how to gut/prepare a dear?

[54ball]

Matt,
What type of area are you planning to hunt? Is it privately owned, open public land, WMA or leased land?
Are you and your buddy planning on just going blindly into the woods?
You can do that and you may even get lucky but there is a lot more to it.
First and foremost is safety. Are you planning to hunt together meaning as a pair at all times or seperate as in the same general area?
Since you are both so new I would suggest that if you are indeed hunting as a pair, that you use one rifle. Also you travel in Indian or single file one behind the other. That way if a deer is jumped, frankly you'll be less likely to shoot each other.
If you each carry a rifle, keep the one to the rear unloaded until you reach your spot.
more to come....

 

[Matt85]

Matt,
What type of area are you planning to hunt? Is it privately owned, open public land, WMA or leased land?
Are you and your buddy planning on just going blindly into the woods?
You can do that and you may even get lucky but there is a lot more to it.
First and foremost is safety. Are you planning to hunt together meaning as a pair at all times or seperate as in the same general area?
Since you are both so new I would suggest that if you are indeed hunting as a pair, that you use one rifle. Also you travel in Indian or single file one behind the other. That way if a deer is jumped, frankly you'll be less likely to shoot each other.
If you each carry a rifle, keep the one to the rear unloaded until you reach your spot.
more to come....

i have no idea where we would hunt, he told me he had an area in mind. cant remember the name off the top of my head but he said he had hunted with a friend there before.

we would be moving and hunting as a pair with a single rifle (mine). the other person will man the binoculars to spot deer and to keep an eye on the deer after the shot is fired. i figured this would help us track the bugger if it didnt drop quick.

 

[Spikebuck]

Matt,

See my post in the "still get up a dawn-thirty" regarding the BKS video I suggest in there. You may very well find this to be a big help if you are not familiar with deer scouting techniques.

Good luck.

 

[Moose Guide]

hosing out the deer will be pretty much impossible. at best i would be able to rinse it out using one or two 1 gallon jugs of water.

at any rate it looks like im going to miss the start of the season. my hunters safety coarse wont be till the 7th and my buddy wont be available to join me till later.

im not willing to go alone and even if i was i wouldnt know where to go.

Don't bother washing out your deer, it does promote spoilage! I am a proffesional moose guide and have never needed to wash out any animal, even though I work in the wilderness where a plane is the only access!! If you hunt in warm weather, cover your deer with the finest grind black pepper you can get, it kills fly eggs and maggots and the flies can't stand it! Black pepper is not fool proof but it sure makes keeping the flies off a lot easier!

 

[Matt85]

black pepper... neat piece of info, never woulda thought of that.

here on the west coast of WA we onley have about 3 weeks of warm weather (70+). the rest of the year its around 40-50 with the middle of winter dropping to mid 30s. its mostly just wet here... very wet. it will most likely rain durring my attempt at hunting.

 

[54ball]

Here in the South it could be 80 degrees or -5 at any time durring the season. On hot and even not so hot days, frozen milk jugs of water or a full bag of ice is put into the chest cavity ASAP.

 

[S.Kenton]

I second the use of bags of ice to cool the carcass ( if it's over 65-70 degrees). ALSO..the scent glands can stay..and I NEVER wash out my carcass..only after butchering the deer myself do I rinse the meat.After the rinsing I vacuum pack the meat and freeze.
Your hunters safety class MAY show you how to field dress a deer ( I show a video in the class I teach) it will also give you some VERY important tips to stay safe. GOOD LUCK this year...and let us know how ya do!
:thumbsup:

 

[Moose Guide]

My season here starts in a week for bow and 17 days for rifle(sept. 10-nov. 30 for rifle) The temp. can range from 80 to 0 during that time but is usually above freezing!