Gutless Method in New Mexico

[skunk]

Hey folks, I'll be hunting mule deer in New Mexico this November (I'll be in the Gila) and assuming I get a deer (big assumption lol), I'm wondering if I should go with the gutless method or not. Obviously if it's warm, I want to get that animal cooled down as quick as possible. Gutting seems like the best way to get that done quickly. However, I will be packing the quarters out so I wouldn't really need to get it so that got me thinking about the gutless method.

Do others in the area use that or should I just count on gutting it? I'd also like to get the heart, if it isn't shot so that's be another reason to gut.

Just wondering what options I really have.

Thanks.

 

[rbljack]

I planned to do the gutless method if I shot a Mule deer last year in New Mexico. Well....I shot a small buck and that particular day was hot. What I failed to do before the hunt was practice the gutless method. So....I punted and went straight to what I know....which is gut first. I didn't want to screw around trying to figure it out even though ive watched a handful of videos on it. If it was cold, I could have taken my time and learned it. But with the heat...I felt it was best to just do what I was more comfortable with. After it was gutted, I did use some of the principles used during the gutless method to skin and debone the deer. It was a small muley, so I was able to get it out in one load. I didn't have to keep the hide or anything, and it was a smaller buck.

If I shoot a whitetail or two around here, I am going to focus on practicing the gutless method. If I shoot an elk this year...I may also try the gutless just because the gutpile is so much bigger....LOL. Hope that helps.

Good luck on your hunt!

 

[durangobrad]

I would recommend the gutless method if you know you will be packing out quarters. Its actually a quick way to get meat cooling because you are immediately removing the skin. You can still get to the heart, I do this toward the very end. By either cutting out ribs with a bone saw or carefully at the top with a knife or on smaller boned animals by breaking a rib or two.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Its actually a quick way to get meat cooling because you are immediately removing the skin. You can still get to the heart, I do this toward the very end. By either cutting out ribs with a bone saw or carefully at the top with a knife or on smaller boned animals by breaking a rib or two.

What he said. I just did an antelope this weekend, from pulling out my game bags/knife to having it completely broken down into game bags (including the tenderloin and heart) was about 50min at a normal pace. I bust a rib out of the way to get the heart out (you can blindly feel for that) and on antelope I typically fish the tenderloins out blind via a slid just below the spine at the end. With an elk I sometimes opt to open the gut sack and push the guts to the side a bit to have better access to the larger tenderloins, also the flank meat (which is retaining the gut sack) is often a pretty thick slab of meat on an elk that is nice to retrieve if its been kept clean.

 

[efnm]

I hunt around there (and have the 2nd rifle Gila hunt this year) and will be definitely doing gutless. It is fast, less risky, and gets you ready to pack out sooner. Go for it and good luck!

 

[hunter4life]

Go gutless. As far as I am concerned there is no other way to go. I have not gutted a big game animal in many years.
It will cool quicker than gutting it. The secret to getting things cooled down is getting the hide off. NM is typically very low humidity so you also get evaporative cooling. Bring some paracord and hang the quarters from tree limbs to keep them clean and let them cool. I take the two quarters off one side, then the backstrap and neck meat, next cut along the transverse spinal processes after the last rib all the way to the pelvis making sure to just go through the first layer and this will access the tenderloin. Then flip over and repeat and you are done. If I am boning the meat, I do that last. Gila mule deer tend to be quite a bit smaller than a big Colorado mule deer. A deer will take less than an hour alone. An elk is about 1.5 hours with 2 guys who know what they are doing.

 

[archer wapiti]

Another thing to remember is that at elevation (and nearly all of NM is), it gets cold at night in November. Get it in the shade and it cools fast, gets cold overnight, and stays cold as long as it's not catching sun.

 

[Lawnboi]

If your hunting at home practice on a whitetail.

Iv done quite a few whitetail gutless here at home. I grew up gutting, dragging, and hanging. Last few years iv been quartering on the ground at the truck, right to the cooler. IMO it's faster and much more clean. On top of that I get to take care of the meat on a table, not hanging in front of me. Something to try. If your a bow hunter you have a while to get one and practice.

Gutting if you plan on quartering is a waste of time IMO and makes your field dressing process much more messy, on top of that getting intestinal junk on your hands, hide, even meat can have effects on the end product.

