22 replies to this topic

[rude robert]

Hi I seen you tube videos and read some things in the past, but I will ask again, for the sake of conversation. I have both d14 and a 22, if I get a deer and have to pack it out. How would you suggest is the best way? I don't have any experience on doing this, once I drag a deer a 1/4 mile to the quad and gutted it, on the road and then pick it up onto the quad. In Idaho, we managed to walk a couple miles to get a wheel barrel, of course the temp, was around 10 degrees. With the heat and if God so blesses me with a deer, I don't want to waste the meat, i know that I will need to move quickly to get it to ice chest. Can you leave the Hide on and cut off the legs? Since i am going to a22, i can get a doe, I am not wasting my time on a buck, so the first big doe i can get close to, i will try for it. Thx

[sxshooter]

If you have an either sex tag or doe tag, and are meat hunting, you might consider shooting it only in a relatively convenient place that has close road access.

Other options include a "deer cart" or a rolled piece of thick plastic that works like a deer sled. Lots of options.
http://www.cabelas.c...%3Bcat104689980


Yes, you can leave the hair on and quarter it.

[Frank]

if I get a deer and have to pack it out. How would you suggest is the best way?

We would de-bone our deer & cut the meat up in sections. Roasts, loins, etc. Then we would put them in individual bags & attach (pre-labeled) tags stating which type of meat it was. We would then load them into backpacks & haul them out. This is MUCH easier than dragging, or worse yet, carrying a deer on a stick with one guy at each end. Especially if having to walk any distance at all.

We learned how to de-bone from videos over 20+ yrs ago. Back then, there were some excellent videos, showing very detailed instructions. I would imagine there would be excellent dvds on this today?!

I also NEVER let a deer go for more than 38 seconds without gutting it. The temps would have to be below freezing (as in your case) for me to wait much longer. It is FRESH meat and NEEDS to be taken care of accordingly... Which a fair number (inexperienced(?) hunters do not seem to grasp from what I've seen. And then they wonder why it tastes like hexx, or the meat is spoiled.

Zone (a) is usually HOT during deer season, and cooling off the meat will be CRITICAL, by gutting and removing the hide immediately after the kill.

Good Luck on Your Hunt

[TonyS]

For that very reason Frank, I do not gut deer. Too much of a chance of getting bacteria onto the meat and spoiling it. I take a bunch of old pillow cases in my pack with a pancho. After the critter is down I drag it onto the pancho. Then I carefully skin leaving the gut intact. Once one side is skinned I take the shoulder and hind quarter off cutting into roasts. Then as the skin is pulled over the backbone I take the backstraps.


Repeat. Walk down the trail with your pack full and to your vehicle where you either have an icebox cooled or will shortly. Enjoy!

[Frank]

I do not gut deer. Too much of a chance of getting bacteria onto the meat and spoiling it.

Sorry, Tony, but I have to disagree on that one. Unless the deer is submerged in mud, that just isn't going to happen. Not from just (immediately) gutting it anyhow.

Once our deer is gutted, it is then normally hung in a tree for de-boniing & the meat put into cloth bags and then put onto a larger plastic bag without ever touching the ground, and thus virtually no chance of contamination. On the slight chance of a little dirt getting on the meat when gutting, it can easily be wiped off with a wet cloth. We have had way too much success doing it this way to believe otherwise. The same cannot be said on spoiled deer that I have seen by not gutting. And leaving a hide on only spikes the spoiling problem... especially in hot temps.

In the (quick) procedure you describe, leaving the hide on would not likely ever be a problem. However, too many folks leave the hide on for hours, and becomes a BIG part of the problem.

Rude, I forgot to mention using carts. While some folks may have good results with them, our gang has not, and was considerably more difficult than packing the deer out as I mentioned above.

[tawnoper]

For that very reason Frank, I do not gut deer. Too much of a chance of getting bacteria onto the meat and spoiling it. I take a bunch of old pillow cases in my pack with a pancho. After the critter is down I drag it onto the pancho. Then I carefully skin leaving the gut intact. Once one side is skinned I take the shoulder and hind quarter off cutting into roasts. Then as the skin is pulled over the backbone I take the backstraps.


