question for dana

[valleycowboy]

i've seen you mention the "gutless method of skinning and deboning" on this site and huntshoot.could you fill me and maybe others in on the best way to go about it.

[Schmaus]

http://bestsmileys.com/puking/1.gif

[Kirby]

http://bestsmileys.com/puking/1.gif

Good answer to a good question:rolleyes: :|

To answer the question, instead of splitting the chest cavity and pulling out the guts, you can split the hide down the back, peel off the hide on one side of the animal., then remove the quarters. The front shoulder cuts right off, and the hide quarters can be removed at the ball joint pretty easily. With the hide stripped away you cut out the back straps, make a small cut in and remove the tenderloints. After you have removed the two quarters, roll the animal over onto the hide, exposing the other side and repeat.

Here is a web site with pictures on how to do it.
http://home.att.net/~sajackson/guttless1.html

Kirby

[Jelvis]

Valley I think some of the outfitters do that for their clients, saves time and work, I'm certainly not going to tell you like a Dana or a BCrams or fellas in that stratasphere but lets see,,,, gutless,,,,, ahhhh I thinks you don't slice into the gut area, you take the back quarters off, the front quarters off, take the backstraps, cape and antlers, and leave the organ meat and gut inside the animule, I wouldn't want to leave the tenderloins tho. Another idea it could mean. You take only a dominant bull elk that has been rutting so hard and so long that it hasn't eaten for weeks, and his gut is totally empty. This could be difficult to detect and should only be done by the trained eye. Jelvis

[valleycowboy]

WOW,thanx for clearing the gutless part up for me.silly silly me(rolls eyes).i know the guides do it,again thanx for clearing that part up as well.

thanks kirby,i've heard of it but never seen it done.

[Kirby]

The first time it may take a bit, and you might loose a bit of meat, but you get fast at it pretty quick. And its alot easier than dragging a buck out.

Kirby

[dana]

Kirby,
Thanks for finding the link. I always forget where the address to that place. There are several other sites documenting the same thing with other animals. I can't remember them off the top of my head either.
The next step after the Jackson pics is to debone each quarter. If you cut your own meat, it's rather easy to do. If you have never cut up your own meat, you may end up butchering it a little harder than needed. Practice makes ya better though. I have done gutless method even on moose all by myself. Take off the rear quarter and front quarter and you can roll the animal fairly easily and do the same on the other side. I did last year's moose like this while in knee deep water. It makes things a lot easier than trying to drag an animal out of the bush. For deer, if you carry a decent pack, you won't have to come back for a second trip. The entire animal (even if it is a big ol' monster muley) can be packed out on your back in one trip. Unless an animal is an easy downhill drag to the truck, I won't ever drag an animal again.

[boonerbuck]

Good answer to a good question:rolleyes: :|

To answer the question, instead of splitting the chest cavity and pulling out the guts, you can split the hide down the back, peel off the hide on one side of the animal., then remove the quarters. The front shoulder cuts right off, and the hide quarters can be removed at the ball joint pretty easily. With the hide stripped away you cut out the back straps, make a small cut in and remove the tenderloins. After you have removed the two quarters, roll the animal over onto the hide, exposing the other side and repeat.

Here is a web site with pictures on how to do it.
http://home.att.net/~sajackson/guttless1.html

Kirby

I did that with my first bull moose. The I packed it out with my frame. Took 5 trips.:frown:

This methode makes trimming out the tender loins pretty tough.:-(

[ryanb]

We met a guide-outfitter doing his client's bear this way this spring...has to be the best thing since sliced bread. Very straight forward, except for the tenderloin step. Going to be doing this on any game I get this fall.

[Caveman]

Don't try this in the Yukon though, it is law that everything but the guts is to be brought out. I shot a moose in Atlin, but was hunting in Whitehorse with a buddy and when he saw my ribcageless moose he told me that they have to bring it all out.

[GoatGuy]

I often start pulling meat (steak cuts/roasts etc) off big critters (moose) before I cut the quarters off to make them more managable.

[dana]

You can take out the tenderlions really easy once you've got the backstraps off. You come in from the top with one easy cut. By doing the gutless method, your knife never has to touch the guts. You don't have to mess with the A$$hole. The best of all, you can easily keep your meat clean. All that is left behind is the spine, ribcage and guts.

[Jelvis]

My taste buds have requested marinaded honey garlic ribs, browned over open flame and then baked in a hot oven, until the protien rich moose or elk meat is starting to seperate from the succulant ribs, cooked in its own mouth watering juices, that were bubbling over, the brazed, inch thick course grained meat, you had to have a finger bowl handy, and some towel to wipe the excess wine soaked honey garlic marinade and meat, off your mouth and hands and those sharp heavy duty tooth picks to dig out the strands of hearty meat stuck in between my teeth. What will happen to the ribs now if I do the gutless method?

[dana]

You can easily gut after you are done and cut the ribs off the spine with a meat saw. This way, your knife and guts never meet until the very end. If you find it difficult to get the tenderloins from the top, you can gut after the rest is done and get them. It is pretty easy and you have none of the bullwork of trying to longline a moose with blocks and pulleys. ;) Why work hard when you don't have to? I have heard of guys spending hours bucking out a trail to get to the downed moose with their quad. I'd have the entire moose back to the truck long before they would make it there with the quad. I once had a prof in college that used to say to me, "Dana, work smarter, not harder." I try to live those words :) :)

[valleycowboy]

kirby,that link shows it perfectly,thanks.

dana,i remember the moose from last year,didn't look like fun gettin it out,lol.i've heard of the gutless method before just never really seen it.as for boning out the quarters,i know the basic cuts.but hey,like you said practise makes perfect.hopefully i get to try it out in a couple weeks.

thanx for the info guys!!!!

[dana]

ValleyCowboy,
Even in that water, from the time I shot the bull till the time it was all in the back of the truck was only a couple of hours. I didn't debone. The quarters were packed over my shoulder one by one. The rest of the meat (backstrap, neck, tenderlions ect) was went inside my pack. A total of 5 trips back and forth to the truck.

[Kirby]

Valley, no problem, the pics make it alot easier to descirbe than just words.

My first experince with the quartering was on a LEH moose I did alone, I did the quarter/pack it out method. I was no where near as fast as Dana, took me 6 or 7 hours to pack it out to the truck, and it definatly wasn't pretty... But after doing a moose I can do a deer in no time flat.

Kirby