# Cleaning a deer



## FOUL HOOKED (Jan 3, 2006)

I noticed a pic earlier of a deer being skinned and not gutted. When I hunt at my inlaws place we gut, skin, quarter and then process the entire deer ourselves (lots of work) all down to grinding it to burger then sealing the meat with a game sealer. Then when I hunt Uvalde with my boss, we never gut (might get the tender loins from time to time if I demand getting them) just skin quarter and take to processing back home. So how you do it, gut or keep your hands clean? I wasnt a big hunter growing up, sadly my dad was always working and we didnt have a place to go hunt. My father in law taught me to clean a deer so I know how just curious how you do it.


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## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

I think the reason lots of people don't gut is cuz they don't know how without making a complete mess of things. I remember as a kid of 10 >happiness was a warm gut pile. BTW if it takes more than 15 min to skin and 1/4 a deer your doing too much drinking....WW


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## btreybig (Jul 3, 2008)

I haven't gutted a deer in years. Not worth it unless it is a mature deer then I will gut it and take the tender loins out.


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## 9121SS (Jun 28, 2009)

When I hunt the Nat. forest I gut on the spot. We hunt every year with an outfitter in north tx that will not let you gut in the field. I just think it's how people were taught.


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## steverino (Mar 8, 2006)

*dressing out an animal*

I skin, gut then ice down the entire carcass. I have gutted some deer on the ground if I had to wait to be picked up. My question now is do you gut them hanging head down or head up? 99% of the time it's head down as I use a gambrel to hang the animal. The only concern is if you are a novice, slip or had too many brewskis celebrating you may have a mess if you cut or nick their gut or bladder. By far the worst is an Axis as they start to bloat as soon as they drop!!! My knife nicked the bloated stomach once and I had guacamole all over the front of me!!! I was so p!$$ed off I just kept working!!!


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## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

I do it both ways, like WW said as a youngster we always gutted in the field. Now days I hang them up and skin first. Then gut and let the guts fall into a big bucket. But sometimes I just open them up enough to get the loins but you must be careful doing this but it can be done.

Charlie


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## chad (Sep 7, 2006)

We gut all of our deer so that we can get the eviscerated carcass weight. If you don't need to get the deer's weight without the guts then really there is no point in gutting. You can get all of the meat even the tenderloins with the guts in place.

At our place I clean them all hanging by their hind legs, but either way is fine with me. If I was in a situation where I had to gut one and then clean it hanging by the head I would gut the deer on the ground rather than try to gut it hanging up. That being said I rarely gut a deer on the ground, but I think it is the easiest way to get it done.


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

It's always been easier for me to either gut them while they're on the ground or on the tailgate of a truck then hanging them to skin and quarter.

I'm not going to waste the neck meat or tenderloins in a deer lol, that goes into the cooler.

TH


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## kevina1 (Apr 29, 2010)

Always Field Dressed , quartered, and processed our own deer. My dad always told me if I was old enough to shoot it, I was old enought to clean it. So I've had plenty of practice! I have it down to an art, although I have hunted with a lot of other people and seen it done every different way. I tend to take the knife most of the time , it is tortorous watching someone else that doesn't do it quite as efficiently. As long as you're willing to hold the flashlight, I'm willing to do the dirty work. Processing your own deer is the most work, but the results are better, and you save a little money, and its a few hours around the table with the family and a few beers too.


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## Benny (May 21, 2004)

FOUL HOOKED said:


> I noticed a pic earlier of a deer being skinned and not gutted. When I hunt at my inlaws place we gut, skin, quarter and then process the entire deer ourselves (lots of work) all down to grinding it to burger then sealing the meat with a game sealer. Then when I hunt Uvalde with my boss, we never gut (might get the tender loins from time to time if I demand getting them) just skin quarter and take to processing back home. So how you do it, gut or keep your hands clean? I wasnt a big hunter growing up, sadly my dad was always working and we didnt have a place to go hunt. My father in law taught me to clean a deer so I know how just curious how you do it.


Mark,
We usually do not gut hogs, skin back to the good meat, cut it out and discard the rest. 
With whitetail, we also have to report the weight (gutted) and I like snack sticks too much to waste any meat. Gutting, skinning and quartering a deer really doesn't take any time either, I'd rather get everything that I can.


