Do you bleed your deer?

[d.g.g]

I'm wondering if anyone bleeds their deer before gutting/field dressing it? If so what knife do youy use to bleed and dress it? Do you fool with the leg glands? Do you use a Spyderco folding serrated model or a fixed blade for field dressing a deer?

http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Hunting ... ddress.htm

[foggy]

If your not going to mount the deer cut the throat at the white patch and turn the deer downhill as soon as posible. I used a impala last year but any knife will work fine. I am going to use a spot for field dressing this year :eek: . It should work fine. The less blade there is the less chance of cutting yourself when your up to your elbows in the body cavity. :)

[Dr. Snubnose]

Do you bleed your deer?

Naw: I prefer to just give it a haircut and send it off for electric shock treatment to let the demons out....Doc :D

[Chucula]

bleed? if i wasnt hungry id prefer to pet it if i could get close enough :D

[huntn cop]

I butcher my own game, that said I cut the glands off in the field and gut the deer out. If you hit it in the lungs or heart most of the blood will be in the chest when you open it up. Make sure that you get the entire windpipe out, I then open up the chest and pelvis to cool the meat; use a stick or an arrow. I then take it to the barn hang it with the hind legs up on a grambrel. Skin it and start butchering. :D

[ghostrider]

I don't usually butcher my deer, but like huntn cop, I usually just cut the wind pipe as high as possible, and then brace a stick or arrow between it's ribs and hang it. I also usually take it to the processors as soon as possible.

[Native Justice]

Long story short you don't need to bleed it out. I've harvested several animals and have never bled them ...

Had some roots in an old wives tale that I don't recall.

Field dress it, and cape it like you'd normally do (including the windpipe), hang it to age it if you want (if you have the proper temps in your garage or cooler if available), butcher it as you normally would ....

This season my wifes gonna use a Moran and a Delica ZDP 189, what she's comfy with; and I'll be using a Manix/Ritter FB and a Caly also.

Have a good seaon and good luck! :D

[The Deacon]

Nope, never bothered to bleed one out. Just field dress them, including removal of the glands, and get them out of the woods as quickly as possible. As has been pointed out, a well shot deer has pretty well bled out anyway.

[Manix Guy 2]

Never had to bleed a deer out . Windpipe removal as suggested is vety important . Cooling the body is very important , if you are hunting in a warmer climate ice bags in chest cavity and covering will help transport . I also flush cavity with hose water when possible to remove blood and hair . I cut the glands off after gutting , have buddies who use them . Chinook has worked well , find a Impala PE if looking for Spyderco folder CE edge not favored by me for deer .

[JD Spydo]

I've always made an attempt to bleed them by cutting the throat deeply with fixed blade hunting knife. Now when it comes to removing the scent glands I use a separate knife for that. I usually have an old Ka-bar folder that I use for that one job. That way I don't get any of the scent gland residue anywhere near the meat. May not be necessary but that's how an old hunter taught me way back when I was a kid.

The butcher always says that I do a great job of field dressing so I guess I must be doing something right. I can attest to what the one brother says about the Impala being a great field dressing knife. I have 3 of them and NO! none of them are for sale or trade either. What meat cutting I have done thus far with my FB TEmperance has really been easy work and very successful.

OK maybe the way I do it is overkill as some might say. But it's like my signature says "WHATEVER WORKS"~~ and the way I do it never seems to fail. I do agree with hanging them to age for a couple of days but do not leave them in the sunlight. Have a cool garage like the one brother mentioned. Archery season starts here in 2 weeks. Happy Hunting to you all :)

[Stevie Ray]

Long story short you don't need to bleed it out. I've harvested several animals and have never bled them ...

Had some roots in an old wives tale that I don't recall.

Field dress it, and cape it like you'd normally do (including the windpipe), hang it to age it if you want (if you have the proper temps in your garage or cooler if available), butcher it as you normally would .... :D

I've never bled one either. Only difference between my procedure and what Native Justice does is that we used to have a couple of local butchers that would skin, butcher, and package a deer for $60-75. I never was very good at the butchering end of the job anyway. Felt like my efforts wasted too much meat.

[Simple Man]

Nope, just hang, skin, dress, and rough butcher them. We'll leave the meat soaking in icy salt water overnight/24 hours. The next day, finish butcher them, trim all the white off (not necessarily the fat) wrap and freeze it. Except for one of the tenderloins, which goes on the grill.

Folders are too messy, I used a Howling Rat last year, I'll probably use it and a Bark River this year.

[Delica_Nut]

...a 6.5X55 swedish mauser! They bleed like crazy!