Field dressing your deer

How many people don't process their own deer?

BTW- Not tryin to start arguments, just curious.

I've skinned enough deer in my life that I'm perfectly fine dropping one off at the processor without putting a knife on it. Don't do it that often, but will on occasion. I can afford the extra $15 they tack on for gutting and skinning.

Me

I usually tell them to leave the straps and sweet meat whole and I can do with them as I please when I get ready. It also helps keep them from being stolen. I'm not old by any means but have skinned and quartered quite a few deer in my time. I don't see how its a big deal to take the deer whole to a processor. A lot of them use all the meat they cam get off the deer for ground meat. If you take it quartered you are losing a lot of meat.

when hunting public land field dress in the woods and then drag out...

when hunting my place...no field dressing just drive the truck to the deer and bring back to camp hang up and then skin and quarter and put on ice.

When I killed the first buck I was going to mount I did not want to mess up the cape so I brought the whole deer to the processor...which was about 10 min from camp.

I have only gutted one deer in the field. I put a bad shot on a doe with my bow and she ran about 500 yds into the marsh. Other than that I bring them back to the camp, house now whole. Then hang sking/gut. I go throw the guts/hide in the canal to feed the crabs.

And I've gutted deer in the field is I had to pack it out. But most times this is not the case as a 4-wheeler will go most anywhere.

I usually bring it back to camp then guy skin and quarter and put on ice, then after I bleed it out a few days to a week we debone it, wrap/package and freeze whatever we're keeping whole, and drop off whatever's left for ground meat and sausage.

I guess we don't bring them to a "processor" just a couple places in town that make sausage and stuff and do it with deer. And they charge too much extra if they have to debone it.

If I ever shoot one in the swamp on the land near home I'll gut it in the woods so it's easier to drag and pirogue back across the canal.

I've only gutted a deer in the woods once, and it wasn't intentional. The bullet grazed her belly from front to back and cut her open, all her guts fell out when he ran. All they had left was when I found her was the heart and half a lung. Craziest blood trail ever

I mostly hang up the deer with its head up and skin it with my truck or 4 wheeler by tying a rope to a golf ball under the neck after ringing the legs and neck. Next, I quarter them up by taking the front shooulders and back hams and cut off the backstraps. Most of the time, I never see the guts and leave the tenderloins inside them. The whole process takes 10 minutes or so. If I am feeling spry, I will cut off the neck for a simmering Sunday roast.