Big Game, gut or no gut??

G

GotBowAz

Very Active Member
Messages
1,028
How many of you out there do the gut or no gut method on big game? I put this in the archery forum because I felt there might be an added motive to gut and that would be if you needed to recover your broadhead provided you can't get it out?or is it worth it to you?

I do the no-gut method. I don't care for the heart and if I want the liver I can still get it without gutting the animal. Same goes with the tenderloins. An incision along the back bone behind the last rib and I reach in and cut it out. Just need to be careful you don't stab the innards.

My family in friends back in Michigan gut, throw the deer in the back of a pickup truck and drive around showing it off for bragging rites. Kind of fun actually.

What's your method and why do you prefer it to the other?

GBA
 
If I am packing out an animal in pieces, no gut, no question. If I can get a vehicle close, I'll gut it and load it whole.
 
BigPig, how far back are were in hunting your last pig? Did you bring him out whole or quarter him. I have never hunted ferrule hogs before and they look heavy. Last animal I gutted was a Javelina in 2008. I was a mile from my truck and I didn't find him until after dark. I gutted and skinned him up to his neck and hung him in a tree with a game bag until next morning. Brought my pack frame in and hauled him out whole. I had him mounted. He was my 8th and largest Javelina with a bow. I have him ? mounted front feet on a rock. He will be my last Javelina?YUCK!

GBA
 
I always use the guttless method with elk and get the hide off the Quarters quick!
 
gutting them is a waste of time imho. spend your time getting the hide off and the meat cooled and it will taste better.

offhttp://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/User_files/4a7d1f93337c7fd7.jpg
Nets are for fish!!
 
>If I am packing out an
>animal in pieces, no gut,
>no question. If I
>can get a vehicle close,
>I'll gut it and load
>it whole.

+1
Jerad
 
I know i have seen it before, but isnt there a video or detailed explination the no gut method? I never done it myself but i am going to bowhunt elk for the first time since 98 this year and want to go that way rather then gut and quarter if i get lucky


47e9fcb352ad748f.jpg

has anyone seen my kittie
 
if im packing them on my back i never gut. if i shoot them close to a road i will gut them and take them whole.
 
GotbowAZ,
It depends. I've killed a few myself and have been in on a pile of hogs killed this spring. I hunt a large ranch that is one of the steepest pieces of dirt I've ever set foot on. Fortunately, there is usually a road somewhere downhill. Even despite the terrain, we can often get them out whole, but you are also correct in that we've had to bone and pack out more than a few this year too. It also depends how much help we have, but if there are two or less of us and if we have to drag it more than a couple hundred yards, it just aint worth the effort. Gutless quarter it and go.
 
The last deer I got to bring out gutted (whole) was in Southern Arizona last year, as it wasn't too far from a two-track road......before that one, I can't remember the last deer I had to gut. Boned out meat strategically loaded in my frame-pack is the norm.

BOHNTR )))---------->
 
Out of 7 elk I have only ever gutted one and that was my first one and I was by myself, It is no fun crawling up inside that huge cavity and tugging on 100 pounds of guts, not to mention the mess. Since then I have done no- gut quarters and by myself. I did not however de-bone. I carry five cotton pillow cases with me that I use for game bags, put each quarter in a pillow case and all then all loose meat in one. As I remove each quarter I hang in a tree in the shade to cool. Which is why I don't debone it, easier to hang. Then I go back to camp and get my pack frame or if I am lucky and it's fairly easy to get to I drive my quad (legal in Az.) right up to it and load it on. As a side note, if your not capeing it out it is much easier to cut the hide/skin along the back bone and peel it down towards the guts and you don't have to remove it all. Elk is heavy but you'd be amazed how easy it is to roll over when you have already remove one hole entire side.

GBA
 
BigPig, the area/ranch you hunt for pig sounds pretty tough. I can see why you would want to do no-gut and debone in there. Do those wild ferrule hogs taste as good as any domesticated pig or do they taste like chicken? (jking) I've never had any.

Huntnforever, I have heard there is video out there that shows the no-gut method but it really isn't much different than gutting without the mess. If you don't have to leave the animal for any reason then skin and quarter one side at a time just like anything else. Just skin starting at the back bone run your knife right up the middle and peel it down. Same even if you have a Bull and want to cape it. Run the knife up the back bone up to the base of his skull and peel the skin down. Cut the skin about a foot behind the front shoulder and down towards his belly. Pull your quarters and back straps off, pull the hide inside out at the front shoulder down to the knee and cut it off at the knee. This should give your taxi plenty to work with. Peel the hide back to get the neck meat off and as I mentioned above remove your tenderloins. Roll him over and repeat the process then cut his head off at base. I like doing this by myself, it is a very rewarding feeling to accomplish it alone for some reason. I have got it down to doing a cow elk by myself in just under one hour. Have fun and good luck on your hunt!

GBA
 
GBA,
If you drop one in a canyon without a road in the bottom, you are in for some serious huffin and puffin! They taste great. Not as fatty as domestic pork and the meat is a bit darker, but usually very good!

There is a good gutless video at www.elk101.com
 
Thanks, i have a hunt in wyoming for deer most likely if i shoot a buck i am going to mount it. I wanted to see it done, and not hack the cape up.



47e9fcb352ad748f.jpg

has anyone seen my kittie
 
I've never heard of "not" gutting anything, but it sure sounds good to me! just skin it and take the front and back legs and the back straps with the head and cape. I like it!!!
 
I honestly like gutting deer and elk. its one of my favorite things to do after a hunt ends with a kill... I also prefer to bring the deer home whole. Thefamily likes it better that way... but when those suckers are foreve back in the timbers 5 miles fom a road.... its just too hard to justify how cool it is to bring it home in oe piece... i gues thats what pictures are for...
 
