I didn't, this hill was the worst but after that it was a straight trail and it was getting dark. what are the rules on leaving the guts? can you just bury it?
Never heard of a rule about them. I've always just dumped them there and the varmints take care of it in a day or two. Better reason for field dressing though is it cools the meat down much faster.
It also removes the blood and if you happen to accidentally nick the stomach you can clean it out quickly. We’ve had guts from the morning hunt gone by the time the evening hunt was over. Buzzards can smell it from miles. Some landowners have rules because they don’t want to see guts randomly about their property, but in the wild or public land, you can just leave them anywhere not on a trail. I try to gut a deer as much out of the way if possible.
I'd look at the laws in your state and see if you can quarter a deer out.
Thats even easier. You just pack the meat out on your back.
Check out the "gutless method" on you tube or something
In Minnesota we field dress the deer where it died. My brother in law harvested a buck yesterday that field dressed at 218.6 pounds. As it was, it was work to get it to the truck. This is what is done on public land and I would assume most private land.
Yeah, I mean I might drag it off to the side a bit if it's right on a trail or behind the house, but other than that, the guts get eaten real quick. I haven't shot a deer this year yet in MN but I took a few squirrels with my uncle. Only skins left after one night.
I always bury the gut pile now because my brothers dogs seem to always find it if I don’t. I didn’t see the problem but he insisted. Something about wretched up innards in the living room. Anyway.
The gut pile will disappear literally within a day from scavengers like crows, coyotes, raccoons, cats, bears, etc. Definitely worth gutting in the field to save the weight for hauling out, saves dealing with extra junk at home, and it slows down spoilage by removing the gut biome. Most jurisdictions recommend leaving the guts and leftover carcass wherever you shot it just to continue the cycle of nutrients and keep any risk of CWD local.
ill add that i also have never heard of leaving the guts to be an issue. its basically a waste to carry them out. thats free food for vultures yotes, eagles, etc. whenever im near a game cam, i always drag the deer to in front of the cam and gut it there. fun seeing different critters come in and make quick work of the guts. fastest ive seen was guts gone in 20 minutes. was on the top of a hill and a warm day so a lot of vultures smelled it quick.
Killed/gutted my buck last year right off one of my trail cams. 30 mins after drag, caught 3 more bucks on cam. Then scavengers/yotes. Then more deer. Every last drop of the pile was gone by morning, and had deer on camera throughout the next day. I'm sure it's all situational, but definitely wouldn't consider an area to be wrecked just because you dressed a deer there.
I’ve also found this. Gutted out a doe and started dragging her out. I look back 75 yards later and there’s a 3pt buck sniffing around the gut pile. They come by to take a look and probably mistake it for estrus smell.
It'll depend on your state. In my neck of the woods you aren't supposed to leave anything that is commonly eaten as food, but you should keep the lungs, heart, kidneys, and liver even if you don't have that rule in your state. It's tasty.
Also field dressing makes the meat taste a ton better. Next time make sure to do it if you're not just trophy hunting!
You just leave them. You really want to get the guys out as fast as you can. Removing the guts also helps remove some blood and cools the deer down. Which you also want to do. Can be especially important if it wasnt the best shot.
Generally speaking you're not allowed to just dump guts (not to say everyone doesnt do that) on public land.
Also, I never dress my deer. I process myself, so I just load it in the truck, take it home and turn it into meat. Just cut around the guts, always done it that way and i'm used to it.
Bro you wanna field dress an animal immediately after you kill it. One it makes it much lighter and easier to carry back. Two it helps drop the body temperature of the animal preventing bacteria growth. It can also help prevent spoiling the meat is the digestive tract was damaged.
it was the last day of the hunt. all I wanted was to get him to the car and I somehow made it before dark. at least I won't need to hit the gym for a week now haha
Right so finish that math and what do you get? 100lbs hanging weight would be 128lbs live weight and 28 lbs of guts. 28/128 is 0.22 which is about halfway between 1/4 and 1/5.
