I voted gut where found, though some factor can change that. If in a swamp I will drag out then gut to avoid dirt and swamp water from getting inside.
I bring the deer in the shop where it is climate controlled and well lit, gutted right into a bag lined garbage can. Cleaner this way.
Absolutely understand your point. I am just trying to get an ideal percentage of who drags all the way out, or is the consensus that gutting at the end of a track job not ideal for future hunting in the area of the gut pile. Thanks for responding.
if hunting our small private land we'll drag out then gut in specific area, if public land, gut them where they lie
I think you have to take a couple things into perspective. Depends on where you are hunting, in my case I am hunting my own land and have access to get to the downed deer usually not too far of a drag to where I can get the truck to. If I was hunting public land gut it where you find it, long drag gut it where it dies. Many variables. I am not afraid of alerting deer with a gut pile just don't want to give the coyotes a damn thing to eat, and I can do a nicer cleaner gut job in the shop.
True that on the coyotes! I have heard of some hunters using the gut pile for that specific purpose. Hunting over gut pile = Dead coyote/s.
The guys at camp drag them with the atv's to a gutting spot a couple of hundred ft from the cabin. Now I have shot doe and buck and then shot one or the other over the gut pile from the day before. Usually not much left but enough smell from actual gut to make deer curious. I usually collect the urine sac but sometimes leave it so that will attract deer. Coyote are out there like it or not. I'd rather keep them fat on gut piles than out looking for wounded deer. I have gone out at midnight to find a last-minute light shot deer. Looked up from gutting to find myself surrounded by many sets of glowing eyes in my head lamp Very unnerving while alone and unarmed.
Where it lays unless in a place where it is not feasible to do so comfortably. Don't even give it a second thought and have read no responses to sway my opinion. I have never witnessed negative effects, so if they happen and I am not there to see them, they didn't happen
This year I do plan on using some sort of block and tackle setup to hang it using the 4 wheeler. Think it would be so much easier doing it elevated than down on the ground.
Should have added a fourth option: quarter up and let the guts stay inside the rib cage. Gutting is unnecessary if you know what you are doing. The only time I bother removing the guts is if my shot placement is off and I hit the guts.
I usually gut them where they fall dead. I may drag them a bit to a creek bank or somewhere that's a little more convenient, but I never go far. Animals die all over the place all the time. Wildlife is used to it so I see zero reasons to drag a deer out with the extra weight inside.
drag em out and gut. pile the guts and other waste where I can predator hunt and thin the bastards out.
Gut them where I find them, unless I've tracked it to a neighbor's property. Then I'll drag them back onto own property and gut it. Sent from my SM-G965U using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Good point on the hunting alone, and night recovery. Even though during shotgun season you may have a few more rounds, during bowhunting you cannot carry a side arm. I am not sure if that is true if you have a concealed carry license on private property, though.
