Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Gut em in the woods or back at camp?

I would “accidentally” forget to bring in the heart and liver back when I hunted out of a deer camp. I tend to agree with the old guy I heard when the topic came up when he said,”Dems guts!”. Since then the doc has told me to lay off the organ meat. Works for me.

Woodchuck liver is the best of any I've ever tried and big for such a small animal. Very mild flavored and I've eaten quite a few.

I love about any liver but tame rabbit liver is the schitt.

Can't say that I've ever tried rabbit or squirrel liver despite having killed and eaten tons of them. Guess the internals always seemed too small to bother with.

I would rather eat heart and liver as about any other part of a deer or elk. Especially good when cut up and soaked in ice cold saltwater for 24 hours and then chicken fried in camp with fried potatoes and onions. Only thing I could never do liver on was caribou, every one I tried to eat there’d be flukes and worms floating out of it when I soaked them.

Gut piles don't spook deer. I shot a buck standing sniffing the still warm gut pile from a buck my brother had just drug back to camp. The one I shot was DRT and literally fell in my brother's gut pile.

I used to think guts were a bad thing. After several incidents over the decades, they're not a problem for the remaining deer at all. It used to be that after taking a deer, I'd rest that stand for the rest of season. It used to be. . . it used to be a lot of things.

A golden rule of deer hunting that I learned here: The best spot to shoot a deer is close to your pickup truck.

The reason we haul out the majority of our deer before gutting is it is just easy and fast to do so. Mind you, we've got it down to where a deer can be cleaned and out to the processor about 90 minutes after it's shot if all goes well. If we gut in place, it takes longer, but that's buried in the overall project of removing the carcass from the ravine.

The only remaining worry is what is attracted to the gut piles. We started off dumping guts on a wide-open part of a pasture, thinking we'd get a shot at coyotes. That never materialized. We've got coyotes and feral dogs in the vicinity. We've also got two species of vulture. If the guts get exposed out in the open, the vultures are more likely to hit them and clean them out before the dogs do. They're usually efficient and leave nothing but the stomach contents after 24 hours. Gut piles in the woods may sit for a few days before they get found by the dogs.

Not much of a bother since you are already peeling the guts out of em but I see where you are coming from.

We have even tried a few hearts, livers and gizzards from old gobblers, nutz too.

This is it. Trickiest part is getting the tenderloins out but after doing a few you learn. I always cut up and process my own deer, elk, antelope. Enjoy it as much as any part of the hunt. Last time I walked into a game processing facility I about threw up. Amazing the [bleep] filthy carcasses that are brought in. Learn to process your own game. Invest in a solid commercial type grinder. You won’t be sorry

How do you guys get the tenderloins out doing the no-gut method?

I've shot deer while gutting deer...

Makes a bloody mess on the gun though.

To remove tenderloins stick your fingers into the cavity behind short ribs . Carefully separate the loin and carefully use a short knife to sever the ends where it connects. Easy. Takes a little practice

I wouldn't wait to take out internal organs, the heart and liver removed and taken. Then I will strip the loins and tender loins etc. I usually look over the liver if the animal is in poorer shape. What is the point of the gutless method anyway?

It’s Clean. Removes all usable meat. Meat cools quickly and stays clean after placing in game bags. Quarters ready to put in pack or if early season ready for cooler and ice. Usually hunt miles from truck in steep terrain. Dragging isn’t much of an option especially by yourself. Back at home meat is ready to process

This.

I always take the heart. No exceptions. The liver on the other hand........
On the rare occasion that I do gut a critter (as opposed to gutless quartering) I get the liver, wind up and disc throw that nasty thing as far away from me as possible. It's my tradition.

Just say no to gizzards and such....

Where I hunt it might be several miles back to the road/truck. I want to get rid of the weight. Gut it where it falls.

Gut 'em on the spot.

Ditto