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## PenMakerWillie (Nov 5, 2008)

We've always gutted them out in the field. I try to get everything I can off the carcass before discarding them. It doesn't take to long to gut them plus when it's really cold you get a free hand warmer with every downed deer


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## OrangeS30 (Jun 21, 2009)

We gut, skin and quarter every animal we kill. We always hang them with the head down, just easier in my opinion. No waste over at our camp!


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

As soon as possible: gut, skin, quarter, and ice in a slurry for 3-4 days --draining and replenishing ice a couple of times daily. HEAT is the enemy. The sooner you can get that out, the better your meat will be. Get the guts out first, because that's most of the heat, and then skin, because it will hold in any other heat.

ALSO:

I was once on an elk hunt where one of my buddies shot one just at dark, and we were way back in the woods. We field dressed it and returned the next morning to pack out the meat. When we cut into the hindquarters, the meat next to the bone was still very warm, and the temperature that night had been 25 degrees. Heat is the enemy. Since then, if I have had to leave one over night, in addition to gutting and propping the chest cavity open with a stick, I will also slice the meat of the hindquarters down to the bone to let that heat escape as well. I also prop the carcass up by putting branches under the body to allow air to flow under the entire body.

I learned several years ago about the merits of gutting head down. Therefore if anything bad comes out, it falls over an area that I am not as concerned about as I am the hind quarters etc. I like my tenderloins too much, so I always go the full cleaning route. Not to mention having some respect for the animal we just shot. I'm not into wasting our resources. I work too hard to get these things to lazily leave a bunch of the meat in the field.

Nothing worse than having your friends over for a dinner of your newly acquired venison, and having them bite into a bunch of WANG.

IMHO,

THE JAMMER


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## GalvestonWader (Aug 14, 2008)

No need to gut them. Why deal with the mess?

Just hang em by the back legs and skin them out. Then start trimming (carefully) where the hindquarters and stomach meet each other. The stomach and guts will start to sag away from the HQ and backbone as you trim, revealing the tenderloins. Remove them, then proceed with quartering out the deer. 

Been doing it for years and usually takes about 20-30 min. to dress a deer.


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Man not gutting a deer is just wrong.


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## brazman (Aug 22, 2006)

GalvestonWader said:


> No need to gut them. Why deal with the mess?
> 
> Just hang em by the back legs and skin them out. Then start trimming (carefully) where the hindquarters and stomach meet each other. The stomach and guts will start to sag away from the HQ and backbone as you trim, revealing the tenderloins. Remove them, then proceed with quartering out the deer.
> 
> Been doing it for years and usually takes about 20-30 min. to dress a deer.


X2!!! Had a fella show me this last year with my axis doe. If you're doing it in a garage or "cleaning station", just put a big bucket underneath. As you go, the gut sack falls down and away, allowing you to grab the tenderloins without puncturing anything, take the front quarters, and as you cut away the hind quarters, your one-piece waste falls in the bucket. Viola! :biggrin:


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

I do both. It may sound bad, but it depends on how much time I have.

If it's a weeknight (and probably getting late), I'll usually take the quarters, back strap, and not gut the deer. I don't like doing it this way, but sometimes it's what you've gotta do. I'd say 1/2 of the deer I shoot go this way.

On weekends I go all out. I'll skin, gut, quarter. I'll take the ribs, tenderloins, neck, etc. I'll cut/pick out the heart, liver, and kidneys. The only thing that's left is hooves, guts, and the head. All the kept parts go immediately on ice. Organs are cleaned and either eaten or frozen immediately (ie that day). The rest gets processed at the house over the next few days (after sitting for 2 or 3 as Jammer describes). I muscle out the hind quarters giving me the round roasts, clean up the back straps of the tendon, and cube up the rest. All gets vacuum sealed and frozen. I normally don't keep the full ribs, just the meat for sausage. Neck get's sliced into servable pieces for broth and stews (there's more meat here than you'd think)! The other half of my deer go this way.


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

I guess that all depends upon where that garage is. If it's several hours from where you shot the deer, that heat inside could really do a number on the meat quality. If it's pretty close, no problem.


brazman said:


> X2!!! Had a fella show me this last year with my axis doe. If you're doing it in a garage or "cleaning station", just put a big bucket underneath. As you go, the gut sack falls down and away, allowing you to grab the tenderloins without puncturing anything, take the front quarters, and as you cut away the hind quarters, your one-piece waste falls in the bucket. Viola! :biggrin:


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## Texas Jeweler (Nov 6, 2007)

My hunting buds and my Dad always wanted to get them cleaned out and skinned ASAP. Cool that meat down and wash it. The idea of placing the meat in a cooler and adding ice, draining off the water every days worked for us many times.

