tools for field dressing: sharp boning knife, gut hook and jab saw
after brain shooting your deer
cut the throat at right under the chin, lay the body head down hill so the blood will drain away from your beast
when the blood is drained make a cut in the skin from the neck under the chin to the stomach just past the chest
separate the windpipe ect from the neck and tie a piece of string around them to stop anything coming back out,
saw through the sternum with a jab saw pointing the saw toward the neck so not to jab the gut
cut and separate the heart,lungs from the body, cut around the diaphragm,
use a gut hook to make a cut from the top of the stomach where you stopped at the chest to the pelvis down to the groin
separate the liver intestines stomach ect pulling everything out in one piece,
make a cut around the anus freeing it and tying it into a knot then pulling the anus and digestive tract through the pelvis with no contamination
take off the head and hooves, I leave the skin on till the next day to keep the animal clean and it also keeps the meat moist
when I get home I hang and bag the full deer/sheep or quarters of cow in old cotton dooner covers
I will hang a deer in the shed happily if the temp is between 12-15 degrees above that I usually will butcher the next day getting all the meat at least bagged and into the fridge, I do have a cold room but cant be bothered setting it up most of the time unless I am butchering a cow that really does need to be hung for a week
this one was given to me as it couldn't be sold because of a leg problem and filled a few freezers, was hung for a week and tasted great
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