Really? Are we getting LAZY?

Went by processor about noon yesterday to get some leg bones for the dogs and saw a truck backing up with horns sticking up in the bed. Got close to check em out and saw the buck still had his "BOYS" attached then saw it was not gutted. As they drug it off the tailgate the neck did not bend at all so looks like ole rigi has stiffened it up already. Made me sick to think someone may eat that animal. Has our culture come to this that we don't wanna get our hands bloody and respect the animal or are we not teaching folks the correct way to handle them.

Must have been some CITY SLICKERS!

What processor takes ungutted animals? None of the ones I know allow it and most are frequented by city slickers.

And just think that deer is getting mixed in with all the other deer brought to that processor.

Processors that want to make extra money

I have taken aplenty of deer to the processor on evening hunts where recovery was late. Threw it in the truck and toolkit straight to the processor they will have it gutted and aging way faster than If I had in the field with flashlights and all. He doesn't charge extra to gut it. I am also in a unique situation being close ( 10 mins) to a processor but no where near a real town. I know the guys that clean the deer and they do a great job. I know not every processor is good or gives you your meat.

The facilities are half the battle.

Squeamish girly men that listen to Bro Country, drive jacked up city trucks, wear Affliction shirts, have fancy stitching on their britches and can't gut a deer. However, I'm certain they can coordinate their wardrobe quite well. They probably go to the day spa, do yoga and get mani/pedi's regularly too.

The slaughter house near me at one point was notorious for packaging meat that wasn't what you had taken in.. If they still are like that now?, idk I do my own .

LANDPIRATE --- LMAO the good Ol PAVEMENT PRINCESS'S and the let's look country folk..

I actually enjoy gutting a deer. It's part of the fulfillment of the hunt.

Missing out, imo.

Better watch out there are more of them around than admit.

Yep,
I like to do my own post-mortem exam and see the terminal effects of my chosen ammo, bullet placement, etc.

I have seen several processors that will gut from $30-$60.

!st thing I do is the "gut job" Photos can wait, the meat has to start cooling quick, 10 minutes and your done, even in the dark.

I have been in the processor when deer where brought in whole and it was fairly obvious the person either didn't know how to do (more than likely) or didn't have the confidence to do it? They need to learn, plain and simple.

I have showed my neighbor twice, so we'll see what he does if he gets one down.

Had a paralyzed from the waist down neighbor in the 90's, that couldn't gut one, so he would call me the night before and give me a heads up that he was hunting (off his porch), I would go take care of his deer for him. In that case, I understand.

Folks should learn just for their own health and quality of meat.

Hmm I actually know a guy like that!! I would gut his deer for him because he would sit there and look at it like a cow starring at a new gate so I would gut it for him till he started expecting it.

Yup pretty much nails it

Ive gutted plenty of deer. I have hauled more animals on my back than in my truck in conditions that are less than Ideal. I do most of it myself and enjoy the process. Just saying sometimes it is a lot easier, faster, less time, equipment etc to just take it to a guy you trust. If you actually know the people where you hunt.

From my experience the guys pointing fingers on the above are the guilty party. Just from my experience, please don't rattle off what type of truck you drive and how manly your are I am sure you can clean a deer, Im just saying who smelt it dealt it.

In any case I think for a lot of guys/gals city and country alike it is better to just take it somewhere to have it done than royal screw it up or waste a lot of meat. Even if its not country enough for you...

Nobody single you out but getting defensive like that kinda draws the light on yourself.

Whatever floats your boat. Personally, I like to get the guts and organs out of 'em as soon as they hit the ground. Also drains the blood and other fluids out that can taint the meat or leach back into the meat through the various organs. And it begins cooling the animal immediately. But that's just how I roll.

Another reason I no longer use processors and especially if they don't give you the exact same deer back that you brought in. If they just give you an equal amount of meat, forget it. I don't want it. I've seen how too many of these people are handling their kills.

Second deer I ever shot. My dad wasn't there and I was nervous about messing up so I took it to the packers and asked if someone could walk me through it. Only time I've ever seen an unguted deer there lol

Agree, don't even know why he got offended?

