything that has been said to do except for the one point we were all arguing about which is to remove or to not remove.
So far on here it is 4 to 4.
Don,t remove you could possibly contaminate meat.MO
Uh, maybe I'm stupid but if you don't remove the genitals, where exactly do they end up???? Don't remove them from what? From the hide? Or from the carcass? I'd hate to end up with a steak that had something extra attached..... :scared:
I cut down as far as possible and leave it hanging then gut like Orion describes. Quick, clean, urine never a problem. Retired Texas Game Warden showed me this way over 20yrs ago. Good enough for me. Back to 5/5
QuoteOriginally posted by Dave Bulla:
Uh, maybe I'm stupid but if you don't remove the genitals, where exactly do they end up???? Don't remove them from what? From the hide? Or from the carcass? I'd hate to end up with a steak that had something extra attached..... :scared:
I'm with you on this one Dave! The genitals go with the rest of the innards...bladder included...in a pile of guts that feeds the grinners, the crows, and the coyotes.
I am with Dave and 30, they gotta go. I just do it at the end.
There's no reason to cut a urethra or colon if you have the time. They will come out whole.
cut the entire area off the skin; and don't cut the urethra in the process. Then the bladder and sex organs stay intact- no urine is spilled. Check your regulations; some states require 'proof of sex' is required- so you lift the bladder by the tube leading out of it; pinching it as you do; and then cut it and toss the bladder away.
And yes I am bleeding from biting my lip while typing this..... :rolleyes:
If I shoot a doe especially during rut. I usually carry a 60CC syringe and take as much urine as I can get. But most of the time at death the bladder evacuates involuntarily. Also urine is usually sterile. It's not the bacteria of urine but the odor of urine that can taints the meat...ever eat asparagus :) Doc
Tippit
That explains why nobody likes your margaritas.
I always cut around and tied off the anus then cut around and left attached to the rest of the hide the scrotum. The rest of the goods carefully out with the rest.
Joshua
I noticed several of you mentioned that you spray out the body cavity with water. Don't know where I got the notion, but I think that I read it somewhere that if you do that you should not use pressure nozzles because the damage done by the pressure nozzle can and will actually create more small tissue damage and areas for bacteria to grow and breed. It was suggested that if there is a need to rinse the body cavity, then it should be done gently and then dried as well as possible.
As for the original question, if the deer gets gutted it gets the full treatment.
Just leave the pecker on up here we have to leave one nut on side with tag on .as far as bladder its under the pelvis and yes you have to be carefull removeing it when you gut your deer ,, I like to split pelvis(Carefully) cut around anus fairly deep to seperate membrains from hind end ,, get ahold of poop shute and remove use your knife where you have to (its just that easy)
Gregg, I've heard that too.
I always use a bucket of salt water and a rag to clean out the inside. Does a great job, the salt kills bacteria and minimal water used.
Just don't bend over the bucket with your cell phone in your shirt pocket. Sprint say's it's abuse when you try to return a phone full of bloody salt water. :readit: :banghead:
By the way, I gut a deer and cut out a patch of hide in the pelvic area with the genitals attached but I don't cut the genitals clear of the deer. Core out the but, split the pelvis, slit the belly skin and pull the guts and genitals all out together. So I guess I'm in the don't cut 'em off crowd if by that you mean that they stay unsevered from the innards. Dang sure cut them away from the parts I plan to eat though! And carefully too.
QuoteOriginally posted by Dave Bulla:
Uh, maybe I'm stupid but if you don't remove the genitals, where exactly do they end up???? Don't remove them from what? From the hide? Or from the carcass? I'd hate to end up with a steak that had something extra attached..... :scared:
:biglaugh:
Well said!
Grap his wacker , skin the scrotum off the hide but leave a little skin attached , so it is still attched to the hide. Towards the back of the scrotum you will see a tube running towards the anus. Skin this tube away from the meat all the way back. Now grap the wacker agian and cut the hide loose that is holding it ot the skin , lay it to the side . Cut the anus loose, gut etc.
