Page 43 - 2018 MAY/JUNE Outdoor Oklahoma

Game Care

Oklahoma Hunter Education

A clean cloth may be useful to clean your hands. If
you puncture the entrails with a bullet or your knife,
wipe the body cavity as clean as possible or flush with
water and dry with a cloth. Don’t use water to wash
out the body cavity unless the paunch or intestines
are badly damaged.

Part of the satisfaction of the hunt comes with
making a clean kill and in doing a neat job of
field dressing your deer. Veteran hunters may
have variations in the steps of field dressing. The
important points are to remove the internal organs
immediately without contaminating the body cavity
With a small sharp knife, cut around the anus and with dirt, hair, or contents of the digestive tract and
draw it into the body cavity, so it comes free with the to drain all excess blood from the body cavity.
complete intestines. In doing this, avoid cutting or
breaking the bladder. Loosen and roll out the stomach All parts damaged by gunshot should be trimmed away.
and intestines. Split the pelvic bone to hasten cooling. If the weather is warm or if the deer is to be left in the
field for a day or more, it may be skinned, except for the
head, and washed clean of dirt and hair. It should be
placed in a shroud sack or wrapped with porous cloth
to cool (cheesecloth is ideal). The cloth covering should
be porous enough to allow air circulation but firmly
woven enough to give good protection from insects
and dirt. Adequate cooling may take six hours or more,
depending on weather conditions.

Aging the Meat

Age the deer carcass in a cool, dry place. Aging of a
well-cared-for carcass at correct temperatures yields
better flavored, more tender meat. Best results are
obtained in a near-constant temperature, preferably
from 34 to 36 degrees Fahrenheit.
Since it is rarely that cold in
Cut around the edge of the diaphragm, which Oklahoma, hunters should not
separates the chest and stomach cavities, and split the age their carcasses outside.
breastbone. Then, reach forward to cut the windpipe
and gullet ahead of the lungs. This should allow you to Aging for one to two
pull the lungs and heart from the chest cavity. Drain weeks is about right for
excess blood from the body cavity by turning the the best quality venison,
body belly down or hanging animal head down. Prop depending on the age and
the body cavity open with a stick to allow better air condition of the animal.
circulation and faster cooling.

MAY/JUNE 2018 41