I shudder whenever I see someone transporting their game on the top of
their vehicle or truckbed or trailer and and wonder how many miles do
they have to go to get their game home after a hunt? Some come from
hundreds of miles away to hunt in our neck of the woods. [....]

On Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:13:17 -0700, Steve wrote:
[....]
I shudder whenever I see someone transporting their game on the top of
their vehicle or truckbed or trailer and and wonder how many miles do
they have to go to get their game home after a hunt? Some come from
hundreds of miles away to hunt in our neck of the woods. [....]

Last time I looked, at least one state (MN) had a law requiring
any deer in transit to be in plain sight.

        Last time I looked, at least one state (MN) had a law requiring
any deer in transit to be in plain sight.

 I've watched this thread since it started, and regardless of how you gut
your deer, or how you hang it, I will state flatly that if you leave the
hide on it, even overnight, you are degrading your meat, no matter the
temperature, or method.

On Oct 29, 9:40 am, Chris Barnes <ch... at (no spam) txbarnes.com> wrote:



I don't use a special knife.  I simply make 2 cuts:
First cut gets the skin, but not into the meat (abdominal wall).  The
skin there is loose, so a pinch will allow me to insert the knife blade
between the skin and the meat (blade up) and unzip the skin from nads to
throat.

Second cut then opens the abdominal wall, completely free from hair.

That's the way I do it.  Only difference is that I use a dedicated gut
hook for unzipping the skin and the abdomen.

If you have a knife you like, stick with it.  For me, I hate folding
knives and don't use them anymore.  Too much of a pain  to clean all
the blood, guts, hair and tallow out of the handle.

I also won't use anything that has handles that are fancy wood, stag
horn, or anything else expensive.  I tend to only buy stuff with
rubberized handles.  They clean up quick and go easy on your hands
during butchering.

No camo knives.  My brother bought one once, set it down after tending
to his deer, and never saw it again.  Funny how that camo handle and
sheathe blended in perfectly with the ground.  He bought a knife with
a blaze handle after that.

I'm no longer partial to gut hooks built into knife blades.  They are
clumsy to hold while gutting, and don't do the job as well as a
dedicated gut hook.

Good luck picking out a knife and a deer, Steve.

On Oct 31, 11:13 am, Patrick Murray <wo... at (no spam) COMCAST.NET> wrote:
I've watched this thread since it started, and regardless of how you gut
your deer, or how you hang it, I will state flatly that if you leave the
hide on it, even overnight, you are degrading your meat, no matter the
temperature, or method.

No argument at all with this statement!