Here is my interpetation of "field dressed". First of all, its a somewhat vague term no matter where its looked at, but in the eastern states of New England where I grew up, I generally saw field dressed as meaning the animal had its intestines removed, and its heart, liver, etc, but usually not the wind pipe. Of course, when someone has shot a large buck, they tend to not be as thorough when the "field dress" it prior to being weighed.
In Montana where I live now, when deet are weighed, (and weight is not usually as big a concern here), the deer are weighed at the meat packers with the intestines, heart, liver and windpipe, head, and legs removed. There fore, the same deer would weigh more "field dressed" in Maine than it would in Montana by somewhere around 15 or 20 pounds, I guess.
The elk weights that I have mentioned have been the weights as taken on Fish & Game scales at weigh stations, eviscerated but with head and legs on.
Field dressing is not an exact science, but discussing the size of deer is kind of a welcome change, at least to me, from the endless and somewhat pointless discussion of which latest bullet or cartridge has some miniscule advantage over last years latest and greatest invention!
Have a great day, and remember, except for you and me, all hunters tend to exagarate!
