bleeding a deer?

[my82cam]

do you really need to bleed a deer before you gut it? wont all the blood come out once i have gutted him?? and if i do need to bleed him where do i do it??? thanks, brian (2 days till bow season!!!!!!!!!!!!)

[towerclimber37]

bleeding any animal serves a couple of purposes.

1st it makes for a LOT less mess.

2nd it ensures that, if it takes a while for you to process your kill, the blood won't go contaminate the meat.

[TGO David]

It's not necessary but many old hunters still do it. The proper way to do bleed one is to hang the deer and then make a cut at the lowest possible point so that gravity does the work.

Here's a decent guide on field dressing the animal:

http://www.uwex.edu/ces/ag/issues/fmd/So_you_got_a_deer-G1598.PDF

[Guest Mugster]

Just the normal course of field dressing will get the blood out, imo, its not something to really worry about. The only thing you really want to avoid is piercing the internal organs. You'll taste it if you do. You can hit it with a garden hose if you have to, but nothing will get that taste out of it.

Here's some reading:

Field dress:

http://www.michigandnr.com/publications/pdfs/huntingwildlifehabitat/deer_field-dressing.pdf

http://www.tnoutdoorsmen.com/fd.htm

Processing info:

http://www.state.tn.us/twra/pdfs/gameprocessing.pdf

After you have the internals out, buy a huge bag of ice at a market and stuff it in the cavity, especially in hot weather. I usually use a couple bungee cords or something to hold everything back together. You can wait a week to process in cool weather to season the meat, but in hot weather, I think i'd get it somewhere pretty quick.

[my82cam]

how long do i have on an 80 degree day? like 1 hour? 2? because it is at least 1 hour from my processor.

[ShaunM]

I gut my deer in the woods as it is easier to drag then hang it in my barn skin and clean it. I have skinned and cleaned well over 200 deer in my hunting adventures. I do let deer hang over night to bleed out if the temp is right as to not ruin the meat overnight. I do my own processing as it is fun to do and I take pride in knowing I havested and prepared it to eat. I like to cut the meat right of the bone (so that I have a whole deer to disgard no pieces, except I will cape for mounting if a trophy) and place it in a big cooler with water and salt.

Edited September 25, 2008 by Hunting101

[ShaunM]

how long do i have on an 80 degree day? like 1 hour? 2? because it is at least 1 hour from my processor.

If you know how to take the meat from the deer, you could put it in a big cooler then take it to him to be cut and processed into whatever you want. If not take it to him as quickly as you can, never took one to a processor always done it myself, my stepdad taught me how.

[my82cam]

i wish i knew how to do it. maybe one day i will learn and do it all myself! lol

[Guest Mugster]

Yeah, thats good advice imo. I've only done a few, nowhere near 200. We ground one up one time with an old meat grinder. It was pretty grisly. I'll take mine to a processor...worth 50-60 bucks, imo, lol.

In 80 degrees, if you can't get it there same day, I think I'd ice the thing down major and maybe put it under some plastic or something and make a little temporary cooler.

Just call em up a few days before you go and see if they can take it. Check station usually has some advice (might be bad advice though).

[TGO David]

Back home we'd use an old swing-set frame (two a-frame ends and the bar between them) to hang the skinned and gutted carcasses out in the cold air to cure out overnight. Of course, modern rifle season was the first week or two of November also.

Anyway, this was on a farm so we'd leave the gut pile in the field and then a couple of us would hang out til near dark with a thermos of coffee and our rifles and wait for the coyotes to show up.

[ShaunM]

Back home we'd use an old swing-set frame (two a-frame ends and the bar between them) to hang the skinned and gutted carcasses out in the cold air to cure out overnight. Of course, modern rifle season was the first week or two of November also.

Anyway, this was on a farm so we'd leave the gut pile in the field and then a couple of us would hang out til near dark with a thermos of coffee and our rifles and wait for the coyotes to show up.

Good times right there.

[PackinMama]

My grandfather-in-law told me that if a deer doesn't drop fairly quick after you shoot it, and it winds up running for a while, that the adrenaline it produces will completely ruin the meat. I've had about 20 kills in my lifetime, and probably 5 or so ran and I had to track them. I never remembered tasting any difference in those deer compared to the ones that dropped quickly. Of course, all those deer were Illinois corn fed, if that makes any difference. Anyone ever heard of or had any experience with this happening?

Also, I've just recently been told from a couple different people that soaking your deer meat in buttermilk for a few hours/overnight before you cook it will take out the wild gamey taste that these tennessee deer seem to have. Anyone ever try that? Does it really help? One reason I quit hunting is because I don't like the taste of the deer here compared to Illinois deer.

[Guest Mugster]

I dunno about the adreneline thing. I guess its possible.

I've never tried buttermilk, but I soak it in beer for at least 4 hours if I'm grilling it. Beer soak and BBQ it with bullseye or homemade BBQ sauce. Thats good eating.

If I do a roast in the crockpot, what i do is use more water than usual and throw in a bunch of the cheapest potatoes i can find. They'll help take the wild taste out. Chuck the potatoes and whatever water is left after about all day on low and throw in some dales steak seasoning and a 1/4 stick of real butter about an hour before I wolf it down.

[deerslayer]

I've never heard of "bleeding a deer," but I think it's a lot more important to gut one sooner rather than later and put the deer on ice if need be. During bow season (or warm gun season), I would buy two or three bags of ice and stuff them into the deer's field dressed chest cavity if it would be a while before processing. I say "would" because I no longer really have a place to go, and I'm now more interested in competitive shooting, anyway. I'll probably find my way back into the woods, though.

[ShaunM]

Yeah buttermilk will help with the game taste. I soak mine for a little while and mix salt and flour together then bread the deer meat and cook in a fry daddy until golden brown.

[memphismason]

I feild dress mine in the woods, and then drag them out. It is a lot lighter without the guts.

I then hang the deer up (at home) and Skin him. If it is a cool night I will let him set overnight to help release the gasses, then get up the next morning and start working up the meat. My Dad and grandfather taught me how to process my own meat, and that to me is part of the hunting experience.

I soak my deer meat in salt water, and red wine vinager, over night, and that takes the wild game taste right out. I once used Brandy instead of red wine vinager and it was equally as good.

[deerslayer]

Yeah buttermilk will help with the game taste. I soak mine for a little while and mix salt and flour together then bread the deer meat and cook in a fry daddy until golden brown.

That sounds like a good breakfast.

[PackinMama]

Yes, it does! Especially if you fry up the tenderloin in an iron skillet and then make gravy with the grease.....and some homemade biscuits to pour the gravy over mmmmm!

[my82cam]

well, lets hope i get one tomorrow!! or two!!! i will let you guys know how it goes!