Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting to split or not to split?

I still split the pelvis on my deer using a 3.5-ish long knife to "core the apple". Actually I use a Sagen saw, but my question is about methods for meat quality.

any reason to modify my method to "core" only and not open up that meat for the saw?

May need a longer knife?

What camp do you guys fall into?

Extra info: I take my deer into a local processor the same day typically and I hunt cooler northern MN.

Edit: We hunt behind the family farm Basically gut them and get it close to a trail where we can pick up with an ATV or pckup. Drag distance... 200 yards max.

'Dinger,

I always split mine, then wipe clean with a 20% vinegar / 80% water solution.

Solution cleans, as well as kills bacteria, before hanging.

Hang for 4-8 days & then process myself.

Never split. You expose meat by doing so.

I never have split one. If you have to move the carcass any distance ,having the pelvis in one piece prevents those back legs from flipping around as you drag it. Being careful to not knick the bladder or colon and no one should worry about contaminating the meat

humdinger,

I prefer not to split. Are you using a knife with a bolster guard on it to cut around the hoop? The guard and this chore in particular is one of the reasons I prefer my knives without the guard.

M'Scott, yes you definitely expose meat, but I don't see a down side here, as you also do when you skin your deer !

Do you butcher your own deer, or use a processor ?

If you do your own deer, do you hang skin on, or skinned ?

no split

hang with skin on

7-10 days 38 degrees

for me

Split, always. If it's not freezing, shove an 8lb bag of ice down into the pelvis to cool off those quarters until it gets to a processor..

I don't split the pelvis when dressing in the field, split the chest cavity all the way up and prop open for the ride home add ice if the temps warrent. Back at camp if it late season I like to let hang with the skin on, early season the carcass is skinned and quartered and hung in the rafters of the barn. Butchered within 2-3 days, made into five basic cuts, steaks, roasts, stew meat chunks, jerky strips and deerburger (3# venison to 1# porkbutt).

I've actually switched camps. I don't split anymore unless I cannot get the goodies out for some reason. First, it's faster not to split. Second, I've actually cut my hand on the bone before. And last, it's cleaner getting the deer out.

I will split it to clean it better once it's hanging up.

Im with tzone and others. I used to carry a small hatchet to split them, now I don't bother. It is typically pretty cold where I hunt and we have had to hang deer inside the cabin to prevent freezing our hands when skinning and taking them apart.

I never do in the field. I will once I get the animal hung up. If for no other reason than to attempt to drain the bladder into something. I always try to salvage the piss when ever I can. It comes in handy.

No guard on the current knife (bark river gunny hunter) and a very small guard on my old case western 4" I got for xmas decades ago.

Both blades are roughly buck 110-ish in size

I have to ask...


What for?

Bear Grylls cocktails? ;-)

Never split any more.

Butcher my own ASAP. No hang time.

Sometimes I split the chest, sometimes not. Depends on if the heart is already loose. If I can hook my fingers over the heart and pull back the trachea and esophagus to cut them off, I do not split the chest.

If it's warm, Bambi gets stripped and on blue ice packs in a cooler ASAP, often no more than an hour or two after it's dead.

No, bear grylls probably has better places to hunt than I do!
I'll use it as a cover scent for the most part. I've put it on my boots, a drag line, used it in scrapes. Deer are pretty curious in nature, along with most other animal in the woods. I've had a lot of intended as well as unintended critters come into it.

I'll even cut of the hocks of a deer if their ripe and use them sometimes too.
They will freeze well so they can even be used the next season. Just write one the baggie whats in side. Trust me on that one!

I used to( because I was told I needed to),but not always anymore,but only when it's hanging,not in the field.

Around here it can be 110 when deer season opens. Just gut in the field then it's off to the shop where they are hung, skinned and halved. I use a Sawzall to split. Hang over nite with a deer bag then it's off to the processor the next morning.