 

[Carlin59]

Another vote for gutless. My average time from first cut to all meat in bags walking away is around an hour for deer and antelope. For retrieving the heart and tenderloins, I just open the the cavity and let the guts spill out the bottom. Assuming it wasn’t gut shot, it’s still very clean and all the quarters and backstraps are already removed at that point. Makes it really easy to make sure you get every bit of tenderloin out, and easier to fish out the heart.

 

[Wilderlife]

Practice the gutless method beforehand if you can, mate. I know it sounds like a big ask but it's the only way to get good and confident.

Things are a bit different here in Australia in terms of not needing to carry out all of the usable meat, so we can leave a bit behind if we have to. Having said that, we are often dealing with huge numbers of dead critters as we're often trying to reduce the population by a significant amount. The reason why I bring this up is that I often quarter animals and take the meat anyway, and if you know where you're cutting and your knife is sharp, you can whip the front and back legs off fairly quickly without taking the guts out.

Some schools of thought think taking the skin off will help the meat cool quickly. This is true. Other schools of thought think that keeping the skin on the meat will help keep it clean. This is also true. Regardless, you will figure out the best way after doing it a few times.

Below is a video I made a few years ago to demonstrate this technique. It was made for Aussies on another forum, and one in particular who made the knife I was using out of an old farrier rasp. The only purpose of the video was to show how quickly I could remove the quarters of the pig with the knife.

Please keep in mind that the pig is fairly small, but the technique works the same. I've done it with pigs as heavy as 70kg or 80kg before, as well as fallow deer which can weigh about the same, and even sambar deer which are comparable in size to elk. This was also done on a day where it was 40 degrees celcius, which as I understand is over 100 degrees farenheit, so when the temperature is up that high, getting the quarters off to me is super important, and then you can deal with them a bit later if you need to.

YouTube

Also, once you get the legs off, it's easy to zip down the back and take the backstraps out.

EDIT: On a lot of these smaller pigs and goats I hunt, the tenderloins are only about the size of my middle finger so they're not worth grabbing. I understand there may be implications with that for some of you North Americans, but still, after you've taken the quarters off like I have in the video, and presumably skinning from the back outwards to get the backstraps, making a cut below the spine to access the tenderloins and then spill the guts out a bit so you can get to the heart is easy as well.

 

[bearclaw]

On bigger critters, it is the ball joints of the hips that will spoil, so even gutting will not let that cool until you open them up.

If you are carrying the quarters out either way, the way that lets you get the hide off and those joint areas cooling is the best. You can practice on hogs, yotes, etc. But do it once and outside of getting clumsy with the knife and hurting yourself, you can't really mess anything up. Also, if you aren't keeping the hide, cut it into as many pieces as needed to make it easier to break down. I have come across two guys locally breaking down their first deer and they were fighting with the hide to get it down the leg to the foot and laughed when I asked why... Make it easier on yourself!

 

[farmermail]

Skunk, as many have said on the post:
- Cooling the meat down quickly is always the best option. Nature designed hides of deer to hold heat in very well, and it will retain heat longer
than most suspect.
- Many techniques out there. As others have stated, one should work for you.

- When I leave the truck, I bring:
-Small, cheap blue tarp to set the meat on to keep it clean (6x6 will do)
<Also can double as a rain tarp to wait out an afternoon boomer>
-6 heavy duty trash bags to transport (NOT STORE) meat to keep blood out of my pack
-3 ziplocs for the heart and two tenders
-Game bags if warm weather (while cutting, keeps flies off)
-Blue nitrile gloves to help keep hands clean
-Fast Orange in a small container to wash up after
-Paper towels

- For deer, I leave the bone (hind and front) in to support the meat while packing. Weight isn't that much more, and keeps things from
"sloshing" in my pack. Elk, I bone out.

- Advice: clean any/all hair off as soon as you can. The hair carries a lot of the "nasty" taste. Yes, I do mean pulling individual hairs off the meat. If you don't want it in your mouth, get it off the meat (dirt, leaves, hair, etc.).

 

[Larry Bartlett]

with threat of self promotion hammering from you guys...watch my video Project Bloodtrail for a gutless method demonstrated on moose. I detail the care around bones and joints, which you can apply to any animal large or small.

I dont know of a better, more modern discussion of this topic than the ones I've done on the subject.

larry

 

[skunk]

with threat of self promotion hammering from you guys...watch my video Project Bloodtrail for a gutless method demonstrated on moose. I detail the care around bones and joints, which you can apply to any animal large or small.

I dont know of a better, more modern discussion of this topic than the ones I've done on the subject.

larry

Where do we find it?

