How to Field Dress a White-Tailed Deer
Field dressing is a necessary step to help ensure the meat from your deer tastes good and doesn't spoil. Your performance will have a direct impact on the quality of the meat. Avoid puncturing organs with your knife, as the contents will taint the meat. Field dressing is not for the squeamish and takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, you can do a good job with minimal mess in about 5 minutes.
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Instructions
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Field Dressing Your Deer
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Once you've recovered your deer and you're sure it's dead, tag it. Remove watches, rings or other jewelry from your wrist and hands. Put on a pair of disposable "gutting gloves," which are found at sporting goods stores. These keep your hands and clothing free of blood, but they aren't necessary.
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Roll the deer onto its back. Straddle the animal, putting your legs inside the deer's hind legs to help spread its body. Pinch the belly fur in the center of the deer between the bottom of the ribcage and the genitals. Pull the fur up away from the body so you don't puncture internal organs. Carefully insert the knife into the pulled-up fur and cut down the center of the deer from the genitals up to the ribcage. Point the blade up and guide it with a finger on either side to keep from puncturing internal organs. Cut through the ribcage and up to the throat if you choose. It will make gutting the animal easier, but it can dull your knife and isn't necessary. Do not cut through the ribcage and throat if you plan to have a head mount made of your deer.
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Cut around the genitals and down to the pelvis. If regulations require, keep the genitals attached to the deer. Otherwise, cut around either side of them and carefully separate them from the hide. Slice between the deer's hindquarters to expose the urinary tract. Be careful not to puncture the urinary tract or any other organs.
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Cut down to the rectum. Cut around the rectum and sever the connective tissues by cutting in a circle inside the pelvis.
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Locate the diaphragm. This is an internal wall that separates the heart and lungs from the stomach and intestines. Cut the diaphragm to free the internal organs.
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Reach forward and cut the deer's windpipe just ahead of the lungs. Grasp the heart and lungs and pull. If they won't come free, cut more of the windpipe or other connective tissue.
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Pull out the liver, stomach and intestines. Cut connective tissue, particularly the diaphragm, if the organs do not remove freely. Roll the organs out the side of the deer and onto the ground for scavengers.
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Pull the rectum and urinary tract through the pelvic arch and pull out with the other internal organs.
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Drain blood by elevating the head end of the deer. Prop the ribcage open with a stick to promote cooling and air circulation.
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Clean any blood off your body or clothing with paper towels. Clean your knife with the towels and any available water or snow.
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Transport your deer to a cool environment as quickly as possible. If the weather is 50 degrees or warmer, pack bags of ice inside the body cavity.
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Tips & Warnings
Use a sharp knife, but be careful, especially any time you reach into the internal body cavity to make a blind cut. Don't puncture the deer's internal organs, particularly the stomach, intestines and bladder, as the contents will give the meat an unpleasant taste.
