Thread: Bleeding a kill

I was going to hijack Mathias' thread about carrying a knife in a daypack or on a belt when I thought it was maybe best to ask the question in a new, and more relevant thread. @Tahr mentioned in said thread about bleeding his kills. My mind always goes into overdrive thinking about getting the kill out of the bush as soon as to avoid any meat spoil, so I've never purposefully bled an animal, any blood release has only ever been through bullet holes. Do you bleed before field dressing and what exactly is the process? How long does it take?

Cheers, Matt

I always slit the animals throat pulling back the head and going in directly under the jaw. With chest shots often the animal has bleed out internally but I feel it is worth the effort. I then let the heart pump it all out if it is still beating or gravity if it isn't. Be interesting to see what others are doing.

I turn them down hill and stick them like a pig. That lets the blood out of the chest cavity and have a final bleed out. I also push my boot onto their chest a couple of times. If you do this you will find that if you hit the artery by the hip socket when you remove the hind legs blood won't spill all through the meat. Its a bugger if it does happen.

What I do might be a whole lot of rubbish but its what I do.

After watching @Tahr bleed, poohole and subsequently butcher (I carried it) a yearling I shot and how clean and easy that went I am convinced there is merit to his methods.

I also learned from watching @Tahr the benefits of a good quality sharp knife... I have also watched @Shootm try butchery with a blunt Bahco. I know which I would rather.

I mostly don't bother cutting there throat anymore unless its still alive or your rite on the spot but next couple I mite try it & see if there is any less blood when whacking of the back wheels

Originally Posted by Dorkus

After watching @Tahr bleed, poohole and subsequently butcher (I carried it) a yearling I shot and how clean and easy that went I am convinced there is merit to his methods.

I also learned from watching @Tahr the benefits of a good quality sharp knife... I have also watched @Shootm try butchery with a blunt Bahco. I know which I would rather.

That’s my sharp one too Cheeky bugger.

Originally Posted by Boaraxa

I mostly don't bother cutting there throat anymore unless its still alive or your rite on the spot but next couple I mite try it & see if there is any less blood when whacking of the back wheels

Its the femoral artery that gets cut near the hip joint and there is a way of not hitting it with your knife - it but I've never been able to work it out.

If you get to a clean shot animal fast enough and stick em in the jugular, they will bleed out really well as the heart will generally still be pumping.
Makes a huge difference when dressing the animal and especially in the eating.
If I don't have a long carry I will leave the bung hole in till I get back to my vehicle.
Always have a change of clothes in the truck but I don't seem to get very bloody carrying an animal.

I vacuum pack all my own meat and have bugger all blood in the bag when it comes to thawing.
I never take a knife to any of the meat I intend to eat myself until it has hung for at least a nite.
If I have to butcher on the hill which is rare I give that stuff away.

I can usually tell just by the taste and texture how an animal was handled when I go to a BBQ. I find a bit of extra care on the hill makes all the difference.




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Originally Posted by R93

If you get to a clean shot animal fast enough and stick em in the jugular, they will bleed out really well as the heart will generally still be pumping.
Makes a huge difference when dressing the animal and especially in the eating.
If I don't have a long carry I will leave the bung hole in till I get back to my vehicle.
Always have a change of clothes in the truck but I don't seem to get very bloody carrying an animal.

I vacuum pack all my own meat and have bugger all blood in the bag when it comes to thawing.
I never take a knife to any of the meat I intend to eat myself until it has hung for at least a nite.
If I have to butcher on the hill which is rare I give that stuff away.

I can usually tell just by the taste and texture how an animal was handled when I go to a BBQ. I find a bit of extra care on the hill makes all the difference.




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Good advice - just think of the flavour that comes with a non-bled Kahawai...
I always bleed anything I shoot - unless it is destined for mince...

Growing up we were told to always bleed any animals we eat. Pigs, deer, game birds etc etc. have never eaten an animal that wasnt bleed

Originally Posted by XBoltstalker

Growing up we were told to always bleed any animals we eat. Pigs, deer, game birds etc etc. have never eaten an animal that wasnt bleed

Yea but any animal that is dead doesn't really bleed that well I figured its because it doesn't want to vs there's not much left , iv killed 5 lambs the last 5 days ..& 1 deer (but didn't cut the deers throat ) when you cut there throat they bleed like cutting a high pressure hose I always move them a couple of times so the pool of blood doesn't soak the wool , cutting the throat of a dead animal seems like a bit of a non event , but im going do as @Tahr suggested , get its rear end high , stick it & pump it

Originally Posted by Boaraxa

Yea but any animal that is dead doesn't really bleed that well I figured its because it doesn't want to vs there's not much left , iv killed 5 lambs the last 5 days ..& 1 deer (but didn't cut the deers throat ) when you cut there throat they bleed like cutting a high pressure hose I always move them a couple of times so the pool of blood doesn't soak the wool , cutting the throat of a dead animal seems like a bit of a non event , but im going do as @Tahr suggested , get its rear end high , stick it & pump it

Yep understand where you're coming from. Personally its just one of those things that 'you just do.' Most of the time with a decent calibre the animal is gonna bleed out internally but either way i stick/cut throat on any animal i kill. Blood rots faster than muscle so whether a lot or a little blood comes out its for the better - i think

If the animal is still kicking a bit I will cut the throat but generally when an animal goes down to a clean shot they have bleed well internally. When you cut the diaphragm an dget to the heart and lungs the cavity is usually full of blood so in theory it has bleed out. I was told once that when you hang an animal you should cut through the neck until the spinal cord is cut this way you release the clear spinal fluid which in turn improves the meat, not sure if it's true or not but it doesn't hurt to do it. Removing the head straight away has the same effect.