Author Topic: Over Forty and Second Deer Hunt (Read 1133 times)

John134 · « **on:** August 31, 2004, 05:18:09 AM »

Trying to learn more about deer hunting after spending much time in the woods as a teen and later bird hunting in fields and duck hunting at lakes. There's very few detailed stories to really learn basics about deer here, and never had a mentor for this type of hunting.

After the kill, is it preferable to bleed the deer and gut it in the first 5-10 minutes or how much difference do the first minutes make on the flavor at the table? Everyone seems to be recounting to other experienced hunters. This guy needs some basics and there's very few books that speak to beginners. These days there's actually videos that demonstrate Gutting a Deer. That's a relief. Imagine not having someone show you the ropes.

Thanks for any suggestions,

John

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #1 on:** August 31, 2004, 06:43:54 AM »

Hi there! It seems to me alot of hunters like to gut their deer right after they find it (FIND IT DEAD :eek: ). This way the gut pile is at the discretion of the animals that find it (I'm sure a raccoon could get a nice meal out of some deer entrails). And you won't have to worry about it in your garbage. Not unless you're going to use parts of it (like heart and liver)...then u might consider waiting till u get back to HQ before ya gut it.

THE#1hunter · « **Reply #2 on:** August 31, 2004, 06:54:46 AM »

What I like to do is, field dress it, immediately after I get to it..Then tip it up so it looks like its laying down, and sort of position it on a higher place, that lets the excess blood drain, that was created for field dressing it. Leave it there for a minute or so, thats about it.. Good luck

DeerMeadowFarm · « **Reply #3 on:** August 31, 2004, 07:01:55 AM »

Don't "bleed it" by cutting the neck; this is not needed and will give your taxidermist fits! Just gut him out where/when you find him. You can leave the heart, lungs and liver in until you can get him hung up. Take those items out, discard the lungs and clean the heart and liver. Reach way up and cut out the wind pipe. Slosh a few buckets of water and you're set!

jhm · « **Reply #4 on:** August 31, 2004, 01:50:33 PM »

Gut him out asap, reach into the day pack and remove 2 plastic bags for the heart and the liver, prop the head higher during the dressing out process so all the fluids run out.

JIM

cam69conv · « **Reply #5 on:** September 01, 2004, 10:33:25 AM »

Howdy John and welcome to the wonderful world of deer hunting...As far as gutting goes its pretty much simple and easy as your videos show..But I think the main question you are trying to get answered is how much bleeding is nessessary on a deer...First off yes gut it in the field..If you want the heart and liver then take a couple of plastic bags with you on your hunt to put them in...If not take them out with the rest of the gut...Now comes what you were asking about...If it is 40 degrees or below..I recommend hanging a deer for at least 2 days to bleed it out well..The blood is what gives venison the "gamey" taste...First off skin it out as skinnin a deer after its hung for a couple of days is HARD work especially if its cold outside..Next after you have skinned it out put on one of them game bags..You can find them at pretty much any walmart or sporting good store that carries hunting products...Basicly its a gause material that aids in drawing out the blood and protecting it from bugs...I myself preferr hanging it head down and slitting the jugular veins ... Again hang it at LEAST 2 days I usually hang it for 3 but it cant get above 40 degrees or it will spoil out...Also I dont recommend splitting the pelvic bone in the field because it basicly lets the legs flop all over the place and tends to get more dirt into the body cavity...Some do Some dont..Thats just my personal pref on that... Good luck to ya and hope you get to use any info you learn on here this year

New Hampshire · « **Reply #6 on:** September 01, 2004, 12:05:37 PM »

As much as I dont want to do it Im gonna have to disagree with cam69 (sorry my friend :wink: ,) I dont think blood does add any gameyness to the meat. Rather the biggest killer to the flavor comes in the fat, silver skin, and to some extent bone. My friend and I butcher our own deer. Neither of us has the facilities to hang a deer, nor the patience to wait :grin: .) So we cheat. Basically once the deer is registered its straight to my buddys place. He kicks on the freezer and we start skinning. We then break the deer down into basic parts, the rear quarters (you can cut right down to the joint with a knife and remove the whole quarter), the front qurters, Tenderloins, cut the whole neck from head to base of spine where the most useable meat is, and finally we cut out the backstrap. All these parts get put into a cooler/coolers. We fit what we can into the freezer with the lid closed on the cooler (though my buddy will open it up from time to time over the course of the 24 hours we let it sit because the idea is to cool the deer, not freeeze it.....at this point that would be bad.) 24 hours later we start cutting. There will of course be a good amount of blood seeped out of the meat, but nowheres near all of it. in fact when it gets vaccum sealed, frozen, then thawed there will usually be a collection of blood in the package. I just run some tap water in the bag to wash out the excess blood and have no problems. The meat taste just fine, and not any more dry than need be (a common problem with people who hang their deer and dont know what they are doing, deer meat is very dry to begin with and not knowing what your doing will dry it out quicker and spoil it quicker.) The reason you do not want to freeze deer meat with the fat on (or at least remove as much as possible without driving yourself into fits,) is because the fat will not totaly freeze at freezer temps and thus can spoil and ruin the meat when it seeps in. the Silver skin gets removed cuz its plain tuff.......and tuff aint tastey

