Public land legal after shot questions

[Weldabeast]

The first deer I got was at my buddy's house so we drug intact up to his garage and did all the work there. The 2nd and only other deer I killed I was in an area I didn't have to take to be checked in at a check station and I did everything out in the woods.
Majority of the places I hunt u have to take ur animal to a check station to be checked in. I have only ever seen fully intact animals arrive at the check station. Is there any reason these guys aren't gutting their animals? I have yet to be successful at any of the areas that have those rules but my plan is to field dress on the spot and I keep frozen 2 liters in the cooler at the truck I intend to shove up into the cavity. Am I just being silly and just keep it whole like everybody else? It can be sometimes an hour ride in the truck + recovery time so I worry about getting and keeping the meat cool especially in archery

Also....pros and cons to a small bone saw or equivalent. It seems to me with a little extra work cutting the pelvic and sternum u can lower the chances of accidentally cutting urself and spilling poo/pee substantially. I don't have enough experience to make an educated decision on if it's worth it to start carrying 1. I have a multi tool with a saw that looks like it could work pretty good but it's very heavy. Obviously u can get it done without but if it does make the job easier, which I think it possibly could, I don't mind carrying little extra weight

 

[Wyatt_burp]

Try not to leave guts on main trail/deer activity area. You get better at gutting with practice, be careful around the butt hole and trachea, seen a lot of cuts there. No check in station should require guts, and gutting will do more to cool down than anything.

The only time I didn't gut in the woods is when I smoked one who ran towards parking lot, less than 30ft drag, and was less than 1 hour shooting to arriving home.

Bone saw is whatever, I think its extra weight and you can do most of the trimming in the field, get home and take a sawzall to quarter, clean, throw on ice and let age for three days or so before you butcher it.

Honestly, thought you had a ton of experience. Good luck bud. Don't get caught up in the trophy hunt.

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[Weldabeast]

Sorry to disappoint...

The rules just say head and evidence of sex must stay attached to the carcass.

I just haven't done it enough to be confident and have my own way of doing it. The 2 I've done just trial and error. If u type in "how to field dress a deer" on utube there are 100 different ways and honestly the camera work is lacking....I know it would be hard to get close shots of what's going on inside...

Wouldn't it just be easier to cut the throat open to cut the esophagus instead of reaching up in there and cutting blind?

 

[Wyatt_burp]

Sorry to disappoint...

The rules just say head and evidence of sex must stay attached to the carcass.

I just haven't done it enough to be confident and have my own way of doing it. The 2 I've done just trial and error. If u type in "how to field dress a deer" on utube there are 100 different ways and honestly the camera work is lacking....I know it would be hard to get close shots of what's going on inside...

Wouldn't it just be easier to cut the throat open to cut the esophagus instead of reaching up in there and cutting blind?

I get your thought, but honestly, once you get there, grab the trachea with off hand, work forward until you can't and work knife hand in next to it, be careful and go slow and it works fine. The evidence of sex is fun, some places require keeping testicle attached. Usually not too worried about a smooth head, but I might look up Florida regs for evidence of sex.

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[GCTerpfan]

Unless Florida has some weird requirement to leave guts in I would gut it before taking it into the check station. I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't, especially in your heat.

I spent most of my life never using a saw but, more recently have started carrying this one: https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Vital...ocphy=9007958&hvtargid=pla-382212148030&psc=1

It's compact and light and allows me to split the pelvis and sternum and due a little neater job.

The most thorough video I've ever seen on field dressing is the one by meat eater. I've been field dressing deer for 30 years but, I definitely changed the way I do a few things after watching this video:

 

[Nutterbuster]

You'd be surprised how long it takes a deer to spoil, especially if your shot was forward of the diaphragm. Depending on how far you're dragging to your canoe and how big the deer is, it may not be worth the extra hassle of gutting.

As far as cutting the trachea, that's easy. You don't have to reach way up in there to do it. Just forward of lungs will do. Cutting out the butt is a bit harder but easy if you have a sharp, pointy knife with a long enough blade to make it all the way inside the cavity. No need for a saw. I've never split a pelvis and you can split the sternum with a disposable havalpn blade if you cut the cartilage where the ribs meet the sternum. Or sometimes I don't bother and just reach in there and work by feel.

Best way to get good at it is to shoot a lot of deer.

 

[swampsnyper]

If all you need is the head and sex ID, I would debone it in the woods. No saw needed. No need to even open the cavity. Many elk cleaning videos that show this with just the use of a little knife. Packing out meat is my go to method when legal. I hate dragging.

 

[swampdonkey]

Bizarre to me that a lot of southern hunters dont gut their deer. In WI, that was the first thing i was taught and it takes literally under 10 minutes to do it in the woods. Ive never seen a deer not gutted at a check station here.

It makes it easier to drag, cools the carcass quickly, and you dont have to get rid of the entrails at home. I know some think its unsavory to leave the entrails in the woods for a non hunter to find but ive never seen a non hunter in the woods off a trail in my life and the vermin will clean up the entire gut pile to the point youll hardly know a gut pile was ever there in a day anyways.

I see zero logical reason to not gut a deer immediately where you found it.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

With online game check now in many states, it's more or less the honor system and hope the game Warden doesn't visit your house, they get lists everyday of who've tagged deer in online and can pay a visit.

Apparently it's more of a southern thing to bring game home whole instead of field dressing, which is somewhat mind boggling to us in the north with y'all's heat. They're usually going straight to a processor or the house and getting it processed.

