I posted this over on freerepublic.com back in Nov.
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a383d7291471d.htm
That said I just finished skinning mine out and took it to be cut
up (processed) yesterday. I have a Marlin 30/30 that I have bagged
many deer with. It's a good little gun. My son uses it now. We went
up to the U.P. this year and I got a 3 pointer opening day. The
bullet entered the right shoulder and exited the left side of the
chest in front. It broke his shoulder blade and dropped him instantly
to the ground where he stood. The way I field dress a deer is to
get the carcass oriented so the head is uphill slightly. Then I
make a slit from the sternum to the back end. Stick the knife in
and cut a circle around the anus. Next cut the diaphram away from
the rib cage. Wear rubber gloves. Next reach up in the chest cavity
with knife in one hand and feeling for the windpipe in the other.
Cut the windpipe and then drag out the inards all in one piece.
This whole process takes about 5-10 minutes and you're done. I hang
mine up with the front feet over the head head first from a tree
and let any remaining blood drip out. skinning is a hard job to do
it right. When skinning I use a knife extremely sparingly. I make
a cut just through the skin from the sternum up to the neck and
then circle around the neck. Cut off the legs at a joint that is
about an inch below where the bulge that looks like the leg joint
is. This is hard to find if you have never done it before. This is
important so you can later hang it properly by the back legs. At
this point I am dome with the knife. I peel the hide off by pulling
on the hide and pushing my thumb in between the hide and the carcass.
It's hard work that takes an hour or more. But it's worth it. The
guy at the processing place I took mine to commented that I had a
very clean carcass.
After the hide is off I flip it so it is
now hanging by the gambrel. Now I can cut the head off without
getting any loose hair on the carcass. I cut all the way around
the neck and then twist the head so the connecting neck bone tissue
breaks away. A last cut with the knife and the head is separated.
I have cut up my own meat in the past but taking it to someone who
knows how to cut and wrap meat and has all the right tools is the
best for me. I am very particular about who I take it to after
having had butchers that totally ruined my deer in the past. You
don't want "chops". Ask how they cut it up in detail. You want the
backstraps filleted out and cut into butterfly steaks. You want
the tenderloins removed and packaged whole. Have the loins cut up
into steaks or roasts as you choose. The rest can be cut up and
ground or left as stew meat. In any case you don't want any and I
mean any deer tallow left on anything. Deer tallow is gross tasting
and probably the reason why people say they don't like venison.
Venison without any fat on it is extremely good tasting meat.
As for skinning and tanning I highly recommend reading,
"Home Tanning & Leathercraft Simplified" by Kathy Kellog.
You're doing the right thing by asking questions and reading
before taking to the field.
Terry
[Edited by tlt on 02-11-2001 at 05:46 AM]