Hunting Forum

I was brought up that the first thing you did to a downed whitetail was to cut out both tarsal glands and then wash your knife well, or use a different knife for the rest.

Their reasoning wasn't to use the glands later but that leaving them on put a nasty flavor to the meat. Out of habit, I still do it but the flavoring the meat thing just doesn't seem to make sense with no blood flow.

Opinions?

With the way we skin deer, the tarsal glands are left on the shank and with the hooves in the air, we begin skinning below them. Once we get the legs skinned down past the hamstring, we saw the legs off before hoisting them up on the gambrel. We put the deer in a trough to skin them, and basically have the entire skin removed, the brisket sawed through and then use an electric hoist to raise them up by the gambrel, to a hook bolted into a 2x10 rafter, then it's just a matter of cutting the skin off along with the head, and gutting them.

Yeah, but their theory was, if you left the glands on until then it would add a taste to the meat and to remove them immediately in the field before even field dressing.

As a kid, when I was first shown how to field dress a deer, there was never any mention about the tarsal glands. I read about that habit in a magazine after I got out of the house on my own. I've tried both ways, and can honestly say I can't tell any difference. One thing that will affect the taste of the meat is how soon you get the deer field dressed after death.

After field dressing I remove the tarsal glands and place them in a plastic bag. Then I'm off to the processor. And when I get there if there are any bucks with intact tersal glands I ask if I can have them. Now he calls me to get them. I'll end up with a ten pound bag in the freezer which I sell at end of season.

Since I've never field dressed a deer, much less even seen it done, I wouldn't begin to know what or how or if it would make any difference.

Really Ron? Why not, is it because you hunt swamps and don't to avoid contamination by stagnant water?

don't think its for avoiding bad wayer..lived for years on the farm, easier to just drag or hual it back to our butcher shack and do it there...we only field dressed if we were out of state....

I'm with grandpops. I've done it both ways and cannot tell any difference. I don't bother cutting them off anymore.

I had to wait till getting 'em back across the river that had beavers in it due to contamination, is why I asked. Quite a bit lighter to drag w/o guts, and no clean up if field dressed.

I am beginning to understand and realize just how lucky I am to have access for hunting and skinning, after reading here and on other sites about field dressing!!!!!!!

Rt4,

Feild dressing aint so bad, it's at most a 10-15 min job...of course it aint near as easy as rolling it into the end loader and taking it to the buthcer shack...

got a quick question do ya peel then gut or gut then peel..we used to peel first...no worries about hair that way...and if we did get some hair on the meat we would just hose it off....BTW I/we never remove the tarsal...not much use to a still hunter...

Two Tales, there have been times I wish I did have a bucket loader!!!! It'd be nice if it was amphibious, too!!!!!!!!!!!

We put the deer in the trough and pretty much skin it and also cut the brisket while it's lying on it's back, then we hoist it and gut it I always saw the pelvic bone completely (one cut through on both sides) out before beginning the gutting process, since that allows me to grab the a hole and the bladder easily without getting anything on the meat. Unless the deer is shedding badly, we normally don't have a problem with the hair by using the trough. I've never used a tarsal gland, either; but I have saved the pee from a doe and used it while still hunting.

One time while on a deer drive, I shot a decent sized button buck. I put on the plastic field dressing gloves and quickly field dressed it while the rest of the guys pushed on. Just as i finished, I heard something and looked up. Here comes a big doe. Without even taking off the field dressing gloves, I reached over and grabbed my shotgun... and dropped her in her tracks. I got two for the price of one on those gloves...

One time while on a deer drive, I shot a decent sized button buck. I put on the plastic field dressing gloves and quickly field dressed it while the rest of the guys pushed on. Just as i finished, I heard something and looked up. Here comes a big doe. Without even taking off the field dressing gloves, I reached over and grabbed my shotgun... and dropped her in her tracks. I got two for the price of one on those gloves...

rthomas, if you saw the pelvic bone, you should check out a field dressing tool called the buck-buster. I have one that was given as a gift, and don't use it as I field dress differently than most. It is an awesome tool that splits the rib cage, skins, guts, breaks the pelvis in half, and is marginally larger than a typical gutting knife.

Hey navy, where've you been? Hell, man I use a sawsall to split the brisket and saw the pelvis........it don't get any easier than that!!!!!!!!!!!

Been busy with a new baby and just started back up to college now that the wife is stable in her job. Anyway, I use a sawzall as well, but was just recommending that tool as it sounded like you break the pelvis before even gutting...but now that I read again, I understand a little better what it is you do.

navy, if you can see in my avatar picture, I have that buck laying in the cradle, prior to skinning. It helps to have the animal up off of the floor and at a height that saves the back!!!!!!!!