Thoughts on Packing your Deer Out

[Antmo23]

I put 100lbs on my back, run the iron man while fining a cure for the common cold. And yes my horse if bigger than yours.

 

Jk

 

Hats off to the bleachers...I am so clumsy I would probably eat it on the first one.

 

Lol, who said I haven't?

 

I do see an improvement in my balance though, now if I could just get those dang rocks to quit rolling...

[Big Browns]

the alaskin way. don't got quarter and bone and cape the head. slice behind the last rib reach in and pull out the tenders. only reason to gut it is if you want the heart and liver. you then can bone out if you want. give it a try youll love it and you won't get so bloody. thanks and happy killing

 

That's exactly how we take care of our Elk and Deer. I never gut an Animal if I don't have to. I HATE gutting animals!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Adam

[THE RIFLEMAN]

I always use the gutless method... Why even touch the guts or bladder, nothin in there I want!Always end up with 4 verry clean quarters backstraps and tenderloins! Whith a gutsack still attached to the ribs left on the ground, Whith a deer I leave the ribs for the scavengers and with an elk I may take the ribs depending on how far of a hike out to the road! Old pillow cases work great for meat bag!

Once you go gutless you never will do it any other way!

[buffhunter]

I'm not trying to bag on anyone but that seems like a lot of wasted hamburger doing it gutless on an elk....

[willhunt4coues]

I go gutless on Coues. Cut from the back of the skull all the way down to the tail then start to peal the hyde down the side using the hyde as a barrier between meat and dirt. I put all my meat in cheese cloth, throw the hyde and head in my partners pack and I take all the meat. Like others have said this takes A LOT LESS time than any other method. My wife shot her buck 2 years ago next to a road and we actually drove up to it and still boned it out. you do not have to worry about waste (throwing away the bones), cleanup, flys. Just throw the meat in your pack and when you get back to the vehicle throw it in the ice chest head home wash and clean meat then wrap in freezer paper. It actually take me longer to gut a deer then boning him out...LOL

[twowindy]

buffhunter,you wont get any more meat by gutting your kill.

[buffhunter]

/>buffhunter,you wont get any more meat by gutting your kill.

I always strip the ribs clean and the meat flaps on the inside that most people cut out when they cut the diaphragm out that's all good hamburger also..... on a bull elk that's another 3 to 4# just with those flaps. Also all the meat on the outside of the ribs and in between the ribs will get you quite a bit more. Just me though those elk tags are hard to come by so I like to get every little bit of meat I can outta them.

[twowindy]

You can make two cuts next to the spine right behind the last rib and reach in to cut them out.You can strip the rib meat out without gutting.If you gut the animal you run the risk of punctureing the bladder or stomach and tainting the meat.

[ready2hunt]

I had elk rib meat from a pressure cooker 2 years ago during thanksgiving, some of the best I've ever had. Between the meat, onions, potatoes etc it was great. didn't even know it was elk until after the fact. With the amount of meat vs time it was clearly more trouble than what it was worth.

[billrquimby]

A hundred years ago when my friends and I were fit, young and dumb, we always would pack Arizona whitetails out whole (minus entrails). It was not as tough as it sounds. We'd cut partway through the joints of the front legs, break the joint and leave each leg connected by a long tendon. We'd then slit the gambrels of each rear leg and insert the corresponding front legs through them, creating tough straps that we could slip our arms into.

 

We'd then carry the deer like a backpack, with the tail up. This put the buck's hams on our shoulder, helping cushion the weight. To keep the head from flopping around behind us, we'd grab an antler with our left hands. We could go a long way without stopping this way. We got covered with blood, of course, but it was part of hunting.

 

With my last couple of Coues deer, I cut them in half and carried the halves out in 100- to 200-yard relays. That was a few years ago, though. Today, I am smart enough to realize the limitations of old age and apply only for mule deer tags in units where I can hunt on a friend's farms, or for cow elk near the cabin where I can ambush an animal near a road and call friends to help me load my kills.

