How to Utilize the Gutless Method to Field Dress Animals

Getting meat off the carcass quickly and cleanly is of paramount importance, particularly if the weather is warm, and/or if there are aggressive bears in the area.

Deep-country hunters use a process usually unfamiliar to front-country hunters. Called the gutless method, the technique allows a hunter to remove all the meat without entering the abdominal or vital cavity. It’s quick and is as easy to do on a game animal laying on the ground as it is to one hanging in a skinning shed.

The process minimizes cross-contamination if the guts took a bullet or arrow, and can be done on a steep slope, with little help if necessary. Two experienced hunters working together can do a deer in 20 minutes or less; an elk in an hour or so. If you’re working alone, triple the estimated time.

Here’s a step-by-step look at how to perform the gutless method.

Step one:

Make all your knife cuts to the hide. If planning to cape the animal, I run along the belly from the poop chute to where the ribs come together above the abdomen. If I’m not taking the cape, I run the belly cut right on up the front of the neck and stop between the jawbones.

Cut around the legs just below the knees and hocks, and slit the hide up the inside of the legs until it meets the long lengthwise cut up the belly.

Step two:

Skin one side. Some hunters slit the hide down the back and peel it down off the legs as if you were removing pants. I prefer to skin from the belly side up, and use the hide as a clean “tarp” laid out from the backbone. Skin one side completely off the legs and up and over the spine.

If you’re caping the animal (a separate skill we don’t have room to discuss here), make the primary rear cut around the torso well behind the front shoulders, and depending on your caping method, slice up the top of the neck to the base of the skull, or begin roll-skinning the cape up toward the head.

Step three:

Remove the front shoulder. To do this, lift up the skinned-out front leg and with your knife, cut close to the rib cage, working from the chest up toward the spine. Take as much meat as you can, cutting forward to the point of the chest and generously rearward around the back of the shoulder blade.

The shoulder will easily lift as you continue up toward the spine. Try not to cut into the backstrap, but take all other meat right up to the backbone. The front shoulder is not attached by any joints, and will lift free.

Lay the shoulder on a clean surface; ideally a clean tarp or rock or log. Remove the lower leg at the knee joint. If there are flies about, put the quarter into a meat sack, close the top and hang it on the shady side of a nearby tree.

Note: If you plan to take the rib cage sides intact, you may not want to cut as close to the ribs while removing the front shoulders.

Step four:

Remove the rear quarter. This is trickier than the front shoulder. Make a deep cut around the top of the quarter, close to the spine and tight to the pelvic cradle that brackets the top of the hindquarter fore and aft. Stay close to the bone with your blade and work the cut deep down toward the hip joint.

Next, lift the hind leg firmly. Slice through the muscle where the blade-like pelvic bone comes together between the hindquarters. Staying close to the bone, keep cutting and lifting. You’ll need to slice the hindquarter free along its front edge, being careful not to cut too deep and pop through into the abdominal cavity.

Deep inside, you’ll find the ball joint of the hip. Wrench upward on the hindquarter to spread the joint. Slice the ligaments around it, and as the joint opens, cut through the primary tendon inside the hip joint. The heavy hindquarter should spring nearly free as you make that cut. Slice away remaining muscle holding the hindquarter to the carcass and lift the hindquarter off.

As with the front quarter, lay it somewhere clean, and remove the lower leg at the hock. Again, if there are flies around, bag and hang the quarter.

Side note: Some hunters like to leave the hide on each quarter, and simply cut them free without skinning. This is super-fast and keeps the meat cleaner, but doesn’t allow it to cool as quickly.

Step five:

Now, it’s time to remove the first backstrap. With the half of the hide that’s skinned off spread out below the spine to provide a clean surface, sink the blade of your knife deep beside the spine. Start at the hip, and slice forward all the way up over the shoulder hump, keeping the blade nice and close to the bone.

Next, start along the ribs where the backstrap feathers out. Delicately “skin” the backstrap off the ribs, then down along the short ribs as it thickens, deep and tight to the spine. Work the backstrap out of its place from front to back, being careful to avoid leaving any of that terrific meat on the carcass. Hang it over a clean tree branch in the shade or put it in a meat sack and hang it.

