Should I Field Dress?

[bolo7735]

I'll be hunting for deer with a outfitter this month. This will be my first time deer hunting. The outfitter said from morning till 4pm they don't want people driving around in their vehicle or ATV to get their game. So my question is, when you take your deer and recover it what do you do? Do I drag it back to my blind or under a tree away from the sun? Do I need to field dress the buck? How fast does the deer start to spoil if I don't field dress it right away? If I need to field dress what type of knife do I need? I have a Bark River GamesKeeper.

[stringstretcher]

You would think the outfitter has a means of contacting them in you have game down, rather than let it sit all day????

[Ground Hunter]

Field dress the deer.

[Lin Rhea]

I field dress game as soon as possible.

[Jeff Strubberg]

Depends on whether you need to bring the carcass out whole or not.  I don't field dress, I field butcher.  All meat comes out boneless except for the quarters.  The rest can stay in the woods.

Depends on state regs, though.  Some do require you to check the whole carcass.  If that's the case, you need to field dress it as soon as you recover the animal.

[Mark Baker]

If I'm hunting on my own...which is always, I take care of my kill right away.  Field dress or bone it out...

Since you are hunting with an outfitter, ask him.  Most have certain ideas about how they want to go about dealing with their game taken in the field....they may have reservations about gut piles, or carcases left in an area where clients are hunting, and you may spoil an area where you can return to hunt yourself later that day, or the next.   Ask the outfitter, he'll spell out his wishes!

[wingnut]

Explain to the outfitter that you are a "new guy" and need some coaching.  I'm sure they will give you instructions on what they would like you too do.

Mike

[Bishop]

I always field dress ASAP.

[LKH]

I doubt leaving your animal for a few hours will hurt it in December weather.

We don't hesitate to leave animals overnight, I don't know why leaving it for part of the day would hurt this time of the year.  

Besides, according to your post, he didn't say to not field dress, he said not to drive.

[ksbowman]

Decomposition starts when the heart quits beating. The best way to slow that down is to cool off the body as soon as possible.I like to gut mine as soon as I can and get it off the gound if only six inches. That being said I've had to leave a three overnight in 39 years of bowhuinting and two were fine (one was a bear) and the other one wasn't. Just to be safe I don't waste any time getting them gutted.

[bolo7735]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Is there a certain style knife you use to gut or any knife will do.

[maineac]

I field dress as soon as possible.  Some guides and or areas don't like to have field dressing happen.  As to knives I think you will be fine with most anything as long as it is sharp.

[psychmonky]

As long as you have a saw for the pelvis, any sharp knife will work. For strictly gutting I actually prefer a small pocket knife with a blade of about 3". It let's you get in tight spots, and its less clunky than a big blade.

ASK THE OUTFITTER weather you should or not! As stated above he may not want gutpiles.

Scott

[Gen273]

I field dress all of my game.

[5deer]

if you have an animal down every thing stops... taking care of it is #1. gutting and cooling the meat is #1. getting the animal out and hung for skining no matter what time of day is #2 what are you paying for. sounds like you need to call them and ask alot more questions. if not get a new outfitter.

[zootown2007]

Field dress it once the animal is down.Period IMO. I use a simple Buck Knife with a gut hook on it.

[wildgame]

Originally posted by Jeff Strubberg:
Depends on whether you need to bring the carcass out whole or not.  I don't field dress, I field butcher.  All meat comes out boneless except for the quarters.  The rest can stay in the woods.

Depends on state regs, though.  Some do require you to check the whole carcass.  If that's the case, you need to field dress it as soon as you recover the animal.

x2

[reddogge]

Field dress immediately. There are many good videos on this on UTube.

A good knife obviously would be a sharp knife. A Buck 110 would be a good choice. The Buck folder up top is a titanium version and an excellent knife for dressing deer.

 

[huntmaster70]

Its your hunt & your animal-let the outfitter know it will be field dressed right away,either by him or by you,but it will be done.

[Glunt]

Hard to find a sharp knife that won't work. More than one animal has been dressed with a broadhead (not convenient).  Any sharp knife with a a 3"-4" blade should work great.  Gut hooks work well but really only save a minute or so.  I like a blade with some thickness to it for disassembling joints.

Have a second blade of some sort.  If you misplace your main knife during dressing, or it gets dragged across too much hair and dulled, a second blade is nice to have.  I usually have a Leatherman in my pack and its blade will take a whole elk apart with no issues if need be.