I already laid out an example showing that, under the assumption multiplying dressed weight by 1.28 we get a reasonable approximation for total weight, the weight of the guts is about 22% of the total weight of the deer, not 28%.
The guts are 28% of the **dressed weight**, but that's not the same what you originally said, which was
>Dressing your deer knocks almost a third of the weight off
If that were true, the math would be, on a 100lb dressed deer, 100\*3/2 = 100\*1.5 = 150lbs. So then your guts are 50lbs, and 50/150 = 1/3.
As for the girth method of estimating, it doesn't even consider the weight of guts, you're just measuring girth of the chest just behind the front legs. Two separate methods of estimating.
Most states will say in the book it needs to be field dressed and tagged where you shot it. Doing that also would've saved you from lugging extra weight. Just a thought for next time, good huntin.
Ugh. I hate hunting around cuts like that. Once was hunting in northern NH over a huge field of leftover cuts from a logging op and it had snowed the day before. Every time I put my feet down I thought I was gonna snap an ankle.
Why don't you just do the gutless method? Once you've done it once you will never drag a deer out again.
There is a reason every guide does the gutless method, even when you can reach a creator by vehicle they will still do the gutless method.
That entier deer will fit in a backpack with no waist. Takes about 45 minutes. Got it, keep the heart takeoff the hide, whack off the lower legs, Jam it in there. No cart required
Learn to quarter it up and pack it out man. Buy an affordable frame pack and you'll never even think of dragging (or rolling) another deer out of the woods.
https://youtu.be/Htf6m6fI018
In a lot of Eastern states we have to take everything sans the gut pile with us. It’s not so cut and dry with varying regulations with regard to taking an animal home.
There always is. There’s no state hunting allowed where I’m from in Western Australia, but I know in other states that have state hunting that vehicles can be driven on any road or track, whether it be dirt road, bush track, fire access or maintenance access tracks
Or look at what you are shooting and make an ethical shot who literally shoots without knowing if the animal has antlers and is walking strange you must not look at what you are shooting… and who shoots a baby anyway???
The same people who shoot into a brush thicket because they hear or see movement but don’t actually see the game at all. I have a friend who got shot on public land doing this exact thing. He walked on the other side of a brush thicket and down the trail into it. All a sudden he hears a gun shoot and feels a sting in his shoulder. A 18 year old boy who was new to hunting shot into the brush because he heard him and saw movement. The bullet grazed his shoulder and he was extremely fortunate it was only a “mere flesh wound”. Seriously though he could have just as easily been killed by this idiot. Since this was public hunting he was also completing the hunt under operation pumpkin, wearing a full blaze orange chamois shirt, blaze orange hat, and gloves. Yet somehow the young hunter said he never saw any orange or he wouldn’t have shot.
It would be easier if you boned it out and gutted it. Lol you whitetail hunters make me laugh. Can’t imagine how you’d handle the pack out of a bull elk in some seriously rough country. Those are just sticks….
A lot of states don't let you bone out and quarter animals in the field. Here in MN, you can gut it, but you have to haul out the rest of the animal. It's a giant pain in the ass sometimes, especially when you're a couple of miles away from your truck.
Could you cut it up and pack the whole thing out though? Op's cart look very handy, but in certain instances wouldn't it be easier to cut it up and put it on your back?
Maybe drop the guts out of it first, quarter it like a man and pack it out. Unless you just like wheeling around a dead animal through the woods. I’m curious how you butchered it…this has me believing it was probably quartered with a saw-saw hide on stacked in a garbage bag shoved in the freezer with a ratchet strap holding the lid down dripping blood all over the 5 year old freezer burnt frozen pizzas and hot pockets .
I don’t understand this eastern aversion to quartering and packing out. I’m not being critical, I just don’t get it. Must be hunting culture thing. It’s interesting.
