Sounds like a lot of folks don't gut their own deer. The processor I took my deer to in Strawn last night said he gets about 300 deer a year brought in that haven't been gutted. I was surprised to hear that. He said that he charges an extra $25 to do it. Admittedly, there's been a couple of evenings that I would rather have had someone else do it for me, but I would be embarrassed to take in a deer that wasn't gutted.

I'd gut one for $25 in a heartbeat.

That's freaking nasty. Longer those guts stay in the worst the meat taste. I wouldn't be bringing my deer to a processor that accepts deer that haven't been gutted unless I was for sure he cleaned his machines and processed my meat with MY DEER. I had mine done at Hildebrandt. It was the worst sausage of my life. So now I spend the extra money at Ainsworth off 1488/2978. Best jalapeño cheddar sausage around. I also don't gut my deer, but I skin it and cut the meat off the bone within a hour of it hitting the ground.

I agree. I was actually somewhat naïve to the fact of how MOST people take their deer in to the processor. I hunted in Lampasas for 2 years and when we would take deer to the processor there were a ton that were ONLY gutted which surprised me in itself. However there were many just lying around that were just rolled off the truck. I have never done anything less than Skin, Gut, Quarter, take backstrap and tenderloin. So it was all new to me. Im not sure how I feel about it all really.

All day long (if they don't stink)

1st thing I do is open the zipper (after I tag it ) And yet, many complain their deer taste "gamey", wonder why??

Only time I ever took a whole deer to the processor was the deer in my sig pic. It was 16 degrees and sleeting when I shot him. I was at camp by myself and drove my Mule to the stand. Drove back to the barn to get the hoist and it wouldn't fit the Mule so I had to take the Yamaha. Took my about 20 minutes to get it running. By the time in had him loaded in the Yamaha he was frozen solid. It had been about 2 hours since I shot him. Loaded him in my truck and drove him to Kerville and paid the $35.

I quit gutting them in the woods 30 years ago. Then I went to gutting them at the skinning site and dropping the guts into the official Gut Bucket. Now I just skin them, take the blackstrap, bone out the hindquarters, and take the front shoulders and dump the rest. Got no need for the ribs and I reluctantly pass on the tenderloins.

The above is assuming that I have not gut shot the deer, but if I have, I get the guts out ASAP.

I was taught: you kill it, you gut it, the end.

ive been seeing more guys skinning and quartering their deer without gutting them, supposedly there is a way to remove the tenderloins as well.

My dad taught me at the early age, you harvest it you clean it ( deer, rabbits, duck, pheasant,)

Yep, after you remove the backstrap and rear quarters, you can reach in along the spine and pull them out, most times your thumb is enough "knife" to get them loose since they are so tender.

I skin and quarter them, I haven't seen tenderloins big enough to justify gutting. I usually have the deer skinned and quarters writhing an hour of hitting the ground.

You can do that but you still waste some venison doing it that way.

$25 bucks would be great. When I was a sophomore in high school until I was 20, a buddy and I guided on a 150 section place in West tx. Every weekend. We only got paid our gas expenses great free meals a place to sleep and all the beer we could drink. We did all the gutting for customers every evening. Sometimes they would tip us a couple of bucks. Usually we had 8-15 deer every evening that we gutted at a water trough a few miles from camp. Back then both of us could gut a deer in under 3 minutes and it was a race to the finish winner take all tips.

I could retire if someone paid me $25 for every deer I have gutted in my lifetime.

I'm sorry but if you call yourself a hunter or an outdoorsman but field dressing your harvest is too "gross" or "smelly" then just turn in your man card. I mean it takes less than 5 minutest to gut a deer. I'm sure someone has some soap and water at camp if not throw some rubber gloves is your pack. Man up boys. Trust me the other guys laugh at the guys who show up at the processor with the whole deer gutted or not.

This was after I gutted a deer on the ground. I was by myself, so I had to lift it by myself and put it in my truck. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I respectfully disagree. There is no honor in gutting a deer. I mean, why stop at gutting? Why aren't you a man if you don't debone and process every deer you kill? Hell, what kinda man baits his deer and shoots it with high powered rifles from hundreds of yard away? Shouldn't you kill it with your bare hands?

I have gutted every deer I've ever killed. I do not look with punity on anyone who would rather not. If anything, it puts money in the pocket of people I like. IMO this is no place to draw a line in the sand.

Why didn't you dump all of the blood out of it before throwing it in your truck? That way you wouldn't have such a mess.

It was 28 degrees and darkness had fallen. I was tired and exhausted.

Agreed. This is the same type of judgmental attitude as "if you don't hunt exactly like I do, then you're not a real hunter". A lot of guys think that knowing how to quarter a deer makes them a butcher. It doesn't. I can clean a deer faster than most, but I've been known to let the guys that "know better" take care of it, since they can't stand to watch someone else "doing it wrong". Guys that laugh at other guys at the processor have some major insecurity issues.

If your going to hunt learn how to skin and gut your own kill. carry on

Y'all worry way too much about what other people do with the deer that THEY kill. Do I know how to gut, skin and quarter a deer? Sure. Do I do it every single time I kill something? Absolutely not. When it's balls cold and I'm the only person at the ranch and I kill a deer I don't take the time to gut it unless I have to track it for some reason. 90% of the time I shoot, it hits the ground and 10 minutes later I pull up in the truck throw it in the bed and I'm in town in less than 10 minutes. They only charge me $10 to gut it and half the time I'm headed straight from there to dinner or a game of some sort. I don't think it makes me any less of an outdoorsman and I've never been able to tell a difference in taste from when I gut it myself compared to when I don't.

I could buy some nice things myself