Ended my rifle season

[Johnsfolly]

Haris122 - congrats in your successful mananged hunt!

I have two memorable drags. Several years ago I had access to a farm near my house. The woman that owned the property did not want me to gut any deer on her property. Didn't want her dog bringing animal parts up to her house. Had bad experience in the past. It was the last evening of the antlerless season and I had a doe and her fawn coming towards me. At 40 to 50 yards I shot the doe and dropped her in her tracks. The fawn ran off to the woodline and walked back and forth. Another doe was coming with her two fawns snorting at the fallen deer. I watched her and did not even think about shooting her until she headed back the direction she came. As I headed out to the fallen doe the doe came back towards me and I shot her. Instead of dropping she ran 250 to 300 yards in the opposite direction. Had to go to both ends of the cut field to get both does loaded on my two wheeled cart.

The second drag was on a buck that I shot about a 1.25 mile from my vehicle. The memorable part was that my wife was 5 months pregnant with our youngest at the time. She had to sufffer me field dressing the deer while she had morning sickness. This was the first deer that I used my two wheeled cart. We got to an area where we had to lift the deer over a barbed wire fence. I picked a spot on the fench where they had put in a wooden frame where they tightened the fence. My wife was on the other side if the fence as we were going to get the deer across. I had the back end of the deer in my face as I was lifting/sliding the deer over the fence. As I was pushing and lifting I didn't see that his head dropped down and was pushed up against the fench post. So I am pushing harder just as my wife saw the head pushed against the fence and pulled it up releasing the deer. At that time I was pushing hard enough for the deer and cart to go flying over the fence and nearly on top of my pregnant wife. To this day that was known as the day that I threw a deer at my wife☺!

[grizwilson]

Having killed, and being in on several elk kills out west, I have learned "gutting" and field dressing is a waste.  Instead of splitting belly, get upright, skin hide down back, and bone out use hide as work table, i can bone one out faster than field dress, haul out only meat. Almost as good as a good guide.

[BilletHead]

35 minutes ago, grizwilson said:

Having killed, and being in on several elk kills out west, I have learned "gutting" and field dressing is a waste.  Instead of splitting belly, get upright, skin hide down back, and bone out use hide as work table, i can bone one out faster than field dress, haul out only meat. Almost as good as a good guide.

           That is a fact Griz. I have done two deer that way in my driveway just to see how it works. Hardest part was the gravel on my knees. 

BilletHead

[Johnsfolly]

My personal preference is to hang my deer for three or four days to allow the muscles to go into rigor and then loosen again as the weight pulls the muscle fibers apart. Unless I am far from a road or have a big animal that needs me to pack out the meat, I wouldn't break down a deer that way on a regular basis.

[David Unnerstall]

15 hours ago, grizwilson said:

Having killed, and being in on several elk kills out west, I have learned "gutting" and field dressing is a waste.  Instead of splitting belly, get upright, skin hide down back, and bone out use hide as work table, i can bone one out faster than field dress, haul out only meat. Almost as good as a good guide.

Griz,  What you recommend as a written guide for this process?  I am interested.

[Seth]

4 minutes ago, David Unnerstall said:

Griz,  What you recommend as a written guide for this process?  I am interested.

 

[grizwilson]

2 minutes ago, David Unnerstall said:

Griz,  What you recommend as a written guide for this process?  I am interested.

Thanks Seth,

[David Unnerstall]

On ‎11‎/‎29‎/‎2017 at 11:13 AM, Seth said:

 

Thanks, Seth.  That is interesting.  I read in the Conservationist that a turkey can be processed by removing the breast and legs/thighs and not attending to the feathers or entrails.

[MOPanfisher]

The system works well enough, I am just so ingrained the the normal method I don't even think about it, just jump in and go.  There was a time in the old days where splitting the hide down the spine pulling out the back straps and popping off the hind quarters was called the "poacher method", quick and easy.  But it does work just as well for non poachers.

[grizwilson]

He was much better than I am.  I usually do not have to worry about capping.  I do use a saw to remove the 3 rear ribs to get the tenderloin out.  I bone rather than quarter as elk are large.  But good information.  Thanks Seth.