Processing question..... SOS!!

[G_Man]

Just killed my first buck and I'm tickled pink.... Gonna field dress it and pack the cavity with ice and process it all in the am. It won't go bad over night correct??

 

[deerhunter10]

It shouldn't just make sure you get enough ice

 

[in the dog house]

3 bags 8# or 2 of the big bags from the self service machine will do fine.

 

[WestTn Huntin man]

52* here tonight. Ice it down and get on it in the a.m..should be OK. If you have the time I'd skin and quarter it tonight. Then let it age a few days in a cooler full of ice.

 

[southernhunter]

I keep a deer on ice for 3 days a few weeks by the end of three days it started to have a smell . I found it odd because I have kept it in ice cold water for a week or longer before with no problem

 

[Woodson223]

It will be ok tonight with ice on it.

 

[Bone Collector]

Like WestTNHuntinman said, if you can skin and quarter tonight, I would. I generally skin and quarter as soon as i get in. then ice it down in a cooler and let it sit.

Sometimes I let it sit a day or two, sometimes I will process that day and get it in the freezer.

BTW WHERE ARE THE PICS?????

 

[gatodoc]

I skin and quarter mine right away...soak the quarters in a large cooler with some salt, Ice, vinegar and water for 3 days draining the water daily and adding ice salt and vinegar each day...

Use less salt and vinegar each day...debone and freeze meat on day 3 or 4...Meat tastes great....

 

[megalomaniac]

It'll be fine overnight

But once you learn to use the gutless method, you'll spend about the same amount of time putting skinned quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins in the cooler as you would have spent field dressing the animal, and you're done with the initial processing and ready to age it in the cooler for 7-10d before final processing

 

[Southern Sportsman]

It'll be fine overnight

But once you learn to use the gutless method, you'll spend about the same amount of time putting skinned quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins in the cooler as you would have spent field dressing the animal, and you're done with the initial processing and ready to age it in the cooler for 7-10d before final processing

How do you get the tenderloins out without gutting one? What is this gutless method?

 

[Nealmeally]

I wouldn't worry about it. I'd get it done first thing in the morning though. Got up to 76 here today..

 

[southernhunter]

It'll be fine overnight

But once you learn to use the gutless method, you'll spend about the same amount of time putting skinned quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins in the cooler as you would have spent field dressing the animal, and you're done with the initial processing and ready to age it in the cooler for 7-10d before final processing

How do you get the tenderloins out without gutting one? What is this gutless method?

sometimes if I am in a rush , I don't gut them either but don't know how you would get the inner tenderloin with out gutting .

 

[Slick Head 13]

You see the gutless method a lot more out west. Its a pain to get to the backstrap but after you do it a few times it gets easier. I know several guys that do their deer like that so when they draw tags out west they got it down to a science.

 

[Snake]

Like WestTNHuntinman said, if you can skin and quarter tonight, I would. I generally skin and quarter as soon as i get in. then ice it down in a cooler and let it sit.

Sometimes I let it sit a day or two, sometimes I will process that day and get it in the freezer.

BTW WHERE ARE THE PICS?????

Exactly it don't take that much time to skin and quarter a deer . Heck if you get it quartered then I would just put it in a garbage bag and put it in the fridge .

 

[G_Man]

Went ahead and drove it home and skinned n quarter it up... Thanks for the advice through.

And I watched a video on gutless method and I was gonna try it tonight, but opted to field dress. Definitely going to give it a shot! And I'll get pictures up in the morning. Had some history with this fatty, short history, but history nonetheless

 

[Mike Belt]

I keep a second refrigerator and after quartering I just chill the meat in there for 1-4 days before I cut it up.

 

[mike243]

putting a bag of ice in the chest cavity keeps what cold? the ribs & maybe the back strap, it dosent do any thing for the hams shoulders or neck. skin 1/4 & get in a cooler with ice or a spare fridge, I have a spare fridge & set it very cold in the fresh food section & put them in there til the next day or so ,it makes them easier to debone & clean/cut any fat off, does the butcher marinate your beef you buy in water or other added flavors? why would you do a deer that way before it was ready to cook? ,just asking & wondering where folks get their knowledge, maybe I been missing something lol

 

[megalomaniac]

Tenderloins are a piece of cake to remove... much cleaner than the traditional way.

