Splitting brisket and Pelvis

P

Panfisher

New member
I have an idea and am looking for thoughts on it. I have used and bought many different things over the years for use in field dressing from small saws, to hatchet, to the Butt Out, while all work to some degree I am thinking about trying a new tactic. I was inspired by a photo of a member removing a deer's legs/feet with a cattle dehorning tool, and went looking to see what I could find in my various barns & buildings. Hoping for something small enough to put in a pack, what I found was a pair of heavy duty pruning shears for roses, small limbs, one of the one handed ones maybe 10-12 inches long, will fit nicely in my fanny pack, and will cut easily through a 3/4 inch limb. Am going to try it first in splitting the brisket by simply snipping the length of it like a piece of tin, normally use my gerber hatchet or Cold Steel Master hunter knife for that task. If that works I may give it a shot at the pelvis, which I use either the hatchet for or a small bone saw, if it doesn't work or even breaks, well I haven't lost much I guess.
 
What are you splitting the pelvis and brisket on? Elk? Deer? Both?

For me it is a waste of time for anything smaller than elk.

For deer sized critters, I skin down to the anus, reach my knife inside the pelvis and ream around the inside. After opening the paunch and cutting down the diaphram, I reach up inside the chest cavity and cut the wind pipe and pull the gut bag along with the poop shoot out of the carcass. No sawing and no snipping.
 
I agree on not splitting the ribs. No need. Anything you want in there can be had with just a boning knife. No need to use any special tool on the legs either. An ordinary knife will separate the knee.
 
Deer only. We split the brisket at at managed hunt to make them easier to wash out at the base camp. Always use a knife to separate joints no problems there.
 
I've ceased splitting the pelvis, dulls my knives and I swear every time I tried a different tool I hit the colon and poured poop all over the place. it also takes too long for my liking. I simply cut around the butt hole and pull everything through, easier and faster that way and less chance of hacking into the colon. for the brisket I just run my knife along the side of the sternum and separate it at the weak point where it joins the ribs. all I need is a good sharp knife.
 
Ribs, I don't split. Pelvis, I split only after its at the truck. Splitting before then just makes it more awkward and dirty when dragging it.

To split the pelvist, I carry a Buck hunting knife called The General. Its got about 12" of blade. I put it right through the hole and then just yank towards myself on the handle as though I'm prying it open. It splits in on pull.

Incidentally, a very long bladed knife works great as a machete also, when you find yourself in that thicket of rose briars so common in Ohio!
 
I put it right through the hole and then just yank towards myself on the handle as though I'm prying it open. It splits in on pull.
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Sounds hazardous ...... yanking a knife towards yourself.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding .....

Ribs, I don't split. Pelvis, I split only after its at the truck. Splitting before then just makes it more awkward and dirty when dragging it.
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....and why split the pelvis if the field dressing is already done?

....or are you dragging the unopened carcass back to the truck?

I thought the whole point of field dressing was to remove the innards from proximity to the meat ASAP, and to lighten the load needing to be dragged ..... I've shot more than one deer that was hard enough to get into the back of the truck after the innards were left behind .....
 
For deer and antelope hunts, I usually take some loppers along. You can hack off all four legs above, below, or at the knee, in under a minute.

You can also use them for splitting the brisket, but on deer and antelope, that's easy enough to do with a knife ... should you feel the need (I usually don't bother unless the trachea and esophagus broke off at a nasty spot and I'm trying to extract the pieces).

For a pelvis (this only applies to Elk for me), the best tool I have used was a sharp saw. I hate having bone chips from a saw on my carcass, but I haven't found another tool that does the job as well. I don't actually own a bone saw, though. :rolleyes: I only get the privilege of using one when I hunt with someone else. When I'm on my own, I have a small hatchet for brisket and/or pelvis. It can get the job done, but it's a pain in the butt. (no pun intended :D)
 
A sharp hunting knife will open the chest cavity on any elk or deer. One can split younger deer straight down the middle of the breast bone. Elk and larger deer can be opened by moving the knife to the side of the breast bone, slitting it to the throat where the ribs attach. Doing this on both sides will allow you to remove the brisket completely, saving on weight.

I use a pair of hatchets for splitting the pelvis bones on elk. I can usually split deer pelvis with my knife. The hatchets also cone in handy when quartering elk to pack on horses.

Hope this helps.
 
I used a small hatchet for many years until my kids got old enough to hunt. I looked for something safer for them and found a folding saw that uses reciprocating saw blades. These work great making gutting easier, safer, and simpler. No way would I suggest gutting w/o splitting pelvis and ribcage. Just plain easier, cleaner, and allows better meat cooling with the carcass wide open.
 
Jimbob, Its hard to explain the knife action but you are pulling the handle towards yourself. Think of pulling the emergency/parking brake on the center console of a car. The blade cracks right through like a sharpened pry bar, no bone chips or bonesaw dust.

I gut the deer in the field and clear the chest cavity. I put the heart and liver in a plastic bag. I drag the deer to the truck. Then I split the pelvis and clean out the poop chute good at the truck. The purpose of gutting in the field is to take reduce the weight I have to get back to the truck. The purpose of cleaning up a lot better at the truck is to protect the meat.
 
