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

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