Just remember where they are on the deer... after you remove the backstraps, just reach in with your hand below the last rib, and you can feel them loosely attached to the underside of the transverse processes of the vertebrae. Bluntly dissect them away from the vertebrae, then they will still be attached at the ends. Carefully use your knife to cut their attachments below the last rib and then in the pelvis, using the back of your hand to keep the peritoneum pushed away from the muscle so you don't puncture the peritoneal cavity. If done correctly, you will get zero blood on your hands, and zero contamination from abdominal cavity on the meat.

In fact, the deer I dressed last Sunday I did the whole deer without getting more than a few drops of blood on my hands.

But that 5.5 yr old dry doe had over a 1/2 inch of fat over the backstraps, and gobs of fat in the retroperitoneum. I ate the other tenderloin last night, and it was the best tasting deer I've ever eaten... For some reason, it was the first deer I've ever had that tasted EXACTLY like beef... no game taste whatsoever.

 

[megalomaniac]

oh, yes, the first few times it may take 30 min to completely quarter a deer, remvoe the backstraps and tenderloins and have it in the cooler...

but after a couple hundred, I can have a deer completely quartered, skinned, and ready for final processing in about 10 minutes

 

[GOODWIN]

oh, yes, the first few times it may take 30 min to completely quarter a deer, remvoe the backstraps and tenderloins and have it in the cooler...

but after a couple hundred, I can have a deer completely quartered, skinned, and ready for final processing in about 10 minutes

Explain your skinning process. That's what always takes the longest for me.

 

[TheRealSpurhunter]

I will second the no-gut method. The ONLY time I gut one is if I don't have enough light available to break down the deer. My daughter has even done this since the age of 13. Removing the tenderloins is no issue at all if your careful. You can separate the cavity from the rib cage with a sharp knife and slide them right out. I get told there is no way to do this so many times, I'm going to make a video this year to shut people up.

If I do gut one, I will put in cooler with several bags of ice, but NEVER allow your meat to soak in water. It breeds bacteria, especially if you haven't washed a gutted deer extensively first.

 

[BlountArrow]

I skin and quarter mine right away...soak the quarters in a large cooler with some salt, Ice, vinegar and water for 3 days draining the water daily and adding ice salt and vinegar each day...

Use less salt and vinegar each day...debone and freeze meat on day 3 or 4...Meat tastes great....

Now, that's a first for me. I'm genuinely asking, what is the purpose of the vinegar? And, you soak the meat in water, not ice, for 3 days (removing the water daily)?

 

[G_Man]

Before season started I read and read how people gut and age their deer, ask 100 people and they'll tell you 100 different ways to do it and they all swear by their way. From what I read, lots of people soak in ice/water. Some drain, some don't. I'm electing to just chill with ice. I'd rather not have my meat drowning in water. Why you ask? Bc i said so. I have no scientific backing for it haha.

Also, I swear by this, it's the only way to go :)

 

[mike243]

I base my meathod lmao on what a real butcher does with beef pork ect.if I seen a reason to drown out or put a flavor in it to kill the taste I suspect I wouldnt hunt for meat ever again.just my .02 cents

 

[megalomaniac]

Step 1... walk to the deer with a cooler and knife wherever it fell

Step 2... make 1" transverse incision on the mid back, then insert knife under hide and slice hide up to neck and then back down to iliac crest right on top of the spine itself

Step 3... on the side of the deer that is 'up', peel hide just enough to expose the backstraps on the upside. Do NOT peel the hide off the backstraps on the side that is down at this point (it'll keep the meat protected from dirt and grass). Make a long cut along the spine to separate the meat from the spine. Cut the backstrap loose from just under the iliac crest. Grab the backstrap and pull it towards the head. on younger deer, it'll just pull right off; on older deer, a sweeping motion with the knife along the ribs will cut the tougher fibers allowing you to pull it off. Insert knife under scapula and cut the ribeye portion of the backstrap off at the base of the neck. Put backstrap in cooler.

