Thread: field butchering

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.