. Now cam69, at least to me, seems to really know what he is doing when it comes to hangin procedures. If you follow his advice and get similar results then by all means hang it. But the ease and convenience of not having to hang it are a plus.
But of course thats just in my humble, limited experience.
Brian M.

cam69conv · « **Reply #7 on:** September 01, 2004, 01:46:16 PM »

NewHampshire,
Dissagreein with me aint a bad thing at all brother, Hell I might learn somethin

always love to hear other points of view, I have though found that hangin meat (any kind of meat including beef) tends to not only drain the blood but also gives the muscle time to turn into more edible meat. You will find that in most all of your butcher shoppes for beef they hang it a minimum of 3 days. Thats how I learned to do this myself as it was explained to me from the big dogs.. Blood had a distinctive iron flavor (gamey) and that flavor is what most people find offencive since they arent used to it.. Just passin on what was passed on to me from the so called EXPERTS.. I worked as electrical maintenance for Excell meat packing in Kansas and I learned alot from that experiance..One thing I saw literally SHOCKED tha heck outta me...When the beef halves are going down the line they go through what is called a "shock tunnel" It LITERALLY hits the halves with around 20,000 volts of electricity for approximatly 10 seconds...I was like WHAT THA HELL IS THAT FOR...It tenderises the meat and with the muscles tightening up like that it constricts the blood vessels aiding it in extracting more blood...According to them...Blood bad...No blood good...The "blood" you see in most beef packages is primarily water that has taken on the slight pigmentation of the meat...Thems all I know...Im no expert by far but I have tasted the difference in the meat myself and do believe it...Blood bad... Give it a try if you can do it...You may be happily surprised as to the tenderness of the meat and to the flavor...Oh yeah one other thing...Bone seems to me also to give a certain tang flavor to the meat except for the "ham" bone..So yup in agreement there and also with the fat and silver skin too.. I try to get as much of the fat off that I possibly can...Have a good one and bye all means NewHampshire...If you have a difference of opinion be happy to express it...Hell Like I have said before...You can learn something new from even the newest of rookies...Its all according to perspectives and views...If you have an open mind you will learn alot :grin:

New Hampshire · « **Reply #8 on:** September 01, 2004, 03:18:34 PM »

Hmmm maybe I should shock the deer with a car battery........sounds interesting :-D :grin:

:-D . Im still trying to get my buddy to try the 5 minute skinning method.....requires a few cuts to the skin, a golf ball with twine and either 2 pick-up trucks or a pick-up truck and tree. Ill let yer imagination go wild on THAT one

.
Brian M.

longwinters · « **Reply #9 on:** September 01, 2004, 04:58:31 PM »

I gut the deer where I find it and then hang it in the garage overnite. Next day I skin, butcher and freeze it. Like NH says, get all the fat, silver skin and any bone chips etc... off of the meat. Every piece I put in the freezer is perfect in either a roast, steak or stew meat. To me, the key to the most delicious tender meat is that before I cook it I let it soak in cold salty water for about 45 min to an hour. The salty water forces the blood out of the meat so probably twice during this time I change the water and add another couple of tsp of salt. Especially for steaks and stew meat this makes a world of difference.

Long

cam69conv · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:13:36 PM »

:-D

:-D :lol: @ NewHampshire,,,,, I do like the useing of a winch for skinnin.....Lower the deer to the floor...after making the tail and back of ham's cut...Make a slice just above the tail....Now on the floor you will have like 3 links of chain and a small hook tagged into the floor...Put this assembly through the slice and then with the gambril and wench setup start goin up slowly...making cuts close to the skin when it looks like it gonna rip the meat....Betcha didnt think of that one didya....makes fer easy skinnin...Us old farts try to think of ways of skinnin a deer without pullin our own guts out.....Try that one on fer size :grin:

grizzy57 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 02, 2004, 12:01:49 AM »

Golf ball trick works ! Hang deer head up slice around the neck, slice up all four legs,Put golf ball in under the slice around the neck tie a rope around the
golf ball hook rope to truck and pull..
Good Luck!
:lol: Grizzy57

New Hampshire · « **Reply #12 on:** September 02, 2004, 11:57:52 AM »

longwinters hit on another little tip I was told but forgot about. Soaking in a saltwater solution removes blood. So much so that, if your REALLY into trying to get all you can from a deer, you can soak some mildly clotted meat in saltwater solutions for a day or two and come out with good meat (Ive been told this, mind you, but have never found a need to try it.) BUT this method is not a miracle worker. Heavily blood clotted meat, like that from directly near an impact wound, will not benifit at all. But for all other means the saltwater solution is great (or if your into cullinary excellence try a brine.)
Good day,
Brian M.