(http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo359/luckyjack123/062.jpg)
I do it like Dave split the pelvis and remove everything together.
I cut it back, open the cavity, remove the bladder, then finish removing the rest of genitals and complete gutting out the deer. Te drag out. Rinse with a bucket and hang once I get home.
Well I think I can tell all of my card playing friends that removing is just fine with your field dressing.
Dave, That was some funny stuff "something extra" Funny.
Skin it back and cut it off or leave it hang. then empty the guts and EVERTHING will be out.
The first thing I do (most often) is cut around the dodads and back toward the butt, skinning free the pee tube as far back as I can go which is almost to the anus. I will cut it of and toss it and have never seen any pee come out. also the bladder will be full when I get inside to remove the rest of the guts. I used to split the pelvis and do it all at once but I always got picked on by my buddies when I would whip out my T-Hawk and go to choppin. Plus "They" say it is better to not expose the marrow in the bone if you have a chance at cwd.h1n1.copd.typyus or what ever is gonna get us next.
The MOST important thing is to make sure you get it hung up and skinned out ASAP. Cuz when that happens you are just about 7-8 minutes away from a backstrap fry.
Like the first guy said tho, how is a bucks rack gonna taint the meat?(now thats funny)(this was fun to read).
Chuck
Same way Jack and a few others have said. My gut pile is all in one piece. No hacking anything loose. I don't split the pelvis either. I think this lets the legs flop around while dragging and you take a chance cutting the bladder. Plus I've seen more than one knife with the tips broke off. No need to do it.
Aaron
QuoteOriginally posted by Brian Krebs:
Tippit
That explains why nobody likes your margaritas.
You guys just ain't right...! :rolleyes: :biglaugh:
It all comes off. The only thing I didn't see mentioned is that I use zip-ties to make tieing off the annus easy -- cut around - pull out a couple of inches - zip it... Just easier for me then trying to tie it off...
Am I the only hunter in the world that starts field dressing from the brisket? Cutting with the grain of the hair is the best thing since sliced bread and much cleaner. Making a short incision of a few inches from the brisket and stopping there allows for much easier trimming of the diaphram. Then, the entire time you are working on the rest of the cutting of the belly and gentitals, you can prop the deer up using each of your legs. After that, let the deer fall over on its side, trim the anal cavity and pull, and it's done and over with. Talliwhacker and all! :)
Tioga,
There is at least two of us who field dress deer that way. Outdoor like had 4-5 sketches of how to dress a deer that I had seen 30 some years ago and have been doing that way ever since.
I leave them on.
Never could figure out how the genitals of a dead deer could affect the meat. I core out the anal cavity and pull the bladder and colon out forward. I don't open up the pelvic area at all.
Keeps the meat clean during drag out which is a dirty operation in the northern MN swamps.
Count me with Tioga and Builder...that's the way I learned to do it 25 years ago.....my father taught me...don't know where he learned it but I've never ruined any meat.
Wow, to much process for me. I whack off the junk when I'm making the initial field dressing cut. In all my years, never noticed any urine unless I nick the bladder.
QuoteOriginally posted by tippit:
urine is usually sterile.
Glad I'm not the only one who caught that.
I've never split a pelvis and everything comes out in one pile. The buck's junk stays with him until he's skinned for the "proof of sex"... just habit now more than anything else.
All urine has bacteria in it.And there are many types of bacteria.Urine is usually sterile, I hope your deer doesn't run around having sex with multiple partners and one of having a urinary tract infection...LOL it's a crap shoot with the urine, error on the side of caution. Or you can smell his urethra and if it smell like cologne leave it alone.Think about a scrape and the way it makes the ground smell for days,Imagine a roast with that smell! you gonna eat that!!!
You guys make this sound a lot harder than it is. I just cut around the anal cavity then go in and pull out the part of the anus that i just cut.
While im doing that i simply remove the bladder and throw it all to the side.
A lot of times if we have the deer hanging we dont even field dress the deer, we just take the straps out cut off the front shoulders and then just cut the deer in half right where the hind quarters start.
