HOW TO BREAK DOWN A DEER WITHOUT GUTTING IT

Hunting in the wilderness
For the prized hind or stag,
You’re there with your rifle,
Your rucksack and a swag…
Without the room to carry
the whole beast and your bag -
Here’s how to harvest the cream of your crop!

In this article we'll show you how to break down a deer, in the field, without excessive gear and without gutting. Kim used knives from the Sharp^TM range which are all available on The Bushgear Website

You can also view the full video on our  YouTube channel and embedded at the end of the article. Don't forget to subscribe while you're there.

To cut off the Hocks

Back Leg – cut the skin and tendons around the knuckle.

Bend the leg back to snap the knuckle. Cut any excess tendon or skin to remove.

Front leg

Cut skin an tendons around the knuckle.

Bend leg back towards the shoulder and twist around to snap knuckle.

Cut any excess tendon or skin to remove.

Removing rear legs

Lift the leg to get access to the line from the stomach to the anus.

Run the knife parallel to the stomach and cut from the front of the leg through to the anus area along the pelvic bone.

Follow the meat line of the leg. (can be cut from anus area forward to front of leg). Be careful not to cut the gut bag.

Push the leg out to open the ball joint to the hip.

Run the knife over the end of the ball joint to break the joint away.

Once joint is separated cut the remaining meat away and cut the skin to remove.

Removing the front legs.

Hold the front leg away from the chest to keep pressure to reveal the chest area.

Cut the skin near the brisket and run the knife parallel to the rib cage to separate the leg from the chest. 

Continue to cut till the complete leg is removed.

Removing the Backstrap

Remove the skin from the back of the deer to expose the backstrap.

Cut the meat along the backbone from the shoulder all the way down to where it meets the pelvic bone.

Cut the backstrap along the join with the pelvic bone.

Cut along the rib cage to remove the backstrap away from the ribs.

Follow the same cut line past the ribcage where the gut bag is, but make sure you don’t cut the cut bag.

Once the meat is cut away from the pelvic bone area – lift the meat and slide your knife underneath to remove the backstrap as one strip.

Removing the tenderloin – without gutting the animal.

Cut an incision along the back bone (without cutting the gut bag) from the pelvic bone to where the ribs join the backbone.

Slide you hand in along the backbone and you can grab the tenderloin and pull out.

Well done – it’s now time to get the meat cooled and into the esky, fridge or coolroom.

Happy hunting from  Bushgear

View the video