Field Dressing: Split the pelvis or not?

[rantingredneck]

How many here split the pelvis of deer and like animals and how many leave the pelvis intact?

I leave it intact and cut around the relevant orifices/organs removing the digestive/excretory tract in one piece from throat to tail without splitting the bone. Anyone else do it this way?

 

[FirstFreedom]

Heck no. BTDT, and it's too much work. If you hatchet it, you get bone fragments flying everywhere. As I'm sure you know, if you take a sharp knife and cut up inside the the ham, you can pretty easily cut all around the ball joint of the hip socket and release the ham from the pelvis. Much less grief.

As far as exactly what you describe, I'm not sure I understand, but no I do not think that I do it that way. More of a willy nilly, cut here, gut there until the digestive tract is out. And yes I've cut & spilled the bladder and the meat still tasted fine, near as I can tell.

 

[Fremmer]

Doesn't that mean that the last part of the intestine (rectum??) gets pulled out of the top (anterior?) part of the pelvis bone, thereby depositing whatever feces is left in the last couple of inches of intestine into the body cavity?

I was taught that you should split the pelvic bone so that the last couple of inches of intestine can be pulled out. But if I'm wrong, please let me know, because splitting the pelvic bone is my least favorite part of guttin'.

 

[support_six]

I voted no, but you guys in hot climates where you can't get your deer cool fast enough, need to split the pelvis to get more cooling capacity. Just carry a small, folding saw – not much bigger, and no more heavy than a folding knife.

 

[ZeroJunk]

I seldom gut one anymore.I cut all the meat off the hams and shoulders and then cut the loins out.Sometimes I will cook a neck roast.I'm sure somebody will make an issue out of the tenderloins,but it is a lot of mess for very little meat.I have done it every which way and can't see much difference whether you cool it or not.

If I do gut one I cut the pelvis with a bone saw.

 

[Doyle]

I agree - too hot to gut here in FL. Drag/carry it to where you can hang it. Skin down to the neck. Cut off the shoulders. Cut off the backstraps. Cut and reach in to pull out the tenderloins. Use your knife to pull off any little trim pieces you might have left behind on the carcass so far. Then, cut off the hams and let the carcass drop onto the ground. The meat goes strait to the cooler, the carcass goes off to the nearest cow pasture for the buzzards. If you are good, the whole process takes only about 20 minutes.

 

[davlandrum]

My buddy, who was my teacher on field dressing, taught me to do it without splitting - said it would reflect poorly on my skills if I split the pelvis (even though we both acknowledge it would be a lot easier). We each carry a specific knife for cutting the anus out - called, of course, the a**hole knife. So I do it the same way I think you described - basically all in one connected gut pile.

One of those traditions that make it great. "If Dad did it, and Dad's Dad did it, and his Dad did it..."

 

[rantingredneck]

My procedure or a rough outline anyway....

If it's a buck I cut behind the penis/urehtra and skin it down to where you can see the urethra going back up into the pelvis. Then I cut around the urethra/anus as one unit and free it up. If it's a doe I do the same thing minus the obvious. Once it moves freely within the pelvis I open the body cavity and split the sternum. I cut the esophagus/windpipe as high as I can reach and cut the diaphragm muscle all the way around. Then I just pull from the esophagus downward and everything comes out as one pile. The urethra and testicles thread up through the pelvis and out. Nothing gets cut or spilled.

Pelvis is intact.

 

[dustoff]

I was taught to split the pelvis. Everyone I hunt with does the same. I was unaware that others did not do so. How do you pull the last couple inches of the intestine out without spilling it if you do not split the bone. I split the bone then cut the skin around the opening to cleanly remove all the guts without making a huge mess. Another question I have is do you split the chest all the way up to the neck? I do this because it is easier to remove everything and I have no interest in getting the head mounted. Of course if I where to have a head mounted I would not split the whole way up.

 

[ZeroJunk]

I don't see any good way to cut the pelvis until after he is gutted anyway.I saw it apart but the rectum and colon are long gone by then.

 

[rantingredneck]

Heck no. BTDT, and it's too much work. If you hatchet it, you get bone fragments flying everywhere. As I'm sure you know, if you take a sharp knife and cut up inside the the ham, you can pretty easily cut all around the ball joint of the hip socket and release the ham from the pelvis. Much less grief.

I go one even better than that when I'm quartering one out myself (most of mine go to the processor these days, unless I kill a little one). I take my knife and cut away the meat around the ball joint and then around the "knee?" I then connect those two cuts with one along the femur. Peel that around and you have a boneless ham ready for freezing or cutting into steaks. I haven't used a bonesaw on anything other than antlers in the last five years or so.

 

[rantingredneck]

I was taught to split the pelvis. Everyone I hunt with does the same. I was unaware that others did not do so. How do you pull the last couple inches of the intestine out without spilling it if you do not split the bone. I split the bone then cut the skin around the opening to cleanly remove all the guts without making a huge mess. Another question I have is do you split the chest all the way up to the neck? I do this because it is easier to remove everything and I have no interest in getting the head mounted. Of course if I where to have a head mounted I would not split the whole way up.

The best answer to your question I guess is that my father in law refers to my procedure as "hemmorhoid surgery". It takes some skill with a blade but you can cut the anus/urethra/sexual organs away from the pelvis entirely and never break them open. They all come out in one piece from throat to tail. No spillage.

Yes I split the sternum all the way to the neck. That way I can cut the esophagus well away from the stomach.

 

[fisherman66]

I have always split the pelvis. I'll try it the other way next time for shhits and giggles. I wonder if you are giving up any flavor by getting the meat off the bone.

 

[rantingredneck]

I tried splitting the pelvis once just for ----'s and giggles. For me that was the one time I broke the bladder.

Not sure about the flavor issue. I never have tried cooking a bone in roast or bone in steaks with deer. Good question.

 

[fisherman66]

As I understand it aging has two distinct parts. One is for using the bones as a frame to stretch the muscles after than relax (several hours after riggor lets go). The other is for flavor; as the marrow leaches out (sumthin like that).

 

[rantingredneck]

I did not know that.

Most of mine go to the processor these days anyway and hang in his cooler for 5 days on the bone.

 

[fisherman66]

I have mine quartered and cooled inside an hour. I usually finish the processing when I get home (anywhere from 8 hours to 3-5 days). I keep it on ice, but wrapped and off of water. I hear people say to soak it in water all the time. I don't buy a lick of it. I keep the water away using barrel liners. The only time I had a problem with "gamy taste" was back when I didn't have a vacuum sealer and had a problem with frostbite.

I haven't been religious with aging. It really depends on when I get home. I don't like to leave full coolers sitting around so I start cutting right after I shower. Getting it cool fast however is always a very high priority.

 

[rantingredneck]

I do 90% of my hunting within an hour of home and the processor I use is 1.5 miles from my house. If I go down east for a multi-day hunt I do basically what you describe. Quartered and on ice OUT OF THE WATER. I wholeheartedly agree with not soaking it.

 

[NRA4life]

No splitting here either. I cut around the pipes and pull them through intact with the guts. I noticed a long time ago when people split it, there's more meat that gets wasted and you get more hair on the meat back there.

 

[Charles S]

After a friend of mine taught me how to remove the intestines without splitting the pelvis I no longer split it.

Although I agree that leaving the meat on the bone if you are able to cool it quickly provides more tender meat and a better overall flavor. I generally have to sacrifice the pelvis in order to cool the meat quickly.