Mac11700 · « **Reply #13 on:** September 02, 2004, 08:18:57 PM »

2 things I know about ruining the flavor of the meat comes from not getting all of the membrane out of the different cuts(whitish/blueish) colored thin film...and getting any hair on the meat...you really need to wash it good after butchering and get every hair you can off of it......the brine trick works on all wild game by the way...I have been using it for over 40 years ever since my Grandmother showed me how to prepair the first wild game I took...a brace of theose rascally rabbits......regular table salt will work...but I add a bit of sea-salt to it to help....letting it soak overnite in the solution....deer,rabbit,squirells,pheasent,dove,quail,turkey...all come out without the gamey taste normally associated with these......man this certainly has my mouth watering for some bacon wrapped dove and smoked quail.....

Mac

grizzy57 · « **Reply #14 on:** September 02, 2004, 10:35:35 PM »

Try cooking those Chip steaks in a little Vinegar and see what you think!!
This months PA game news has a good article in it about Skinning Deer.
Grizzy57

High Brass · « **Reply #15 on:** September 03, 2004, 04:54:22 AM »

Everyone pretty much said it all. I dress mine as soon as I find it UNLESS it has to be dragged through standing water. Then it gets dressed right afterward. I also grab the deer by the front legs and antlers(or ears if its a doe) and let the blood drain run down through where its anus used to be. This way there isn't any pooled blood in the chest cavity and it also reduces the blood you'll get on your vehicle. If it will hang for a while(anywhere from a few hours to a few days) I use a stick to keep the rib cage open to allow rapid cooling and air to circulate through the deer. I skin it depending on the temps. If it is really cold, say well below freezing overnight, I leave the skin on and skin it the next day. If it is above freezing but not too warm(32-40 deg.) I skin it then and finish the job the next day or so.

mountainview · « **Reply #16 on:** September 03, 2004, 05:26:12 AM »

John,

Field dressing is not that hard or difficult. Just take your time and be careful handling the knife. I field dressed my first deer at 13 on the family farm without any supervision and it went fine. Simple shallow incision (just beneath the hide) down along the belly, no need to Rambo plunge the knife in, and then gently pull out the entrails. Be careful with the bladder and the intestines to prevent spillage of the urine and excreta and possible contamination of the carcass. I used to take the deer to the local butcher shop but with current prices for cutting up etc., am looking to start doing this task myself.

One other reminder is to be cognizant of the landowner's property if hunting on private land. Nothing hacks a farmer off more than seeing some thoughtless "sportsman" leave the entrails in the middle of a field or pasture.

Safe hunting.

JPSaxMan · « **Reply #17 on:** September 03, 2004, 03:10:18 PM »

Another thing you can do is make the meat gamey is to cut either the bladder sack or the stomach. On my first deer, I managed to slip w/ the knife, thinking I was cutting more of the membrane out to get the guts out, slit the stomach. My adult companion nearly knocked me over! He had to scrape out the contents with his hands (bare hands..yick). Just a word of wisdom.

crawfish · « **Reply #18 on:** September 03, 2004, 03:37:18 PM »

John134 to answered the questions you asked, as I understand them. There is no need to "bleed" a deer as in the cutting of its throat. By your shooting it with bullet or arrow you have caused it to bleed all it will bleed by the pumping of the heart, so cutting the neck will not cause it to bleed anymore.
It is best to field dress the animal as soon as practical. You need to take into consideration cleanliness, convenience, and ease of doing it when you decide. If you are very close to your camp or base of operations it may be best to get it there in one piece rather that trying your very first one in the woods. Even the most experienced filed dresser will on occasion end up with woods debris in the open chest and belly. I know you are thinking well how close is very close that would depend on the ambient temperature but in no case more than an hour. Gutting a deer isnt at all difficult but it is a whole bunch easier if the deer is hanging up especially the first few times. You havent asked but Ill just throw this in, you do not have to cut out the tarsal glands on a buck. Just use your saw or a pair of branch loppers to cut the leg off just above the gland.