Were I around your place, I'd be glad to show you how to disembowel an animal while hanging and not be messey about it. Time and patience is needed.

OH, wait for the beer AFTER you get these things done, so you do not have to do as a lawyer I know and hunt up the medical kit then.

Good hunting to all!!!


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## rubberducky (Mar 19, 2010)

Call me crazy but I get all of the meat. I hang mine feet down cut skin 1/4 ice I do it all my self. There is as many ways to clean deer as there are deer hunters there is no wrong way or right way just your way.
James


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## BIG PAPPA (Apr 1, 2008)

*On the Ground..Always*

I've always Gutted on the ground. Very clean and very quick. under 3 minutes, unless it's a trophy, and that takes more time but it gets cleaned on the ground as well. I always keep a couple mechanics Latex gloves with me, in my Atv, in the camp house or the truck and in blinds. 
It's just the way we do it. Have seen others gut hanging, and it's hard to watch, just seems like way too much work to me.
Just try all ways, and stick with what works best for you. When By yourself, I don't think there is any easier way to clean an Animal than cleaning on the Ground.


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## br549 (Jan 17, 2006)

brazman said:


> X2!!! Had a fella show me this last year with my axis doe. If you're doing it in a garage or "cleaning station", just put a big bucket underneath. As you go, the gut sack falls down and away, allowing you to grab the tenderloins without puncturing anything, take the front quarters, and as you cut away the hind quarters, your one-piece waste falls in the bucket. Viola! :biggrin:


You can also take all the meat from the ribs this way and still never gut the deer.


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## goatchze (Aug 1, 2006)

BIG PAPPA said:


> I've always Gutted on the ground. Very clean and very quick. under 3 minutes, unless it's a trophy, and that takes more time but it gets cleaned on the ground as well. I always keep a couple mechanics Latex gloves with me, in my Atv, in the camp house or the truck and in blinds.
> It's just the way we do it. Have seen others gut hanging, and it's hard to watch, just seems like way too much work to me.
> Just try all ways, and stick with what works best for you. When By yourself, I don't think there is any easier way to clean an Animal than cleaning on the Ground.


I always clean on the ground as well. I find chasing around a hanging carcass much more difficult than finagling one on the ground.

I typically skin the whole critter and use the skin as a "blanket" when rolling the carcass around, keeping everything clean and dirt free.


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## OrangeS30 (Jun 21, 2009)

BIG PAPPA said:


> When By yourself, I don't think there is any easier way to clean an Animal than cleaning on the Ground.


We have a hanger with winch that makes it a ton easier. I have tried to clean them on the ground and I just make a big mess. Too much hair is left on it when I clean them that way. And I usually take my time, 20-30 minutes to have the deer gutted, skinned, quartered and in the ice chest. The only thing left is the hide, feet and guts (minus the heart). We usually take all the bones since we have people that like them too.


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## troutslayer (Feb 7, 2006)

Here is a very good video on how to skin and gut large game

with a lot of usefull techniques:biggrin:

enjoy

TS


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## fishit (Jul 12, 2007)

i usually gut & skin when we have some really cold days & nights or access to a walkin cooler so the meat can hang for while. if its hot, i will still get all the meat off, just not gut.


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## FOUL HOOKED (Jan 3, 2006)

Benny said:


> Mark,
> We usually do not gut hogs, skin back to the good meat, cut it out and discard the rest.
> With whitetail, we also have to report the weight (gutted) and I like snack sticks too much to waste any meat. Gutting, skinning and quartering a deer really doesn't take any time either, I'd rather get everything that I can.


Thanks everyone! My father in law doesnt waste anything either, everything goes, neck (ground up) and everything else! Good though, guess there's no sence wasting anything. But it does take me alot longer to gut on the ground then just hang em and get to choping away, minus gutting.

Who do you report to Benny, State for managment purposes?


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## FOUL HOOKED (Jan 3, 2006)

It sounds like almost a tie, guess I'll continue on the ground with father in law and hanging with the boss haha. Thanks for all the insight fellas. Good luck and get a goodun! I'll report opening weekend. Getting a late start my bow brokesad2sm


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## Tiny (Dec 19, 2006)

I hang em by the hind legs, skin em, cut the head off, cut off the back straps, take all the biggest parts of the neck, take off the fore quarters, get the little bit of a brisket off, open the gut a little, get them tenders out and then start cutting the carcass away from the hind quarters. Viola!