I have never minded guting a critter either.

I had heard all about the "gutless" method, so I tried it on an elk that I shot last year. I did not see any benifit to it. The animal is a lot heavier and much more bulky to move around as you skin and what not. If you happen to put a hole in the guts from knife or bullet, then you have guts leaking out on to your work space the entire time. Without knowing for sure, I would bet that it is pretty even in the cooling down an animal aspect. the guts hold a lot of heat in them, and they are laying directly on top of the off side quaters the entire time. You still have to "gut" the animal to get the loins and heart out, espeically on an elk where the "upper" loins between the shoulders are actually worth getting.
If you are going to cape the critter out, you still have to make the cut from the belly behind the shoulder up to the spine cut that goes to the head. so you still have some or at least the same hair on the front quaters issues.

In my opinion it does work, but I just do not see the big savings in time nor cooling a critter off much quicker..

Now, if you pile a big stinky bull up in a blow down mess and you have no way of moving it and are stuck, then it wouldn't hurt to know how to do it I suppose.
 
I have used the gutless method for years and it works great my only recomendation from the video is to remove the bottom portion of the legs before removing the quarters its a lot eaisier.

And if you plan on mounting the animal, just cape it clear up to the neck before starting to quarter it, you will remove all of the hide from the front shoulders doing this and then you just have to skin off the back quarters and backstrap, unless you are in a state where taking the rib meat is required then you need to skin the ribs too!

my vote is for gutless I used to like to get aninails out whole and still will if its close to a road, but that doesnt happen for me very often unless I am hunting whitetails.
 
Agree! I will never gut big game again. I hate it! No need to get bloody all the way up to your shoulders. I am faster quartering it. I butcher it myself anyway.

"Half of being smart, is knowing what you're dumb about."
 
no gut for sure. I carry a small bone saw saw made by gerber that is only about 12" long, when I'm finished taking all the quarters off and the backstraps, I roll the animal onto its stomach and about 4 inches down from the spine.i cut with the saw through the ribs on both sides of the rib cage making it a convertable. it makes it so easy to get to the loins, and since its on its stomach I have never cut the paunch and have done this with 15 elk and 10 or so deer.
 
I grew up hunting eastern whitetails and we always gutted them as soon as possible. Even in the coldest temps, the older members of our group stressed the importance of this.

I moved to the deep south in 1979 an started to bow hunt in
"83"takeing a doe and a 3-point in that year. I could not believe the sportyness of my new hunting companions when it came to gutting a deer! They thought I was nuts to want to gut in the woods and
insited we travel back to an off-sight location to do this task. Even in 85 degree weather! Strange it may be but the meat was ok.
Fast forward to my first elk kill in 1996 - had the bull down for 9:30 AM took pictures and was left to skin-gut-quarter the bull alone while my simi-guide went back to the ranch
for the pack string. by 2:30 PM I had him skinned (saved the hide)
gutted and three quarters bagged up. The outfitter assisted me with the last as my knives were now useless an I was wipped!
The quarters,hide,debonned neck meat,and rack weighted over 450# - Better knives, a sharpening tool and 3 elk later I now will try to fallow the no gut style to a point.

A sept. muzzy killed cow killed late in the day had me gutting again and doing my best to cool her down and leave for the night. I built a rack of dead limbs and rolled her gutted body on them to get the night air under her.Split her pelvis,skinned her hide from the head to the sholders removeing the wind pipe and covering her head and neck with a game bag.
Proped open the chest with a stick and removed the tenderloins.
I then put some spruce boughs on top to slow down the birds.
It was dark when I dragged the gut pile away and hiked to camp.

The next morning I was back with a mule and hand from the outfit
and we finished skinning and quartering in 40Min. The meat was so cold you could not hold your hands on it long. The 38 deg. low cooled her nicely. This cow was fine table fare! I have been told that you must remove the wind pipe and crack the pelvis to release the heat and prevent "bone sour".It sure seemed to work in this case.
 
Yes, I suppose if a person was going to leave an elk over night without quartering it up it sure would be best to gut it and open it up and get the hide off. But I have the no-gut method down really well and for a cow I can have her quartered and hanging in a nearby tree in just at one hour by myself so I don't think I would see a need to gut it.

I am also from back east years ago and they do NOT like to gut in the field and the reason for that is because they hunt over that same sight all the time maybe being allowed up to 4 deer a year and they don't want the area fouled up. But what I could never understand was hanging the carcass for 3 or more days without at least skinning it. That hide has to hold heat in it for a while. After no-gut method with an elk a deer is cake work and very quick. Out of respect for the land owners I did drag my whole 250lb deer out of the field but I did the no-gut method when I got it up to the house. We dug a hole with a back hoe next to the corn field and dumped the remaining parts in. No mess and the meat was very clean and tasted awesome without hanging to age it. The land owners had never seen anything like it but they still hang them for 3 days with the hide on?go figure.

GBA
 

Similar threads

Blank
Family Weekends are the Best
Replies
0
Views
132
Blank
Blank
N
Swiss Army Knifes No Blade
Replies
4
Views
313
Captain_coues
Captain_coues
B
Application Question
Replies
16
Views
524
mtmuley
M

Click-a-Pic ... Details & Bigger Photos

Member Gallery Photos and Videos!

1000007897.jpg
IMG_8696.jpg
1103201751_HDR.jpg
IMG_3890.jpg
IMG_6670.jpeg
5C2D2513-4F03-481E-893C-73445DEED7E9.jpeg
KIMG0088~2.JPG
IMG_7703.jpeg
Bull1.png
20210222_170553.jpg
IMG_0206.JPEG
IMG_4917.jpeg
Back
Top Bottom