Deer cleaning/eating question

[Bigpoppa]

How many of you eat the deer ribs? Some say it is wasteful not to eat them. I say , not any more wasteful than not eating the lungs and nuts. Anyway, I was just wondering. What made me think about it was, I was cleaning a deer the other day and a fellow comenced to talk about gutting him. I told him , I havent gutted a deer in years unless I couldnt haul him out due to weight and he didnt understand. I continued and showed him how to de bone a deer while hangin. He was amazed. I was amazed that he didnt know how to do this , especially since he doesnt eat the ribs either. Yalls thoughts? What do you do. And save it if you are gonna try and make me feel bad about not saving the ribs. I come in contact with hundreds of hunters per year and in the past 20 years I only know 3 folks who kept the ribs. 2 of them are stark raving idiots. Not because of that but they were/are idiots! Anyway, whats your cleaning method and bout how long does it take you?

[rbl763]

my cleaning method is to field dress (cause I ain't a big guy that can tote a 180 pound doe out on my shoulders) then take it to processor, that my friend is bout as easy as you get....

[Drake2]

Do you not get the tenderloins? We de bone our deer but always skin and gut them too. We don't eat the ribs.

[BeastMaster]

I haven't cleaned a deer that was hung up in prolly 10 years.. Can't tell you the last time i gutted a deer.. I clean all my deer on the tailgate.. From start to finish I can have him quartered in the cooler in about 10-15 minutes. Can do it on the ground, just more comfortable standing up doing it. I laugh every time I see guys hanging deer up, gutting them and snatching the hide off. I grew up processing our own deer.. Usually 8-12 per year

[ACEINTHEHOLE]

my cleaning method is to field dress (cause I ain't a big guy that can tote a 180 pound doe out on my shoulders) then take it to processor, that my friend is bout as easy as you get....

If I ever see a 180lb doe I am gonna crap myself.

[duck_nutt]

I don't eat the ribs....usually don't even bother with the front shoulders(cause they're usually shot up)..

[Bigpoppa]

Yes I get the inner loins. But I never gut a deer, just cut it down and reach in.

[Bigpoppa]

Do you not get the tenderloins? We de bone our deer but always skin and gut them too. We don't eat the ribs.

Why would you gut a deer you are going to de bone???????

[ducksplorer]

Deer chitterlings mmmm, nah just kidding. We usually just keep the front shoulders, hindquarters, backstraps and tenderloins. If the deer has a big enough neck on it we sometimes get a good roast out of it. Just split it down the middle of the back/neck bone and go to peeling it off the side of the neck. As far as ribs go. we have taken them to a guy that used to cook bbq around here but since he quit we havent done that. I dont like messing with the guts anyway. pull the backstraps, front shoulders and the inside tenderloins then de-joint the rib cage from the hindqtrs then de-joint the hindqtrs at the ball and joint and the "knee". Goes pretty quick and a lot less messy.

[MSDawg870]

How do yal skin one without hanging it? Seems like there'd be a lot of knife work invovled.

[ducman77]

my cleaning method is to field dress (cause I ain't a big guy that can tote a 180 pound doe out on my shoulders) then take it to processor, that my friend is bout as easy as you get....

If I ever see a 180lb doe I am gonna crap myself.

See plenty of them in the delta.....

[BeastMaster]

msdawg... i put the deer on the tailgate with the feet facing me.. make a cut around the ankle.. slice all the way up to the top of the back.. the hide peels back very easy.. cut back the hide enuff to cut off the entire leg.. do the same thing for the other leg.. then spin the deer around so the back is facing me.. pull the hide back and cut out the backstrap.. then make a small incision careful not to bust any of the guts and get out the tenderloins. flip the deer over and repeat... 10-15 min and your done.. just takes a little practice... try it and you will never hang another deer up

[MSDawg870]

so you're using the weight of the deer for leverage when pulling back the hide


Yal ever see the TK and Mike video where they were gonna pull the hide off of the deer using their truck? They ended up taking down the shed and all.

[BeastMaster]

no leverage needed really... snatching the hide off a deer is just so easy.. i explained it about as best i could. my advice is just experiment with it.. any time i want a laugh i just think about these guys using all sorts of contraptions to make it easier like sawz all, chainsaws, snips, clippers, bolt cutters etc... oh and btw. i cut the feet off at the ankles with my knife.. all bones are connected with tissue and that tissue can be cut with a knife... only thing that i dont cut with a knife is his horns.. everything else is cut with a knife easily

[rbl763]

my cleaning method is to field dress (cause I ain't a big guy that can tote a 180 pound doe out on my shoulders) then take it to processor, that my friend is bout as easy as you get....

If I ever see a 180lb doe I am gonna crap myself.

I will take you but please bring a bucket to shict it and plenty of toilet paper