Most of the time we take the deer to the butcher and he takes the guts out for us and lets them hang for a week, you really cant beat that especially down here in the south where it stays pretty warm.
WOW! Never knew this was suppose to be a problem.
After all these years of field dressing deer. Now something new to worry about. LOL
Butcher I know in MT charges about $20 if you leave the anal cavity in. Wonder where they learned field care???"?
I cut his package off, skin the white tube all the way bac kto his be-hind, make my cut around his Hiney, then open him up carefully. If the bladder is full, I flip it to the side away from the deer, and nick it with my knife tip and drain it. Sometimes if I have a container like a water bottle, I squirt it in there. I'll use it to freshen scrapes.
After I get him open, I use my wire saw to split the pelvis, and pull everything up and out. Friend of mine told me once its good luck to hang his 'nads in a tree. I like to use as much of the deer as possible. If he's a mature buck, or just blessed, you can skin out his nutsack, turn it inside out and flesh it, salt it to dry it outreal good. When you do that, form it so its open, and you can give it to your boss for a candy dish for his desk. Then you'll have more time off to go huntin. Or, put it on the table full of almonds, pecans and walnuts at Christmas time. You'll need a nutcracker if ya have walnuts.
Another guy I work with has killed a lot of bears over the years. They actually have a bone that gives them a ....well you get the picture.
Anyway, he saves them, cleans em up and keeps 'em in a cup on his bar for swizel-sticks.
You ain't seen anything as funny as when you tell Grandma what it is she's stirrin her mixed drink with at the Christmas party.
quote:posted by dave bulla.
Uh, maybe I'm stupid but if you don't remove the genitals, where exactly do they end up???? Don't remove them from what? From the hide? Or from the carcass? I'd hate to end up with a steak that had something extra attached.....
hahahahahaha...thats rich dave,right on. daves steak came with a toothpick and two stressballs. :D :D :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :D :D
I core out the anus first, then I start at the bottom of the rib cage and use a guthook to open up the cavity. I like my knife to travel with the direction the hair lays. as far as cutting the rack off first, that is the last thing I worry about, that will keep for years but the meat wont. I do cut the whipper snapper off and other associated tackle, I don't want that in my ground :scared:
That's what ya gotta love about this site. Four pages of spirited yet respectful debate on an issue that probably keeps Obama up at night...the proper way to remove a deer's pecker! On several other sites this would have long since deteriorated to a threat to demonstrate this operation on someone with differing views. My hats off to all of us who never had the money to make it through Urology school!
Richard, I tend to agree this is pretty entertaining and rather interesting to boot.
It all makes me remember my first deer, a buck, shot when I was 18 hunting on "pot hunt day" up in our PA N. Country with Dad's boss. Never knew anyone and on Monday opener, everyone hunted on their own, drove organized drives rest of week.
I shot a big spike. I'm standing there stripped down to my shirt on a cold day ready to start this guttin thing I never seen. Figured weren't much different than guttin a rabbit, eh?
So first thing, I get the ole buck (young) positioned on his back with my knife in one hand and with the free had, I grab his unit... well, right about then, my whole world sorta started spinnin cause up to that point in my 18 years of life, it dawned on me I never EVER had any other "unit" in my hand but my own precious one. Between something of embarassement and bewilderment and confusion as to how to proceed, n' wonderin if the Lord thought this was a right minded thing to be doing... I hear someone speak over my shoulder.
I dang near knifed myself as I jumped about 3' in the air turning in mid jump to see a kindly gent standing there grinnin at my delemma like a freakin cheshire cat! He calmly states, "First, deer, Sonnie." I am sure my face was the color of my woolrich outfit I bought for the hunt!
He sets me down and says, "watch close so you learn to do this right..." I never saw a thing he was doin...I was so danged embarassed my eyes were dartin all over the woods wondering who else saw my stumblebum antics!
Ah...memories...
Doc, thats funny. Reminded me of my boy getting ready to gut his first. It was a button buck, and he was gettin all sqeamish about latching in to the goods to remove 'em. LOL Funny stuff.