I was wondering what is better, field dressing deer or taking back to camp to gut? My family has always taken them back to camp to gut once hung up. Now that I live in Indiana everyone I know field dresses them.
For me it depends on the situation. If it's late season, I will field dress and then let it hang. If it's early season, I will Skip the gutting all together and do a gutless quarter job and put the quarters in a cooler of ice to age for a few days. Either way I like to get it done as soon after the kill as is possible and practical. Sent from my VS500 using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I always remove the guts. It's the way I've always done it. I may try gutless one day if temps are on my side. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I think I've skinned one deer without gutting it. It's been at least 10 years ago. We shot a doe in the neck. I normally gut the deer.
I never gut any of my deer. The guts stay in the chest cavity. I reach in to get the inner loins. Can't see them but easy to cut out. Sent from my SM-T537V using Tapatalk
I do not gut in the field, I bring the deer in the shop and gut it where I can see and do it in ideal conditions. I should add I hunt where I live so there really is no delay in getting the deer gutted and cooling.
I'm essentially 45 minutes from home at minimal in most cases. Due to that I usually gut in the field and pack the cavity with reusable cold packs if the temps are above 55. The quicker you get the meat cooled the better in my opinion. Gutting helps tremendously in that process. The gut less method works great but unless you can do it pretty quickly its not for me.
I gut them asap - every minute counts IMO. Leaving them for hours before gutting make no sense to me. As soon as they die the rotting process begins. I start the meat cooling process as soon as possible.
For those that have done it, is gutting while hanging easier? Typically there's someone at home/camp to help you gut it I suppose. That's the only reason I can see to not gut it where it lays, since it's better for the meat (faster cooling), less weight to drag, and easy guts disposal (since you don't want gut-eating critters near your house/camp)
My dad and older brother always gutted house or camp. So i have done that since i started hunting past few years. We put guts and non edible in big tub and later dump in sink hole. That's why I was asking since I know live in Indiana all my buddies field dress them. I hunt on my farm and I have a 40acre plot with camp set up. So no travel time besides getting out of woods. Thanks for all the replies so far.
Gut em where they lay. This past November I killed a buck in the morning which ran a short distance into some brush and died. I gutted him there. That evening my buddy shot a buck from the same stand that walked right past the gut pile and followed the same trail my deer did except opposite direction coming into the field. This is not the first time I've had or buddies had deer walk past a gut pile and blood so I don't think it matters from a hunting standpoint. I also want to get the guts out and let the meat cool as fast as I can. I will usually wash out the body cavity with some cool water at the truck and give it a good rinse at the house. And deer heart is pretty good. Only reason I would move a deer to gut is so coyotes etc don't hang around.
I always gut mine in the field, if it's not a perfect broadside shot you could have hit the guts and you don't want to have that sit like that Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Field dressing is the way to go. The longer the blood stays in the deer the tougher it us to get the wild taste out.
The only time I've not field dressed was when we've had coyotes prowling around that we hadn't opportunity to kill. That's only been a couple times.
