jindydiver
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Those deer hanging belong to my Kiwi mate, he is a bit rough, especially if it is getting late in the arvo and he wants to get back to the camp for food LOL
I plan to make a video one day of how I field dress and take whole deer, maybe one of doing it gutless too. One day
To field dress my deer I use a swingblade (EKA). I cut the skin up the sternum first, from the base of the sternum to the jaw. I try to get the animal laying so it is on it's back with its head higher than it's body. If the ground is flat then bad luck. Then I use the gutting blade on the EKA and insert it under the sternum, to the side a bit so it is lined up with the joint of the ribs and sternum. Then I just rip it up to the neck. The ribs part pretty easily. I keep going and run it along the side of the oesophagus all the way to the jaw. As it passes what would be the collar bone of the deer or pig it cuts the carotid artery. I then pull the animal around so it's head is lower than it's body. Let it flop onto it's side and the animal will bleed out. In deer, I pull the tail to the side and cut down hard into the bottom joint and sever the tail bone, but leave it well connected to the skin around the bum. Then I have a handle to use to help me core out the butt hole. When it is all well loose push the tail into the pelvic canal as far as it will go. I make a little cut between the legs, at the base of the stomach to access the tendons there that hold the gut up. Then I stick in the EKA again and carefully zip open the guts, aiming for the cut I made at the sternum. The guts will come out, and you reach into the pelvic canal from inside with your fingers and you can grab the tail and pull it through. Then you just have to cut the diaphragm away from the ribs and the whole lot comes out all the way to the jaw. You them cut the head off behind the ears and what you have left on the ground is the deers internals from mouth to tail all in one bit. After you have done it a few times you will be able to do it to hanging deer, just make the cut up through the ribs before you lift it up.
I took my 12 year old daughter hunting the other week and shot a nice young fallow. I did this whole job on the ground in like 5 minutes and with just one hand dirty with a bit of blood I had the whole deer packed away in a big cotton sack and ready to cart to camp with none of the meat exposed except along the sternum cut and the belly flaps. All the rest is protected by silver skin (fascia tissue) or skin. That deer just hung in a tree for the night and then was thrown in the back of the ute with the swags for the drive home. Butchered it in my kitchen the next day.
Here is one done this way....
Here she is being finished in my kitchen (yes I have a purpose built hook in the ceiling for the job)
With pigs I often go gutless. Here is one from late last year. I cut the skin up the middle of the outside of the ham and along the body. I then start to skin the leg and the area over the backstraps. I then cut the hock but leave it attached to the skin on the inside of the ham. I have some meat hooks so I don't have to touch the meat with my hands (most bugs are transferred to meat when you touch the outside and then touch your meat). I grab the ham with the hook and put my foot on the hock and pull upwards. It allows me to skin the inside of the ham and then cut the ham away from the pelvis. It is then put into a meat bag.
Then I use a hook to grab the backstrap close to the pelvis and begin filleting it away. once free it is put in another smaller meat bag. I do the shoulder (it I shot the pig in the head, otherwise it is just left behind) the same way I do the back leg, almost. I skin the leg as much as I can and then I poke a hole in the blade with the knife and put the hook in the hole and pull up. I can then run my knife along the ribs and get all the shoulder meat as well as rib meat and brisket. I can then grab it by the hock and pop the shoulder in a bag, with the hock poking out, which I then cut off before sealing up the bag.
The skin is pulled back over the open part of the pigs back and it is rolled over so I can do the other side.
And just to cut off any talk of illegal activity, I live in Australia, we do not have any legal requirement to take meat home, if we wish we can just shoot pigs and deer and just leave them where they lay, take a bit or take it all, it is up to us as hunters to decide.
I hope this is of use
I plan to make a video one day of how I field dress and take whole deer, maybe one of doing it gutless too. One day
To field dress my deer I use a swingblade (EKA). I cut the skin up the sternum first, from the base of the sternum to the jaw. I try to get the animal laying so it is on it's back with its head higher than it's body. If the ground is flat then bad luck. Then I use the gutting blade on the EKA and insert it under the sternum, to the side a bit so it is lined up with the joint of the ribs and sternum. Then I just rip it up to the neck. The ribs part pretty easily. I keep going and run it along the side of the oesophagus all the way to the jaw. As it passes what would be the collar bone of the deer or pig it cuts the carotid artery. I then pull the animal around so it's head is lower than it's body. Let it flop onto it's side and the animal will bleed out. In deer, I pull the tail to the side and cut down hard into the bottom joint and sever the tail bone, but leave it well connected to the skin around the bum. Then I have a handle to use to help me core out the butt hole. When it is all well loose push the tail into the pelvic canal as far as it will go. I make a little cut between the legs, at the base of the stomach to access the tendons there that hold the gut up. Then I stick in the EKA again and carefully zip open the guts, aiming for the cut I made at the sternum. The guts will come out, and you reach into the pelvic canal from inside with your fingers and you can grab the tail and pull it through. Then you just have to cut the diaphragm away from the ribs and the whole lot comes out all the way to the jaw. You them cut the head off behind the ears and what you have left on the ground is the deers internals from mouth to tail all in one bit. After you have done it a few times you will be able to do it to hanging deer, just make the cut up through the ribs before you lift it up.
I took my 12 year old daughter hunting the other week and shot a nice young fallow. I did this whole job on the ground in like 5 minutes and with just one hand dirty with a bit of blood I had the whole deer packed away in a big cotton sack and ready to cart to camp with none of the meat exposed except along the sternum cut and the belly flaps. All the rest is protected by silver skin (fascia tissue) or skin. That deer just hung in a tree for the night and then was thrown in the back of the ute with the swags for the drive home. Butchered it in my kitchen the next day.
Here is one done this way....
Here she is being finished in my kitchen (yes I have a purpose built hook in the ceiling for the job)
With pigs I often go gutless. Here is one from late last year. I cut the skin up the middle of the outside of the ham and along the body. I then start to skin the leg and the area over the backstraps. I then cut the hock but leave it attached to the skin on the inside of the ham. I have some meat hooks so I don't have to touch the meat with my hands (most bugs are transferred to meat when you touch the outside and then touch your meat). I grab the ham with the hook and put my foot on the hock and pull upwards. It allows me to skin the inside of the ham and then cut the ham away from the pelvis. It is then put into a meat bag.
Then I use a hook to grab the backstrap close to the pelvis and begin filleting it away. once free it is put in another smaller meat bag. I do the shoulder (it I shot the pig in the head, otherwise it is just left behind) the same way I do the back leg, almost. I skin the leg as much as I can and then I poke a hole in the blade with the knife and put the hook in the hole and pull up. I can then run my knife along the ribs and get all the shoulder meat as well as rib meat and brisket. I can then grab it by the hock and pop the shoulder in a bag, with the hock poking out, which I then cut off before sealing up the bag.
The skin is pulled back over the open part of the pigs back and it is rolled over so I can do the other side.
And just to cut off any talk of illegal activity, I live in Australia, we do not have any legal requirement to take meat home, if we wish we can just shoot pigs and deer and just leave them where they lay, take a bit or take it all, it is up to us as hunters to decide.
I hope this is of use
!
