One of the discussions below mentioned the "gutless" method of taking the meat from a deer/elk. I can sort of visualize it, but could somebody describe it? Is there any reason you couldn't do it if you were going to have the head mounted? How do you get to the tenderloins? Is much meat wasted? Can you still strip out the rib meat?

It sounds like a great way to go if you're 1) backpacking or 2) want to minimize the work.

What are the steps? 8mmFan

1. Do a 'search'- I am sure that it has been described on this site or one of the other majors.

2. You can still use the method and cape out the trophy for a head or even full body mount. You just gotta know what you want when you start cutting.

3. Once skinned you reach in and grab the tenderloins with one hand (just behind last ribs and forward the pelvis- with other hand you can cut them loose.

4. Meat is not waisted- if you want it all you can get it. I have taken neck and rib meat without a problem. You can strip out the rib meat with your knife and still not gut the animal.

Step 1. Shoot animal. <--- This is hardest part

Yep, Pretty much what C/L describes is the main points to know. I do this alot been doing it most of my life and to repeat what C/L said you can get as much meat as you would like to get even the tenderloins :-)

Good Luck!

What would be a reason to apply this method? With a little practice I think it doesn't take long to gut even a bigger animal like a deer or wild pig. Afterwards it is much easier to handle. Besides, reed deer heart and liver are just delicious.

DUK
Moose/elk are huge.You don't just move them around
like you can a deer.The guts weigh alot,and are just a blob,
hard to handle.You then have to drag 100 pounds away or
work with that mess at your feet.It is much cleaner to
fillet the meat off,then as the last step retrieve the heart
liver and fillet mignons.

here ya go...

Link to slideshow-gutless method

hope you get to use it...

What JeffP said. DUK, try cutting up an 800 lb elk on a 50 degree slope, in grizzly bear country, and then tell me it is easy, or prudent.

The gutless method is cleaner, quicker, and much less likely to attract four legged competitors to the kill site. JMO, Dutch.

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:
What JeffP said. DUK, try cutting up an 800 lb elk on a 50 degree slope, in grizzly bear country, and then tell me it is easy, or prudent.

Ouch, I wasn't aware those elk can get THAT big. Thanks for the clarification.

You can always get the heart and liver at the end. This way is much cleaner, and on a slope, guts get dangerously slippery

DUK, yup, they do. They tend to be a good bit bigger than their Red Deer cousins. The last one I killed produced 267 lbs of meat (not counting the tenderloin and the organ meat).

Roosevelt's elk can easily go over 1,000 lbs (400 Kg's). A big Alaska moose will go near a ton.

Best not to shoot any of those in a swamp..... Dutch.

Thanks for the link Nontypical! Nothing like pics to clear up a process.

Exactly what I was looking for. I printed out the pic.s and stuffed 'em in my daypack. Going to use this method this fall. Thanks. 8mmFan

Sure, no problem

I'm a convert, switched to the gutless method a few years ago. Especially because I am my mule.

have fun!

Here is how I skin a Whitetail. No guts involved. Hang the deer by the back legs with a gambrel. Cut the hide around the leg just below the knee joint. Cut down the inside of both legs to the abdomen. If you want the cape then you have to peel the hide down cutting it away from the body as you go. If you don't wan't the cape then it is easier to cut the hide down the abdomen to the mid neck area. Remove the hide like you would a shirt. Once the hide is gone, remove the backstraps. Cut the shoulders off and take the neck roast. Remove the anus and genitalia from the back to the front. Open the stomach cavity where it meets the back legs. Carefully cut the connecting tissue to the backbone as far down as you can. The weight of the guts will pull the ribs forward a little. Remove the tenderloins from the backbone. Be careful not to pull to hard or they will shred. Place a container under the carcass. Cut the backbone off just below the back legs and let the carcass fall into the container. Separate the back legs and cut off the lower legs below the knee. Your done. You didn't have to fool around with any guts at all. I don't mess with the ribs either because there isn't enough meat on them to justify the time spent. I have never cared for organs either. This takes about 40 minutes with one person. I use my four wheeler to help me hoist the deer.

This winter I hunted the first time in Finland and was surprised to see that the Finns skin their deer as well before gutting, the same way you explained. Some friends here prefer to gut their animals hanging them on the hind legs. I learned the "traditional" method. I think it is about what you have practized and become efficient with.

When quartering animals I usually hang them on the head, cut off the legs, than the backstraps and tenderloins, then the shoulder and neck meat. These pieces I freeze as they are. What's left on the hook is the head with the spine bone and the rips,easy to dispose of. We'll get a dog soon, he'll enjoy the rip meat. Until now, I sometimes use it for spare rips or just throw it away.

Always when I quarter an animal I am amazed about the beauty and the intelligence of the mechanical design. Nature and evolution do quite a good job!

quote:

Roosevelt's elk can easily go over 1,000 lbs (400 Kg's). A big Alaska moose will go near a ton.

Best not to shoot any of those in a swamp..... Dutch.

LOL!!! Trust me, you will only shoot a Swamp Donky in a swamp ONE time

here is another link, Its basically the same just a little differant illistrations
An Easy Way to the Meat

One warning, some states laws say that it is wasting a game animal if you don't take the heart and liver. I personally don't bother with the heart and liver. This is the only complication I know of for using the gutless method.

I have not gutted a deer or elk in five years since learning the gutless method. There is simply no reason to gut an animal if you have to pack it out anyway. I think it prevents all chance of contamination from the entrails etc.

I would never use the "gutless method" as the heart and the tenderloins are my favorite parts to eat. I like the liver in young animals too.

quote:

Originally posted by Old Elk Hunter:
One warning, some states laws say that it is wasting a game animal if you don't take the heart and liver. I personally don't bother with the heart and liver. This is the only complication I know of for using the gutless method.

Wow, I've never heard that before. But if I'm ever in one of those states I'll be sure I comply. By "taking" the heart and liver to the nearest garbage can and throwing them away.

If you have never eaten deer, pig, bear, or elk heart, floured and fried in olive oil, you should give it a try.

it's quite easy to remove the heart and liver from the carcass remnants at the end of using the gutless method

Up until 5 years ago in Wyoming the law stated, "All edible portions". This left the door open to all kinds of intirpritations.

Now it is 4 quarters and back straps.

Not sure why they changed the law, but it is lots easier to pack out now.

The bears, ravens, coyotes, have to eat to.

The "Gutless Method" is the only way to do a moose. There is no reason to leave the organs or tenderloins if you choose to take them when you do it right. Also the rib meat can be stripped out quite easily once you have removed the whole ribcage from the back bone. In Alaska the AK F&G enforcement people are very particular about "Wanton Waste" and you have to take everything with the exception of the organs. You leave the tenderloins or rib meat and you are in deep Do-Do!

Regards,

Mark

That slide show is missing two more steps !!!

Taking the rib and neck meat !!!

On a small moose that would equal 60 pounds plus.

I bet that guy left at least 30 pounds on that elk.

If that is legal where you hunt more power to you. birds and coyotes will like it. I would prefer not to leave that much meat behind.

Can't leave any meat behind in Alaska.
Antlers or horns can only come out of the feild with the last load or later.