Field Dressing Wild Game

[dpwill99]

Just a handy little tip I picked up for rabbit- You really don't need to actually gut them, in fact the chances of puncturing intestines if you do is pretty good (And they stink on ice if you do that) When you fresh kill one grab it around the neck with both hands and starts squeezing HARD down the body, like it was a furry tube of toothpaste. Squeeze hard enough and the insides will come out - well, where everything comes out eventually. doing this cleans them out pretty well. then make a small slit behind the head an peel the skin off like a shirt. Rabbit skin tears REALLY easilly so you don't really need to cut it much.once you pull the skin off it slit it down the middle to open the chest cavity and cool the meat, cut off the head and feet and it's ready for the pot. At one time I was able to get one gutted and skinned in less than 5 minutes. Rabbits really ARE nature's fast food.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Field dressing any game is your first priority when you have reduced it to possession (killed it). IMHO that covers everything whether it be fish fowl or mammal. The taste of the meat is affected the longer you wait. Clearing the chest and abdominal cavities immediately allows the meat to cool quickly and hence have a better flavor. With birds, we would make a slit from the anus forward long enough to get a gut hook in to catch the esophagus and yank everything out. Doing this right after a duck goes down ensures a tasty bird.

The method of skinning deer with a truck that was referred to previously involves hanging the deer by the front legs, making the appropriate cuts around the neck, hooves and down the legs. then working the skin down from the neck, a golf ball is placed on the fur side and the loose hide is placed over it to a point where a piece of paracord can be tied around the skin completely enveloping the golf ball. Then the cord is attached to the truck bumper and the skin is peeled from the carcass as the truck moves forward. I've never seen it done but I've heard about it and have a friend who swears by it (he uses his quad).

For rabbits I cut the skin down the spine and peel the hide down to the legs. I then take the backstraps, front and hind quarters and have not had to gut them at all. There is no edible meat left using this technique. The disease that rabbits carry is tularemia and can be passed during cleaning. I agree with everyone else that gloves are a must. I even wear them cleaning fish, but they are the kind that keeps me from getting cut. For all else I use the blue nitrile gloves that Harbor Freight carries-they're cheap and readily available.

[dpwill99]

For rabbits I cut the skin down the spine and peel the hide down to the legs. I then take the backstraps, front and hind quarters and have not had to gut them at all. There is no edible meat left using this technique. The disease that rabbits carry is tularemia and can be passed during cleaning. I agree with everyone else that gloves are a must. I even wear them cleaning fish, but they are the kind that keeps me from getting cut. For all else I use the blue nitrile gloves that Harbor Freight carries-they're cheap and readily available.[/QUOTE]

That's interesting, Grumpy, I'm going to have to try that! it sounds even easier than the method I've used. I'm always on the lookout for a better, faster way to process game. I just wish they all came with zippers! If anyone has any tips for bears I'm all ears, by the way. Toughest animal I've ever gutted!

[dragon5126]

DPW my mammy taught me to twist the rabbits rear feet at the ankle in opposite directions like trying to open a twist off beer, till the skin tears, then sip a finger inside the "sleeve and tear it up to the belly. do this on both rear legs, if you cant get your finger in the leg use a small stick the hide splits easy and when you get both legs down to the body, with minimal practice you can just hang onto the legs with one hand and pull the skin ogg inside out with the other, use a cleaver to remove the feet and head and carefully slit the membranebelow the ribs and it almost falls all out, without any effort,
She grew up eating home raised rabbits chickens, pigs, ducks and an occasional young bull or goat when it butted her old man.
My wife insists that she is gong to move me into the local harbor freight, I know the shelves in there better than the employees do...

[izzyscout21]

maybe we should link up some how-to videos. I tend to just "wing it". I could use some proper instruction.