Page 42 - 2018 MAY/JUNE Outdoor Oklahoma

Game Care

Oklahoma Hunter Education

Field Dressing Basic Field Dressing Tools

Perhaps the most important tools you can carry for field
OBJECTIVE 3
dressing are a sharp knife and a good sharpener. These
will be the primary implements you use for skinning
Field dress wildlife immediately. The extra time spent and cleaning carcasses. Other tools you might include in
taking care of the meat will pay off when it comes time to your field dressing bag are:
make a meal from that meat. Field dressing can be messy so • A small axe or saw for cutting through bone.
remove any heavy coats and roll up your sleeves.
• Rope for tying the carcass together or dragging it.
Disposable vinyl or latex gloves lessen the chances of • Latex or rubber gloves.
catching infectious diseases and make hand cleaning easier.
Steps in Field Dressing
Blood and digestive juices from organs possibly
penetrated by the shot must be removed from the body
cavity quickly. Organs deteriorate rapidly so remove Roll the deer JErry SHAW
them quickly. The faster they are removed, the faster the carcass over on
meat will cool and the better it will be preserved. Field its back with the
dressing will eliminate quite a bit of weight so it is better rump lower than
to field dress the animal before you transport it. the shoulders and
spread the hind
legs. Make a cut
Remember that it is important to keep dirt and foreign
objects away from the exposed body cavity. Removing along the center
the scent glands is not considered necessary but if you line of belly from
wish to do so, be careful as they can taint the meat if breastbone to base
broken or smeared on the carcass. of tail. First cut
through the hide,
JErry SHAW then through
belly muscle.
Avoid cutting
into the paunch
and intestines
by holding them
away from the
knife with the
free hand, while
guiding the knife
with the other.

Unless the deer
head will be
mounted, the cut should pass through the sternum and
extend up the neck to the chin to allow removal of as
much of the windpipe as possible.

40 OUTDOOR OKLAHOMA