Repeat. Walk down the trail with your pack full and to your vehicle where you either have an icebox cooled or will shortly. Enjoy!

What happens if you gut shoot one? It happens.

We've always field dressed ours.

http://pubs.cas.psu..../pdfs/uk100.pdf

[ShooterJohn]

Right here we did this before. http://www.californi...showtopic=19645

[Braz]

Since you indicated in the original post you would be getting the animlal to the quad. That really solves your problems. Once to the quad, just head back to the truck or camp. but do gut the animal first. But you can wait until camp if a reasonable distance away before skinning. No reason for the discussion of dragging the animal or how to backpack the animal or quartering it. You can do that at or near the truck or camp,

[rude robert]

I used the quad in d14, which was great. In a22 I will not be able to use it. I do have a cart and thought about locking it to a tree somewhere, but i will try and spot and stalk, so I imagine the cart might end up too far away. I have buck knife with a gut hook in it, i am hoping it will be good enough for the gutting an quartering. I have a game bag to put the meat in and an old army back pack to carry out the meat. i seen some videos but, doing it my first time, if it happens, seems daunting at this point in time lol

[Frank]

Forgot one... When I watched the de-boning video, I took notes that I kept with me when hunting. I had to watch the video several times to make sure my notes were correct & to also help me memorize some of it. The notes were a life savor for me when the time came to actually work on the deer.

[KNOCKED UP]

I am with Frank,
Gut the deer and cool it down as soon as possable.
Please don't gut it on the road or trail, especally if others are around on horses.
It could be very dangerous for them.
If you are with in walking distance of the quad, go get it and drive the deer out.
Tom

[CaseyU]

Easey!!! Just what kahuna said. Quarter it out. depending on your carrying capability bone the quarters. take the backstrap and tenderloin and enjoy the walk out (as much as possible) there are tons of videos and pictures on google will help. once you do the first one, you will not have any more problems! best of luck bud. and do not, please do not go light with a pack. get a well fitting pack! external, internal. whatever floats your boat as long as it fits YOU!

[rude robert]

Good idea on the taking notes and writing them down. It didn't even cross my mind, I usually do that but forgot. The back pack I have is basically the same one I was issued in the Army. It big to carry the sleepiing bag, ect. I believe we use to call it the ruck sac, but that was in the early 80's, i can barely remember my wife's name lol
Should my buck knife be good enough to cut it up into pieces? How do you suggest to take the skin off in the field, my friend in Idaho, we had a pipe that went through the rear legs as we hung it, we worked and i mean worked the skin off. It was crazy hard, because it was so cold lolo

[screwwork]

I carry two knives with me.
The Outdoor Edge SwingBlade Knife to gut, skin and bone out the meat and the second knife is a back up folding knife.

Good luck on your hunt.

[Frank]

I always had 2 or 3 knives with me (& still do), and a fold up saw(for deer hunting). My Buck knife is ok, but I like my 3 Kershaw knives much better. The Buck knife seems much harder to sharpen and does not seem to hold its edge as long. There are many good choices, as the Edge mentioned above, &/or specialized skinning knives available, that may or may not work even better. You want more than one knife as they dull quickly cutting through hair & hide.

A stick from the field can be used instead of a pipe. I also had a rope with pullies etc that made it very easy to pull the deer up by myself into a tree. The pully I have is the only I have ever seen exactly like mine, but there are other good ones available.

I always hung my deer with the hind feet at the the top (into the tree) and head at the ground level. Start skinning from the top (hind feet / butt) & work your way down towards the head... same as with a coyote. As mentioned above, you should be able to find this on youtube or a dvd, which will show it much better than I can explain.

[rude robert]

Thanks, Kind of sucks though lol. I have servival knives i bout in the 80 and 90's but only one buck. I just remember(while drinking a beer), I do have an old un used skin/gut hook type tool I bought back in 87 with the finger holes in it.. I have a couple blades for it, but it won't cut the legs off basically it had utility knife type blades. I do have folding saw. I am trying to keep the cost down, I guess i can use a stick and the military cord 501 or what ever its called. Its been a long day/night at work, I can't remember anything right now hehee. I might even steal my wives knifes from the kitchen hehehehe

[lif2fsh]

Fred Elchler field dressing an elk. on u-tube. Have been doing it like that for a long time watch the size of the knife he uses.
You get very little mess.