IMO, there is no good reason to at least not gut your deer, better for meat quality and a respect for the animal to retrieve the best quality meat he provides you. Takes little effort and it is hard to mess that part up. Processing the animal IMO, is a separate issue with much more leeway.

Fairly well know that an animal needs gutted and cooled as soon as possible, to assure a good,safe quality meat. Part of the reason I quit bow hunting and the main reason I am skeptical of processors.

Depending on the outside temps, the timeline is flexible, not ASAP.

I don't think many would argue that the sooner the better though.

I have a budy and the first time I went hunting with him at his place they shot a doe in the morning at 7am. Got back to camp at 8:30 strung the deer up and went inside to cook/eat breakfast before they came back out at about 9:30 to finally start gutting. Never in a million years would I do that. Maybe some would but it just don't jive with me.

True, to a point Even in cold though, you have internal heat if he is still zipped up. Shot placement will effect it too, near, or in the gut and I would be in emergency mode. I wont risk it personally, so gutting soon is my priority.

I've quit gutting them, not worth the effort when I'm going to be skinning them in 15 minutes. Can still get out tenderloin & heart.

Nothing wrong with that. Normally I do it right away where it lay but also have waited a few hours too. No big deal.

I normally gut them quickly. I did take one to the processor whole, after tracking about 4 hours, and just put it down. Called his cell at midnight, asked if he wanted to meet me in fifteen minutes or 30 minutes, his choice, bring it;

Damn straight...

I took one to the processor without gutting it first. 230 lb mule deer, I was by myself, took everything I had to get him out of the ravine and into the truck. Drove him straight to the processor. Only time I've done that.
I don't wear bedazzled jeans and I don't listen to hip hop.

I didn't even know, until last year, that you could take a deer than hadn't been skinned to a processor. Growing up, we always skinned and quartered our deer, and covered em in ice. then dad took the quarters to be processed later on. I Shot a deer at my buddies place last year. We gutted it in the field as you should do, and I asked if he has a skinning tree. He said what for? We just cut the head off so I could make a European mount and took the gutted unskinned deer to the processor. Had no idea it was even an option. Now I do, and Assuming I'm able to go straight to the processor after the kill, I may never skin another one. I certainly can, I've done it a lot of times, me and the old man used to make quick work of everybody's deer in camp, but if I don't have to, I don't see why I should bother.

I blame Obama.

I haven't gutted a deer in about 20 years, I always have someone with me, and they are grateful enough to get to hunt there that they do it for me.

I don't gut mine if it's cold enough and they fall in their tracks. I can be home in 15 minutes to skin them. Only thing you don't get is ribs. If it takes y'all an hour to find one, do you not eat them? Those bow hunting guys on tv always wait hours before looking for their deer. Are they not eating them?

An hour? In S. Tex it will be hours before we get them gutted sometimes. When on MLD, you shoot until truck picks you up and you might have 3 or 4 deer down and a few hogs. Deer taste great regardless when they get gutted which can be 4 or 5 hours later. Normally if you shoot a deer at 7 am, you get picked up at 10:30, deer gets cleaned by noon. No way am I gutting a deer on a sendero and leaving it.

I almost never gut a deer. Why bother? Hang it by the hind legs, skin and quarter it and throw the core out after taking the meat off of it.

X2

I didn't gut mine this year before taking it to the processor. It was VERY warm when I shot it and after finding it and taking a few quick pics there was no way I could have gutted it and still got it to the processor before they closed. On top of that I was going to have it caped out to mount so that would have added to the delay as well. Figured it was money well spent to have them gut and cape it rather than have it ruin in my truck overnight.

Lol LandPirate nailed it. Bam !

Kenny Freds in Bluff Dale guts plenty of deer. Stephanie lets her guys keep the $30 gut fee for themselves instead of just paying them hourly. Nothing wrong with that. As far as "throwing all the meat together", that does not happen there. She calls and tells you when she's cutting up 'your' deer, so you can pick it up quickly. She needs the space.