Step six:

Neck meat comes off next. This is one of the harder cuts to lift off cleanly. Be patient and work close to the bone. Use a sharp blade that easily slices through tendon and stringy muscle groups. Lift away the half exposed by your skinning and place it in the shade to cool.

Step seven:

Time to dive for a tenderloin—and this is the first point at which you’ll enter the abdominal cavity. (If you put a bullet or arrow high through the guts, proceed with caution, as the tenderloins will most likely have been tainted.)

Using a sharp blade tip, slice through the abdominal wall just below the backbone from the rear of the ribs to the front of the hip. Have a helper (if you’ve got one) pull on the lower edge of the slit, stretching the abdominal wall down away from the spine. Push any intestines away from the backbone, exposing the tenderloin where it lays along the bottom of the spine. Work it loose with firm but delicate fingers; if done properly, a knife isn’t needed except at the ends of the tenderloin. Be careful not to tear or shred the tenderloin, as it’s easy to damage. You’re half done.

Step eight:

Stretch the skinned-off portion of the hide out, and roll the carcass over. This is usually pretty easy; just grab the two remaining legs and lever the whole thing up and over. It’ll lay out nice and clean on the stretched-out hide.

Having the hide underneath is particularly important if you want the rib racks. It’s also generally helpful in keeping dirt and detritus from sticking to the skinned off side of the carcass and spreading.

Repeat steps one through seven. It’ll go fast this time, since you’ve already made all the necessary cuts in the hide.

Step nine:

With all four quarters, the backstraps, neck meat, and tenderloins removed and cooling in the shade, it’s time to chop or saw out the rib racks and take the desired internal organs—if you intend to take them. Strictly speaking, the gutless method is accomplished with all the external meat removed, and when working on a skinny, rut-drawn mule deer or elk, most western hunters leave the ribs (when legal) as a gift for the local birds and other scavengers.

I’ve used a small Gransfors Bruk hand axe to chop out elk and moose rib racks, and I’ve used a stout hunting knife and more muscle than I wanted to hack out deer ribs. A better route is a high-quality, lightweight folding saw such as those by Gerber. Apply a bit of patience, and you can lift the rib rack out clean as a surgeon.

Before flipping the carcass back over to cut out the final rib rack, sort through the organs and collect those you wish to keep. If you’re not used to eating the organs, keep in mind that they all provide 3 to 5 times the nutrition and vitamins that normal meat does. I usually select the heart and liver. More discerning wild game chefs also keep the kidneys, sweetbreads and so forth.

Step ten:

I also usually remove the head at this point, enabling me to access and collect the tongue. Tip the nose steeply down toward the chest, stretching the muscle and tendons on the upper back of the skull where it attaches to the neck. Using a sharp but robust knife (no replaceable-blade folders here), slice through and find the last joint between the skull and spine.

Tilt and turn the head slightly as you go, working patiently through the ligaments and connective tissues. Hit the right spot, and the joint separates easily. Slice through the esophagus and so forth, and twist the head free. If you want the tongue, work it free by skinning off the skull from the bottom.

Finally, roll what’s left of the carcass back over and repeat step nine to remove the other rib rack. Shake off the blood—because there will be a lot—and stow it in the shade to cool.

Before you sit down for a snack, there are a couple of housekeeping items to take care of. First, police up the area diligently, collecting any trash you may have inadvertently dropped or discarded while working. Next, if you’re in serious bear country, relocate yourself and your meat and antlers at least 80 to 100 yards from the carcass. You want enough space to safely approach and load your pack and walk away if a bear is feeding on the carcass.

In a blow-by-blow description like this, the gutless method may seem like quite a process. However, once performed a couple times it becomes surprisingly simple. I can do a deer or elk on the ground more quickly than I can do one with the traditional gut, skin and take apart method hanging from a rafter or tractor bucket.

More importantly, I can do it all on my own, in rough country and with no wasted time or effort. Performing the gutless method is a skill vital to successfully bringing meat home in good condition from the backcountry.

---