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Bloodtrail video:

DVD Library – Pristine Ventures

 

[omegafoo]

The OP is likely in the Gila at the moment so this is a little late.

I've been a FL whitetail guy all my life. While I've done gutless on a few hanging whitetails the last couple of years I had never done it on anything larger or lying on the ground until I shot my first elk in CO this year. I was on a DIY hunt by myself and it took me 3 hours to do my elk, quartered on the bone. I deboned it later as the hike back to the truck was relatively short.

I also kept the heart and only had to make two incisions on the left side of the elk to get it out, cut the arteries off the top (what was left, anyway, as the bullet went right above the top) and then pull it out between the ribs. I didn't have to break any ribs. Just cut between the one above the heart (left side of the elk) and the next one back towards the head and was able to push one aside with plenty of room to get it out of the chest cavity. It made great cheesesteaks, FWIW

 

[skunk]

I was supposed to be but I let the 22 hour drive alone from Wisconsin get to me and decided to wait until I can get a friend to come along. I'm feeling bummed about not following through but I'll be hunting in the Appalachian mountains with my brother and dad for a week instead so all is not lost.

The OP is likely in the Gila at the moment so this is a little late.

I've been a FL whitetail guy all my life. While I've done gutless on a few hanging whitetails the last couple of years I had never done it on anything larger or lying on the ground until I shot my first elk in CO this year. I was on a DIY hunt by myself and it took me 3 hours to do my elk, quartered on the bone. I deboned it later as the hike back to the truck was relatively short.

I also kept the heart and only had to make two incisions on the left side of the elk to get it out, cut the arteries off the top (what was left, anyway, as the bullet went right above the top) and then pull it out between the ribs. I didn't have to break any ribs. Just cut between the one above the heart (left side of the elk) and the next one back towards the head and was able to push one aside with plenty of room to get it out of the chest cavity. It made great cheesesteaks, FWIW

 

[omegafoo]

I was supposed to be but I let the 22 hour drive alone from Wisconsin get to me and decided to wait until I can get a friend to come along. I'm feeling bummed about not following through but I'll be hunting in the Appalachian mountains with my brother and dad for a week instead so all is not lost.

I drove 22:15 from Florida to SE Colorado...by myself. Just a thing. Break it up, rest, and keep on trucking. If you keep waiting on friends to go you'll lose too many hunts b/c friends bail on you. Mine was rock solid but we had a bit of a light breeze and a drizzle in the form of Hurricane Michael come through 1 week before we leave and ruined everything for him - he's a manager for the claims adjusters for an insurance company. Needless to say he's on 12-16 hour days 7 days a week at the moment and his vacation was canceled prior to land fall. I lost a bunch of trees but got them cut up, helped my neighbor get his up, checked on my friends int he path of the storm, and if they needed anything (they all came through mostly unscathed and safe, thank God) and then I told my wife I was going by myself - she wasn't happy but oh, well.

I was going, one way or another. There were 5 only bulls killed when I left. 4 by Colorado locals that live an hour up the road and 1 by me. It was worth it for the experience and I'd make the 22 hour drive again, by myself, if needed. Don't wait; go experience! Just my worthless $.02

 

[Mule3006Elk]

Gutless method is the only one I use. Definitely recommend it. As already stated pretty easy to get the heart and tenderloins as well.

 

[skunk]

I agree. This is my first western hunt though so I felt daunted. I'm planning a Colorado elk hunt next October and this friend is reliable. I'll make it happen one way or another.

I drove 22:15 from Florida to SE Colorado...by myself. Just a thing. Break it up, rest, and keep on trucking. If you keep waiting on friends to go you'll lose too many hunts b/c friends bail on you. Mine was rock solid but we had a bit of a light breeze and a drizzle in the form of Hurricane Michael come through 1 week before we leave and ruined everything for him - he's a manager for the claims adjusters for an insurance company. Needless to say he's on 12-16 hour days 7 days a week at the moment and his vacation was canceled prior to land fall. I lost a bunch of trees but got them cut up, helped my neighbor get his up, checked on my friends int he path of the storm, and if they needed anything (they all came through mostly unscathed and safe, thank God) and then I told my wife I was going by myself - she wasn't happy but oh, well.

I was going, one way or another. There were 5 only bulls killed when I left. 4 by Colorado locals that live an hour up the road and 1 by me. It was worth it for the experience and I'd make the 22 hour drive again, by myself, if needed. Don't wait; go experience! Just my worthless $.02