That’s assuming you only feel like shooting arrahs that day.
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What did you do today that’s related to saddle hunting?
- Thread starter bfriendly
- Start date
hokiehunter373
Well-Known Member
Amen, brother
Iron_llama
Well-Known Member
I missed this detail the first time I read it. Excellent! The first few can seem overwhelming but at this point I really enjoy butchering deer. How did it go?
Just a couple of “action” shots lol. It’s definitely overwhelming but I also had to do the bulk of the de-boning at 11pm after the kids went to sleep. I also had to wait for the hide to thaw yesterday because we got ridiculous temps after I shot her and she froze stiff for over 24 hours.
All the big cuts are in the cooler though, going to trim and wrap them this afternoon, and I have two whole front quarters and a neck to trim still, plus shanks. The biggest hurdle has been thawing my fingers out in the truck between ripping hunks of cold, dead meat out of her in mid-twenties temps. Headlamp butchering was kinda fun actually.
I had to cut a lot of backstrap away because my first shot was a spine hit, then I sent a mercy shot from her heart up through her backstrap again while she was laying on the ground dying. Not my proudest moment and I lost some meat but the tracking job was easy and she’s a big old nanny.
I just got a grinder, that’ll be this week’s fun activity.
Overall I was a head case the entire time I was cutting, but once I got in there and saw what was what, I felt a lot more comfortable letting my knife work. I think 2 or 3 more and I’ll start really figuring this out.
Iron_llama
Well-Known Member
Yeah, but I bet you're proud you tackled the project now that the bulk is behind you. I generally cut in my unheated garage, with an electric radiator to keep my hands warm. Knock it down to primals - shoulders, neck, hams, backstraps, tenderloins, and trim, then bring one quarter into the kitchen at a time so I can debone and package with the TV on and my preschooler supervising. Never butchered by headlamp, sounds like an adventure!
lol samesies. My 4YO has been right close since the deer hit the dirt. Obsessed (a little creepy tbh) with the tongue sticking out and touching the hooves. Keeps telling me she’s going to “eat that deer all up!” I’m having a lot of fun trimming. Reminds me of my college days as a butcher’s assistant. Also makes me wish I’d kept that job a little longer! Here are some of my cleaned cuts:
Not perfect but still good enough to eat.
That’s coming next year
TreeRecon
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Sep 10, 2023
- Messages
- 272
Now go to Harbor Freight and get their electric hoist on sale. Attach your gambrel to that and have fun.
The thought crossed my mind but only 2-3 deer come home whole each year. The hoist also takes away some height so its a no go for me. Just nice to have light and heat.
If dry aging and no worries about burglers, you can regulate temps some using garage door.
Some use kiddy pools for guts and blood but i prefer big tub. Easier for me to handle and less splatter
I have a 6:1 hoist on my chestnut tree right now, hoping to rig up a Wild West style gallows for my deer before next season, indoor or outdoor. Electric hoist will be an eventual upgrade to that and probably leave the 6:1 in the truck for field dressing over a tree.
Sounds like a great plan.
I do a lot of afternoon hunting and outside headlamp processing has lost its luster.
You dont have to tote a gambrel into woods. Some (including me) think that hanging deer head up is easier to gut and/or quarter/debone.
Everyone needs to do what works for them. Always great to share ideas and then you do you.
Is that just an eye bolt in the stud? I need to do that in my garage.
2x4x8 screwed down across 4 joists and a hole drilled thru board and ceiling. 12” eye bolts and washers and nut
Just seems like you'd have more hair falling onto the meat w/it head up versus head down w/only the lower leg above your skinned meat.
I still skin top down but maybe more hair. I go slow and careful. Some paper towels gets up the hair thats there. I use this way in the field if im gonna gut and cart deer out. Easy peasy with a rope and a tree branch. No gambrel needed.
Biggest benefit to head up is gravity is helping pull guts out and they arent getting hung up in the rib cage. If you happen to pop the bladder then it goes onto less meat.
Just trying to share ideas. Try it and decide what works for you
One clarification is that i always use a gambrel at home after gutting in the field. Only head up in field for gutting or quartering or deboning