To deer or not to deer?

[L. Cooper]

When I cut up an animal I debone it completely. For a typical Sask. deer that means about 30-50 pounds of prime, boneless, lean meat. We have come to believe deer fat "spoils" very quickly in the freezer and is the source of much of what people think is the "gamey taste", so we remove it.

My experiments with deer ribs have been relatively unsuccessful. They're just not big enough animals to provide much good meat on those parts.

If you could get set up in the field to do it, it can certainly be done. A good tree to hang it; lots of plastic to protect stuff; maybe a portable table in the truck or even just a board of some sort (flat surfaces are tough to find); a couple of coolers to store it; I don't see any reason to stop you except darkness, and there are ways around that too. A good friend would be a big help, but you can end up with a very manageable package if you debone everything.

The rules here require certain identification parts and tags to remain on the animal, and since we have never tried to do it all in the field, I'm not sure of the legalities required. You must take all the edible parts. Hearts and livers can be left without problems, but we have usually kept them unless shot damaged. The rules where you are will undoubtedly be a little different, but I would expect there is a way to pull it off. I know some back country sheep and elk hunters regularly debone all the meat and pack it out. They could likely give you good advice if you can find some of them.

(Any of you reading this? Advice?)

We try to do our gutting in bushes just to keep the mess out of sight, but between coyotes, foxes, and scavenging birds, gut piles seldom last the night around here. I doubt your left overs would be a problem as long as they weren't in someone's back yard.

Go for it! If I didn't have the convenience of a good set up at home to process my animals, I would be doing what you are planning. It will make for a long day for you at times, but a long exhausting day of hunting and butchering your deer is way better than a good day at work.