WHERE DO YOU GUT EM?

[KYdeer88]

Where do you guys gut your deer? I will take them out of the woods if I can either get them in the truck or on a 4 wheeler without to much trouble. But then again I do have a few stands that are not accessible by truck and not easily accessible by 4 wheeler so those deer usually get spilled on the spot. I have also had some die in very inconvenient places, i.e the bottom of the holler, so.. Do you think it makes a difference in deer movement?
If I do gut one close to a stand I will usually stay off that stand for a day or two until the yotes and crows clean up, but this is just me so what are some thoughts on this?

[1Morgan]

We don't gut em, just load em in the truck and carry em to the processor. They do it all for $65 including a basic processing including sausage or ground meat.

[fasteddie]

I field dress the deer pretty much where they drop . I usuall pull them off a trail but i'm not about to drag an un-gutted deer very far . Why drag / carry extra weight . Most gut piles are gone within 1 - 2 days . I have had deer almost stand in a gut pile . They don't seem to be afraid of them .
If I am in the horse riding area , I will make an extra effort not to leave it near a trail . No sense in getting folks riled up .

[scottflesher]

I'm with Eddie, I do it where they lie. If our processors did it all for $65 then I might consider what Morgan does, but I'm not that lucky. In Ohio you can only harvest one buck regardless of weapon (bow, shotgun, smokepole) so when I harvest a buck, my serious hunting is over. Sure it's fun to hunt does, but i'm not as uptight about it.

[Woods Walker]

While reading this thread, I couldn't help but notice that the geographical location of the poster seems to have a lot to do with the gut/ungut in woods practice.

Leaving the deer ungutted seems to be more of a southern thing than a northern one.

Why? Maybe it has to do with the fact that southern deer are considerably smaller in body mass than the northern ones, especially northern ones that come from the corn belt.

In Illinois if you shoot a 2.5 year or older buck, you may very well be dragging a good 210 to 240 pounds of dead weight out of the woods. I've killed buck FAWNS that weighed over 100 pounds on the hoof. That's a LOT of unecessary weight to pull.

The other factor may be that many of us northern deer hunters like to hang/age our deer, and we then know that the sooner you get the guts out of them, then the faster the cooling process can begin.

If I drag my deer with the guts in at all, it's only as far as I need to in order to:

1. Get it out of the water.

2. Get it on flatter ground.

3. Out of heavy cover.

4. Out of the neighbor's back yard (JUST KIDDING!!!!)

[JPH]

I don't get the whole idea of dragging a deer out of the woods with the guts in. I know, it is a Southern thing. I just don't see the benefit.

I gut every deer as close to the point of recovery as possible. I hunt alone and I do not own an ATV. I know Iowa is not exactly a wilderness state but dragging a deer, that can easily run between 150-250 on the hoof, is not easy task. While I do not age my deer, I also agree with WW that quick field dressing aids in the quality of the meat.

I have heard a lot hunters who fear a gut pile will spook deer out of their core area. While I try to maintain a very low impact style of hunting, I have never seen a gut pile have a negative impact on deer movement.

[gunther89]

I normally gut them right where I find them unless its getting dark out or I am able to drive right up to them in which case I will throw them on the ranger and drive them back to our farm and gut them there.

[badtoys]

well i've seen them come in smell and bolt and change their routes i don't do it in the woods or anywhere by where i'm hunting if a deer can smell a human at 400 yards and can smell where other deer have walked, pissed, stopped, i think they should be able to smell a deer buthole or dingy lying on the ground or the piss or crap inside the intestines i have seen alot more deer since doing this we always wait til night go in load on quad and go out to middle of field where the deer don't go just think of all the other stuff you do to keep deer from knowing you been there scent stuff or when you are coming into the woods try it you'll be suprized

[fasteddie]

I've never had a problem with deer being spooked by a gutpile . As I stated , I have seen deer almost standing in a gutpile and not be bothered .
After field dressing a deer and loading it into a trailer , I find a stick and place it to hold the cavity open so the deer will cool and make sure the cavity if facing away from the direction that the trailer will be traveling .

[Dan Salmon]

Eddie,

I agree.  Two years ago we shot five deer from the same stand.  All the gut piles were laying within 100 yards of that stand.