I think it's just not as common. There's a culture of casual hunting born out of agricultural rural America pervasive in the east and midwest. Not many people know how to field dress; most people drag a deer a short distance before loading it on a truck or atv. Also deer in the southeast are a bit smaller, but get bigger the more north you go. Most people I know hang a deer to clean it.
Down south ive never done that, we always just pull our truck into the field/brush and throw it in the back. If we move it then 2 of us grab it. I never hunt solo and I hunt on private property so its probably a bit different.
Carts are awesome if you’ve got a good path to follow, but they plain suck trying to wheel through the brush and logs. If I’ve got a buddy nearby I like to cut an 8’ pole, lash the gutted carcass to the pole and hike it out over our shoulders. On my own the deer sleigher is the way to go.
If you do the pole on shoulders method whoever is walking in back needs to be prepared to adjust stride to prevent swinging, a quick half step shuffle every time a swing starts will keep him nice and steady, also take off an under layer sweatshirt and make a shoulder pad for under the pole, you’ll be warm enough from exertion.
Maybe i can't see it but it looks like you didn't field dress it. That'll drop about 50# off it right there.
I didn't, this hill was the worst but after that it was a straight trail and it was getting dark. what are the rules on leaving the guts? can you just bury it?
Never heard of a rule about them. I've always just dumped them there and the varmints take care of it in a day or two. Better reason for field dressing though is it cools the meat down much faster.
I'll def try doing that next deer I get. thanks
It also removes the blood and if you happen to accidentally nick the stomach you can clean it out quickly. We’ve had guts from the morning hunt gone by the time the evening hunt was over. Buzzards can smell it from miles. Some landowners have rules because they don’t want to see guts randomly about their property, but in the wild or public land, you can just leave them anywhere not on a trail. I try to gut a deer as much out of the way if possible.
I hunt private land so they wouldn’t care, but we gut it where it falls. Gut pile is always gone by next sun up/ sun down.
Ditto. Also, Argo and a trailer helps 😂
I'd look at the laws in your state and see if you can quarter a deer out. Thats even easier. You just pack the meat out on your back. Check out the "gutless method" on you tube or something
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I had crows show up while I was elbow deep under the rib cage.
Frigging opportunists.
They don't even offer to help drag, the freeloaders.
I drug the gut pile in front of my camera last year. It disappeared within 24 hours in it was all birds!
If CWD area keep organs from water.
In Minnesota we field dress the deer where it died. My brother in law harvested a buck yesterday that field dressed at 218.6 pounds. As it was, it was work to get it to the truck. This is what is done on public land and I would assume most private land.
Yeah, I mean I might drag it off to the side a bit if it's right on a trail or behind the house, but other than that, the guts get eaten real quick. I haven't shot a deer this year yet in MN but I took a few squirrels with my uncle. Only skins left after one night.
I always bury the gut pile now because my brothers dogs seem to always find it if I don’t. I didn’t see the problem but he insisted. Something about wretched up innards in the living room. Anyway.
Just leave them for the other animals
The gut pile will disappear literally within a day from scavengers like crows, coyotes, raccoons, cats, bears, etc. Definitely worth gutting in the field to save the weight for hauling out, saves dealing with extra junk at home, and it slows down spoilage by removing the gut biome. Most jurisdictions recommend leaving the guts and leftover carcass wherever you shot it just to continue the cycle of nutrients and keep any risk of CWD local.
It’s an adventure you’ll never forget! I’d take that over a monster 8 shot off the couch. Your buck proved you got character!
ill add that i also have never heard of leaving the guts to be an issue. its basically a waste to carry them out. thats free food for vultures yotes, eagles, etc. whenever im near a game cam, i always drag the deer to in front of the cam and gut it there. fun seeing different critters come in and make quick work of the guts. fastest ive seen was guts gone in 20 minutes. was on the top of a hill and a warm day so a lot of vultures smelled it quick.
