Got to help a friend on his ranch slaughter a few cattle.

[_Scooter_]

As someone new to hunting I think my biggest fear is not knowing how to properly field dress an animal and do it justice if I was lucky enough to actually kill an animal in the wild.

I have a friend that owns a 300 acre cattle ranch up near Yosemite and I had mentioned to him a while back that I'd be interested in coming by to observe and help out whenever he slaughtered a few of his cows. I explained to him hat I was getting into hunting and thought this would be a great way to learn how to gut and skin. He said I could come up anytime. Well, a few days ago I went up and got to participate.

Obviously this was a bit different than how it would be done in the wild (I obviously won't have the crane, power saw, winch, etc.) but overall I really thought it was an amazing experience to actually get hands-on practice while being able to ask a ton of questions and learn the anatomy, a few tricks or the trade, etc., and adapt it to when I finally get my first kill in the wild. You can only watch so many YouTube videos and read so much about the subject, but nothing substitutes for the real thing. It's obviously a very tactile skillset.

The cattle that were slaughtered were already sold to friends so I didn't walk away with any good cuts, but I did walk away with a few hears, tongues and tails. Again, another great way to practice preparing these organs and cuts for when I get out there on my own.

So I just thought I'd post a quick take on the experience and really feel a lot more confident about being able to skin and gut an animal on my own now. I'm sure I'll still make mistakes and it will take me longer than it should, but this really was an incredible opportunity to have since I'm someone very new to all of this.

 

[Brock A]

If you can break down a "Moo Cow", a deer is a breeze.

 

[Voyageur]

You are exactly right when you say nothing beats hands on experience. For me that experience came under the watchful eye of my dad some 50+ years ago. Sounds like you found a good way to get the same experience. Good job of being resourceful. Now put your new skill set to work in the field this fall!

 

[Elk97]

Good for you for taking the time to get familiar with the responsibility of dealing with an animal you killed. There are a lot of good videos on different methods of breaking an animal down, you can learn a lot that way too.

 

[Lawnboi]

I feel like this is a skill everyone should learn.

Along with cleaning fish, and sharpening knives.

 

[missjordan]

What a great opportunity to take advantage of!


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[5MilesBack]

The biggest hassle is slowing down to ensure evidence of sex is attached. Other than that the process is pretty easy. Bottom line is........remove hide and remove meat from bones until you're done.

 

[Poser]

Butchering a whole cow is a chore and way more complicated than game animals. Nice thing about game animals is that there is so little fat that you can easily identify all of the seams between muscle groups.

 

[nettereo16]

Got any pictures to share? There probably is a lot of carryover to big game

 

[jspradley]

You should be good for anything else now! Deer are gonna look easy to you! lol

All big game mammals are built pretty much the same so you're good to go.

 

[wytx]

Also a great way to learn some cuts should not get thrown into the grind pile, i.e flat iron steaks , sirloins and shanks.

 

[raptor16]

Invaluable experience. No you won't have all the nice tools and gadgets in the field, but you'll at least know what you're looking at. That's the hardest part for a lot of guys. It should be easy and really it is fairly easy, but knowing where to start is the hard part.

Glad you were able to learn this way. Also would love to see some pictures of the ranch. If it's near Yosemite I'm sure it must be absolutely stunning scenery.

 

[Lawnboi]

I also applaud you for getting out there and trying to learn.
Way too many veteran hunters and fisherman now a days have very little understanding on how to cut up an animal.

 

[Laramie]

Great job taking the initiative! One word of advice, really take your time in the field. There are hunters seriously hurt or killed every year in the field because of mistakes made with knives. Hands or gloves that are slippery with blood and fat compromise grip so mistakes are common. A good, experienced, friend of mine lost his eyesight in one eye in a freak accident while skinning a deer. It can happen to anyone if care isn't taken.

 

[NMframed]

I had always taken my deer and elk to a butcher. When I started dating my wife my father in law told me I would enjoy eating my game meat a lot more if I processed it myself. He has an 8x10 walk in cooler in his shop and he was more than willing to show me the ropes on cutting and wrapping. Every deer and elk that I’ve harvested since meeting my wife has been hung for 2 to 3 weeks at 35-38 degrees and self processed. I now enjoy every bite I take! Yes it takes time but in my opinion it’s well worth it.

 

[ceejay]

The quality of my wild game meat improved dramatically once I started butchering my own. And as someone else mentioned, keeping the cuts of meat that I want as I want them is a huge advantage.

Butchering and food preparation go hand in hand. It makes you a better chef if you butcher your game.

 

[_Scooter_]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Here are a few pictures.

Sleeping shed...

Shower and tub...

 

[ScottH]

Great attitude towards being responsible for your killed animals. Nice pics too.

 

[go4thegusto]

Great job taking the initiative! One word of advice, really take your time in the field. There are hunters seriously hurt or killed every year in the field because of mistakes made with knives. Hands or gloves that are slippery with blood and fat compromise grip so mistakes are common. A good, experienced, friend of mine lost his eyesight in one eye in a freak accident while skinning a deer. It can happen to anyone if care isn't taken.

True Dat...we wear mesh fish cleaning glove now on non-knife hand after a few slips. The OXOP one at kitchen stores is chaep and light. Or in the tackle dept most places.

 

[Voyageur]

Random questions, but wondering if the beef is organic grass fed and finished? Just curious.