Like Blind Man Chop Wood! Field Dressing Advise

[Jarrod Feiner]

#4977

A decade or so ago, I had killed a medium-sized California black bear. I brought the bear, inside a cooler, to my neighborhood butcher shop which was run by a Chinese family.
I opened the cooler to show the father, an older Chinese man, the product of my successful hunt, “It’s a black bear.” I said, beaming with pride, “I killed him with a recurve.”

The man studied the carcass earnestly. He was leaned over; his hands were behind his back. Continuing to study the skinned and quartered bear, he pointed into the cooler, and finally made eye contact with me. Disgusted, he said plain, “You butcher meat like blind man chop wood!”

Immediately humbled, I scratched my chin; there was little to deny the fact that he was right. “Maybe you better grind it all into sausage….Right?” He nodded and shrugged his shoulders in agreement.

In the years since, I have improved with my field dressing prowess. But not much. A few tools have helped me in the field dressing process, and I’ll share them with you. I’d also like to know what tools, methods, books, et cetera, have helped you.

For myself:
For skinning–especially hogs I really dig the large skinners and cleavers that are out there in the market. These rounded ulu style skinner’s downside is that they are quite heavy. But it’s physical weight makes skinning a breeze.

I also learned, from experience, that I personally prefer a small knife for general field dressing chores. My favorite is one that could not be more than 4″ long overall; it’s handle fits inside the palm and the blade fits up the index finger. It’s easy to articulate within the carcass, and the lack of a large handle means that you can cut anywhere you can fit your hand.

Now, when doing general field dressing work, larger blades feel like working with a spatula.

In regards to field dressing, I also like the washable game bags–as opposed to the game bags that are like pantyhose. The washable ones are just so much more durable and they do a better job keeping the carcass clean.

These are simply things that work for me, but I’m just a bald guy. Please, share your advise.

[Clay Hayes]

#36249

One of the best and most practical ways to feed a crowd with a hog is to split him in half (easy to handle) and lie him on the smoker for a few hours. But how to split a hog, hmm?

Well, at the butcher shop they have a big saw and just run it right down his back, from bum to snout, and whala – two perfect halves. I guess, if you’re so inclined you could just run on out an buy one of those fancy things, but I know another way. All you need is a machete or large butcher knife and a malot. That’s it.

First, hang the carcas up with the gambles through the hocks. With the hog’s hind legs spread out, lie the blade about where his tailbone should be and tap down on it with the malot. Keep on a tappin’ till you’ve got two neat halves. Every time you tap the machete, you cut a little ways through the spine. The only tricky part is to keep the blade centered in the spine on the way down.

This will also work for deer and other game, though I haven’t a clue why anyone would want to half a deer.

Hope all that made since.

ch

[Jarrod Feiner]

#37822

Clay Hayes,
Yes, your description made excellent sense. I have a machete in the back of the truck for other purposes; you gave me another reason for it to stay there.

Great piece of advise. Thanks!

[MontanaFord]

#39831

I have a machete, but haven’t used it yet other than cuttin a couple hot dog sticks once…Now I have a use for it, too. I carry a hatchet with me typically, in my pack, now the machete can go in, too.

Michael.

[LanceColeman]

#40357

Thanks to Ron LaCalir, there’s usually somewhere on my person or pack, a tomahawk. And it’s as sharp as my knives.

Most of my major field work takes place a long way from the truck. As in it doesn’t matter that it’s only a 100# doe. This isn’t a gut and drag job. So my tools need be light and the essentials and my method quick and clean. in a pinch or on a big animal the hawk saves me some time in places. sometimes especially in low light it’s easier to just “hawk off” the legs as opposed to feeling for joints with your knife point.

I plan on doing a few video tutorials this season on how Warren Womack showed me to cut quarter and carry out game. I’ll post it here soon as that happens. Hafta kill sumpin first:D

[DaveT]

#43366

Lance….I am a big fan of the “Womack” method myself. Hopefully Lance will have a video for us after this weekend:D!It is a great way to get a deer out of the deep woods.

One obvious tip but a good one is to make sure to keep a small sharpening stone on you. Especially with hogs…. a sharp knife sure makes the whole process more fun and safe!

Keep up the good tips!

[Todd Smith]

#7956

I’m not a meticulous field dresser really. I just get out the obvious stuff from the inside but do not mess with the pelvic and anus area until I do the skinning and butchering at home. I would like feedback on this because it really has worked well for me and none of my deer treated in this manner have ever had a hint of that ‘gamey’ taste that I associate with ill cared for meat.

