How to Field Dress a Deer in 10 Easy Steps

One of the least gratifying parts of hunting, especially deer hunting, is dressing a deer in the field but the additional attention paid to treating the deer is easily worthwhile.

Before getting started, be warned that preparing a deer involves work. You will find it's cleaner and less awkward of a project if you remove your hunting gear and pull your sleeves out of the way. Not needed but highly recommended is the usage of disposable gloves which serves the double function of protecting your hands from getting in immediate touch with the blood and bowels of the deer and additionally as a barrier to the possible transmission of contractible disease.

It is imperative to remove the guts from the deer as soon as possible after the kill. By getting rid of the organs you will allow a high volume of blood and the bulk of the digestive tract fluids to be taken out. Due to the acidic nature of the digestive tract system, the bowels including the stomach should be taken out promptly to prevent digestive fluids from ruining the meat. Field dressing allows the meat to cool quicker and to resist decomposition that can be accelerated by the coagulating blood and caustic stomach acids. Dressing your deer at the hunting site makes the deer easier to haul off because you will have taken out excess weight.

Some Things To Think Of Before You Begin

1. Dress your deer as soon as possible

2. Keep the exposed internal body cavity clear of dirt and contaminants. This is important.

3. Use caution if you're planning on taking out the deer scent gland. Scent glands can easily ruin the meat if botched up during removal. Even though taking out the gland isn't required some hunters remove it. Many hunters even keep the gland for a kind of deer pheromone to draw deer when hunting afterwards.

Field Dressing In 10 Simple Steps

1. Position the deer on its back keeping the shoulders above the hindquarters.

2. Pull apart the back legs.

3. Make an incision along the middle line of the stomach from the rib cage chest plate to the rectum cutting first through the skin and secondly through the abdomen muscular tissue. Avoid rupturing the stomach or guts.

4. Slice through the chest plate. Continue the slice along the neck until you reach the end of the jaw to take out as much windpipe as feasible. Be mindful that the windpipe can spoil rapidly and ruin the meat.

5. Slice around the rectum and move it into the deer body. You will need to be careful to not break the bladder.

6. Work the intestines and stomach free from the deer and roll them out.

7. Next break the pelvis and slice around the diaphragm.

8. Break the sternum to allow access to the esophagus and windpipe and cut them above the lungs.

9. Remove the heart and lungs from the torso cavity.

10. Let the blood in the body run out and keep the chest exposed awhile to allow the body to cool faster.

If you remember to follow these field dressing steps to dress deer, antelope, elk, or moose you'll find that you will have cleaner deer meat with a better taste to match.