Not sure I follow. Is the purpose to haul, keep cool or debone? A meet hook and a sharp boner. I'm not as good or as fast as this guy, but this is how I do it.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xijmge8_NJw

I split, never had much luck with the 'core' method, I like to see what I'm doing in there.

Dale

none of the above.

I use to gut and split.

now skin (don't gut), and debone hanging. then pull jawbone.

into the cooler with ice couple a few days, draining blood off and putting fresh water / ice.

then either cut up myself or off to processor.

I butcher my own and leave them hanging with skin on. If it's too warm to leave the skin on for 3-5 days, they get skinned, quartered, wrapped with plastic wrap, and aged in the refrigerator.

For me, it's all about keeping the meat clean and not losing too much to dehydration when hanging. My brother liked to leave his deer hanging for a week before taking it to the processor. I'd always sneak out at night the same day he shot it and cut out the tenderloins. He never noticed because by the time he got it to the processor, the tenderloins looked like Jack Links Jerky anyway.

I don't believe in splitting the rib cage for the same reason. The less meat exposed in the field, the less meat you can get dirt on. I'm also one of those strange people that rinse the body cavity out well with cold water and then dry it prior to hanging. Blood clots are a great medium for growing bacteria.

+1. Only difference is that I prefer to keep the meat dry and cool for 5 days before processing/freezing.

Yes, hanging would be ideal, but no walk in cooler.

And here in MS even dead of winter day time temp rises too much too chance

Huh? Why?

never split or even core.goes straight home and usaully is skinned ,quartered and in a tub in the frig within 1 hour. the whole pelvis is cut out in one piece when i quarter. that just leaves the leg bone in each ham. don't see the need to open the chest all the way up either. nothing there that i want anyway.

I like to keep those muscles attached to the bone as long as possible. I split the pelvis and if it is so warm that I have to put in the fridge, I split the backbone between the hips. I really like to hang them whole, but seldom get to here. miles

for soup.





nah, to age deer

I never split if i am dragging. I do if im loading it on an atv. Once its back to the trailer or camp I see that its split. I use a knive generally.

Thanks for that Scott !

I hunt our own & neighbours property, so deer are taken to the shed apron, where the field dressing is done on a sheet of plastic.

Like DaleK, I split the pelvis, because I can then see what I'm doing with the nasty stuff. It then all comes out through the split pelvis.

I split it using a small, sharp hatchet & hammer. Place edge of hatchet, on the internal side of the naturally raised pelvis ridge & a couple of taps with the hammer has it split.

Once dressed, into the shop cold room & hung, skin on, unless unseasonably hot. Once hung, final clean up & rinse with the vinegar solution.

This whole process, usually takes 15-20 minutes.

Leave hang as long as 7 days, before butchering ourselves. All meat, other than the front shoulder chunks which we use for burger, are vacuum sealed, labeled & frozen. The chunks we bulk pack & freeze, throughout the season, for making lots of burger & a little sausage, usually some time in January. Again, vacuum sealed, labeled & frozen.

Ah... I thought it was to have some biblical battle to slew people using the jawbone of an azz.. or I meant deer jawbone.

don't split or "core" never had an issue, cut the large intestine back as far as I can and strip it, tossing contents over my right shoulder.

A couple of places I used to stalk red deer required the pelvis be split if the carcass was not going to be recovered for several hours.

There thoughts were that the hams hold a lot of heat and splitting helped that to dissipate.

On smaller deer I generally don't bother in the field as I prefer not to expose meat to potential contamination, but I suppose its horses for courses and weighing up the circumstances and what will result in the best quality carcass..

I’ve done it both ways in the past, but no longer split the pelvis. Coring is simple and quick - I try and cut as little bone as possible and leave the meat on the bone at least overnight and longer if weather permits.

I too wash the insides with cold water but let it drip dry. I remember years ago all the gun magazines said not to wash deer with water. They recommended using moss to clean the body cavity. I like my way better. miles