I don't split the ribs until I'm quartering the animal ..... when I do, it's with a sawzall.......

I have almost always split the pelvis with a knife and hatchet ...... I've seen it done with a knife and carpenter's hammer, a knife and a boot ...... and just a hatchet, and with just a large pair of ViceGrips .....


The idea behind it (as I was taught) is to not cut (or even touch) the colon/rectum at all ...... just pull it all out in one motion with the rest of the viscera ..... cut the throat under the chin all the way to the bone, severing the windpipe and esophagus, cut open the belly down to the pelvis, taking care not to cut the urethra (pee-tube, for those of you in Rio Linda), and up to the sternum ...... cut out the diaphram (save for fajitas*) ...... split the pelvis ( removing and inch or so from one or both sides makes the next step easier)...... now, reach up into the very top of the chest cavity and grasp the windpipe just above where the bronchi branch off and the esophagus with both hands, in an overhand grip such that both thumbs are closer to you than pinkies ...... maintaining a firm grasp, rotate your hands into an underhand grip, so that your thumbs are farther from you than your pinkies ..... doing this makes the grasped windpipe and esophagus bend into a tight "s" through your grip, bending 90 deg. around your thumbs and 90 deg. again around your stacked, interlaced fingers ........ now, preferably with your minions holding the head and legs (that's why we have children and take them hunting, right?), PULL! It'll all come out ..... just keep pulling-as long as things don't get snagged up on the pelvis...... no cutting will be needed- the skin around the anus is paper-thin and will just tear away, usually partway down the underside of the tail......

* slice into 1/4" strips and marinate in lime juice, cumin, salt, ground white pepper and chile powder........ drain, saute' with peppers and onions in bacon grease ........ serve on a tortilla with rice and beans ...... mmmmmmmmmm!
 
Once we get the animal field dressed, we drag to the truck (often 1/2 mile or more), and from there to a friendly farmer who gets the tractor with a bucket loader to lift 'em up and a garden hose to wash 'em out/cool 'em down ......
 
A sharp hunting knife will open the chest cavity on any elk or deer. One can split younger deer straight down the middle of the breast bone. Elk and larger deer can be opened by moving the knife to the side of the breast bone, slitting it to the throat where the ribs attach. Doing this on both sides will allow you to remove the brisket completely, saving on weight.
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Last time I tried that on an Elk, I completely lost the edge on two knives, my brother completely ruined the edge on his knife, the two of us ruined the edge on a third knife (hunting buddy's), and we turned to the hatchet to finish the job.

As a result, I no longer consider Elk briskets to be "knife-able".
If it's a young elk with soft cartilage that can be split with a knife, that's great; but I don't plan on being able to do it without a better tool.

When I leave the truck, I never know if I'm going to be filling my tag with a 2 year-old elk that has nice, buttery cartilage, or an "ancient" 11 year-old elk that has a brisket of nearly solid bone.
 
Jimbob's method is exactly how I field dress game. Open them up from stem to stern and start with the windpipe and get everything in one go down to the anus. Works great if ha e put a good shot on the animal. I would not break the pelvis or brisket if I was going to drag the animal over a quarter mile or so. Protection of the meat is paramount to me. Fortunately I rarely have to drag them too far.
 
Viking Deer Splitter

My brother had one of these this weekend & we used it to process several deer, splitting pelvic bone, brisket, ribs-to-spine & remove legs. Easy clean-up of SS too. I was impressed.

Code: 
http://www.basspro.com/Viking-Solutions-Deer-Splitter/product/13103107114114/

zilq1l.jpg


FWIW...

...bug
 
Jimbob's method is exactly how I field dress game. Open them up from stem to stern and start with the windpipe and get everything in one go down to the anus. Works great if ha e put a good shot on the animal.
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...... sometimes: if your bullet cut the bronchi, then things will come out in pieces.... but generally, it works pretty well.
 
Tried out the pruning shears today, worked fairly well not perfect but not bad. I like the Viking Splitter, will probably buy one to try, have spent more and gotten less so why not. Also trying my fairly new Outdoor Edge Swing Blade, again not bad, a little un-handy having to switch blades around. So used to over the years of inserting finer under the skin/membranes I found my self doing it with the regular blade on the knife. While not a bad knife by any means I probably wouldn't buy it again. Find my hand going to things like the cheap Cold Steel Canadian Belt knife that I suspend in its sheath around my neck so it always handy, can pull it out cut something and slip it right back into the sheath, or using my old gerber gator folder. Hard to break old habits even with new toys.
 
tahunua001 said:
I've ceased splitting the pelvis, dulls my knives and I swear every time I tried a different tool I hit the colon and poured poop all over the place. it also takes too long for my liking. I simply cut around the butt hole and pull everything through, easier and faster that way and less chance of hacking into the colon. for the brisket I just run my knife along the side of the sternum and separate it at the weak point where it joins the ribs. all I need is a good sharp knife.
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Why are you splitting him prior to emptying him?
Remove the BS and THEN split him. No worry about excrements on the meat that way man.
 
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