Gutless Method

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

Poke the guts to relieve a little pressure if needed and get in and get out.

So do you pop the upper stomach facing away to let the methane buildup out if it starts bloating out on you? If so anywhere or up near where the esophagus ties into it?

 

[tttoadman]

Originally Posted by tttoadman
Poke the guts to relieve a little pressure if needed and get in and get out.

So do you pop the upper stomach facing away to let the methane buildup out if it starts bloating out on you? If so anywhere or up near where the esophagus ties into it?

I have to admit I never thought that much about it. I just do it. I suppose it would make a lot of sense to poke it up front as far as possible.

 

[Kevin Dill]

On a large animal (side-lying) the next to last thing to come off is the rib meat or ribs. After that I can access the internal chest and carefully cut a rather large crescent in the diaphragm. Doing that allows the stomach/upper abdomen organs to push into the chest area somewhat and relieve some abdominal pressure. Next I get the tenderloin out which is easier without the gut pushing hard against it. Then it's time to flip the carcass. Making that crescent cut in the diaphragm means I won't have stomach and entrails popping out externally into my work zone when I flip the carcass.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

If you decide to relieve bloating pressure in the gut sack, choose a location as far away from the trajectory entry as possible and "aimed" in a direction that will not receive discharge spray or putrid fluids onto your fresh food. When the stomach cavity decompresses under full pressure, well, it can be rather forceful and spray will mildly explosive in a scattered blast sort of way...so I like to aim the exit toward my buddy's head so I get the laugh of the trip before he thinks of it!

 

[Bar]

I have my own way to do gutless. There's two ways to skin it. From the spine down, or from the legs to the spine. I start at the spine and go after the backstrap and loins right away before skinning all the way down. I flip the elk and do the same on the other side too.

That way i've got the backstraps and loins out first before the bloat gets too bad. Then I can take my time with the rest. It does require flipping the elk over twice, but i'd prefer that to bloat. No way will I ever punture the guts.

 

[efnm]

I focus on the back quarter on each side first (they are the hottest and stay hot the longest), then the front, and the the backstrap since it now has the quarters out of the way on its ends and you can cut the whole thing out. Then trim meat and rib meat.