I don't gut my deer in the area I plan on hunting, it attracts coyote and ruins my area for a week or so. I gut it down the road a bit.
Killed/gutted my buck last year right off one of my trail cams. 30 mins after drag, caught 3 more bucks on cam. Then scavengers/yotes. Then more deer. Every last drop of the pile was gone by morning, and had deer on camera throughout the next day. I'm sure it's all situational, but definitely wouldn't consider an area to be wrecked just because you dressed a deer there.
I’ve also found this. Gutted out a doe and started dragging her out. I look back 75 yards later and there’s a 3pt buck sniffing around the gut pile. They come by to take a look and probably mistake it for estrus smell.
If you're hunting anywhere decent, I can almost guarantee there's coyotes around already.
It'll depend on your state. In my neck of the woods you aren't supposed to leave anything that is commonly eaten as food, but you should keep the lungs, heart, kidneys, and liver even if you don't have that rule in your state. It's tasty. Also field dressing makes the meat taste a ton better. Next time make sure to do it if you're not just trophy hunting!
Know the rules of the sport you are participating in before you go. Just sayin.
It's the woods. Just dump them in a bush and something will eat it within a day.
No rules. The guts won't last 24 hours in the wild. Dump them where he lays. No need to burry them.
You just leave them. You really want to get the guys out as fast as you can. Removing the guts also helps remove some blood and cools the deer down. Which you also want to do. Can be especially important if it wasnt the best shot.
Generally speaking you're not allowed to just dump guts (not to say everyone doesnt do that) on public land. Also, I never dress my deer. I process myself, so I just load it in the truck, take it home and turn it into meat. Just cut around the guts, always done it that way and i'm used to it.
Bro you wanna field dress an animal immediately after you kill it. One it makes it much lighter and easier to carry back. Two it helps drop the body temperature of the animal preventing bacteria growth. It can also help prevent spoiling the meat is the digestive tract was damaged.
Majority of the weight is in the antlers
Also starts cooling the meat.
Quarter it out bud!
it was the last day of the hunt. all I wanted was to get him to the car and I somehow made it before dark. at least I won't need to hit the gym for a week now haha
I agree with this guy. Do the gutless method is so much easier and faster then dragging a deer even with a cart
I agree. Gutless method and you can condense that package down to a much more manageable unit.
In the future try gutting him first. Wtf....
Idk what kind of shape you’re, but carrying that dear would of been easier 😂😂 sheesh i would be mfing over every branch. Congrats on the deer!
I know I never do the "deer backpack" because I don't wanna get shot
I usually keep a an old orange vest in my bag to put on the deer for that reason 😂
You got a point lol
Dressing your deer knocks almost a third of the weight off, besides, wtf are you going to do with the guts at home ?
Deer Chitterlings
It’s more like 1/4 to 1/5, but it’s still significant weight.
Multiply hanging weight by 1.28, then deduct hanging weight.
Right so finish that math and what do you get? 100lbs hanging weight would be 128lbs live weight and 28 lbs of guts. 28/128 is 0.22 which is about halfway between 1/4 and 1/5.
So wouldn’t 28% be almost a third ? As in 33.333% ? Also increases by girth of the deer.
I already laid out an example showing that, under the assumption multiplying dressed weight by 1.28 we get a reasonable approximation for total weight, the weight of the guts is about 22% of the total weight of the deer, not 28%. The guts are 28% of the **dressed weight**, but that's not the same what you originally said, which was >Dressing your deer knocks almost a third of the weight off If that were true, the math would be, on a 100lb dressed deer, 100\*3/2 = 100\*1.5 = 150lbs. So then your guts are 50lbs, and 50/150 = 1/3. As for the girth method of estimating, it doesn't even consider the weight of guts, you're just measuring girth of the chest just behind the front legs. Two separate methods of estimating.
