Do you gut your deer?

[FiremanBrad]

Always gut them.

 

[Ben Meyer]

I've gutted every deer I've ever harvested right there on the spot where it died. And always will. I can't see any benefit to NOT doing it, other than WAAAY backcountry hunters using the gutless method and basically cutting off the meat/quarters to put in bags and backpack out. But I hunt where either dragging is doable or I can get an ATV back close enough to it.

 

[Reno]

When I was younger and could get around we always gutted our deer right after the kill. This included removing the glands on the legs. Being careful not to cut into the gland.
Then we always liked them to hang for a couple of days if it was cold so they would cool out well.
After that we butchered our own. We had an almost assembly line going. My dad and I did the quartering and then the cutting of the steaks or roasts. After that we hand that quarter to my grandfather who would set there and cut the pieces of meat off the remaining bones. This was then taken in and mom would grind that up adding in pork cuts. It took about three times through the grinder to get a good mix. This resulted in deer burger that was just awesome.
I’ve gotten lazy and have taken deer to processors in the years since and just am never satisfied with what I get.
Thank goodness my grandson knows how to butcher. They usually butcher at least two beef a year and some hogs. They have the tools to that make a huge difference.
Learn to butcher. It may come in handy soon.

 

[TransYank]

Yep I see it all the time. I live in Virginia, and it is really warm in most of deer season. Son lives in Georgia, and it is even warmer. Guys shoot deer don't gut haul around all day in sun gather dogs up at sunset get back to camp eat dinner drink a few beers then maybe gut deer most likely not lay on ground maybe gut my day 2 lunch and complain about wife not wanting to cook it or if she does it isn't fit to eat. Well, no sh**. Same guys won't leave a small doe walk then complaint we don't have enough deer to hunt. In Georgia we hunt public land and there the slops just shoot the pigs and leave them rot. We gut and cool down ASAP even if we have to cut hunts short. Butcher all of our own stuff. This year alone probably 20 pigs/ 15 deer/ 2 moose from Canada that we kept on ice for drive home and processed them hear. Just part of the hunt. As kid's brothers and I couldn't kill it if we didn't eat it. Not sure where we lost that skill. Some guys just need mentored (show and help them) Some are just lazy.. P.S. we always have a waiting list for our packaged meat to include family and friends from church. Son and his wife have really gotten good at Sausage / Jerky / RAGU. ETC.. Back to original post we also do gutless quarter when back packing elk in Colorado, but I always end up inside getting heart and sweet meat off of spine.

 

[Reno]

Ive given my grandson all my knives , bone saws and such. Those were antiques and had been passed down for decades. But still able to get the job done.

 

[Jay Templin]

I always gut them as soon as possible, and then usually skin them right after. Hide’s the first thing in the cooler- I braintan. The only time I’ve had someone else process a deer was the day I pulled my doe out of the woods behind my house and found an ambulance in the driveway, with a houseful of EMTs working on my mother in law, who never recovered. (The shock of my actually getting a deer was probably too much for her.) A kind neighbor cut the deer up while I was trying to get my wife and kid home and start making arrangements.

Turns out the funeral director is a buddy of one of the guys I used to hunt with. In the middle of the meeting, he was like “got a picture of your deer?” My wife and I still chuckle about that…
Jay

 

[Timmit]

Ever since I started hunting back in the mid 1960's we always gutted our deer immediately in the field and skinned them out as soon as possible when we got back home or to camp that same day. In archery season I have taken a few deer to a processor because of time constraints of going to work and wanted them in a cooler asap, but they were always gutted in the field. Otherwise we always butchered our own deer and made our own bologna, deer stix, and other things.

This year I started using the gutless method and quartered and deboned the deer that my grandkids and I killed. All together that was 4 deer. At 71 I don't want to drag another deer out of the woods. It only takes about 45 min. to one hour to do this and packing them out in a backpack is a lot easier than draging them out. With CWD you are not suppose to transfer the head and backbones anyway.

 

[TransYank]

Ive given my grandson all my knives , bone saws and such. Those were antiques and had been passed down for decades. But still able to get the job done.

