Strange question, but why gut the deer?

I save everything including the ribs. And it takes less then 5 minuets to skin to.

 

I don't gut either in skin the deer get the shoulders hindquarters and tenderloins and chunk the rest it's not worth the effort to get the sweat meat personal option I guess

 

I agree. I usually have cold weather and can skin the deer and let it hang for a couple days or so. If you always process the animal within 2 hrs, then it probably doesn't matter, so long as you haven't damaged any of the abdominal cavity. The swollen abdomen permeates the meat pretty quickly, so why chance it? Also, I feel better returning as much of the deer to nature beofre and after processing...what do you do with the paunch, etc.? How DO you remove the inner loin without gutting?

 

You mean you chuck the tenderloins ... I think you called the backstraps tenderloins .... totally different ....

it IS worth the 5 minutes to cut the deer for them ... they are at least a meal for two ....

 

...and the best part !

 

To me...gutting the deer is just part of the experience. Also, I like to perform an autopsy to see exactly the path my arrow took. With the temps I have to deal with in Virginia most of the time, I need the deer to be cooling while I transport it home.

 

This was my first year going gutless on my elk....what an easy and clean way to do it. Little to no blood on the meat and certainly no intestines or chest cavity blood anywhere, wonderfully clean meat. If you make a slit right under the back bone and directly behind the very last rib on each side, you can reach right in and take out the true tenderloins with out puncturing or having any gut material come out. Its fantastic if you havent tried it. We then bone out the meat to eliminate the weight of the bones when packing it out but processing and carving up the meat back at camp is much harder when working without the bone.

I've never gone gutless for whitetails because 1) they dont weigh that much to drag out and 2) I think it is so much easier when processing to carve the muscle groups directly off the bone which is why I still gut them and drag them out.

 

Listen to this man, he knows.

 

Butchering boned meat is a pain. I usually try to remember how I layer them into the bag and cut accordingly. From that.

Gutless is the only way to go for me. Most of my game is usually killed 1.5+ miles from the truck. Unless I have a game cart to use. Getting the animal out whole is definitely easier for aging.

As far as not gutting the animal if you plan on bringing it out whole... Thats just blasphemous

 

no gutting here. waste of time and a good way to make a mess.

 

Same here man. I like the redneck autopsy. Since I hunt my own property & don't have far to transport, we gut em while hanging. Much easier, much less mess. After skinned, I will put a heavy duty, 3mil garbage bag under, & drop the guts right into the bag. Will then drop the entire bag onto the firepit, which will have a decent fire going. All of it gets disposed of this way. I have a hose right there at the hanger too. Minimal waste, minimal mess, & no chum for the coyotes.

If I was hunting public land, or a ways away from home, I would field dress before bringing home to hang.

 

I can only speak of what you must do in Colorado. Failure to reasonably dress, care for and prepare edible wildlife meat (all species) for human consumption (the four quarters, tenderloins and backstraps are edible meat) is against the law. If you get checked by a DOW officer you could face some heavy fines.

 

There still us heat generated inside the carcass it's good to prevent some spoilage. It's much lighter also to drag the deer out.

 

I hunt on my own land like some others on here. I gut all mine just as soon as I get to the deer.

 

Do you have to keep rib and neck meat?

 

In Alaska I halfway gut the animal in that once the animal is skinned and quartered on one side, I split the belly open and pull the guts out so that I can hack out the ribs (required by law to keep).

Other areas where I'm carrying the animal in a backpack I don't gut. I take the 4 quarters, backstraps, and inner loins and call it a day.

Killing a deer around home? The only thing I do is gut the animal actually. Then it's dropped at the processors so I can wash my hands of it. Processing the animal is way too much of a chore for me.

 

If you kill anything with me we are likely going to have a few miles to pack and I am going to make you butcher it, lol

 

The regulations, as written, only mention the four quarters, tenderloins and backstraps.
I gut and haul it out, if it's within reasonable distance. If not, I bone everything and if it takes more than one trip to get it all out, so be it. Neck meat is great for hamburger.

 

Thanks. Here in MT we have to keep everything edible. In ID where I used to hunt you were not required to keep rib or neck meat.

 

Hahaha I'm weird in that its just part of it on backcountry trips. When I'm at home I'd rather not fool with it. That said, your local processor may get a visit still once something is quartered and packed out! Lol