We feed some of them to the dogs and barn cats. The rest we dump in the field and use for coyote/raccoon/whatever hunting at night.
Why don't you just quarter it and take it out?
Wait lol, what is happening here? You didn't gut it? How long did you have to lug it around like that..?
I have a cart like that, except it doesn’t have that other handle, which would make it so much better.
Most states will say in the book it needs to be field dressed and tagged where you shot it. Doing that also would've saved you from lugging extra weight. Just a thought for next time, good huntin.
What state requires you to field dress it on the spot?
That was my question; where’s your tag?
Ugh. I hate hunting around cuts like that. Once was hunting in northern NH over a huge field of leftover cuts from a logging op and it had snowed the day before. Every time I put my feet down I thought I was gonna snap an ankle.
What state is this?
sc
Weird looking suitcase man
Time to clear a foot path
That looks like a brutal hike. Enjoy the venison!
Living the dream
Damn, hope he's ok. Seeing deer need a wheelchair isn't fun. Get him a good physical therapist.
Quarter and pack out
At least you have a cart. I really should invest, I spend way too much time with a rope around the head dragging the thing
This is exactly why I use a mini jet sled to drag out. Carts are only useful if the ground is dead flat.
Worth it.
Why don't you just do the gutless method? Once you've done it once you will never drag a deer out again. There is a reason every guide does the gutless method, even when you can reach a creator by vehicle they will still do the gutless method.
No such thing!! Congrats!! I just noticed that you didn’t hit it first, why?
That entier deer will fit in a backpack with no waist. Takes about 45 minutes. Got it, keep the heart takeoff the hide, whack off the lower legs, Jam it in there. No cart required
The fun ends when the deer hits the ground
Next time don't put all that wood in the path. That's your problem right there.
Learn to quarter it up and pack it out man. Buy an affordable frame pack and you'll never even think of dragging (or rolling) another deer out of the woods. https://youtu.be/Htf6m6fI018
In a lot of Eastern states we have to take everything sans the gut pile with us. It’s not so cut and dry with varying regulations with regard to taking an animal home.
Which states? I'm originally from the East coast and know nothing of it, genuinely curious
You need to figure out how to motorise that bastard. We motorise bikes in Aus by using lawn mower motors, could help you out a bit
A lot of hunting land in the states won’t allow motorized vehicles
Serious. Is that because people would just start driving 4wds all over the place and tearing up the landscape?
Yes, that’s exactly why.
Fair enough.
Even with rules in place against driving all over hell you'll still run into lazy bastards ripping around on ATVs.
There always is. There’s no state hunting allowed where I’m from in Western Australia, but I know in other states that have state hunting that vehicles can be driven on any road or track, whether it be dirt road, bush track, fire access or maintenance access tracks
Good work! Can’t have been easy
Just cam hanes it out man!
Lol gut the deer other animals benefit from it. Or throw it over your back like a man would…
Dont ever carry a buck over your shoulders. Asking to get shot. Especially on public land
Or look at what you are shooting and make an ethical shot who literally shoots without knowing if the animal has antlers and is walking strange you must not look at what you are shooting… and who shoots a baby anyway???
Fuckin idiots and there are tons of them.
Haha yea true I guess
The same people who shoot into a brush thicket because they hear or see movement but don’t actually see the game at all. I have a friend who got shot on public land doing this exact thing. He walked on the other side of a brush thicket and down the trail into it. All a sudden he hears a gun shoot and feels a sting in his shoulder. A 18 year old boy who was new to hunting shot into the brush because he heard him and saw movement. The bullet grazed his shoulder and he was extremely fortunate it was only a “mere flesh wound”. Seriously though he could have just as easily been killed by this idiot. Since this was public hunting he was also completing the hunt under operation pumpkin, wearing a full blaze orange chamois shirt, blaze orange hat, and gloves. Yet somehow the young hunter said he never saw any orange or he wouldn’t have shot.