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## sea sick (Feb 9, 2006)

GalvestonWader said:


> No need to gut them. Why deal with the mess?
> 
> Just hang em by the back legs and skin them out. Then start trimming (carefully) where the hindquarters and stomach meet each other. The stomach and guts will start to sag away from the HQ and backbone as you trim, revealing the tenderloins. Remove them, then proceed with quartering out the deer.
> 
> Been doing it for years and usually takes about 20-30 min. to dress a deer.


BINGO! Thats how I've been doing it myself. No guts, but the tenders do come out. Neck meat,straps, and quarters go to the cooler,the ribs,spine and guts go in the bucket. Drive down and dump them off. No mess.


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## awshannon (May 20, 2007)

I don't gut a deer either. Skin it, take out the backstraps, then remove the front quarters. Forgot to say, string up the deer by the back feet. Take your knife and work between the back quarters until you split it open. Work your knife down the rib cage like gutting the animal until you can see the tenterlions. Take them out. Cut off the back quarters and the guts should stay in the rib cage. VERY EASY


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## Screeminreel (Jun 2, 2004)

I learned to gut on the ground then hang and skin. When opening up or trimming the hide back always cut with the direction of the hair and you won't have quite as much flying around getting on the meat. Make all your cuts through the skin first, then wipe at the hair a few times and most all of the loose stuff will fall away. 

At one time I had it down to around 10 minutes from start to stop, but I was doing quite a few every weekend, and could hit the joints almost instinctively. Nowadays, I ain't quite as fast but still thorough, most times the yotes don't even bother the cleaned off bones. It will all grind, and on most deer your not getting all that much anyway.


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## Tommy2000 (Mar 23, 2008)

On deer, I gut'em where they lay. Hang them by their hind legs, skin, quarter, bone and then grind up and make burger or summer sausage. No processing fees. We have lots of coyotes and scavengers about so the gut pile is gone in less than 2 days, sometimes overnight.
Hogs, I will usually hang them by the hind legs, skin and quarter them without gutting and then discard the carcass.
I can gut, skin and quarter a large deer in 15 minutes, 10 minutes if someone else is holding the flashlight.


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## Benny (May 21, 2004)

FOUL HOOKED said:


> Thanks everyone! My father in law doesnt waste anything either, everything goes, neck (ground up) and everything else! Good though, guess there's no sence wasting anything. But it does take me alot longer to gut on the ground then just hang em and get to choping away, minus gutting.
> 
> Who do you report to Benny, State for managment purposes?


We have to give harvest data to TPW including weights. Level 1 MLD requirements.


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## artofficial (Oct 3, 2005)

awshannon said:


> I don't gut a deer either. Skin it, take out the backstraps, then remove the front quarters. Forgot to say, string up the deer by the back feet. Take your knife and work between the back quarters until you split it open. Work your knife down the rib cage like gutting the animal until you can see the tenterlions. Take them out. Cut off the back quarters and the guts should stay in the rib cage. VERY EASY


Been doing this for years. NO reason to gut a deer and deal with the mess.


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## texas8point (Dec 18, 2006)

I skinned and quartered a deer on the side of the road in the dark one time in 15 minutes.........had to make sure I had all my fingers when I jumped in the back of the pickup.......oh wait wrong story !


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

What he forgot to mention was the fact that when he got home it turned out to be a cow instead of a deer.

LOL

THE JAMMER



texas8point said:


> I skinned and quartered a deer on the side of the road in the dark one time in 15 minutes.........had to make sure I had all my fingers when I jumped in the back of the pickup.......oh wait wrong story !


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## Auer Power (Jun 16, 2009)

Tiny said:


> I hang em by the hind legs, skin em, cut the head off, cut off the back straps, take all the biggest parts of the neck, take off the fore quarters, get the little bit of a brisket off, open the gut a little, get them tenders out and then start cutting the carcass away from the hind quarters. Viola!


Same here, quick & easy & very little mess.


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## great white fisherman (Jun 24, 2008)

Hang by the head, take a fish fellet knife and cut a little spot in the neck. Insert the felet knife and then turn the blade toward you. In other words the back of the knife is facing the deer and the sharp edge is facing you. Zip it down and your deer is opened up. Place bucket under deer, cut any connecting tissue and the guts will fall out and into the bucket.


