Field dressing.

[obert1]

Hammer and a small wide chisel has worked great for me. Beats the hell out of sawing IMO. 1 or 2 whacks with the hammer and it is split open.

[cnelk]

Try 1 or 2 whacks with a hammer with an elk and you will wonder what you are doing wrong!

[obert1]

Never had the opportunity, hope to sometime soon. I hope....

[ogre]

what does a deer look like?

[BRD DWG]

That tool looks slick... I've always had good luck going around the hole in a circular motion about an inch out w/ a long blade knife. This free's up the poop chute.

Using a small pelvis bone knife works the best (orange handle, T-boned shaped) w/ it's wicked teeth.

What I need to get better at is removing the gut pile without cutting the backstraps. My knife gets a bit carried away at times removing parts. Determined to do a better job next weekend.

[Arlo]

Anyone need help taking the hide off and/or cutting the meat off the bone? Send me a PM and I will come show you how I do it. Not trying to brag or anything, but I was a butcher for over 5 years and am rather quick at this. Ususally can be completed in an hour. All that I ask is that it is not frozen, that you have a heater if need be, a table to trim on and have a cold one or two.

[Zugunruhe]

Butchering our own deer this year for the first time, and learning a lot in the process.

First off, we tried the ball/truck pull skinning method. Works great on non-frozen and non-spine shot deer. You will pull frozen deer in half, trust me on that one- same goes for deer shot anywhere near the spine.

We skinned five more deer by hanging them upside down. Found the greatest tool for skinning is one of those knives that uses utility knife blades. Never have to worry about re-sharpening and I don't recall once cutting through the hide or into meat with that short blade. A friend discovered that tool when he forgot his knife and needed to field dress a deer. Pretty slick!

[HAMMER]

I am going to change the subject a little bit. Here is a nice trick I picked up for gutting a deer in the field when you are by yourself. All you have to do is tuck the deer's front legs behind his horns. It's pretty simple, but it will hold the deer flat on his back and makes easier to do the dirty work. It will also work on a doe or a small buck, but you might want to tie the legs together behind the head to keep them from slipping off. Try it and let me know what you think.

[goose133]

I realize I am late to this party but assuming everyone now knows how to skin(I pull mine off with a pair of welding clams that are chained together) one tip I would offer is that after I have them skinned I burn the loose hair off with a torch before boning.

Goose

[skullclnr]

I have heard the tool works good, but never used one.

I always keep a thing of wet-ones with me to help in cleanup of hands and knives. I always throw one in the truck before heading out.

[goose133]

I would put a twist tie on that intestine before I cut it!!!! I use 2 welding clamps with a chain connected to pull the skin off. I will try to get picks if I ever get out.
Goose

[Ty Stromquist]

I just cut around the but hole. Split the pelvic bone with a sharp knife and my hand. Then pull everything out. I can do this VERY fast and stay clean doing it. Not hard at all with some practice. I watched how they show kids in bow hunters safety and thought it sounded like they took all day doing this. haha.

[bowonly]

Originally Posted by Ty Stromquist

I just cut around the but hole. Split the pelvic bone with a sharp knife and my hand. Then pull everything out. I can do this VERY fast and stay clean doing it. Not hard at all with some practice. I watched how they show kids in bow hunters safety and thought it sounded like they took all day doing this. haha.

Do mine the same, quick and easy.