How to Dress a Deer
Dressing a deer is not only very beneficial due to all of the great meals that you can produce, but it is also a very rewarding task that is part of killing a deer. Dressing a deer is sometimes not the most fun thing to do if you are weak in the stomach, but will be worth the work once the meat is sizzling in the frying pan.
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Instructions
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Preparing the deer. Turn the deer over on its back and get a good foundation so you don’t slip while cutting the deer. Sometimes it is a must to dress a deer where it has been shot due to all of the weight that you can drop before you begin to drag the deer out of the woods. After turning the deer over on it back, take the right back leg and put it under your right knee. This will help keep the deer from moving around on you when you start to cut. Then, take the left leg and place it behind your left knee to get it clear of the cutting area.
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Cut. Begin the cut right around the pelvis area and slowly cut just right below the skin. If you do not have a gutting knife, then take your left hand to hold up the skin and cut slowly under the skin until you reach all the way up to the rib cage.
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Pull out the insides. Once you reach the rib cage, take out a bone knife cut up through the rib cage all the way up to the neck area. The rib cage is a very difficult area to cut through with a normal skinning knife. After you cut the rib cage, the ribs can be very sharp and may poke you. After you have cut up to the neck area, you can then cut the esophagus and begin pulling everything on the inside toward the back of the deer.
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Finalize the dressing. After you have pulled all of the insides to the back of the deer, you can then cut everything loose. Be very careful not to puncture the bladder area. The bladder will be located toward the back of the deer and will have a yellowish tint to it. Cut down beside the anus of the deer so that you can cut loose the intestines.
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Tips & Warnings
Most sporting good stores will have a bundle of skinning knives that come with a skinning knife, gutting hook and bone saw. This is a very nice package to get and might just save you from cutting your hand. Also, it is nice to carry in your pack a pair of gloves that you can put on before you begin to dress the deer.
Never allow children to use sharp knives.