Reno. the knives and sharping stones I had where my Granddad's and my fathers. Gave most of them to my son. I still pick up some at flea markets and yard sales that clean up and sharpen just fine. The steel is milder edge goes away sooner but easier to re sharpen..

 

[Terrier]

Not gutting a deer immediately after the kill is a certain way to have gamey, bad tasting meat. I quit hunting the early bow seasons because of the warm weather we have to contend with where I live. If it’s not in then 40’s or low 50’a with cloudy skies, the deer remain safe. Getting them cooled down ASAP is imperative.

 

[Wirehair]

Deer season is a family affair. We usually take 13-15 a year and process all of them. We bag/freeze the trim and have sausage, grillers, etc. commercially made in the off season. That way our trim is not mixed with someone else's meat (who maybe didn't gut it for two days). The season always opens on Saturday, so we grill on "tenderloin Tuesday".

 

[Eric Krewson]

If you look at the "how old are you " thread you can see we are just about all of the age that were trained to take care of our deer properly.

I had a friend at work that had a butcher shop and cut up deer at home in the evening after work. He didn't skin, gut or wash the deer that came in. I couldn't believe what I saw hanging in his cooler, skinned deer that had been drug through the mud and leaves, gut shot deer not cleaned up, deer cavities full of poop and leaves, he said he cut them the way they came in.

I took one look and never brought him a deer that I didn't have in a 55gal trash bag before I hung it in the cooler so it wouldn't touch the other deer. I always asked him to cut up my deer first in the evening so it would be cut up on a clean table.

I live in an area with a lot of hunters and not that many places that process deer. All of the places have a night drop cooler but when it gets full the deer pile up outside, I have seen up to 2 dozen piled up like cord wood in 75 degree weather for a week or more. Of course the owner's deer spoiled and were thrown away.

There are different camps on aging deer, I prefer the wet method and have had professional butchers on these sites tell me my meat is going to sour in a cooler and be ruined.

I don't remember the last time I killed a deer in hot weather, lately it has always been when there have been sub-freezing temperatures at night. I hunt evenings, if I kill a deer, I gut it and leave it in my tractor's bucket, as high up as it will go to keep the critters off of it, overnight in freezing temps to cool down. The next morning, I skin and quarter it and put the meat in a cooler with big chunks of ice. I keep about 50# of Ice in my two freezers frozen in tubs just in case I need it for a deer. The freezer is frost free and will evaporate ice over time, these tubs were full when I put them in the freezer.

I put my cooled off deer in a cooler covered on all sides with big chunks of ice that are chilled to -5 degrees in my freezer, I fill the cooler with water, drain the water and add more ice if needed for three days. Then I fill the cooler to the brim with more ice and leave it for 3 more days, in the shade outside in sub-freezing temps, at least at night.

Now, someone tell me how this meat is going to sour in my cooler. Since I switched to this method my deer meat has been the best it has ever been.

 

[bldtrailer]

yes, the faster the better ! a much younger me with a nice buck

if temp 40 or below let it hang with body cavity open to cool overnight then skin butcher, if over 40 skin and butcher same day of kill, right after the photo

 

[Art Caputo]

I gut my own deer immediately after shooting it. On occasion I will quarter it, and debone the meat myself.

 

[Patocazador]

I have a younger friend. He is in his 50s. He shoots a deer, loads it, and drives to the processor. It costs him over $100 to have the deer skinned, gutted, and made into burger. I think he's just lazy or too fastidious about his appearance.

I skin, gut, quarter and butcher the deer myself. I also make my own sausage because I don't like the stuff the local processer makes.

 

[Rawhide67]

Always gutted, even a rare few that hav

e been close to the road. Most have been far off in the woods, and why carry the extra weight of guts..

