Do you gut youe Elk and deer ?

[The Hedgehog]

I would only gut one if I was going to be able to load it whole, which is almost never with the exception of antelope.

If you bone the meat off without gutting, there is no friggin way you are going to have "bone sour".. wtf!?!

Also, you can EASILY remove the tenderlions with a "gutless" method.

The only valid reason I've heard so far is for the guys saving rib meat - which I don't.

 

[justdada]

Have heard of folks eating rib meat off deer... I like to think of this as only a rumor, as I can't imagine them tasting very good.
Gutless method for me. 20 minutes for a deer, loaded in the pack and ready to roll.
IDhunter, tenderloins are a pice of cake to get out without gutting.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

If it's going to be boned and packed out (and either the landowner or that state's wanton waste laws allow it), I'll leave the guts in.
The blacktail season out here runs from around August through September and the tempertures run between 90 and 65 during the day unless its foggy. A dead deer can start bloating within an hour or two in direct sunlight with that kind of heat and humidity. If it's getting hot, out come the guts.
Justdada, I've had deer ribs before, but preparing them really is time-consuming and a pain in the ass. Hardly worth it. You've gotta preboil them just the right amount, peel off the inside membrane, do a pork rib rub, make a really fancy BBQ sauce, etc, etc. If I allow myself to toss the rib cage -I will- but sometimes I'll cut the meat off between the ribs and use it for either stew or jerky. Sometimes I need more meat than I have.

 

[The Hedgehog]

If it's going to be boned and packed out (and either the landowner or that state's wanton waste laws allow it), I'll leave the guts in.
The blacktail season out here runs from around August through September and the tempertures run between 90 and 65 during the day unless its foggy. A dead deer can start bloating within an hour or two in direct sunlight with that kind of heat and humidity. If it's getting hot, out come the guts.

???

Where could you be cited for "wanton waste" by not taking out bones or GUTS?

About deer bloating within an hour or two -- Why waste time gutting the SOB? If it's hot out, get all the meat away from the carcass and off the bone.

 

[sreekers]

If just depends where I kill the animal and how much help I have. If I have a horse or two I have to quarter it for sure to get it in saddlebags, mostly elk that is. If its deer or antelope I rarely quarter in the field just because where I am at there are lots of roads and fairly easy to get a truck or ATV there legally. Now when I get up to the National Forest where I prefer to do my Elk hunting, it takes a lot of effort so I would lean towards gutless method.

 

[Dangerous Dave]

If I'm allowed to leave the carcass behind -everything but the meat I jam into the backback and the horns or head- stays right where it fell. My brother tells me (I haven't read the regs, but he told me he did) that if you leave anything laying around in Wyoming, you'll get a ticket. That's what he tells me -if he's wrong let me know. Landowners are a different matter. They don't like seeing carcasses and bones laying around all over the place.
The problem out here with hunting our blacktails is that there aren't any roads where we shoot them and it takes hours -sometimes 5 to 10 hours- to get them back to camp... or to get an atv even slightly close to them to haul them out. A deer can spoil in that amount of time. A lot of dragging, carrying and lifting is involved. Again, the private landowner would go nuts if he saw bones laying around, so we've got no choice in the matter. He makes the rules. We HAVE to haul them out whole and deal with them back in camp. I know, it's a lot more work than it should be, but we're forced to follow directions.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Tell your brother he is wrong.

And it takes you 5-10 hours to get a deer back to your camp from where you shoot it on private land?? Landowner will see "bones laying everywhere"??

WTF?

 

[Dangerous Dave]

Really? Before I say or think anything else, I guess I'll just have to read the regs myself. Dang... if I can't believe my own bro... jeeze.
Yep. We got stupid-deep canyons out here. Fencelines go for miles -with no roads. Straight up and down. And a 2 hour walk-in normally. The landowner gets to transverse all of this land checking his livestock on horseback. We don't. We gotta walk. We do it so we can hunt there.
Sounds like I need to hunt elsewhere, doesn't it? Fat chance. Over 60% of blacktail range in California is in private hands. I've been told that our rules are tame compared to what other landowners demand of their clients. Ours are simple: No guts, rotting meat, hides or bones laying around anywhere.

 

[The Hedgehog]

So when you gut something out, you are packing the guts around in a what, plastic sack, bucket, or what?

We have birds, coyotes, and other scavengers in Montana. Gutpiles don't last long in the wild. I'm starting to understand why so many Californians are moving to Montana.

Was this a photo taken at your camp?

 

[schmalts]

I have to gut in WI because of the retarded rule they need to be registered whole. Anywhere else i do the gutless method

 

[ELKCHSR]

This is interesting to see how people in different parts of the country deal with this issue...

I just assumed most people either left the guts lay and threw the animal in parts or whole beyond that in their truck, or boned it out on most major pack outs...

 

[schmalts]

what sucks is i know a lot of places in WI i would like to try and hunt but who would want to drag a whole deer 3-4 miles. It is a really fugged up rule for us

 

[schmalts]

"Do you gut youe Elk and deer"
Damn, and i get chit for my spelling

 

[TBinKodiak]

Well I grew up in WI and it does suck that they have to be register whole (well minus the guts anyway). Once I moved here I learned pretty quick how to fillet my animals. Very simple and if done right gets very little hair on the meat. We have to take the rib meat here so I take a small saw and do those last. On larger game like goats and elk I just cut it out leaving the rib bones on the animal.

IB, The tenderloins pop out very easy, just slide your fingers under the spine between the ribs and hip. They lie between the backbone and stomach cavity, so just work in there with your hand and a small knife. Run it up and down the spine, then two quick cuts at both ends. Pop right out with no guts slit.

 

[IdahoBugler]

If I'm allowed to leave the carcass behind -everything but the meat I jam into the backback and the horns or head- stays right where it fell. My brother tells me (I haven't read the regs, but he told me he did) that if you leave anything laying around in Wyoming, you'll get a ticket. That's what he tells me -if he's wrong let me know. Landowners are a different matter. They don't like seeing carcasses and bones laying around all over the place.

If that's true then I saw about 100 violations. It was kind of funny. Oscar and I were driving around trying to get to another hunting spot when I looked off the side of the road and saw 4 carcasses. One of them was still attached to a good 13" buck.

I go gutless method unless it's close to a road.

 

[WFGinNM]

Why bother with either method??? Just pack in a fork and eat it on the spot.

--Bill

 

[Gunner46]

About 15 yrs ago we used to gut, but on these smallish east coastal deer we figured...why bother? ain't but a few ounces of scrawny meat and scrap! Now it's gutless about 100% around the camp ! We take all the meat you can (for the grinder), without actually splitting the gut, but that's about as far we go.

 

[powderburn]

Gut on the spot, lift into the truck, drive home hang, skin and pressure wash. then a quick trip to the butchers. Total time from ground to butchers is under 1 day.