Your hard work has finally paid off; you shot your deer and he is down on the ground, now what ? Proper care of your deer is very important in making sure that its taste good when it is served for dinner. This article is to tell new hunters how to field dress, skin and prepare a deer for butchering.
FIELD DRESSING A sharp knife is better than a dull knife when it comes to field dressing a buck of course. A sharp knife will actually reduce bad (unneeded) cuts on the deer and yourself as well and will make the entire process easier. Take your time when dressing a deer, mistakes do to speed or thinking “I have done this a million times” will often require you to make a trip to the hospital to get stitches.
Prop the animal on its back and begin field dressing by making a cut from just above the genitals up to the rib cage. When you make a cut from just above the genital to the sternum take care not to cut too deep. You only want to cut through the hide and through the animals stomach muscle. If you go to deep you will puncture the deer’s intestines and you will have to deal with the smell.

Now turn the deer on its side and allow the guts to fall out. They will require help from you by cutting away the fat that will hold the intestines in. Care must be taken to not puncture or break the deer’s bladder. The bladder will be in the area where the cavity narrows down at the hips. Cutting around the anus and tying it off with string. Then cutting either forwards or backwards from the abdominal cavity to remove this entire area. Easier said than done. Care must be take not to puncture anything here this is where the deer droppings and urine are located. The deer’s abdominal cavity is separated from the chest cavity by the diaphragm. This separates the lung and heart from the stomach and intestines. This must be cut out to remove all of the intestines.

This is how it usually works for most, with the guts half in and half out most cut the diaphragm away from the deer’s chest cavity,  then reach as far up into the deer’s chest as possible and grab the deer esophagus. With the other hand  carefully slide the knife into the deer’s chest and work your knife up into the chest to cut the esophagus just above your other hand. After it is cut  simply pull the heart and lungs out and with it comes the rest of the intestines. (Most will keep the heart and eat that as well)
Wash up.
Drag the deer out. Hopefully close enough to the truck, but most have a ATV around for help.
Load in truck.
Go home or to camp for skinning. That what’s works for most good luck and happy hunting

Lori Cobb
www.theoutdoorsmangallery.com