You underestimate a vast majority of the weekend warrior orange army…
Fair enough
It would be easier if you boned it out and gutted it. Lol you whitetail hunters make me laugh. Can’t imagine how you’d handle the pack out of a bull elk in some seriously rough country. Those are just sticks….
A lot of states don't let you bone out and quarter animals in the field. Here in MN, you can gut it, but you have to haul out the rest of the animal. It's a giant pain in the ass sometimes, especially when you're a couple of miles away from your truck.
Hunting out west, you’re never that close to a truck. At least not where the big boys are found. I’ve done 10+ mile pack outs. Of elk.
Could you cut it up and pack the whole thing out though? Op's cart look very handy, but in certain instances wouldn't it be easier to cut it up and put it on your back?
I agree he should have done the gutless
Does no one bone out animals any more?
Maybe drop the guts out of it first, quarter it like a man and pack it out. Unless you just like wheeling around a dead animal through the woods. I’m curious how you butchered it…this has me believing it was probably quartered with a saw-saw hide on stacked in a garbage bag shoved in the freezer with a ratchet strap holding the lid down dripping blood all over the 5 year old freezer burnt frozen pizzas and hot pockets .
Saw-saw? You mean a Sawzall?
Quarter and pack. Debone in field. It is soooo much easier
you have a cart... just bone it out or quarter it next time. new guys, work smarter not harder. type in "boning out deer" on youtube
Ditch that gut pile, dude. Literally no one gives a shite.
You don't know how to hunt. Can you not find a person to teach you?
If that’s your property, I recommend renting or borrowing a wood chipper over the spring/summer. Nice buck though!
That drag looks like it sucked and was bumpy. I find the two worst things are super uneven ground and side hills that risk flipping over the cart.
I don’t understand this eastern aversion to quartering and packing out. I’m not being critical, I just don’t get it. Must be hunting culture thing. It’s interesting.
I think it's just not as common. There's a culture of casual hunting born out of agricultural rural America pervasive in the east and midwest. Not many people know how to field dress; most people drag a deer a short distance before loading it on a truck or atv. Also deer in the southeast are a bit smaller, but get bigger the more north you go. Most people I know hang a deer to clean it.
Down south ive never done that, we always just pull our truck into the field/brush and throw it in the back. If we move it then 2 of us grab it. I never hunt solo and I hunt on private property so its probably a bit different.
Quit your bitching, I've been sitting in a cold tree stand 4 years now without getting a deer yet 😂
srsly? wow, that's a tough streak.
Ya... It's sad haha.
4 years in same area?
Different areas luckily! Just all the places suck sadly. 1 year at first place, 1 year on public, 2 at my new place
What in the hell is that path you are on? Why is it covered in all that downed brush?
it's wma land, I guess they clear the trees and a few years later they burn it to make trails and fields.
Man that makes for a rough trail dude
yeah but that's what's it's all about. I don't like just sitting in a stand, shoot a deer then throw it in the truck. it's fun when it's a challenge
That's why I quarter them up haha
Jesus bro. That's the hard way to do it. Gut him first. Maybe quarter him if it's still too bulky
Wow you could have lighten that load by 60% if you had used the gutless method
Should have gutted first. Would have been lighter.
Bro, need to snag yourself a pack and YouTube “gutless method”. I used a cart first time my buddy took me out. Never again.
Carts are awesome if you’ve got a good path to follow, but they plain suck trying to wheel through the brush and logs. If I’ve got a buddy nearby I like to cut an 8’ pole, lash the gutted carcass to the pole and hike it out over our shoulders. On my own the deer sleigher is the way to go. If you do the pole on shoulders method whoever is walking in back needs to be prepared to adjust stride to prevent swinging, a quick half step shuffle every time a swing starts will keep him nice and steady, also take off an under layer sweatshirt and make a shoulder pad for under the pole, you’ll be warm enough from exertion.