Thread: field butchering

Originally Posted by imaca

This very thread right here has as good a video as any
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....utorial-78390/
But youtube is your friend here, there are a gallzillion vids out there. The first one by @Projects above is a good one. Check out Steve Rinella's Meateater vids, they have a North American approach to them on account of him being American but the video quality is very good

Cheers

That vid has no tie off of the windpipe. Also the pizzle and balls are not taken off, nor the bung hole released and tied before pulling the guts out. Then at the end there is a wipe out with grass. If the windpipe is tied and freed from the neck and the diaphragm is cut round after the guts are out it is a simple reach in, grab the windpipe and pull everything down leaving a spotlessly clean job as a membrane lining the chest cavity will pull down and carry any blood etc out.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

That vid has no tie off of the windpipe. Also the pizzle and balls are not taken off, nor the bung hole released and tied before pulling the guts out. Then at the end there is a wipe out with grass. If the windpipe is tied and freed from the neck and the diaphragm is cut round after the guts are out it is a simple reach in, grab the windpipe and pull everything down leaving a spotlessly clean job as a membrane lining the chest cavity will pull down and carry any blood etc out.

All the points you make are very valid, however:

I've only just learnt of the tying off of the windpipe. Wish i knew of that along time ago!

The pizzle and balls (it wasn't a rutting stag so wont contaminate anything) were taken off as soon as i got the animals home (1hr later) along with the windpipe. If you had watched the skinning video you would have seen that. I explained in the video why the ring gear (ass) wasn't cut out to stay cleaner while carrying and also explained to cut it out while gutting if in hot weather or the animal wasn't going to be out and hung within a short space of time.
The reason i don't cut everything off is that you end up with more exposed meat to get dirty on the carry out, especially carrying through bush or scrub or if you roll the animal down a hill at any point. The skin is the only meat protective cover so the less you open it up the less dirty it all gets.

The wipe out with grass...yep you are right about that not being best practice. Never had any fallow go bad from this though.

Originally Posted by Roarless20

All the points you make are very valid, however:

I've only just learnt of the tying off of the windpipe. Wish i knew of that along time ago!

The pizzle and balls (it wasn't a rutting stag so wont contaminate anything) were taken off as soon as i got the animals home (1hr later) along with the windpipe. If you had watched the skinning video you would have seen that. I explained in the video why the ring gear (ass) wasn't cut out to stay cleaner while carrying and also explained to cut it out while gutting if in hot weather or the animal wasn't going to be out and hung within a short space of time.
The reason i don't cut everything off is that you end up with more exposed meat to get dirty on the carry out, especially carrying through bush or scrub or if you roll the animal down a hill at any point. The skin is the only meat protective cover so the less you open it up the less dirty it all gets.

The wipe out with grass...yep you are right about that not being best practice. Never had any fallow go bad from this though.

I cut the pizzle and balls off as a matter of course and remove it still connected to the bladder. I have open the abdomen anyway so grab the cock and cut that down to the arse.(Good practice for if you ever catch anyone in bed with your Mrs) Rutting or not the pizzle can have urine in it that can drain back into peritoneal cavity. If the bung hole is removed at gutting the animal will drain really well. Cut the tail off, they flick blood everywhere. Buy a 'Game Gear' cape. I carried a deer out last night, not a drop of blood on me but it was on a Graf Boys styled pack frame

And good on you for posting the vid which has spawned an excellent discussion.