Gutting a Deer
Posted: Wednesday, January 06, 2010
by Jack H. Schick
There is certainly more than one way to gut a deer, but this is how I do it.
Requirements: A sharp knife with a blade preferably at least 3 inches long. A game saw with a 6 inch blade (optional).
1. Kill a deer and find the body.
2. Get the deer to a flat or slightly sloped work area (if possible).
Position the deer with belly up and back legs apart.
Work from beside the deer facing the rear.
From the middle of that cut make a 3" slice toward the rear.
4. With the knife blade and tip up (away from the body), slice the skin down the length of the body, to one side of the sex organs, between the hams and through the skin around the anus. Be careful to not cut through the belly meat.
5. Skin the hide back at least 3" on either side of the initial slice, cutting the sex organs loose, if necessary, to give good access to the belly meat.
6. Penetrate the belly meat just below the sternum.With the blade up and being very careful to not puncture the peritoneum (sheath enclosing the intestines), slice open the belly cavity to the crotch.
7. Push down hard on the thighs to spread the legs as much as possible.
Cut through the meat between the hams down to the anal canal bone.
8. Move to the rear of the deer. With a saw (or knife), cut through the anal cavity bone being careful to not cut the rectum or bladder.
When through, push down hard on the thighs to split open the anal canal.
9. With the fingers, clasp the "tubes' in the anal canal close to the anus pinching the ends shut. Pull them up and back in to the gut cavity slicing away from the spine as needed (this step is important to avoid getting fecal material and urine on the meat).
10. Roll the deer on its side and allow the belly guts to fall out. It may be necessary to cut loose tissue along the spine and to dislodge the kidneys.
11. Move to beside the deer. Inside the chest cavity, slice the diaphragm away from the rib cage on both sides.
12. Saw (or cut with knife), through the sternum up to the throat and spread open the rib cage giving access to the chest organs.
13.With one hand, reach in and agrip the windpipe/esophagus as far up in the neck as possible. With a knife in the other hand, reach in and cut off the wwp/esoph.
Keep your grip and pull down and out with force. It may be necessary to cut chest organs away from the spine.
14. Flop the deer onto its side and let the chest organs fall out, slicing loose as needed.
Pick up the front end of the deer by the legs and drag several feet to allow the blood to drain out the rear. Check for any attached tissue in the body cavity and remove.
{Optional: root through the gut pile and retrieve the liver, heart and kidneys}
If in a hurry, I can accomplish this in less than three minutes. Where the deer was "hit" can complicate the process. Please note: this is how "I" gut a deer.
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Top-level comments on this article: (10 total)Thanks Jack. Very interesting article on the finer details of gutting a deer. I think you missed step one, "crack open a cold one!"True- I'm a recovering alcoholic- I cracked open quite a few
I might have to save this one for next year - have been saving preference points for 14 years now and plan to put in for Pinon Canyon (my hubby went this year and got his after 13 years of waiting.....Thanks! Marijo in Colorado (Mary Jo)Thanks for reading. Didnt have time to write a story or essay.
Nice description Jack. Haven't been hunting in a very long time...and since I did it in NW Fla, wasn't lucky enough to actually get a deer.I didn't get one this year. Since I got dogs I mostly small game hunt.
Excellent and accurate description of the process of "gutting a deer". BTW 'Welcome to SearchWarp'Thanks for reading
As a suggestion: Take a couple of liter soda bottles filled with clean water to the hunt. Then, after steps 10 and 14, you have clean water to wash out the cavity with. It doesn't hurt to have extra water available when all is done to wash up your hands with, too.You're right, to a point. Washing it out can flush material into the meat and promote rotting. Letting the cavity dry out, especially if it'll be awhile till you get it butchered will prevent that. If the guts are damaged, getting the fecal material washed out is a good idea. Thanks for reading.
Congrats on being the #1 reader's choice!Wow, a throw away choice that took no "writer's sweat".Write what you know and you can't lose - sometimes you WIN!
Nice article Jack, and to the point. I also like to wear some of those long plastic gloves when I do this to keep blood off my good camo and my dirt out of the deer.
I meant to give you 5's not 1's on the rating.Gee's. I got scolded for giving a guy 3's! This ain't no contest-is it? You're right about the gloves. I actually do remember to take some sometimes. Half the time I cut them, and myself.
i never gutted a deer but would use these steps to do so!!Geoffrey Schickelgruber.
Thanks, Geoff
Is this also done at below freezing temperatures? What happens to the gut pile? How to you strap it to the top of the 4-wheel drive? I have become your fan so I can get answers to these and other questions.I'll send you an email on that. Thanks for reading.
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