Step 4... pull tenderloin on the 'up' side of the deer and put in cooler

Step 5... roll deer to other side and remove backstrap and tenderloin (you don't have to roll it over, but it is a bit quicker)

step 6... pick up the ham on the 'up' side of the deer. Hold the deer's leg between your legs and cut off the tarsal gland... save this for later to kill more deer.

step 7... insert knife under hide where tarsal gland was removed and make 2 cuts down to where the ham meets the body. one along the back of the ham where the short hairs of the inner leg meet the long hairs on the back of the leg/ rump. The second cut in the hide make along the ham on the front fold of hide where the inner thigh hide meets the hide on the outside of the ham. DO NOT cut the hide on the side of the leg opposite the tarsal gland... leave it attached at the knee for countertraction while skinning and to keep the hide attached at this point in case you are sloppy and let the ham touch the ground... it'll keep grass and dirt off the meat. skin the 'y' portion of the hide on the inner thigh down to crease where the ham meets the body, then skin the hide off the ham around to the outside of the ham. Should take around 45 seconds to skin the ham if you are doing it right. Fold the leg to the outside and make 1 cut right over the hip socket, another cut to separate the ham from the pelvis in the rear of the ham, then another cut at the front of the ham to separate it here. NOW detach the hide from the knee and skin the last bit of ham where the sirloin is. Last cut here to completely detach ham from body. Put ham in cooler and make circumferential cut around knee to sever tendons holding knee together. Pop off the leg.

Step 8... roll deer over and repeat with other ham

step 9... pick up front leg, same premise as before... y shaped cut on inside of shouler, leave attached at elbow joint and skin the hide. after majority skinned, detach hide at elbow, lift shoulder off carcass and place in cooler. Detach arm from shoulder in same fashion as knee.

step 10... roll deer over and repeat with other shoulder.

step 11... cut off head for proof of sex and to remove jawbone for aging once you get back to the house with a pair of loppers.

step 12... (I use a cooler with wheels) roll the cooler back to the truck... MUCH easier than dragging.

step 12... hunt the same spot the next morning and kill 2-3 coyotes off the carcass

 

[megalomaniac]

you need to add vinegar if you are going to age the meat in saltwater.... salt will toughen the meat, and the vinegar (acetic acid) will break down the meat to soften it. Personally, I find venison to taste MUCH better to age it as dry as possible (a walk in cooler would be the best, but they are expensive) for a minimum of 7, but preferably 10 days. Aging the meat will really help with tenderness and flavor for steaks. Aging the meat in water will make the meat quite bland and increase chance for decomposition (spoilage) when aging more than a couple days.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

Youtube video on the gutless method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHjSVpfB ... iw&index=2

 

[Winchester]

Tenderloins are a piece of cake to remove... much cleaner than the traditional way.

Just remember where they are on the deer... after you remove the backstraps, just reach in with your hand below the last rib, and you can feel them loosely attached to the underside of the transverse processes of the vertebrae. Bluntly dissect them away from the vertebrae, then they will still be attached at the ends. Carefully use your knife to cut their attachments below the last rib and then in the pelvis, using the back of your hand to keep the peritoneum pushed away from the muscle so you don't puncture the peritoneal cavity. If done correctly, you will get zero blood on your hands, and zero contamination from abdominal cavity on the meat.

In fact, the deer I dressed last Sunday I did the whole deer without getting more than a few drops of blood on my hands.

But that 5.5 yr old dry doe had over a 1/2 inch of fat over the backstraps, and gobs of fat in the retroperitoneum. I ate the other tenderloin last night, and it was the best tasting deer I've ever eaten... For some reason, it was the first deer I've ever had that tasted EXACTLY like beef... no game taste whatsoever.

There you have it! I use the gutless method anytime I can, which isn't very often anymore as I have to transport most all my deer now, where I used only have to take them back to camp to skin them. Its by far the least work and way less mess than gutting them.

 

[TheRealSpurhunter]

For those that find it hard to believe that you can get the tenderloins, forward ahead to about the 11:30 mark on the video and it shows what you do.

 

[wtbh236]

I'm going to have to try that