 

No one carried backpacks filled with all sorts of things back in the good ol' days, though. A pocket knife, a canteen of water, some light rope, a half box of cartridges and something for lunch was enough to do what we did. In later years, we added binoculars and walking sticks to that list.

 

Bill Quimby

[buffhunter]

/>A hundred years ago when my friends and I were fit, young and dumb, we always would pack Arizona whitetails out whole (minus entrails). It was not as tough as it sounds. We'd cut partway through the joints of the front legs, break the joint and leave each leg connected by a long tendon. We'd then slit the gambrels of each rear leg and insert the corresponding front legs through them, creating tough straps that we could slip our arms into.

 

We'd then carry the deer like a backpack, with the tail up. This put the buck's hams on our shoulder, helping cushion the weight. To keep the head from flopping around behind us, we'd grab an antler with our left hands. We could go a long way without stopping this way. We got covered with blood, of course, but it was part of hunting.

 

With my last couple of Coues deer, I cut them in half and carried the halves out in 100- to 200-yard relays. That was a few years ago, though. Today, I am smart enough to realize the limitations of old age and apply only for mule deer tags in units where I can hunt on a friend's farms, or for cow elk near the cabin where I can ambush an animal near a road and call friends to help me load my kills.

 

No one carried backpacks filled with all sorts of things back in the good ol' days, though. A pocket knife, a canteen of water, some light rope, a half box of cartridges and something for lunch was enough to do what we did. In later years, we added binoculars and walking sticks to that list.

 

I love it bill!!!!!! That's how I started when I was a kid with my dad we didn't know any better.... my gun shells in my pocket binos and a fanny pack with knife, rope, water, and snacks. I remember my dad laughing at me when I was 13 carrying my first coues out laughing eveytime I fell till he felt bad and carried it out the rest of the way for me..... now I pack his out for him.....

 

Bill Quimby

[wildwoody]

skin um, slice them up, jerky um, eat em and walk out

[THE RIFLEMAN]

With the gut-less method, how do you dig out the inner loins???

A slit along the short ribs , reach in and peel them out! EZ PZ

.

As to the other comments directed towards my post.... I did not invent this method it's actually ancient ....

The gutless method puts less meat a risk to contamination from bile,urine or feces... Of coarse the meat can be striped from the ribs or neck with this method why wouldn't you??... The neck is a long way from the guts!!!!....I just dont like digging around in a critters gutsack for no reason!! Nothin in there i want !!! I suppose there a some who think of gutting as a rite of passage or want to drink the bile or somthing...WOOT WOOT!

I know its hard to break old habits but I learned/was shown this method about 15 years ago and I was amazed that you really don't have to gut a deer/elk to take ALL the important meat off carcass. I supose there are some who will say they boil the vertebrea to make soup! But like i say I usually leave the ribs and gutsack laying out for the scavengers!

I believe the regs read "edible" meat.... Well there are lots of parts of animals that I don't eat and I aint Jewish/Kosher ...Another gray area that would be up to the discresion of a LEO if he doe's find my gutsak , backbone and ribs!!! How about cleaninig the crap out of the intestines then shove that valuable rib meat into them for some ecoli breakfast sausage bufhntr! NOT ME PAL!

[Scooter]

I plan on gutting and carrying out on a pack frame in a large game bag. I can carry it, miles if necessary. Get it someplace I can skin and bone it out- my back porch probably then into the freezer in the garage or stuff it through the grinder. Oneshot- I too miss the days back in Western NY when we could hang them in the barn for days then cut them up!

[billrquimby]

How do you keep meat that is exposed to air from drying out before you get it wrapped and frozen? I grew up believing a deer's hide protected it from dirt, flies and air. Whenever possible, we don't skin anything until we are in a clean environment and ready to cut and wrap.

 

Bill Quimby