On Field Dressing & Wasting Meat

[Bobson]

Saw a video the other day where this guy is out bowhunting by himself, and he takes a large blacktail. The video includes the results of his field dressing and packing the meat out.

I've never hunted deer yet, much less field dressed one. I have butchered farm animals, and studied anatomy in college for my career, so I'm not completely clueless as to what's there and what isn't.

I don't want to start a debate about the ethics of hunting, so please don't go there. I'm asking this so that I know what's worth taking and what's not, come my first season this Fall. That said, is this guy wasting as much meat as it seems like?

The applicable segment of the video begins at the 8:05 mark.
Sensitivity Alert: Contains images of butchered game...
http://youtu.be/fql1NY6y0mI

 

[ClickClickD'oh]

I see 2 hams, 2 shoulders, and 2 backstraps. I personally would have grabbed the tenders while I was at it. No point packing out the ribs unless you are a sadist.

He got a pretty good haul for packing it out.

 

[Elkins45]

He's really not wasting all that much. At least on whitetails the ribs are all marbled with fat and taste terrible as a result. The neck meat would have been good for stew or jerky, but he definitely took the best of the meat.

 

[CraigC]

He said he did take the tenderloins but didn't film it.

 

[Bobson]

Hmm. Thanks guys; just wanna make sure I'm not hauling stuff that's not worth the effort, or likewise leaving anything good. I'll probably bring the neck meat since stew and jerky are particularly palatable, IMO. And I'll make sure to get the tenderloins, too.

Man I can't wait for October.

 

[Patocazador]

I always take the heart unless it's all shot up. Nothing like sliced, breaded fried deer heart.

If I need bait for a trot line, I'll take the liver too.


That's a nice deer but the hunter needs to expand his vocabulary ... too much of a potty-mouth for me.

 

[Bobson]

^ I agree, the "wicked this and that, frickin this and frickin that" was annoying and detracted from an otherwise good video. In all fairness, he was clearly just really excited. I don't recall any actual swearing, at least.

ETA... Oh yeah; I forgot about the several HS drops at the beginning. :/

 

[wankerjake]

Patocazador, the liver is the best part of the deer!!! I'd leave the heart before the liver. But I always take both

Wouldn't dream of leaving the tenderloins either.

 

[Bobson]

I've had beef heart, not crazy about it. I actually like liver alright though. How does deer heart/liver compare to domestic varieties?

Guess I might as well bring both home and try em.

 

[jmr40]

It really depends. If close enough, or if you have help many gut the game and bring it out whole. It is a lot easier to get every last bit that way. But alone and a long way back to a road then you are don't take anything you really don't need.

 

[Patocazador]

Patocazador, the liver is the best part of the deer!!! I'd leave the heart before the liver. But I always take both

Wouldn't dream of leaving the tenderloins either.

I'll save the liver on a 1 1/2 year old to eat. The older ones tend to be too firm with a taste I don't like as much.

The firmer texture of deer liver as compared to calf/beef liver makes it ideal to stay on a trot line hook longer. I like catfish much more than deer liver.

 

[wankerjake]

I actually like liver alright though. How does deer heart/liver compare to domestic varieties?

My ranking of liver is as follows:

Elk/beef-marginal

Goat/Sheep (domestic)-good

Deer (mule and coues)- excellent

Heart is all similar, it's good.

 

[wankerjake]

I like catfish much more than deer liver.

Blasphemy!!

 

[Arkansas Paul]

He did as well as can be expected by himself. He didn't leave very much.
Props to him. He could barely stand up once he got the pack on.

I probably get a little more off a deer, but I've got it hung up back at camp on a motorized pulley with a floodlight and running water. Makes it a little easier.

I've had heart and it's okay. I need to try the liver on the next one I get.
Do you guys just fry it up like backstraps?

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Keep in mind that most states have regulations on what portions you can leave behind and what you can't. It shouldn't be necessary as people shouldn't waste edible portions of meat, but it is what it is.

In Arkansas it is illegal to waste hindquarters, forequarters or backstraps.
I'm assuming it is similar in most states.

 

[Bobson]

^ I had no clue regs like this existed anywhere. I've been reading everything I can find about hunting in my state for the last week or so, and haven't seen anything about that. I'll look again... Maybe specifically searching for that will turn something up.

 

[CraigC]

I almost always hunt alone and I just pack the meat out. Along with the skull if it's a decent buck. Liver ain't really my thang but I've heard several times that heart is really good. Might have to try it this season.

 

[Hookeye]

I don't eat liver, or any internal organs.
Striated skeletal muscle tissue only.

Gun season I put my bullet most times through the front shoulders.

Spaghetti sauce, tacos, burger...........no thanks.
Steaks and just a little burger for summer sausage or if the kids want to make jerky.

Honestly, I don't make gun racks from all the hooves, or jackets and gloves from the hides...........so what % not used is acceptable?

I'd just as soon pull the straps and back legs and leave the rest for the yotes.
But I have some folks that like stew chunks and burger so give them the applicable sections.

 

[Bobson]

Honestly, I don't make gun racks from all the hooves, or jackets and gloves from the hides...........so what % not used is acceptable?

I get that. I had no intention of demonizing anyone for using more or less of an animal. My goal with this thread is strictly my own education.

 

[T.R.]

Three years ago, my daughter and I were hunting the steep country of Perry County, Pennsylvania. Kristina shot a good buck but it tumbled down a steep slope where dragging it out would've been nearly impossible. So after field dressing and skinning, I quartered the animal with my pack saw. Then we lay the meat upon the hide (hair side down) and dragged out the meat this way. It was still a chore but far less weight for us.

TR

 

[Lloyd Smale]

I shoot a lot of deer every year and don't eat the guts or fool with ribs ect. Hind quarters, shoulders and backstraps and the neck. The rest the coyotes can have. The birds an coyotes have to eat too.

 

[TimSr]

I'd be a little pickier packing it out, but for my usual butchering I keep the normally discarded scraps, bloody, and shot up meat, grizzled stuf, in freezer bags, and take one out every now and then, boil it to kill any possble parasites, let it cool, and treat the dogs with it. They will love you for it!

 

[Taurus 617 CCW]

The only thing left for me after butcher is the head and hooves at the knee. We cut everything up for roasts and even save the ribs for the crock pot.

 

[X-Rap]

First find out what your specific states game department requires you to remove from the field, that is your baseline.
Beyond that much will have to do with time, weather, distance, geography and personal taste.
If you must break the animal down to get it out I wouldn't spend much time with the neck and the ribs on a deer are best left for the coyotes.
If you can drag it whole to the truck you can spend all the time you want but I doubt you'll gain much more usable meat that what will fill a coffee can.
Also keep in mind that by removing as much tendon, tallow, and dividing membrane from your meat you will greatly improve its taste, this of course you would do while cutting up and packaging but as you gain experience you will notice that the cleaner the cut the better the taste.

 

[jrdolall]

I have to pack my deer all the way to the bed of the pickup and then drive all the way to the camp where I hang them from a big oak tree using a power hoist. Rough I know but somebody's gotta do it.

I keep the four quarters, tenders and backstraps. If I need it I will take the neck meat for stew. Ribcage, internal organs and everything else are consumed by the local scavengers.

Liver is disgusting in any form. Chicken, beef, calf...all liver is disgusting. I don't care if Chef Gordon Ramsey makes rumaki out of veal liver, bacon and organic chestnuts...it's nasty, fried, baked, roasted, sauteed, raw, or any other method of preparation other than catfish bait. My mother loved liver and I had to leave the house when she cooked it because of the stench. I am not a big fan of heart either.