How fast to clean a big game animal

[Gordon martiniuk]

I was wondering how fast you clean the guts out of a moose or deer and how fast you skin them I have a friend that will leave the guts in for a day or so and not skin right away  I think that is wrong whats your take on this as I have allways guted them as soon as I can after there death  and skin them within an hour of there death as a bloated animal cannot be good for the quality of the meat

[Tim Fishell]

I gut mine at the time when I shoot it and depends on the weather when I skin it.

[swp]

Dido, if it is cool enough I will let them hang a day or two if not I skin them out and get them on ice.

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Gut Immediately upon finding the animal... and I agree with the hanging if the temperature allows. The fast cooling is important for meat quality. IMO

[Killdeer]

What Ron said.
A day or so before  gutting ?  :eek:  

Killdeer

[wingnut]

I gut them, skin em and bone em out within a few hours of the kill.  The meat is in a cooler with a slurry of ice and water.

Mike

[Richie Nell]

As I have said already I went elking with TBarM Outfitters in Durango, CO.  I killed an bull and was very impressed with what I saw the guide do with my elk.  This is probably nothing new to most of you but it was me.

He immediately skinned his way to each quarter. He then would lay each quarter on the inside of the hide to keep hair off of meat.  He cut off the backstraps, neck and tenderloins. The only entrance made into the body cavity was my grizzly through the heart and both lungs.  Nothing else.  He had no reason the touch anything between the ribs.  He wanted to get the hide off of the meat ASAP to begin the cooling process.

We then put all the meat in game bags, weighed them and packed it out on mules.

I will try this on the next deer I kill.  It seems to make too much sense not to.

Richie

[R.W.]

LEAVE the innards in for a day or so!?! Sounds like a good way to have your animals meat go sour (Rotten!)

Gut animal as soon as your find it (do make sure that it is dead, first), or bone it out, ASAP. You want the meat to cool as fast as possible, to prevent spoilage.

Some people who quarter their game leave the hide on to "protect the meat from dirt/leaves, etc." IMOHO, the hide should be removed as soon as possible. Two reasons, one to let the meat cool, and two, the hide is MUCH easier to remove from a freshly killed animal. I carry cheese cloth bags to cover my quarters/boned out meat, to protect it from flies, hornets, and dirt.

[Brian Krebs]

As soon as I find it. Leaving an animal ungutted for a day could lead in some states to a criminal charge of waste of game.
                                                         
However; so can leaving the tenderloins and the meat between the ribs  !!!!
 ( and get this - not taking home game bird legs)
                                           
                                             
the tenderloins lay on the inside of the ribcage next to the backbone. If you don't gut the animal; you will not see them. A lot of game processors call the tenderloins ' kidneys' - so they can take them and eat them themselves      

 The quicker you can gut them; and open them up to cool; and cut them up for the freezer; the better off the meat is.
                                   
 By the way a hand meat grinder; which you can find at almost any second hand type store; will grind up ( at your arms exspense) all the trimmings from your deer or elk; and if you want really good burger; add 10 to 20 percent beef SUET to the second grind.
                                     
 The faster you can gut and cut: the better.

[Jason Lester]

Richie Nell,
  Check your state game laws Some times the way you describe isn't legal in some states or with game like deer. You have to have the deer intact other than feild dressing. I'm pretty sure every place I have deer hunted it isn't allowed so just check your state before trying it.

[zilla]

I gut em right away.  Ya gotta get the heat out.  I also bring along a couple of plastic milk jugs filled with frozen water [ice for you Canadiens], and insert those into the chest cavity as soon as possible.

[Big Dave]

I agree with Tim Fishell

[ChuckC]

I think it depends on if you want to eat it or not.  If not...go ahead and leave them in for a while. Put it on top of the car and drive around with it too.

 If yes, I really suggest you clean that puppy out as soon as possible and start the cooling process.  Keep it as clean as you can and get it cooled as quickly as you can.  That is one of the secrets of good tasting game.
ChuckC

[Rick McGowan]

Gut them and cool them off as fast as is possible, do not let the meat sit in water like in a cooler, moisture breeds bacteria. I have done the method Richie describes above, on water buffalo, but in some locations that can be a felony for letting ANY of the edible meat spoil. In Alaska we took every bit of the meat, including that between the ribs, layed it out on the game bags and took photos to PROVE that we had taken all the edible meat. Whether I take the hide off or not immediatly depends on the conditions and the animal, it will let the meat cool off a lot faster, but you will lose more meat to drying out and dirt etc..