On Field Dressing & Wasting Meat

[Arkansas Paul]

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!

Another excellent use for bloodshot meat is using it for catfish bait. I'm going to start cutting it away and freezing it this year for that purpose. I hear they love it.

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.

Yeah, its a tough life.
Where my stand is located, I park and walk probably 1/4 of a mile, but I don't actually have to. When I kill a deer, I can drive my 2-wheel drive pickup all the way to the food plot and load it up, assuming it is fairly dry.

Whew. Hunting is hard.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

couldn't have said it better jrdolall

 

[Bobson]

Keep in mind that most states have regulations on what portions you can leave behind and what you can't.

First find out what your specific states game department requires you to remove from the field, that is your baseline.

I looked last night and couldn't find anything of this sort in the WA hunting regs book.

Anyone know if WA has a regulation on the matter, and able to point me to it?

 

[X-Rap]

Most agency,'s call it wanton waste I'd use that in your search. Also an email or visit to the state agency will probably get the answer you seek.

 

[mac_hunter870]

This is what the Missouri Regulations state..."It is illegal to leave or abandon commonly edible portions of game." Not exactly certain who decides what is "commonly edible"...me or the game warden? The state regulation does not elaborate.

 

[Lord Teapot]

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.

gun racks from the hooves that's a neat idea

 

[NINEX19]

Bobson,

This is from the current 2015 edition of the WDFW hunting regs.
Page 88. This is very vague, and probably intentionally so.

"Waste of Wildlife:
You may NOT allow game
animals or game birds you have
taken to recklessly be wasted."

Also on page 84,
"License Suspensions and Property Forfeiture
Washington State’s Fish and Wildlife
Enforcement Code (Revised Code of
Washington Chapter 77.15) requires the
mandatory suspension of a person’s hunting
privileges if a person is convicted of one of the
following violations: ... First degree waste of fish and wildlife..."

Hope this helps. I always try to pack out the whole animal so as not to give anyone a reason for a citation (or worse). What you do with it at home is up to you, though technically they could still get you on waste if someone reported you throwing out all of deer except the ..., for example.

The cited RCW still does not define what "waste" really means in a quantitative way, but here it is. http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=77.15.170

RCW 77.15.170
Waste of fish and wildlife — Penalty.


(1) A person is guilty of waste of fish and wildlife if the person:

(a) Takes or possesses wildlife classified as food fish, game fish, shellfish, or game birds having a value of two hundred fifty dollars or more, or wildlife classified as big game; and

(b) Recklessly allows such fish, shellfish, or wildlife to be wasted.

(2) Waste of fish and wildlife is a gross misdemeanor. Upon conviction, the department shall revoke any license or tag used in the crime and shall order suspension of the person's privileges to engage in the activity in which the person committed waste of fish and wildlife for a period of one year.

(3) It is prima facie evidence of waste if:

(a) A processor purchases or engages a quantity of food fish, shellfish, or game fish that cannot be processed within sixty hours after the food fish, game fish, or shellfish are taken from the water, unless the food fish, game fish, or shellfish are preserved in good marketable condition; or

(b) A person brings a big game animal to a wildlife meat cutter and then abandons the animal. For purposes of this subsection (3)(b), a big game animal is deemed to be abandoned when its carcass is placed in the custody of a wildlife meat cutter for butchering and processing and:

(i) Having been placed in such custody for an unspecified period of time, the meat is not removed within thirty days after the wildlife meat cutter gives notice to the person who brought in the carcass or, having been so notified, the person who brought in the carcass refuses or fails to pay the agreed upon or reasonable charges for the butchering or processing of the carcass; or

(ii) Having been placed in such custody for a specified period of time, the meat is not removed at the end of the specified period or the person who brought in the carcass refuses to pay the agreed upon or reasonable charges for the butchering or processing of the carcass.

[2014 c 48 § 8; 2012 c 176 § 16; 1999 c 258 § 5; 1998 c 190 § 21.]

 

[1911 guy]

I don't eat organ meats and I gut and drag mine out. When I get a deer back to camp, I hang it and cut off every piece of muscle tissue I can. Roasts, steaks and tenderloin are choice, small bits get ground.

Also, some here have hit on something about deer. Deer fat tastes pretty bad, to me and a few others here, at least, so i don't bother cutting out stuff I'm not going to eat. When's the last time you heard of someone serving venison ribs?

About everything else gets cut off, though. If it's too small to go into steaks, chops or roasts, I grind it and mix with other fat (beef or pork) for ground meat.

I tend to agree with the others, this guy got out all the best cuts and didn't waste much. Ballpark estimate, about 1/3 of a deer is edible meat. Some a little more, some a little less. Assuming a large blacktail goes 200 pounds, that means even a clean picking will leave nearly 140 pounds of deer to be left for the 'yotes and birds.

 

[AKElroy]

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.

+1. My exact practices and thoughts on all points, except that my mother hates liver as much as me.

 

[EIB0879]

I never gut a deer unless I'm on a public land hunt. Then I will take the tenderloins and sometimes the ribs.

 

[jerkface11]

I smoked a rack of venison ribs last winter. They turned out wonderfully. Tender juicy and flavorful.

 

[EIB0879]

Usually I will lose a lot of additional when I process the meat to remove the fat and grisel. The result is a very lean and edible piece of venison.

 

[buck460XVR]

Because of the presence of CWD, Wisconsin recommends not keeping or eating of any internal organs or cutting thru any bones, especially the spinal column. They also advise to stay far away from any bloodshot meat. I field dress all my deer and then butcher them when I get home. I enjoy venison as does the rest of my family, but when I butcher, I am picky about the meat I take. If I don't care to eat it, it stays on the carcass or gets thrown.....period. I don't see that as Wanton Waste, unlike those thousands of folks that hunt deer, but don't eat them. They shoot deer, have them processed and then give it away to friends and family that don't eat it and then throw it out after sitting in the freezer for two or three years. While I don't trim meat from between the ribs, take that tendon filled lower front leg meat or every lil bit from the neck bones, what I take still amounts to probably 90-95% of the edible meat.....and it all gets eaten with folks asking for more.