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## Pistol58 (Oct 9, 2009)

GalvestonWader said:


> No need to gut them. Why deal with the mess?
> 
> Just hang em by the back legs and skin them out. Then start trimming (carefully) where the hindquarters and stomach meet each other. The stomach and guts will start to sag away from the HQ and backbone as you trim, revealing the tenderloins. Remove them, then proceed with quartering out the deer.
> 
> Been doing it for years and usually takes about 20-30 min. to dress a deer.


In my opionion this is the only way to do it. I havent fully perfected it, and it still takes me some time. There is really no need to gut unless its mandatory on your lease. The way described above, you still get all the tenderloins, and good meat out, and the guts fall back into the cavity....simple.


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## great white fisherman (Jun 24, 2008)

I hang by the head so that gravity helps the guts fall out. Here is a secret from me. I take a fish fellet knife and up at the chest brisket area I make a small cut. I take the fellet knife and insert into the cut and I face the blade toward me. In other words I cut from the inside outward instead of from outside inward. Just slide the knife downward and zip the deer open. It is so easy. Then I use the fellet knife to cut the membrane around the guts and they fall out. I then take to the processor.


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## rlw (May 21, 2004)

sea sick said:


> BINGO! Thats how I've been doing it myself. No guts, but the tenders do come out. Neck meat,straps, and quarters go to the cooler,the ribs,spine and guts go in the bucket. Drive down and dump them off. No mess.


Once again be sure and tell the GW that u "ate" those ribs if you don't have them in the cooler. Buddy of mine got a nice ticket for that very reason. Yeah I know the GW was being an a-hole but wrote the ticket anyway. We hang by the legs and skin first, then gut just the way I was taught less hair on the meat that way.


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## Blastn & Castn (Mar 11, 2010)

No gut here. If we can we'll pull the hide off with four wheeler or truck. That only works when not gutted & have the deer hanging from something solid.


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## XtremeAngler (Jun 17, 2007)

GalvestonWader said:


> No need to gut them. Why deal with the mess?
> 
> Just hang em by the back legs and skin them out. Then start trimming (carefully) where the hindquarters and stomach meet each other. The stomach and guts will start to sag away from the HQ and backbone as you trim, revealing the tenderloins. Remove them, then proceed with quartering out the deer.
> 
> Been doing it for years and usually takes about 20-30 min. to dress a deer.


Exactly. We used to save everything and then realized it wasnt worth it.
Everyone who says "oh you gotta save the ribs, you're wasting meat!" doesn't realize how much they actually get. You can get the backstraps and tenderloins easily without gutting. If you want to save the neck for sausage, cut the head off and then cut the neck off (not a whole lot of meat here either unless its a big buck). I think people feel like they are wasting because the rib cage is so big, but in reality you lose less than half a pound of sausage meat. Let the ***** eat it. It aint getting "wasted"


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## NitroNX898 (Apr 7, 2009)

I have not gutted a deer in years. I hang them from the back legs and skin. Then cut off the front shoulders and then the backstraps. All of the neck meat is next. then I pull all of the good parts out and that exposes the tenders loins. I cut them out and then cut the back bone with my knife and let bones and guts fall into a big tub. I seperate the meat from th pelvis bone and cut the leg bone. I should be done in about 10 minutes to drink more beer


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## coogerpop (Sep 3, 2009)

btreybig said:


> I haven't gutted a deer in years. Not worth it unless it is a mature deer then I will gut it and take the tender loins out.


 You kill immature deer??????shame on you!!!!!


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## SHURSHOT270 (Dec 28, 2007)

We skin, and quarter all deer, never open them up. And we do ger outh the tinders. Why would you gut them and do the extra work?


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## DeerSlayerToo (Aug 4, 2010)

I hang them by the back legs skin them cut out the back straps cut off front shoulders get neck meat and then cut meat off outer ribs then get tenderloins next with hack saw cut backbone below hind quarters and let deer carcus fall into big plastic drum and then get the hind quarters.Usually takes about 30 mins.


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## Mrs. Vitamin Sea (Jun 18, 2010)

We hang our deer from a tree, skin it, gut it and quarter it. 

We cut the back strap into steaks and ground up some meat for Chilli ourselves and the rest of the quarters go to the processor.


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