Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting why do people not gut deer right away?

Different strokes for different folks. Everybody's situation is different.

In my case, I generally have anywhere from a 100 to 400 yard drag. I ain't dragging out an extra 50 pounds of schit, then loading a deer that weighs an extra needless 50 pounds onto the truck by myself, then creating an extra 50 pounds of crap to get rid of. Screw that, I can gut the thing in about 5 minutes and leave it in the woods for the other critters to get rid of.

The first time I ever heard of gutting later was when a buddy of mine moved down to the Eastern Shore of Delaware about 25 years ago. The first deer season he was there, he called me up to tell me about the crazy schit those guys do down there. He couldn't believe it. He told me how they drag them out without gutting, take them home and hang them. Then they gut them over a bucket and throw it away somewhere.

Why? It's gone the next morning.

My parents used to live in a suburban setting with houses on 2 to 10 acre lots and you could only bow hunt there. They were over run with deer. My mother didn't want me to hunt there, but my father and some of the neighbors wanted me to try to thin them out, so she agreed. My father told me I could hunt as long as I didn't leave gut piles everywhere. So I go out and shoot a doe one Saturday evening right at dark. I gut the deer and drag it out and load it in the truck. My father asks, "What did you do with the guts?" I told him I left them out there and I'll be back in the morning to clean them up. I did this to prove a point. I came back the next morning with a trash bag and we walked down there. We walked up on a spot where there was a few bloody leaves and I said, "there's my gut pile". He was amazed that you couldn't even tell that anything had happened there. He never worried about the gut piles after that.

Beautiful bucks, congratulations.

Because of sand?

I could imagine that ruining a lot of meat!

Yep, agreed. Working around or wallowing in guts is asinine. I gutted deer asap when I was a kid, now? I get the animal hung and skinned and then I drop the guts intact onto a tarp. I lower the animal with my lift to keep that process easy and splatter-free.

Would never do it any other way these days. Meat is as good as it has always been.

And for butchering 'in the field' on mountain hunts, the LAST thing addressed other than the loins is the innards. "Gutless' is the only way to go.

Up here, it's the only way to warm your hands !

Since it takes about 3-5 if you work slowly I'm not sure what the big deal is. But most of the time I'm with family and on the hunt for days at a time so we just get back and hang it.

I can gut one a lot faster than I can 1/4 one. But now that the laws in MN/WI have changed, I'd not hesitate to 1/4 one and pack it out instead of haul it, if necessary.

I think most hunters do something for the right reasons or because it suits their hunting methods. Gutting a deer to hang it or going gutless, skinning it or not, etc.

Some hunters though, do things because they were shown by someone who didn't know any better. I've had guys give me a call to go help them gut a deer because they had no clue how to do it. I've seen deer half gutted, nothing cut above the diaphragm, with the pooper still in, etc.

One thing I do not understand is guys who slit a deer's throat when it's been hit in the boiler room. It does absolutely nothing, the heart has stopped beating and if it's been lung/heart shot, almost all of the blood is in the chest cavity.

For guys whose backs or legs hurt when gutting on the ground you might want to try what I do as more often than not I am alone in the woods. .

I keep a sheet of plywood in the bed of the truck and pull it out to make a ramp. Tie a rope around the deer head and run the end of the rope through one of the front cleats near the cabin. Grab the deer , or rope near the deer, and pull the deer up onto the plywood - doesn't have to be all the way, using the tension on the rope to keep the deer in place. Cinch the rope on the cleat and the deer will now be secured on the "ramp". You have a lot of leverage and it is easy. It is then very easy to then pick up the plywood with the deer laying on it and slide it forward into the tailgate.

To gut it, turn the deer sideways and tie up the up side legs to the upper cleats in the rear if you have them. This keeps the belly exposed, easily accessible without bending, and the deer from flopping like it does when on the ground or not secured. Finish gutting and let everything slip right off the tarp on to the ground. You can then throw a bag of ice into the deer chest cavity if inclined, wrap the tarp and drive off to the processor.

MUCH MUCH easier on the back and legs.

A rare trick I got to teach my dad.

