WHERE DO YOU GUT EM?

[retiredsailor]

As most here have stated, I gut mine immediately. The only time I will move the animal
is to try to reposition it so the blood and guts will slide out easier (for example, if on the side of a hill or some such.)

I have also seen another deer come along within hours of me dragging one out, and
pick up the scent and actually follow it back to the gut pile. Didn't seem to bother it at all. Once it got to the gut pile, it sniffed around a while then moseyed casually on its way. Interesting scene to watch.

Son gave me a Butt-Out tool a few years ago when they first hit the market, and frankly I put it in the category of just another gimmick item and didn't use it for a while. Decided to give it a try last year and found that it really does help to clean out the anal cannel. Plan to carry it in my 'all-purpose' bag and use it in the future.

[motorbreaker]

I hunt 30 acres behind my house. If I shoot a doe , I will walk to my
house 200 to 500 yds and grab the 4-wheeler, Then take the deer
to a ravine toward the front of my property, Gut it, Send the spoils
to the bottom of the ravine. Then take it to the pine in my front yard.
Hang her up, And clean the cavity and pelvic area therouly with the hose.
I never split the pelvis, To me its totally unnessary, And have you ever
tried to split a mature bucks pelvis. I'd rather keep my fingers. I also
dry the cavity out with paper towel after water cleanup. If its to warm
to hang the deer, Then I will relax, Drink a cold one, And focus on the task at hand. Bring her in, Skin, Quarter, ie Boneless backstraps. I take
the hinds at the joint, And cut the shoulders off with as much meat as posible. Wipe ALL the blood off the meat that you can, And throw it in the
frige. Some off my buds will leave theres in the frige for 10 to 12 days.
4 to 5 tops for me. If you could taste some of my grillen, Via the ol webber.
Back to the gut pile. I allmost never leave guts in the woods anymore.
Its not the guts i'm worried about, Its what eats the guts. I'm not feeding
the coys where I hunt. Nor the even worce, Dogs, After a couple of ruined hunts because these things, Since ive quit leaving piles, I see
less of them. The buzzards take good care of me. They frequint my pile.
Hope I didnt make a bad impression, I'm new at this. Thank you dsl. Jake

[shaman]

Most of the time, I split the pelvis.  I've used a variety of tools.  So far, this is my hands-down favorite:

http://www.harborfreight.com/10-inch-flush-cut-pull-saw-94722.html


They're only $7 bucks, and they do an amazing job.  It's a fine-toothed pull-saw, so it's much easier to get started.  I keep a bunch of them around. It's also the best saw I've found for sawing off the hooves.  They're  great for pruning too.

The thing about splitting the pelvis is that it goes hand-in-hand with the way I remove the anus. After the cavity is pretty well emptied out, I'm left with the  last bit of the alimentary canal hanging over the top of the pelvis.  I saw through the pelvis, and fit the intestine through, and now it's all hanging down with the anus as the only thing attached. I take my knife and make a cut to either side of the anus and it all falls off into the gut bin.  

Of course, this assumes you're starting, like me, from a head-up configuration.  Gravity is doing all the work for you.  Honestly, this is one of best reasons I can see for doing a deer head-up.  The poop hole is always outside the deer. Anything that comes out goes on the ground.


Care for the saw:  Run through the wishdasher or clean in the sink and then give a light coating of vegetable oil.

You're doing just fine for a first impression, as far as I'm concerned.  I know I'm a minority opinion on this topic, and the way we clean deer is. . . well, at times it can get we're more tied to how we clean out a deer than we are to the way we take Communion.  It turns out my methods are more popular in the South, and it makes sense, since I learned to clean a deer from a guy from Alabama.  Guys up North think I'm strange.

[huntography]

Typically, if I'm far back, not only will I gut the deer on the spot, but quarter it too.

[trapperDave]

Processors around here wont take a deer that hasnt been gutted

[Bryan78]

ORIGINAL: shaman
The thing about splitting the pelvis is that it goes hand-in-hand with the way I remove the anus. After the cavity is pretty well emptied out, I'm left with the  last bit of the alimentary canal hanging over the top of the pelvis.  I saw through the pelvis, and fit the intestine through, and now it's all hanging down with the anus as the only thing attached. I take my knife and make a cut to either side of the anus and it all falls off into the gut bin.  

Of course, this assumes you're starting, like me, from a head-up configuration.  Gravity is doing all the work for you.  Honestly, this is one of best reasons I can see for doing a deer head-up.  The poop hole is always outside the deer. Anything that comes out goes on the ground.

You could always buy the Butt Out tool to remove the anus.  I have one and I love it.  I am going to buy the Butt Out 2 since it is longer so I would recommend that one.  It really is well worth the few bucks to buy one.