A warning is probably prudent so I'll do this right away. Field dressing, even in the text form can be a bit squeamish for some folks. So if that's you bear this warning in mind before you read any further. If it's you and you're committed to learning about hunting I recommend you read this article over and over until you are comfortable with it to prepare yourself for the real chore.

First thing to remember is to be prepared to field dress an animal anytime you're out hunting, Keeping the essential tools in the bag you always carry will keep you from being stuck miles from your truck with meat on the ground and your cleaning gear in your truck. I have a very forgetful friend who had to clean an Elk with the blade of hunting arrow for this very reason. One other quick tip is to plan to do the job immediately. In worse case scenarios such as hot weather or a gut shot time is of the essence to properly preserve the meat as both these situations will rapidly accelerate spoilage of the meat. This article is for general field dressing so if you are planning on having any taxidermy work done make sure you check with your taxidermist before your hunt to see if they have any special instructions.

My field dressing kit has 2 knives, a knife sharpener, latex gloves, a bone saw, and a gut hook. I also keep a bottle of water and an old rag aside for cleanup. For beginners the more tools you have the better but the entire job can be done with just a sharp knife. Coarse deer hair will dull even the sharpest of knives very quickly so more than one knife or a sharpener is essential. The saw is for the pelvis and the sternum and the gut hook is a great tool that ensures you don't accidentally puncture the intestinal walls. My advice is to start with a full supply of tools and make changes according to your personal preference as you gain experience.

Remember, what is important here is to get it done, not necessarily to make it pretty. On your first attempt it's not likely to be perfect so don't worry about that, just make sure you get the job done completely. Basic field dressing is nothing more than the removal of internal organs. Make that simple objective the top priority and you can work on making it pretty as you get more experience.

Now that you have the basic idea of field dressing you could use a little tip on the biology aspect. The entire internal organ system is connected from the throat to the anus. In several areas that system in attached to the cavity with thin membranes that hold the various sections in place. To over simplify the process it is nothing more than severing the throat, cutting the anus away from the body, disconnecting the attaching membranes and removing the entire system.

Once your animal is down and found if you can drag the animal to a level open area it will make the job a lot easier. The flat open area is not always available so be prepared for other possibilities. In steep terrain a friend to hold the head uphill or a small piece of rope can be used to tie the animal to a tree or piece of brush and with the head tied uphill gravity will help in the removal process.

OK now that you have the right tools and a good ideal of where to do the chore let's lay the actual process out in a quick way that will be easy to remember.

First, using the gut hook, make the initial incision from between the hind legs up to the sternum. This cut is made only in the hide and ideally you will not puncture any internal membranes or organs. This is probably the most important cut because it is very easy to puncture the intestinal walls and trust me you don't want that experience on your first time. But just in case, if you get overcome by an unearthly foul smell it does not mean your meat is wasted. The smell is telling you that you've punctured a bowel. This is why the gut hook is so handy because if you make this mistake you're going to have to plug your nose for the rest of the task.

After the initial cut you can change the order of the rest of the cuts depending on your own needs. So from here on the order is from my experience so you will have a foundation to build using your own experience. I use this order because most of my hunting is done in steep terrain so I work from the bottom up to prevent the upper portions falling down on me as I am trying to finish.

Step two is a cut made around the anus. The goal here is to detach the anus from the external part of the body. Since the anus is attached to the rectum this cut needs to be about two inches deep to detach all the connecting tissue. After you complete the circular cut make another small cut over the pelvis to connect this cut to the main incision you made earlier.

Step three, provided you have a saw you need to spread the hind legs and cut through the pelvic bone to create an opening for removal of the colon and urethra and cut through the sternum from the base of the ribs to just below the center of the front legs. Cutting through the sternum allows easy access to the throat and inner organ membranes.

Step four is ensure the colon and urethra are free of the pelvis and the hide. Pull both tubes out from under the pelvis or through the cut you made with the saw earlier. You may need to spread the hind legs to widen the cut in the pelvis enough to get this done.

Step five requires you to exercise a little caution to prevent injury to your own hands. The goal is to cut the throat and the membrane around the vital organs. Care needs to be taken here because there is likely to be sharp bones inside that can easily slice into your hands. Secondly you may not be able to see some of the tissue you need to cut so you will be feeling around with one hand and moving a sharp knife with the other. This procedure sounds more difficult than it is. I just want to make sure that you have enough information to keep from injuring yourself unnecessarily.

With everything now disconnected it's helpful to turn the animal slightly on its side so you can easily roll out the internal organs without having to go over the sharp edges of the cut you made in the pelvis. On steep terrain gravity will do this once everything is cut.

Congratulations, you have now field dressed your harvest. That wasn't so bad was it? Now you can clean up everything, wash your hands and take a coffee break before you start the real chore of packing the meat back to camp. Don't forget to take a good inventory and make sure you don't leave any of these valuable tools behind. You can give them a thorough cleaning when you have more time and energy back at camp.

Remember these are just the basics and as you gain experience you can adjust this system to what ever works best for you. The main point is that you can now harvest wild game and enjoy the "meat" of your labor confident in your skills.

For additional information and state specific requirements you can access your states fish and game website. Many of the websites will have articles on state specific requirements for harvest, field dressing and even transferring of wild game meat. Make sure you know and follow the rules for your hunt area to avoid the headache of a ticket. Nothing spoils a hunt more than a great big fine at a check station on your way home.