I have gutted smaller deer and antelope after dragging them to the pickup because it keeps dirt, leaves and grass from getting in the body cavity. The tenderloins and inside of the rib meat are nice and clean if you wait to gut till you're either in camp or at least until you get the critter to where it won't be drug through the weeds anymore. If the cost/benefit of dragging a lighter carcass trumps keeping things clean, then go for it-gut it where you find it. If the drag is easy and involves gravity and/or snow, I will wait to gut.

9 out of 10 of my critters get quartered gutless and come out in my backpack though, so I rarely do gut anything anymore but this is one reason to wait. I know other people like to gut stuff in a spot where they can watch for coyotes or whatever else, so there's another reason. I have had ranchers ask me to gut antelope in their hay pasture near their house to shoot coyotes off of the pile.

Yep, provincialism is just as strong on the Fire today as ever.

Trying to remove all the flank and rib meat whilst the guts or in the deer is fugger. It takes me more time to dig out my knife, roll up my sleeves and put on a pair of rubber gloves than it does to gut a deer.

Seriously, how long does it take to get the insides out, 2 minutes

What’s your technique exactly for salted ice soaking.

I’ve done both and you’re correct. It all depends on the situation. I’ve packed meat out in a pack and never touched the guts. Reason was where I happened to be hunting I didn’t have access to a machine to haul him out or a place to hang it for easy butchering. I cut the hide down the top middle of the back and peeled each side open. Took the backstrapes out shoulders off,deboned the hind quarters and slipped in each side for the tenders. Cut the neck and head off and in two trips had everything. I divided it up evenly and strung half up in a heavy duty laundry bag I pack so the yotes and wolves didn’t get it and packed out. If I can’t hang it this is what I do. If I’m hanging it I gut it immediately, hang it up and pull the hide off when it’s still warm.

What’s a “processor?”

I always used to gut right after killing. Anymore though if a deer looks heavy enough that I know I'm going to have to leave it alone for a while to go get my vehicle and/or help to drag it out I don't gut.

My reasoning is with the increase in the coyote population around my area nowadays I don't want to leave any unnecessary blood and gut scent that could attract a pack of coyotes looking for a quick easy meal from a already cut open carcass while I'm gone.

As always, YMMV.

Spot On

Also, where we get our deer usually involves a long drag to get to a road or trail. We get one tag about every other year and don't waste meat by being lazy. Every scrap gets used and is taken care of. The liver and heart are some of my favorite parts of the deer...liver, bacon, and onions...heart trimmed out inside, stuffed, roasted, cooled in the refer overnight and sliced thin for cold cuts.

In South Carolina, it is normally hot on deer opener of August 15. 90-100 degrees... We don't field dress a deer because of flies - plus, we can normally drive the truck or four wheeler to them and pick them up and take them to be cleaned in a place that has something to hang and running water.

Also, we always put the quartered deer in a cooler full of ice for a few days with the drain plug removed. Makes the meat better tasting and drains blood.

Hot most of the time in Texas too! I never gut deer at all.

There is a way around this, gut the deer, drag it about 15-20 yds away, cover it with your jacket and get your help.
If the coyotes do come the will always hit the guts first and with your jacket over the deer they have never bothered it here.

One place I hunt asks that all weights be recorded before gutting. Not to bad in this case because they have a nice skinning shed, etc. Most of the drags out are down the mountain to a road/atv trail....the few times I've had to drag uphill there I gutted and just explained that to them...and they noted it on their records.

State laws have made it against the law to bring deer with bone in from out of state....even though the area I hunt in the next state is on the state line and the deer likely spend as much time in one state as the other. I've started going "gutless" here. I drag the deer down the mountain to a trail I can bring a truck to, pull them up on the tailgate, open the cooler, and take the meat. First one I did was a learning experience but it's a pretty efficient method....and it keeps me legal! ...guttting in this case would just be extra work.

Most of my drags are down the mountain, better to walk up on the way in and drag down on the way out. Weight is still weight dragging down the mountain so gutting makes it lighter but a lot of leaves/dirt/etc can end up in the chest cavity so leaving the guts in can keep things cleaner.

Those are the main reasons I don't gut deer right away, at least in those locations. I've not noticed any problem or difference with the meat compared to other locations where I gut immediately, and my family eats A LOT of it.