I've never seen the need to do ANY bone splitting on a deer. Unless you have TRex arms, you can reach everything thing you need to cut in the chest cavity from below the sternum. For the pelvis, also no need. Push the droppings out and cut the intestine/colon off as close as you can.

 

[slonstdy]

Most of the public I hunt is within a half hour of home so I have taken a whole carcass home many times, and the only reason really is that I have a hose available so if I happen to screw up and make a mess of gutting one I can wash it all down before the meat gets tainted. I've never botched one but now that I opened my fat yapper this will be the year, lol. I also don't like leaving a bloody crime scene for others to find and know I was there.

As far as sawing through the pelvis goes, I've done that for years but again while I was at home and had the saw readily available. I'm not sure if it matters but I would rather not expose the inside of the hams to dirt and debris during a drag out of the woods. Last year I went back to the old way of cutting around the business end and pulling the poop chute out through the pelvis. I don't have a preference and either way works fine.

 

[slonstdy]

Unless Florida has some weird requirement to leave guts in I would gut it before taking it into the check station. I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't, especially in your heat.

I spent most of my life never using a saw but, more recently have started carrying this one: https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Vital...ocphy=9007958&hvtargid=pla-382212148030&psc=1

It's compact and light and allows me to split the pelvis and sternum and due a little neater job.

The most thorough video I've ever seen on field dressing is the one by meat eater. I've been field dressing deer for 30 years but, I definitely changed the way I do a few things after watching this video:

He shoot that deer in the neck because I didn't see any damage to the ribs and there wasn't much blood in that cavity?

Great video though, definitely one of the best I've seen on field dressing.

 

[OspreyZB]

If our deer were as small as yours down there, I think I would drag with the guts in most of the time. Keeps things much cleaner that way, especially if your dragging through mud/swamp muck.

 

[Apex7]

I'm in a suburban archery program and we have to take the deer out hole and we have to cover them up. We use to be able to gut them in the woods and bag the gut pile and take it with us. We have a place to gut the deer that's in the park we hunt . Are state doesn't require us to go to a check station which is great. As far as the pelvic bone goes I use a tool called the Buck buster . It looks like a big tuning fork with a blade that splits the pelvic bone with no problem. It makes the job so much easier and cleaner. I also put bags of ice in the chest cavity until I get it to a cooler we use for deer that we donate to a local food bank.

 

[Weldabeast]

Unless Florida has some weird requirement to leave guts in I would gut it before taking it into the check station. I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't, especially in your heat.

I spent most of my life never using a saw but, more recently have started carrying this one: https://www.amazon.com/Gerber-Vital...ocphy=9007958&hvtargid=pla-382212148030&psc=1

It's compact and light and allows me to split the pelvis and sternum and due a little neater job.

The most thorough video I've ever seen on field dressing is the one by meat eater. I've been field dressing deer for 30 years but, I definitely changed the way I do a few things after watching this video:

That is 1 of the best videos....and that is why I asking more experience peeps if they are using a saw like the video

 

[Weldabeast]

Hard to find hard info since there are so many factors.

Some expert from a university said this..."Hazardous analysis and critical control point (HACCP) recording suggests the internal temperature of the carcass needs to reach 70°F within 2 hours and below 40°F within 4 hours of the kill."

 

[rhagenw]

I think 40 degrees in 4 hours is bit of a stretch...I believe you have more lee way than most think I always hang mine until rigor mortis is over for optimal flavor

 

[Wyatt_burp]

Hard to find hard info since there are so many factors.

Some expert from a university said this..."Hazardous analysis and critical control point (HACCP) recording suggests the internal temperature of the carcass needs to reach 70°F within 2 hours and below 40°F within 4 hours of the kill."

HAACP is for food service. You will know if meat has spoiled. Kill it, gut it, if you can hang whole, outdoor Temps under 40, or you can quarter and throw your quarters on ice in coolers or in a fridge. Letting the meat go to rigor on the bone is good for the meat.

Main point, no such thing as cooling too fast, but HAACP plans are for restaurants and health departments.

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[GCTerpfan]

That is 1 of the best videos....and that is why I asking more experience peeps if they are using a saw like the video

I wouldn't say it's necessary. For the first 30 yrs I did it just like @Nutterbuster described except I wouldn't always split the brisket, depending on my mood I would just reach up as far as I could and cut off the esophagus.

For whatever reason, as I've gotten older I have started enjoying slowing down and doing a more thorough job like in the video. Like I said it's not necessary but, when I do field dress one, I do it similar to the video above.

But as @swampsnyper said if you can cut them up and pack them out that's the way to go. That's how I do all of my public land deer, I only field dress the deer my boys shoot on our property because I can usually drive the ATV or truck to them.

 

[Weldabeast]

Kill it I try, gut it still learning, if you can hang whole cant, outdoor Temps under 40 maybe 10 days a year if we're lucky, or you can quarter and throw your quarters on ice in coolers thats what I do.

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As someone who is having to learn without anybody to teach me anything....cleaning, butchering, meat handling (hehehe) etc is the hardest part to learn.

 

[Wyatt_burp]

As someone who is having to learn without anybody to teach me anything....cleaning, butchering, meat handling (hehehe) etc is the hardest part to learn.

Meat eater has free videos on most of it, www.themeateater.com my dad taught me a bunch, I now run about 4 restaurants, and I still learned some good stuff from Steve rinella and friends.

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