Deer Anatomy: How to Field Dress a Deer

Some people may say they don't like the taste of game meat. From my experience, it is because they were once fed something that wasn't handled or cooked properly.

However, a well-placed shot, quick recovery, and cooling the carcass down quickly can put you on a path of having any meal taken from the field taste as good as one purchased from behind a meat counter. 

Meat can spoil quickly by the animal's own body heat, so it is important to field dress your harvest quickly once recovered. So, as part of your next deer anatomy lesson today, let's cover how to field dress a deer so you can enjoy more delicious game meat.

Why Field Dressing Is Important

How to field dress a deer is something every hunter needs to know. I would even go as far as to say it is as essential as a life skill as knowing how to swim or change a flat tire.

We, as hunters, have an ethical responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure the life we take is used properly and eaten with as little waste as possible. That duty is a bit more enjoyable when the food in the freezer is something you know will be delicious and not something your hunting dog will turn his nose up at. 

How to Field Dress a Deer

To get started, you will need a good knife with a blade about four inches long.

Some hunters prefer designated skinning knives with a rounded blade, while some prefer specialty gutting knives with an open face and cutting hook. Other optional items you might consider including are a bone saw and a pair of disposable nitrile gloves for easy clean up and to reduce the likelihood of contamination. 

Make the First Cut

Start by making a shallow incision around the sex organs towards the anus. Some states require that you keep these organs intact to the animal as proof of sex, so check your local game laws before removing them.

Cut a deep circular hole around the anus. Reach in from the pelvis and pull the urethra and rectum out. Some hunters choose to tie it closed with a string; I just make sure to pull it out far enough to lay it on the outside, well beyond my incision. This is important because the bladder and intestines are likely still full and can spill their contents into the otherwise clean internal cavity and contaminate your meat. 

The Next Cut

From the pelvic incision and with your knife blade upward, place your free hand's index and middle finger inside and spread them as if making a hand sign for the number two. Place the tip of the knife blade in between your fingers and slowly lift the muscle and hair up to create space between the abdominal wall and guts.

Make a single cut from the pelvis up to the sternum, being extremely careful not to go too deep and risk puncturing the stomach or intestines. Using the gut hook on an equipped skinning knife makes this step easier.

If you've packed a small saw, you can saw upward from the sternum to the base of the neck to open up the chest cavity. If you are like me, you can use two hands on your knife and cut upward on one side of the sternum and through the cartilage that connects each rib. 

Get the Guts

Now that the chest cavity is open cut the diaphragm that separates the vitals from the stomach down on each side toward the spine. With the diaphragm out of the way, reach in and grab the windpipe as far up in the neck as you can and cut it.

Roll the deer on its side and yank down on the windpipe. Everything should come out intact as one large gut pile. Some bits of diaphragm may still be holding on around the spine and may need a few extra small cuts to cleanly be removed. 

Pro tip: In winter, use clean snow to pack inside the chest cavity to cool the animal down quicker. Effective care in the field helps you preserve more meat for later.

Take Time for a Deer Anatomy Lesson

If I have a new hunter with me, this is when I like to do a quick deer anatomy lesson before removing it from the field to begin processing.

I remove the heart and any other offal I decide to keep and place it back into the chest cavity to keep it clean. After years of moving deer by their antlers or hindlegs — and inevitability questioning my own physical fitness after a few hundred yards — I started using either a jet sled or a deer drag. Not only do these save your back, but they ultimately help keep dirt and debris from entering the open cavity.

Knowing how to field dress your game quickly and efficiently gets you one step closer to putting your venison cuts of meat on the table. Follow these steps to ensure the quality of the meat you worked so hard to harvest.

Use HuntWise to Bring Home More Deer Meat This Season

Before you can field dress a deer, you have to find one and take it down. To improve your odds of tagging out wherever you hunt, use the HuntWise hunting app to know when your hunting stand has the best set of conditions for deer to be on their feet.

With the HuntCast and WindCast features, you'll have real-time animal movement and weather condition information (including wind direction) to plan your hunt. HuntWise takes the guesswork out of animal movement and where you should be to find that big buck moving into your sights for that clean shot.

You can also use the app's many map layers — including LiDAR — to scout hunting areas before you get out in the field. Look for (and mark) potential bedding areas, pinch points, water sources, and food plots to map out the ideal locations where deer will be as you plan your hunt.

Don't have HuntWise yet? Download it and start planning — free — for your first week!