Good logic here. It is not like they are immune to death outside of hunting, and they still remain primarily in their ranges.
This is a question I am going to ask my processor. I am hearing others say their processors are saying not to gut if it is cold and within reasonable distance, as it saves tainting any meat.
Speaking of thinning out the coyotes, what do you guys do with a coyote after the kill. I am not really looking at skinning one for pelt profit. Is there a donation or let it lie?
I voted at the end of tracking., butttttt that's if it drops 80- 100 yds away from my stand. if the deer falls closer then I'll drag it to 100 yds then gut.
I find quartering it to be a faster in just about any circumstance as long as you have a good knife. Just skin it, and cut the legs, backstraps, tenderloins, and neck meat. Takes a little longer and requires a saw if you want an intact rib cage.
Careful doing that in NC, I believe its considered littering here and you'll get a nice fine if caught. I totally disagree with that law, in fact when I go catfishing, I prefer that they are well fed and don't particularly care what they're fed with. I would just suggest that if you're ever in NC and plan on using deer guts to fatten up your fish, it is probably best to keep that on the DL.
I have a good setup with an electric hoist with a floor drain grate under it plus a hose, cleaning table, and a restaurant sink at the shop so assuming that it isn't a big haul back to the truck ill take it back whole and gut it while its hanging and let all the guts fall right into a muck bucket.
If at all possible, we gut everything back at the shop where we have running water and a clean, controlled environment. That being said, our decision has nothing to do with impact on future hunts. A gut pile will not disturb the deer in any fashion. Years ago I used to gut them where they dropped and have actually killed deer the very next day while they were standing by the gut pile. There was only curiosity, no fear.
It might not disturb the deer but a rotting pile of guts next to the stand would sure as **** disturb me.
I’ve done it many ways. I usually gut where they lay especially if temps are above 50’s. I’ll drag them to a convenient location where the head is uphill from the butt. So everything drains. Creekbed or by a pond or lake is good so I can wash my knife and hands afterwards but once you get ok at doing it you can stay pretty clean if it’s not too tore up in there
Wearing gloves, I just reach under the spine after taking the backstraps off. Push the stomach back with one hand and pull the tenderloin off the underside of the spine with the other. If I cut off the intact rib cage with a saw, I can just reach in and pull out the heart. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I've read studies that other deer are very attracted to gut piles and will go sniff them. In the PA woods I hunt, my experience is that it is hard to tell where a gut pile was the next day. I've personally never cared about gutting and hunting the spot again, even later that day with other hunters. I think hunter scent in the area would be a bigger problem then the natural scent of a gut pile.
Deer, I gut them where they lay, just position them a bit with the head uphill if possible. The exception is in one of my rifle hunting spots that is really open with canyons full of nasty star thistle. That stuff gets everywhere if you drag them with an open body cavity, so I'll drag them to a spot where the rest of the way doesn't have any and then gut them. I see the same as others have noted, the gut pile is gone within a couple days. Crows just themselves can make short work of it. Elk we will quarter if we can't get an atv close to where they are, otherwise they just get gutted on the spot too.
I don't bother with gutting a deer. I go the gutless method route and just bring the meat and cape home. I would rather haul meat on my back then have to drag the out.
