When it comes to field dressing a deer, I just throw the old boy on the ground and done within 10 minutes. No hangers, spreaders..it’s really an easy process. I like to get that deer as cool and quick as possible. Tag, drag and gut. I enjoy the process so much, just reminds me winter is upon us.

Note: I have been field dressing bucks only for the past 10 years (buck only county).

Now skinning, that’s a whole different story.

Bonus question, how long do you wait before leaving blind or stand to get the deer you shot?

30 minutes to 1 hour if I know I had A good shot placement.

The old back takes a beating if I do it on the ground, but I hate hauling guts to the dump, so, it depends on how I feel at the time. I like to think of myself as pretty darn fast, but I was taught by a whole lot faster. I can skin pretty quick too, but I don't skin all that often. Watching the TWA hunts I host is torture, but...they're learning, including the "guides."

If I'm not looking at the dead deer lying right there, I wait 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how I feel about the shot. Shock is your friend if the deer ran off. I need to stress this more. 'Haven't lost too many, but I hate a circus with a suffering animal.

All depends on the shot and how the deer acted.
I winch it up on the truck tailgate and open it up from the neck to the a-hole. Drop it back off with the hind legs up and break the pelvis with the loppers. Gravity takes care of a lot, just hit all the connective tissue, cut the windpipe, and wash out the cavity. Takes me more than 10 minutes.

Mule bed, parked on an incline

I no longer gut the deer. I just skin them and debone the meat. As for how long to wait after the shot, my grandpa always said to wait long enough to smoke a cigarette, but I don’t smoke. Usually 10 or 15 minutes is long enough to wait, as long as I have confidence in the shot placement. The doe this week, I put the shot exactly where I intended, and the doe was dead at that moment, but didn’t know it. There was no point in waiting more than about 10 minutes.

Haul to the shop in SXS, skin back legs down a little, pick up with hoist, skin & dress. All guts/blood fall into an ice fishing sled. Drag sled into pasture for coyotes and buzzards. Rinse sled out back at the shop.
Done.

Drag to nearest road get with truck. Gut at camp, I gut on ground. Hang and skin quarter put on ice. Cut when ready. We weigh live/dressed so no true Field dressing.

Back the truck into the shop, hoist it up, put the tractor bucket underneath, turn some music on and get it done. Dump guts/bones in compost pile.

Most of the time I field dress it pretty much where I shoot it. I find it easier to handle that way. I use to drag it a ways off to gut, but as the years go on, it just doesn’t seem like the Deer really care one way or the other if there was a gut pile there. Buzzards clean it up pretty quick.

I’ve used the golf ball, works weirdly well.

Please explain. Golf ball?

Time to wait, as Jimbo said, depends on the shot and how the deer acted.

As for dressing, it depends on time and temp. If it's cold, I'll let it hang... which means gutting before hanging. I've done it on the spot it dropped or dragged with the truck to a more likely spot.

If it's warm and since I don't have cold storage yet, I'll hang and do the gutless method. Meat goes into a meat lug and into the shop fridge until I'm ready to package and freeze.

You wrap the golf ball in the hide and tie it up, securely. It just gives a secure anchor point to pull the hide off.

I have a hanging station with wind break, water and stainless steel table. We gut skin and quarter there. I have an ice machine so they go into coolers right away. We also use golf ball to skin.

I usually wait about 15 minutes unless I see them go down, they usually drop where they stand.

If I can hang them this is what I prefer to do. If I have a long drag out I'll gut them though.


Hanging a deer is very convenient but every hunter needs to learn how to gut and skin one on the ground. You would be surprised the number of hunters who can't skin and quarter a deer unless its hanging up

Now that I have a truck with a winch, my last deer were done this way. Note this would not be for a buck that would be mounted. I put one strap attached to my tow hook over a tree limb and around the deer's neck or antlers. Back up to lift the deer off the ground. Cut the skin all the way around the top of the neck and pull it down a few inches. Tie a golf ball size rock into the hide with a rope or strap leaving a loop. Hook winch hook to loop. Start winching. I use a wireless winch remote so I can stand at the deer with a knife if any help is needed. As the hide pulls off the legs I go ahead and lop or saw them off at this point when the hide gets to the ankles. It is very fast.

As to the original question I usually gut the traditional way on the spot, though I have been leaving the chest cavity to do while standing up after I skin it with the winch.

The one buck I killed this year I winched off the ground and field dressed standing up. Shoved a frozen block of ice in it's chest cavity and dropped if off at Clear Fork 30 minutes later to skin and process. It is the first deer I have not processed myself in over 20 - 25 years. If they did a good job, it might be a new thing for me.

If I made a good shot, I’ll get down and look for the deer immediately. Of the two I shot this year, one dropped on the spot and one made it maybe 20 yards. I like to get the guts out of them as quickly as possible to get the meat cooling. I can get one field dressed in 10 minutes or so.

Our cleaning station.

^^^^^^ this.

I usually do this.

Wait 10 or 15 minutes, sometimes longer if it's cold. Never know what else will show up. Field dress on the ground but as Creek says, the back complains. I'm sure it takes me longer than 10 minutes.

I’ve always gutted them right where they died. Never really thought about doing it different. They are hard enough to load gutted, why load them with the extra pounds just to go to camp and then have to haul the guts off?

Exactly. I’m almost always solo when deer hunting. I gut on the ground so I can lift it easier in the back of the pick up.

Let my guides do it. I've cleaned and skinned so many deer in my life, I dont miss it a bit.



Adrenalin is a strong chemical. Give the deer at LEAST 30 minutes to die. If you jump it, it could be a LONG day/night