First, slow down. After the excitement of the shot and recovery, this is when hunters get careless with knives, terrain, and heavy loads.

1. Confirm the deer is dead from a safe distance.

2. Unload or safely secure your weapon.

3. Take photographs before moving the animal.

4. Attach or validate your tag as required.

5. Check your state’s rules concerning evidence of sex, edible-meat requirements, and carcass transportation—especially in CWD areas.

6. Send your location and status through your satellite communicator if you are alone.

Before cutting, study your surroundings. If the deer is lying on a steep slope, move or anchor it before beginning. A deer sliding downhill while you have a knife in your hand is a rodeo nobody asked for.

Carry:

• Two sharp knives or one knife with replaceable blades

• Lightweight sharpener or extra blades

• Four or five breathable game bags

• Nitrile gloves

• Paracord

• Contractor bag or clean ground sheet

• Headlamp with spare batteries

• First-aid supplies

• Snacks/Electrolytes

• Pack with a capable meat shelf

• Optional lightweight pulley or mechanical-advantage system

Plastic contractor bags are useful as a clean working surface, but meat should not remain sealed inside them. Warm meat needs airflow.

Skin the First Side

Pinch the hide along the backbone and make a shallow cut from the base of the skull toward the tail.

Do not plunge the knife downward. Keep the blade nearly parallel with the hide so you do not cut into the meat or body cavity.

From that centerline cut:

1. Skin down across the shoulder.

2. Skin down across the ribs.

3. Skin over the hindquarter.

4. Continue until the upper side is fully exposed.

Use your free hand to pull the hide while making short strokes with the knife. Let tension do most of the work.

Keep hair on the hide side and meat on the meat side. Every time you reach across the hide with dirty gloves, sleeves, or a knife, you move hair and grime onto the meat.

Remove the Front Quarter

A deer’s front quarter is attached by muscle, not bone.

Pull the front leg away from the body and cut through the natural seam behind the shoulder blade. Continue underneath the shoulder until the entire quarter comes free.

Place it immediately into a breathable game bag. If practical, hang it from a tree or place it on clean rocks, logs, or brush where air can circulate around it.

Do not set a warm quarter directly on snow for an extended period. Snow can insulate the meat, wet the game bag, and cool only the exterior.

Pull the hind leg outward and begin cutting along the inside of the thigh.

Follow the seam toward the ball-and-socket joint. Rotate the leg until you locate the joint, then sever the connective tissue around it. You should not need to saw through the femur or pelvis.

Continue cutting around the outside of the quarter until it comes free.

If your state requires evidence of sex to remain naturally attached, plan for that before completely removing the appropriate hindquarter. Regulations vary, so know the requirement before the hunt—not while standing over a dead buck in the dark.

Place the hindquarter in its own game bag and get air around it.

The backstrap runs alongside the spine from the shoulder toward the pelvis.

Make one cut along the spine and another along the upper edge of the ribs. Use the tip of the knife to peel the meat away from the bone in long strokes.

Work carefully around the shoulder blade and pelvis. Put the backstrap into a smaller game bag rather than tossing it loose into a quarter bag.

Trim all usable meat from:

• The neck

• The brisket

• The outside of the ribs

• Between the ribs, where required or practical

• The area around the shoulder blade

• The pelvis

• Any remaining accessible muscle

This is where “quartering” becomes “butchering.” The four quarters are obvious. The smaller pieces are where hunters either recover the whole animal or leave several pounds behind.

The tenderloin sits inside the body cavity, beneath the spine and just ahead of the pelvis.

With the gutless method, reach it from the rear of the rib cage:

1. Carefully cut behind the last rib.

2. Create only enough room to reach inside.

3. Keep the stomach and intestines pressed away from the blade.

4. Locate the tenderloin against the underside of the spine.

5. Work it free with your fingers and short knife strokes.

Avoid puncturing the paunch. If that happens, move contaminated meat away from the spill immediately and clean the affected area with clean water and cloth—not dirt, grass, or pine needles.

When in doubt, remove the guts of the animal to get these out.

Turn the Deer Over

Before rolling the deer, organize everything from the completed side.

Make sure:

• Every game bag is closed.

• Meat is positioned away from the carcass.

• Your knife is sheathed.

• Your rifle or bow is out of the way.

• Nothing will roll downhill.

Roll the deer onto its processed side, using the remaining hide as a clean surface beneath it. Repeat the entire sequence:

1. Skin the second side.

2. Remove the front quarter.

3. Remove the hindquarter.

4. Remove the backstrap.

5. Trim the neck, ribs, brisket, and pelvis.

6. Recover the second tenderloin.

Deal With the Head and Cape

If you are keeping the head, antlers, or cape, remove them only after the meat is secured.

For a shoulder mount, skin well behind the shoulder and leave plenty of cape for the taxidermist. When in doubt, leave more hide—not less.

In a CWD management area, transporting the brain or spinal column may be restricted. Know whether the skull must be cleaned or the head submitted for testing before leaving the unit.

The head and cape should generally be your last priority. Meat comes first.