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I get questions about my technique for field dressing a deer, so I'm going to demonstrate the process in the video above. What is written here is a summary of what is shown. The process is pretty simple, and it only takes a few minutes. The sooner you can field dress a deer the better to avoid spoilage, especially on hot days. It can also prevent bloating, which makes it more difficult to cut without opening the guts.
I like to wear gloves when I field dress to keep my hands clean, especially since I have other gear to handle. Otherwise, my only tool is a knife. A good, sharp knife is all I need - I rarely use the saw. You can have one good knife that you keep sharp, and you can also use a knife that has replaceable blades. Lastly, before I start cutting, it helps to have the back end of the deer facing downhill so gravity can lend a hand with the blood draining.
The first step is to cut around the anus. This will free it up so that it comes out with the rest of the guts when we open the deer up. You pin the legs up a bit and just cut in a circle around the outside of the anus and try to cut as deep as possible. There's a lot of fatty tissue around it, so you don't have to worry about cutting into any meat. Cut the fatty tissue as deep as you can around the anus while putting some tension on it - you'll be able to feel it come loose as you pull. Now that will come out the backside when you gut the deer.
Next, position the deer as flat on its back as possible so you have a good working area. If it's a doe, check to see whether she is dry. If it looks like she has a bunch of milk, cut that out first. Otherwise, cut a line from the top of the chest downward. Keep in mind that if this is a buck you're trying to shoulder mount, don't go too high up -- keep it more around the mid-section for the first cut. Starting at the upper chest or mid-section, cut a line straight down the center very carefully until you reach the groin area. In order to avoid puncturing the intestines, use two fingers on your other hand to prop up the skin while carefully slicing the hide and outer fat layer exposed between the two fingers with the knife in the other hand. Be sure to have the knife blade pointing up. Not only does this allow you better avoid cutting into the main gut section, but it also helps prevent slicing hairs into fragments that you will later have to remove from the meat.
Pull backward and up as you use your fingers to separate the hide from the guts. Slice all the way down to the groin and make the final cut at the bottom. The guts are now exposed, but you'll want to cut up into the rib cage and around the outer walls to separate the diaphragm and allow all the internal organs to come out as one group. The final cut you'll need to make is to the esophagus. If you reach up into the rib cage you can feel the heart, lungs and esophagus. Find the windpipe and cut it loose. Now you are able to slowly pull everything down and out of the body as it peels away from the skeleton and muscles. You may occasionally need to cut a little more fatty tissue as you go.
Once everything is out of the body, you can lift the carcass and drain more of the blood out onto the ground. If you like to keep the heart or the liver, you can now cut those free of the organs if they're not damaged. Now get the carcass home and rinsed out to clean and help cool the meat.
--Jared Mills