I agree with the carrying of the sharpening stone, but my tip is to make sure you get one coarse enough to actually remove steel from your knife. Having a ceramic crock stick or an ultra-fine stone is good for quick touch-ups, but if you need to reestablish an edge, your stone needs to be able to cut the steel. If your knife is soft enough a smooth cut file works pretty well too.

I have found that those carbide sharpeners like the Acu-Sharp or the Broadhead Pro are good for quick in the field touch ups too, as long as the main bevel on your knives are such that the carbide teeth will actually be able to contact the edge and not get hung up on the shoulders of your bevel.

By the way, can anyone describe the Womack method? I’m not familiar with it.

Thanks! todd

[aeronut]

#19212

Looking forward to all the input on this thread, especially a video from Lance (go kill sumthin’ already).

Dennis

[William Warren]

#19611

I tend to use folding knives like the Buck 110 or Bucklite (same blade). I have a couple of 4″ blade Schrade folding hunters. If I’m out for 2 or 3 days floating the local creeks and swamps or at a deer camp I will take more than one. One in the pocket and the others in my pack. We usually take along a hatchet and I like those Gerber folding saws. The saw comes in handy for cutting through blow downs along the creek to get the boat through or taking the leg off a ham or shoulder. Hatchet works too if your in a hurry. I can reduce the useable parts of a deer carcass in about 30 minutes with just the folding hunter. Shoulders are a cinch, I cut around the joint on the hip bone to remove the ham. It is quick and easy once you get the hang of getting the joint to release. I usually don’t mess with the bladder, anus etc. Just leave all that in the hip bone for thr possums and crows.

[Jason Wesbrock]

#19637

In Wisconsin, hunters must take their animals to a check station. Field dressing is allowed, but that’s about all. This eliminates gutless methods, quartering etc. Up until a few years ago, Illinois had similar regulations.

Accordingly, the only thing I can do with a dead deer in the field is removing the entrails. For this, I prefer a Buck Crosslock knife that was given to me by a good friend. It has a short blade and a separate gut hook that’s the perfect size for whitetail deer (but far too shallow for elk or moose).

For field dressing I start by laying the animal on its side and coring-out the anus. Then I roll the animal onto its back and remove the external reproductive organs. Next, I make a small incision through the skin about an inch above the lower tip of the breastbone. Making the initial cut there prevents accidentally puncturing the stomach. At that point I switch to the gut hook and open the animal from my breastbone incision to the forward portion of the pelvis. Then I pull the anus into the body cavity.

The next thing I do is look for the bladder. Sometimes an animal will empty it as they die, but other times it will be full like a water balloon. If it’s full, I very slowly and carefully remove it by pinching off the tube (I don’t know the anatomical term for the “tube”), cutting it free, and taking it several yards away from the deer before tossing it away.

After that I break through the diaphragm (either with my hand or by use of a knife), reach up and cut the windpipe. Next I gently pull out the internal organs in one piece, starting with the heart, and rolling the entire mess up, out, and toward the hind legs. There is some minor connective tissue along the spine that I cut as I’m rolling out the viscera. The last step is to turn the animal onto its belly and drain the blood.

Done properly, the entire process takes a couple minutes, does not risk rupturing the stomach or other unpleasant organs, and leaves a clean body cavity.

You’ll also notice I made no mention of splitting the pelvis or breastbone. I’ve never seen either of those operations as being necessary, and splitting the pelvis just exposes additional prime meat to drying out.

[Mark Turton]

#20287

I’ve been using a Fallkniven DC4 sharpening stone for a few years and can recommend it, diamond one side and ceramic the other, also a big fan of Bark River knife and Tool. Never had the necessity to sharpen a knife whilst dressing one out, always sharpen before starting, and avoid bones.

Gently pressing on the lower abdomen will often empty the bladder, I’ve taken to cutting the throat and tying off the oesophagus just stops any stomach contents spilling back up as the gut is removed.

The guy that showed me how to butcher would also collect the small intestine to make sausage cases not something I’ve ever done.

Mark.

[moss]

#21637

If you are not saving the cape the first cut I do is along the throat , then to cut tne windpipe and cut and tie the oesophagus. if you scrape about an inch of muscle off the oesophagus you can tie a single knot and it will hold. Similarly a I cut and tie the small intestine near the rectum and cut carefully around and loosen with fingers and pull rectum out (not in). Care with the bladder is most important as it can taint the meat.

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