Anyone use the gutless method on their Whitetails?

[hflier]

Anyone use the gutless method on their Whitetails? Kind of tired of dragging them out.

 

[Dean S]

I did this year. It was a warm day so I needed to get it on ice plus I wanted practice for elk. It took less than an hour. The difficult part for me was the tenderloins. Glad I did it though it was less than 300 yards from my back door.

 

[hflier]

I was thinking the tenderlions might be tough because of the smaller size of a Whitetail.

 

[luke moffat]

I've done it on sheep, caribou, moose, mt. goats, and blacktail deer, but no whitetails. It certainly works well and nice to not have to roll the guts if you don't have to.

 

[hflier]

Luke, did you have any trouble getting the tenderloins out on that Blacktail?

 

[luke moffat]

No, did 3 blacktails in a row. Just push the guts down and bit and reach up in there and whack 'em out.

 

[justin davis]

I use it on mule deer whitetail, elk, bear, pronghorn you name it i use it. Tenderloins are easy to get

 

[Nick Muche]

The year before I moved out west I did it on several whitetails just to get the hang of it, knowing full well that the gutless would be my go to method in the field.

 

[justin davis]

I use gutless even if I can get a vehicle close to the animal. I don't like gutting things. Waste of time and energy to gut

 

[ckleeves]

I use gutless even if I can get a vehicle close to the animal. I don't like gutting things. Waste of time and energy to gut

How long does it take you to gut a deer or antelope? IMO if you can get a vehicle close and get the gutted animal in it and then skinned and hung whole it makes processing so much easier (not so much hair on meat, not near as much crusting) not to mention the amount of meat that is lost from going gutless. Just my .02

 

[theedz]

I used to gut everything up until about 3 years ago and then someone taught me how to take the meat off and where the muscles seems were. I was always intimidated to do it myself I guess, really not that hard. Took awhile the first few times I did it (1.5-2 hours), but now after doing it a couple dozen times can get a deer done in about 45 minutes and an antelope in about 30 minutes. If I don't have to, I won't gut again. The major time saver I have learned is have a sharp knife! Just switching to a havalon saved a lot of time.

 

[2rocky]

easy trick for getting to the t-loin....

after getting the rib meat, just separate the diaphram from the rib cage. the guts will drop down into the chest cavity. Then separate the last 3 "floating ribs" and lift them upwards to open up a spot to work on the tenderloins.

 

[wapitibob]

The tenderloins start right at the last full rib. Just cut the membrane where the short ribs hit the paunch and you can reach right up under those little ribs and grab them. A scalpel like the Havalon make it easier because it's sharp enough to cut the thin membranes where the tenderloins attach up under the spine.

 

[thru-hunter]

I use the gutless method on everything. From moose to bunnies it works like a champ!

 

[Nick Muche]

How long does it take you to gut a deer or antelope? IMO if you can get a vehicle close and get the gutted animal in it and then skinned and hung whole it makes processing so much easier (not so much hair on meat, not near as much crusting) not to mention the amount of meat that is lost from going gutless. Just my .02

If you do it correctly, you shouldn't be wasting any meat, ever...

 

[ckleeves]

If you do it correctly, you shouldn't be wasting any meat, ever...

If you packaged the meat within a few hours of the kill and spent a very long time doing the gutless then you might come close but it would be tough. Nobody that I have ever seen gets all the meat where the front shoulder connects to rib cage, most people cant get the hinds without losing a few pounds, neck meat is never what it would be if the animal was hanging whole. This doesn't even take into account crusting and then having to trim.

If it was exactly equal as far as meat quantity and quality gut and hang whole or gutless then butchers would do the gutless method when they come out to home butcher.

 

[luke moffat]

I use the gutless method on everything. From moose to bunnies it works like a champ!

Did ya do it on your goat too??

 

[Nick Muche]

I'll say it again, if you do it correctly, you shouldn't be wasting any meat, ever. I can't speak for everyone, but I can speak to the ones I have done.

We both know that the gutless method wouldn't be practical for a butcher to use. Animals are much easier to deal with when they are hung and skin. Unfortunately, when you are 5-10 miles from your camp or vehicle and the terrain is rough, it is not very smart to try and drag your animal out, therefore the gutless method is what we use. Some are good at it and no meat is wasted, others rush it and yes I am sure people miss some of the meat.

 

[justin davis]

How long does it take you to gut a deer or antelope? IMO if you can get a vehicle close and get the gutted animal in it and then skinned and hung whole it makes processing so much easier (not so much hair on meat, not near as much crusting) not to mention the amount of meat that is lost from going gutless. Just my .02

Not exactly sure time wise. Been a long time since I gutted something. I do know that the gutless is much faster because you skip over the gutting step. I was using the truck being close as an example of how much I like and use the non gutless method. 99% percent of my hunts the truck isn't close enough to the animal wether it be a few miles or 1/4 mile. the terrain, size of the animal, etc dictate so dragging an animal isn't even an option most of the time. I'm so used to doing it this way, that when I'm dealing with a smaller sized animal like a pronghorn or whitetail deer I just go non gutless without skipping a beat. As Nick said, if done properly there isn't much if any meat wasted. Quick and clean

 

[ckleeves]

I understand that going gutless is the best method when your not getting a vehicle anywhere close.
I was using the gutless method before the gutless method was cool. In my first post I was talking about deer and antelope and pulling a truck up next to them. I have gone gutless on both deer and antelope that I had to pack but if I can pull a truck up to something it's getting gutted.