Newb to hunting!

[al391-dan]

Hey all,

im new to these forums and i own a beretta al 391 urika optiman and a 38-55 lever action winchester that has been passed down through my fam. I was looking into hunting and i will take a safety course before i do anything but my concern is how do you prepare a deer ( field dress)and skin , also for turkeys what do you do.

Thanks in advance

 

[rust collector]

google: deer field dress

You will see a few sales pitches for videos, etc but some states and extension services have instructions online. Find one you like and print out for future reference. Like most operations, it sounds more complicated than it is.

Field dressing kit for deer: sharp knife, stone, guthook, gallon ziplock bags for heart and liver, disposable preg checking gloves (covers arm to shoulder), string to tie off rectum. Some like to open up pelvis, and this requires saw, hatchet or chisel. The sooner you skin the critter, the easier it will be. Special care is required if the animal will be mounted!!!

Remember, when cutting hide cut from the underside to avoid hair everywhere and premature dulling of your blade on the hair.

 

[al391-dan]

what bout if the animal is rabid will the disease be burned off during the cooking of the meat!

 

[rust collector]

cooking kills most common pathogens

I don't think you can get rabies by eating cooked meat, and I believe it's rare or virtually nonexistent in deer.

Some areas are concerned about chronic wasting disease, but I don't think there are documented cases of KJD from eating CWD deer. Nonetheless, good to avoid contact with nervous tissue (spinal cord, brains) and use those gloves not only to help cleanup but to further reduce potential risk. Cooking and freezing do not seem to eliminate the prions associated with CWD, but the disease hasn't jumped from one species to another except in a very few cases of BSE in cattle.

 

[erik the bold]

Here's a link to a good (but be warned) graphic site for field dressing:

http://www.huntingnut.com/faq/fielddress/fielddress.html

 

[Art Eatman]

Welcome to the wonderful--and wacky--world of hunting!

We've had other threads here and also at http://www.thefiringline.com about field-dressing deer. Use the search feature.

Look through what's already been suggested. Then, if you still have questions, come on back!

, Art

 

[al391-dan]

ok thanks guys

 

[al391-dan]

what bout for birds like turjey and pheasant how do you do them, pull feathers w/ pure muscle then cut or is there an easier way!

 

[Art Eatman]

Never messed with pheasant, but for turkeys: Get a pot big enough to dip the turkey into. Think "boiling water". Dip the turkey into the boiling water briefly. I disremember what Grammaw did; ten? twenty ? seconds, something like that. Maybe a couple or three times. Then you can pluck the feathers much more easily. Same as for chickens, for that matter.

This is after you've taken the innards out of the bird, and it's preferably done outdoors...

(Sheesh! The stuff I try to remember from back nearly sixty years ago! )

I've mostly been lazy and just cut out the breasts and drumsticks, skinning them as I butchered the bird. I discovered that the legs of a wild turkey are best reserved for those with excellent teeth.

Art

 

[Flinter]

You can scald a turkey to help get the feathers off, but it's still a pain.

I skin my turkeys now. That skins unhealthy for you anyways and I really don't care to pluck them. I cape them just like you would a fur bearing creature.......slice from one ankle to the other and basically turn the skin inside out.