Cleaning a deer (N2)

If you have the good fortune to take a deer this fall, you will experience one of the greatest thrills in hunting. You will earn yourself a cache of tasty, low fat, high-protein venison that will provide many delicious meals for you and your family. If your deer is a buck, you might also want to preserve the head for mounting. After handshakes have been exchanged and the photographs have been taken, it's time to get down to the gritty business of skinning and cleaning your deer. This is the least glamorous part of the hunt, but doing it right will protect the integrity of your meat and help ensure the best possible flavor. It will also ensure that your taxidermist can provide the best possible mount. Immediately after killing your deer, use your knife to cut the fleshy tissue between the elbow and tendon on one of the hind legs, then detach the transportation tag portion of your deer hunting permit and attach it to the leg. This will allow you to legally remove the deer from the field and transport it to the nearest check station. "Cleaning" refers to removing the internal organs from the deer's body cavity. You should do this immediately upon killing a deer. Venting the body cavity and removing the organs and blood allows the carcass to cool quickly. This slows the decomposition process, which begins the moment a deer's respiratory and circulatory functions cease. A deer's body is amazingly well insulated and can retain heat for a long time. The sooner you clean a deer, the better the meat will taste. When you first start do not stab the deer or plunge to knife right into the deer. Just gently cut into the deer and cut right up to the ribs. The cut around all of the organs and cut the butt hole out and also cut the throat of the deer. This will allow you to pull the organs right out. If you do this properly then your meat will not spoil. All of this will take practice to get it all down perfectly.