Field Dressing

[VikingsGuy]

So, how to you dress your pronghorn in the field?

 

[Carlin59]

Always gutless, usually debone the hind quarters and bring the front quarters out on the bone. Variations are sometimes deboning the front shoulders, or sometimes taking the hinds out on the bone. Either way, I'm done touching antelope guts

 

[mtmiller]

Flat ground and not that heavy, so I leave bone in.

 

[deer_shooter]

Usually gutless, quarter and pack out. I don't debone until i get home. At camp i will clean up the quarters and vacuum seal each in a large pleated vacuum seal bag, another smaller bag gets the backstraps, tenderloins etc. I have 200 quart marine cooler that they go into with plenty of ice. When i get home i can process how i want, portion out and vacuum seal and freeze.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I didn't vote because none of the choices fit what we do.
We gut the antelope and take it back to camp and then skin, quarter. usually within an hour. Then put in a 120qt cooler between layers of block ice. We are careful to drape layers of meat with plastic so that no water melts on it. Keeping drain plug out. After the initial cooling there are still at least half a cooler full of blocks left.
I've kept an antelope for a week this way with zero problems and still have ice left.
I forgot to mention that our antelope seasons here in NV are in August and it's still very warm even in the northern part, I'm talking low to mid 90's during the day.

 

[Eric.MN]

Gutless method (Randy has a great YouTube video on this), quarter in game bags and in cooler over frozen milk jugs, do the rest of the butchering/processing when I get home, Wrap and in the freezer. Never had a problem with my method on warm October weeks and into cold November.

 

[2rocky]

Each situation depends. If it is a typical roaded BLM ground, just gut it in the field and skin it back at camp hanging on a gambrel.

I've killed an antelope in a wilderness area, and I did gutless on the bone and packed it out in one trip in my backpack.

In any case the guts stay in the field where he fell dead, although I suppose if I was hunting a waterhole, I'd take the carcass away to gut it.

 

[WapitiBob]

Did mine yesterday, 96 deg

Gutless, quartered, and into bags 11:00 am
bags and ice into cooler 11:15 am
bags out of cooler at 9:00 pm and hung off camper jacks
this morning, 8 am into cooler, no ice, then into camper
3:00 pm muscles separated, bagged and into man room refrigerator

 

[wytex]

If it's cool outside we will take the whole animal home to hang and age after gutting, not cool we quarter and take home in coolers.
We do hunt 1 1/2 hrs from the house though.

 

[Redman]

Gutless.

 

[Bigjay73]

Did mine yesterday, 96 deg

Gutless, quartered, and into bags 11:00 am
bags and ice into cooler 11:15 am
bags out of cooler at 9:00 pm and hung off camper jacks
this morning, 8 am into cooler, no ice, then into camper
3:00 pm muscles separated, bagged and into man room refrigerator

That's just wrong

 

[JohnCushman]

How are you guys getting hearts and livers if you're doing gutless...?

 

[WapitiBob]

Liver stays with the guts on mine. Heart came out in 10 seconds. Cut on each side of a rib, then cut the rib loose where it attaches to the sternum, pull it back/break it, reach in and pull the heart out.

 

[JohnCushman]

I hunt antelope about 20 minutes from my house. So, when I get one down I gut it and take the heart and liver and take it home whole and hang it and skin it. I can have the skin off and the rear quarters filleted off the bone and fronts off and backstraps and grind meat off within about 45 minutes from loading it in the truck.

 

[Reverendekim11B]

Cushman i see your in south east co. Can i pick your breain on a soild hunting spot here. Got about five days for archery season before i head to ALC in Ga

 

[JohnCushman]

Cushman i see your in south east co. Can i pick your breain on a soild hunting spot here. Got about five days for archery season before i head to ALC in Ga

Sure

 

[MN Public Hunter]

I have to say most critters I have taken are close to the truck, so I gut it...it's only takes like 5 min at best and that allows it to cool down quicker. We then take it back to camp and butcher it, throw it in coolers and we are set. I would still do the gutting if far from the truck to get the goodies as Cushman has stated. What is 5 minutes.

 

[Wapiti1]

Skin ASAP. Then quarter gutless, + Backstrap. tenderloin, heart, neck meat, etc. in my pack. Take to camp and butcher (in packages freezer wrapped) immediately and throw in my trailer refer then freezer after cool down. If I don't take my trailer I Have a 120 Q cooler with just gal jugs of frozen water, put antelope on Ice, if out of state I add dry ice on top of a layer of cardboard and duct tape the lid shut. Cooler will handle 2 Antelope and lots of ice jugs. Leaving in 10 days for this years hunt. Excited.

 

[MN Public Hunter]

How do you get the heart with the gutless method? LOL

 

[Topgun 30-06]

How do you get the heart with the gutless method? LOL

See post #13