[Braz]

I have never used a saw on the legs. I just use my knife to cut all around the leg at the joint, then break it over my knee backwards. Then you jut hve to cut the tendon adn the leg comes free.

[MonkeyChunks]

My two cents, Gut the deer as soon as you can, somewhere off the trail.
If your doing it all there hang the deer and begin the cleaning process, remove hide, head and leg at lower joint.
After completely finished dressign the dear, place in game bag, fill stomach cavity with ice bags, 2 bags usually do the trick, place in cooler and take to a butcher.
I have a butchering kit but i find it easier to have the professionals do it. So i take the punk way out, but after a long hard hunt the last thing i want to do is butcher an entire deer, You guys make it sound easy but you know its not...

[airman]

As other stated, I quarter as soon as the pics are taken, and the animal is tagged. I to carry pillow cases to put the meet in. I quit dragging deer A long time ago, just to much work in the heat of A zone.AHAH When I get home, age in fridge, butcher, pack, and then eat!!!

[weber]

I also hunt this area and when I do get deer they are never anywhere you can think about dragging them out . I always process deer there on the spot .Including boning out all meat . If not for the fact I will be too tired to hike back and get whatever I cant carry out initially.
I try to carry only minimal gear so its less to carry with a pack full of meat . I cant recomend a pack frame enough and couldnt imagine packing out a deer w/o one . I will carry a small tarp to help keep meat clean while processing . As well as 2 knives and a few game bags ,small rope to tie everything down . I take my time hiking back and right into my marine cooler to rest on ice until I get a chance to break it down into primal cuts .Sometimes days later . Hope tp ply my skills soon .

[TonyS]

I always bring two blades and a diamond sharpener with me. Saves on the dull blade routine.

There is another reason I don't gut and hang deer. I usually hunt alone and I like to decrease the chances of having to defend my kill from bears and long tail. The sooner I get my skin, meat and skull out of there the better. To each his own.

[Divernhunter]

This is simple and no need to make it complicated.

Take a backpack and a hunting knife as well as a short fishing fillet knife. Do not forget the HD large(outdoor lawn or construction size) trash bag or 2 and a few smaller ones. A lenght of rope. A large container of black pepper. Twist ties or zip ties. One gallon ziplock baggies. If you want a small saw or hatchet. Water/soda(if you like. I freeze a couple so they will be cold later) and a snack/sandwich/trail mix/candy etc). An old bed sheet if you want

Shoot deer

Within"38 seconds" gut deer(this includes the lungs etc and the windpipe all the way to the head) and skin it.

Use knife/saw/hatchet to remove legs and head. If a buck you can chop or saw the horns off the head leaving them connected with a part of the skull.

IF possible hang deer with rope. If not try to place it so it can cool. Be sure to prop the body cavity open. The bed sheet is handy here. IF there is snow pack snow inside the body cavity.

IF there are meat bees etc dowse the deer with pepper inside and out. They will stay away from the meat

After it cools as much as possible which depends on the situation and you have a drink of water/soda and a snack to help empty the backpack open one or 2 large trash bags and place into pack. This keeps all the blood from running down your back and legs during your hike.

I find the fishing fillet knife works great for deboning the meat. Less waste. Cut down to the backbone and twist the knife to the side and down the ribs for the backstraps. Same for the tenderloins. I put these into seperate smaller bags and twist tie or seal with the ziplock seal. With the legs, cut down to bone and cut your way around the bone. Repeat putting into bags/baggies. Cut away other small pieces of meat and all the meat fron the ribs/neck etc. for stew or pepper sticks or salami or burger etc. Put into baggies/bags.

When I am done there is not enough meat left on the bones to make a sandwich.

Place all meat into backpack. Close each backpack liner bag and seal with twist tie or zip tie.

Pick up any trash(not the guts) and place in backpack and close pack.

Put on pack and pick up rifle/bow and head or horns(if a buck to be legal) and walk out. You can strap on horns to pack if you want.

Put meat into ice chest with ice and drive home.

Wash off meat in cool, clean water and process or take to butcher for processing.

My friend and myself have done this many times with no trouble and ended up with excellent meat.