Field Dressing Question

[Ontario Hunter]

There were no horses getting to where these elk were. maybe a well trained mule.

The picture I posted was where the terrain got a little more civilized. A horse could have gotten to that point.

Then by the time we got an offer for help, my daughter insisted on finishing it since we did most of the hard work at that point.

I had to bring two out without my horses and one of my brother's bulls also had to go on the pack board. Too steep for horses. But the meat was not boned out (i.e. "gutless method").

Anyone remember the goofy pack-in tiny meat saws with T-shaped handle that had a finger hole in the middle? I quartered my brother's bull with one of those knuckle-busting SOBs. It's still on that mountain somewhere and not accidentally left behind either!

 

[Altitude sickness]

Ours was not boned either. just skinned whole quarters

 

[Muskox]

On male deer it is easier on females I do basically the same thing.

1 grab the things Weiner, pull it away from it's body and and use my knife to cut behind it all the way back to the butthole. Then I take my fingers and insert them to protect the knife and open up the stomach area to the rib cage. I will cut a v-line under the chin and sever the throat. Run a saw across the pelvis and rib cage across the sternum then cut the diaphragm lines grab the windpipe and pull the entire gut trail out in one go.

When I get to the end I cut off the rectum and dump out whatever remaining blood is in the body cavity.

No contamination unless I do a shit job on the bullet part and hit in the rear guts.

 

[MS 9x56]

If you shoot the young ones, you can use your knife to split the pelvis. I grew up working for my dad, he was a butcher and I have gutted more beef, lambs, and hogs than I can count. But when it comes to field dressing a deer or elk, it always seems to look like some crack head on a two week high did the job. Things just don't work the same out in the field like they do on the kill floor or behind the mobile slaughter truck. So much easier when you can hang them by the back legs and have running water to keep things clean. A propane torch is great to singe off any hair that is left on the carcass when you don't have water.

Just a couple of tips, when cutting anus and urinary parts have head and shoulders downhill. Then open gut cavity cut around diagram reach up into lung cavity cut windpipe loose (be careful keep index finger on top of blade to guide and control). Now tie off anus and urine tube and turn deer head uphill and remove all innards. Lot of words but after a couple of deer it goes much faster.