How to Field Dress a Deer
Your hard work has finally paid off; you harvested a deer and it is down on the ground, now what? Proper care of your deer is very important in making sure that it maintains its freshness up until the point when it is served for dinner. This is a primer on how to properly field dress a deer.
A sharp knife is a must when it comes to field dressing a deer. A sharp knife will actually reduce bad (unneeded) cuts on the deer and yourself as well and will make the entire process easier. Take your time when dressing a deer, mistakes due to impatience or thinking “I have done this a million times” will often require you to make a trip to the hospital to get stitches.
Prop the animal on its back and begin field dressing by making a cut from just above the genitals up to the rib cage. When you make a cut from just above the genitals to the sternum take care not to cut too deep. You only want to cut through the hide and through the animals stomach muscle. If you go to deep you will puncture the deer’s intestines and you will have to deal with the smell as well as the potential for ruined meat.
Now turn the deer on its side and allow the guts to fall out. They will require help from you by cutting away the fat and connective tissue that holds the intestines in. Care must be taken to not puncture or break the deer’s bladder. The bladder will be in the area where the cavity narrows down at the hips. Cutting around the anus and tying it off with string. Then cutting either forwards or backwards from the abdominal cavity to remove this entire area. Easier said than done. Care must be take not to puncture anything here – this is where the deer droppings and urine are located. The deer’s abdominal cavity is separated from the chest cavity by the diaphragm. This separates the lung and heart from the stomach and intestines. This must be cut out to remove all of the intestines.
With the guts half in and half out, cut the diaphragm away from the deer’s chest cavity. Reach as far up into the deer’s chest as possible and grab the deer esophagus. With the other hand carefully slide the knife into the deer’s chest and work your knife up into the chest to cut the esophagus just above your other hand. After it is cut, simply pull the heart and lungs out and with it comes the rest of the intestines. (Most will keep the heart and eat that as well)
Drag the deer out and take home for skinning.