Field dressing is the process of removing a deer’s internal organs after harvesting it.
It’s important to do this soon after harvesting to start the cooling process and preserve the meat. Here are some tips for field dressing a deer:
1. With deer on its back make a shallow cut through the skin just below the breastbone. Make sure that you start your cut well away from the brisket allowing plenty of uncut skin for your shoulder mount . Insert two fingers of the free hand, cradling the blade, to hold the skin up and away from the entrails.
2. Cut straight down the belly and around the genitals, separating but not severing them from the abdominal wall. Slit the belly skin all the way to pelvic bone.
3. Cut deeply around the rectum, being careful not to cut off or puncture the intestine. Pull to make sure the rectum is separated fro the tissue connecting it to the pelvic canal.
Pull the rectum out and tie string tightly around it to prevent droppings from touching the meat. Lift the animal’s back quarter a bit reach into the front of the pelvic canal, and pull the intestine and connected rectum into the stomach area.
4. If you want to make a full shoulder mount, do not cut open the chest cavity. Cut the diaphragm away from the ribs all the way to the backbone area. Reach into the forward chest cavity, find the esophagus and windpipe, cut them off as far up as possible, and pull them down through the chest.
5. Roll the deer onto its side, grab the esophagus with one hand and the rectum / intestine with the other. Pull hard and pull everything out.
The deer’s internal organs will come out in one big package with a minimum of mess.
Here’s a guide from Field & Stream that shows how to field dress a deer.
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