Field dressing a deer

[SDMF]

i have one of these hanging in my garage. it is a 400# model

I use a ladder and a come-along off of a ring mounted to a rafter w/4 3" sheetrock screws.

 

[Kurtr]

I use a ladder and a come-along off of a ring mounted to a rafter w/4 3" sheetrock screws.

thats what i used to do but my wife got me that for my birthday. It is nice with 10'6" ceiling i dont have to bend over at all or to skin or cut it up but i would still rather quarter in the field

 

[Rowdie]

In 1998 i did the same thing and the warden had no problem. The videos i posted are from the sd gfp. How would they expect you to get a whole elk out of the hills. Its not illegal

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any usable meat it is clearly defined in most states. some state that you dont have to take neck or rib meat

I'm not sure how they expected it? But they must have changed the regulations, because I know hauling quarters around was a big no no, even if you had all the parts.

 

[Kurtr]

i just remembered that in 2005 i drug a goat about 2 miles out of the walkin in harding county. The warden stopped checked it told me i was a retard and needed to learn to quarter it.

 

[Rowdie]

Well its good they changed it.

 

[Colonel Angus]

i have one of these hanging in my garage. it is a 400# model

That's what I've got, and a 12 foot garage door rail bolted to the ceiling that can hang 4 deer on at a time.

 

[WormWiggler]

I assume aging can still happen when you just pack out muscle, any tricks to that, other than correct temp storage which is a bitch for us poor folk.

 

[Kurtr]

I am with SDMF when it comes to aging. I do it in the cooking process

 

[espringers]

When u could get multiple doe tags, i could have a couple deer quartered, loins out and heads off before my friends would be back with the coolers and trucks. Took me about 5 more minutes than gutting with a lot less mess on my hands, no more hair than hanging and nothing to do when you got home other than trim meat. If I decided to take it off the bone in the field while it was still on the carcass, it only took about another 5 minutes if that. Carry the smallest tarp you can buy or one of those survival blanket things so ya don't have to lay shit in the grass. We mostly made sausage and muscle meat jerky except for the straps and loins. So, aging isn't something I've ever really concerned myself with. The rare roast will get tender while cooking. My 2 cents. Out of practice these days. So, not nearly as fast or clean as I used to be.

 

[Bowhunter_24]

I carried cowboys antelope out whole

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Then cowboy and big j skun it

 

[shorthairsrus]

This will be the first year for me wo family. I am bringing a sled and depending how far back in I will need to cut skin and work the meat out

 

[Retired-Guy]

For those of you that quarter in the field- can you get a deer back to the truck in one load?

I have carried several muley bucks out of the badlands in one trip on a pack frame. Had plenty of bungees and heavy duty meat bags though. Left the hides in the field.

 

[Radar13]

I built a deer hoist for my truck a couple weeks ago, I have a second draw doe in a CWD area, so I have to leave the spine. I'm hoping this will work.

 

[huntorride365]

For those of you that quarter in the field- can you get a deer back to the truck in one load?

If you can, shoot them with spots on, makes it much easier.

Couple tips:
If you can, leave the quarters whole, you'll have less waste in the end.
Don't use ice unless you have to. If you do, put the meat elevated with cooler drains open so the meat doesn't sit in the water.
Leaving the hide on makes things easier, including quartering. Plus you can lay the quarter on the ground and not worry about getting things dirty. I like to trim the remaining hide before going into the game bags.
I still like a sturdy external frame for heavy loads like whole elk hind quarters. Take the back straps and tenderloins with your hunting pack, then come back with a good external frame for the whole quarters.

 

[Ericb]

I carried cowboys antelope out whole

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Then cowboy and big j skun it

The only thing wrong in that picture is he is wearing sandles with socks while hunting.

 

[gst]

maximizing the ability to stay away from hair is the only reason I hang them

I hang just to skin and part out. After that I dry age quarters and neck in a fridge for 10 days or so before processing

As said rigor is the START of breaking down connective tissues which impact tenderness. If meat is chilled to much before rigor it results in what is called "cold shortening" and impacts the tenderness. meat needs to be chilled quickly after rigor. Even the method in how one hangs a carcass impacts muscle shortening or tenderness especially in the hind quarters.

If one is concerned with tenderness in what meat is left whole the noticble breakdown of the connective tissues really begins about day 10 . To get any results one can measure in degree of significance, 14-21 days is kinda minimum in the right controlled setting.

 

[Lou63]

aged beef in the big packing houses is a thing of the past, it could be slaughtered in the morning and by the end of evening shift cut up or ground and be in boxes. when they phased out the aging in the slaughter plants is when the E.Coli issues started,

if I remember correctly it was a university in wisconsin did a study on it (which has been conveniently kept quiet) that the bacteria and enzymes that break down the connective tissues and tenderize the meat are safe to consume actually destroyed the E. Coli bacteria during the aging process so the less the meat is aged the higher the opportunity for E. Coli.

personally I like to get them home and skin first before gutting as it makes for a lot less hair to deal with later. if I hang it I cover it with an old sheet and try to spray it down a couple times a day to keep it from drying out too much.

If the weather is acceptable I will let it hang a day or two but I have brought them home and skinned, gutted, boned and froze the deer immediately.

Last year I helped a friend out with his deer that stunk like an old billy goat as it had been pissing all over itself like a billy goat. We let it hang about a week as the weather was ok for it. got the stink out and it tasted just fine.

My brother in Kansas gave half of a deer he shot years ago. it was a 6x6 and the tines were no longer than my fingers, the deer was so old he had no teeth left. There was no fat on it at all and I knew it would be tough so I made jerky and canned the rest. the canned deer was great used most of it for stroganoff and could not tell it wasn't beef.

disclaimer about the beef I spent over 20 years working in a packing house and as a USDA meat inspector.

 

[gst]

Yep gone are the days of trucks hauling swinging carcasses to butcher shops in grocery stores. Most beef now is shipped non frozen as boxed beef after it is broken down at the packing plant. It is cut and processed further by the meat cutters at the chain stores meat dept. however they need to meet specials they run and consumer demands. The aging process actually happens in the wrap in the box and is considered a "wet" age. We have taken ribs and aged them in a plug in cooler for up to 45 days in the sealed wrapping they come in and have had excellent results.


I can remember when my Grandpa used to make "dried" deer. After it was salted and seasoned for several days, it hung in a shed that was sealed up good or in the basement if the weather was too cold to dry. I can remember as a little kid him slicing off thin slivers and eating them with Nokelost cheese.

 

[CAH]

Take a little propane torch and run it over the meat quickly to burn off all the hair that gets stuck to it during processing. And no, I'm not talking about holding it on the meat so it cooks it on the hanging deer, just run the flame back and forth over the meat to singe off any loose hairs.

 

[KDM]

I use the method mentioned by CAH too. It works well.