 

[Mike in FL]

For a few years now I have used all the meat to make jerky. The last one I killed I did not gut. Hung her in a tree, skinned her, and then took the back strap and hams in a sack to the truck. I see no reason to gut if the basic butchering is done immediately after killing. There are those who say you can't make jerky with all parts but I've proven that incorrect many times. I've not experienced that gamey taste from immediately butchering, but I suppose their is some validity to the warning to hang and cool. I can remember when I thought I was an actual mountain man and did things to confirm it. One buck I killed in the winter with fresh snow on the ground. I made a small fire using flint and steel. Without gutting or skinning I cut out a section of the meat along the spine and slowly roasted it on a green stick. My goodness was that ever a great day! I subsequently cut him up and took the best parts home with an already very full belly.

 

[smo]

Up until 4 or 5 years ago I always done it the way I thought was the best …. Gut asap, skin it once in camp or back home.
Then I would 1/4 and freeze or take too the butcher for processing..

Since around 2021 I started using the gutless method… imho, it’s the best way of processing.

As many have mentioned, I’ve seen the deer piled outside the processing places in the heat during the early part of the season..

A local processor had 40 deer brought in on opening day this year, most weren’t gutted..
Not a environment I would want my kill in.

Since CWD has reared it’s ugly head in Tennessee the rules have changed..
No longer are we allowed too transport deer across State Lines if it isn’t deboned..
In some cases even transporting across County Lines this applies as well…

Even more reason too employ the gutless method.

I now mostly just hunt on my property which simplifies the handling & processing..

I have groomed my property and placed stands where if I’m patient and have a little luck it makes the process easier…

I try too….

1 - Shoot them in or close too a trail…

2- Make a quick “gutless” recovery…

3- Hang & Process the kill…

4- I put my meat in a cooler with water, ice & salt for at least 24 hours..
Then the cooler is drained, the meat &
cooler are washed and the meat put back inside on ice only..
I leave the drain plug open allowing the blood & water too drain as the ice melts..
It’ll stay on ice for several days… adding ice if needed..
Depending on when I feel like grinding, slicing and vacuum sealing for the freezer..

When it’s all said and done…repeat.

This deer was shot around 08:00 hours and the cooler pic was taken shortly after noon, short & almost painless..

If you gonna be dumb….

 

[Old Sparky]

I have the problem of my wife knowing every deer within a mile of the house, by it's first, middle, and last name and it's ancestry back 20 generations.
She insists i go abroad and shoot a stranger. truth be told i am the same way anymore.
I have always field dressed a deer and usually quartered them to pack out. Elk and Moose get boned out for weight reduction and because those big old bones hold lots of heat for a long time and bone sour tends to curl my nose hairs. only lost one hind quarter i can think of to bone sour when it was left for second trip on a warm day and i blundered into a ground hornet nest and got stung up pretty good. delayed the second trip by half a day.

That's hilarious I'm not allowed to shoot the local deer either. Every once in awhile the wife will pick one out that is being mean to the other deer and I'm allowed to shoot that one haha

 

[Old Sparky]

As far as I'm concerned that thing needs gutted as soon as possible. It's the bacteria in the guts that makes it rot. Also you need to get it cooled down as quickly as possible. I have it down to a science at this point I just pull out the guts at the kill site I don't bother splitting the pelvis or any of that crap I just tie the lower bowel and a knot down near the pelvis from the inside. Bring it back to the barn hang it up and immediately skin it. The skin comes off very easily when the deer is still warm. I hang it like that for a week or two if the weather is good and cold and then I quarter it up and put the quarters in the barn fridge and then slice them up and debone them at my leisure. I used to eat the heart but I'm not that into it anymore doesn't taste the way it used to to me. There must be some trick to cooking the liver that I don't know because every time I cook it it tastes like crap. Other people have cooked their deer liver and let me taste it and it was delicious. Not sure what I'm doing wrong I soak it in buttermilk and everything else they say to do.

 

[EcoRover]

Yes, of course: whether deer, antelope, elk or other critter to be et--gut right away to cool the carcass (including splitting the neck and removing windpipe) and to get at the yummy heart, liver, skirt, and tenderloins. Elk we also split lengthwise to facilitate dragging if we aren't going to debone and pack the meat.