Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Field Dressing Game?

Several years ago I got started with pack llamas. Last fall my 3 biggest guys hauled out 3 deer and an elk (not at the same time). I do it gutless and I've figured out how to bone an elk so that it will make good pannier loads. A good well conditioned llama can handle both haunches of a medium sized elk with the 2 long bones in. The ones I've weighed have come in at about 40 to 45 lb each. The bone-in shoulders plus the loins make another good load. The 3d llama gets all the rest. The elk last year was a big cow and they handled it all nicely with room to spare. A big bull would necessitate removing the long bones, too. I have a 4th llama who goes along, too, but he's a young'un. This fall he'll be able to handle maybe 25 to 30 lb. By next year when he's fully mature, between them, they'll be able to handle any elk we'll ever find. I carry a small hanging scale to weigh the loaded panniers to make sure the guys aren't overloaded.

Maybe it is a regional thing. I always gut in the field and haul the rest to a game processor. I don't process large game myself, because I don't have any place large and clean enough to do it. I know it is heresy, but also I have other things I rather spend my time on.

I drop them in a tub and call my friend who raises hogs. He, and the hogs, are happy to get them. The hides will bring six bucks if I want to fool with them.

I do whatever I believe is best in the circumstances to enable me to end up with a carcass in the best possible condition.

Sometimes that means immediately doing a full gralloch in the field, other times it may invloved a short gralloch, and finsihing off when I get the carcass back to the larder. Other times, I take the carcass back whole..

The only thing I have avoid doing up to back is butchering in the field; I will never say "never", but that would be my very last option.

What's a gralloch?

No idea, but i'm guessing it involves a knife.

Pete's a Brit. That's their word for gutting. However, I don't know his terms full and short gralloch.

Sorry, I keep forgetting you guys speak a different language! lol

Yes, gralloch = gutting

A short gralloch would entail just removing the stomach and intestines in the field, and leaving the anus, bladder and everything forward of the diaphragm intact..

Its a compromise of sorts which is primarily done to reduce contamination during the carcass extraction.

A full gralloch entails removing everything, but these terms are not set in stone, and there are dozens of variations on the theme..

Need help with those porkers?

We field dress all our big game. Helps to get the meat cooled down as quickly as possible plus we are rarely able to drive up with the truck.

In 2010 and 2012 I had to leave my elk in the boonies overnight as I was by myself. Gutted and quartered and laying on top of some brush to allow air to circulate underneath. Freezing overnights helped. Son-in-law had to do the same thing in 2010 and my buddy and I did the same in 2002 with 3 elk, 3 miles from the truck. All the meat was excellent.

Hmm, teaching Yanks English...I have to see this!

I've done both field dress, throw in the truck,take it home, hang it and butcher or bone it out/butcher it in the field. It depends on where I'm hunting and my mood I guess. If I'm crunched for time I'll bone it out in the field. If not I'll gut it in the field and butcher it hanging. I will say I do a more thorough job of butchering if I have it hanging at home and waste less meat.

There are several examples on YouTube.

All of our animals are field dressed, then moved to my shed for skinning and butchering later..Most of my game is left to hang for 3 days to 10 to age before cutting up for the freezer..

I guess I should add, elk are the exception..often they are quartered and brought to the shed that way..but as I get older, I usually hunt areas that I can get the animal out in one piece...plus I seldom hunt for bulls...

for deer here on the farm, i just load em' on the atv and skin/gut/qtr at the farm shop.

for elk, i always bone them out at the kill site. bones are excess weight.

I'm sure it's a regional/practical thing. In this part of the country it's typically low 40's to high 20's for deer season (no wild pigs). If you can't drive to the carcass it's only a short drag. Everybody I know who doesn't use a processor field dresses than hangs the carcass in a machine shed or garage for processing and maybe aging. I've let them hang for two weeks when I can, usually the limit is freezing temperatures in the garage which makes processing difficult. The main object of field dressing as soon as practical is to cool the carcass. Secondarily is less weight and less mess to deal with at home. Of course contamination is an issue if somebody gets a bad shot off.

We tend to gut the deer ASAP,then load and hang it minus some weight. Guts will be gone in hours. Of course, I never gut them in a shooting lane or in the middle of a food plot. Takes some of the rush out during those warmer TX days. Then hang, skin/cape, and put on ice. No walk-in cooler on my hunting places.
Pigs I only clean when it is cool. I take them back to camp whole. "Shampoo" with hose and then skin. Washing them first makes the procedure a little more sanitary and bug free.

With turkeys, I gut immediately and try to get them clean quickly.

stumpy

Use to always field dress my own and for some friends but usually left the actual cutting up and packaging to a processor . The last couple were killed right at dark and I took them whole to them . His boys will do the gutting for $20 so It was easiest to just let them do it. Lazy yes but after doing 30-40 over the years for friends and my own The novelty has worn off for me.

Never threw a whole moose into a truck before, and I was a lot tougher when I was younger. Them, you gotta gut, unless you have a lot more heavy equipment than I have. Sometimes have to quarter them in the field.

Deer are a snap other than the very largest. I still field dress them all. My wife - a veterinarian - says my large animal surgery skills leave a lot to be desired. I told her once I get them apart, I have no desire to put them back together and see if I can get them to run again.

I think the acronym your looking for is B.V.I : Beyond Veterinary Intervention!

Re Moose..My hat is off to you guys who deal with animals that big..not sure i would know where to start!