Learn how to hunt deer for beginners and expand your hunting skills with tips on how to field-dress a deer, processing deer meat, and hunter safety education information.
I’ve done enough hunting with a firearm and a bow to be seasoned with both. Every state has different hunting laws, however, there are some guidelines that deer hunters everywhere go by while they’re out in the woods. A proper, successful deer hunt is respectful of nature and the animal being hunted and goes beyond taking the shot.
Hunter Safety Education
Here in Missouri, hunters must go through a hunter safety course to legally hunt deer. These classes are available for a reason. Not only do they help us learn how to be safe, but they also help us hunt efficiently. Hunters who take the course will come away with useful guidance such as “one shot, one kill,” “aim small, miss small,” and gently squeezing the trigger instead of pulling it.
These are simple guidelines to follow as you get an increase in adrenaline and your heart rate goes up in the woods.
If you trust the process, these fundamental guidelines for successful hunting will stick with you. People have different techniques for dealing with things like “buck fever,” although it’s not a bad idea for anyone to take a deep breath before shooting.
A Clean Shot
A good, clean shot in the vitals is always ideal. You should always consider your accuracy and familiarity with the weapon you’re using. This requires hunters to be honest with themselves.
If you’re familiar with the vital spots of a deer and you know to find a small spot on the animal to aim at, remain calm as you aim. Remember, if you can’t kill it, don’t pull the trigger!
It’s not ideal to hit a deer and have it run off before it dies. Unfortunately, many of the shots people take don’t kill the deer where it can be harvested, field-dressed, and brought back home to clean.
If you’re shooting with a bow, “aim small, miss small” is especially important. Once you’ve got an accurate estimation of how many yards away it is, don’t look through your peep sights at the entire deer. Find a specific spot on its body where you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if a razor-sharp arrow hits, it will kill the animal almost instantly.
Anything over 100 yards is too far. Even if you kill the deer, you’ll have to do 100 or so yards of carrying 80-plus pounds of dead weight.
How to Field-Dress a Deer
This leads me to address something deer hunters come across too often. If you don’t feel like cleaning a deer and field-dressing it appropriately, why are you in the woods? Shoot it, kill it, and take it back to the field dressing area. Even if it runs downhill after a direct hit, it won’t run far.
If you hang it by its legs high enough and have a sharp knife, it’s not hard. Try to get gravity to work with you. Cut from the top down and pull the skin off as you’re skinning it with a knife. Cut off the head. Now, you’ll have plenty of lean meat that’s free of steroids or any synthetic junk.
Processing Deer Meat
You can get your deer processed or do it yourself. If you have some sharp knives, a knife sharpener, and a hacksaw, you have what you need. Cut the meat off the legs and remove the back straps. You’ll find the tenderloins inside the deer’s abdominal cavity, under the spine and backstraps. You can almost pull them out; they’re so tender.
Trim off the neck and torso meat. Scrap meat can be ground up or put into a stew or sausage. Ribs can be grilled or barbecued after marinating overnight.
Now, put the deer meat on ice. Some people fill a cooler with ice and salt for the meat to sit in overnight. Icy saltwater is great for drawing out blood and any strong taste, especially on big bucks.
All that’s left is to get the meat off the bones. With some freezer paper and a grinder, you can do all sorts of things with your fresh and respectfully harvested venison!
Originally published as “Harvesting Deer” in the September/October 2024 issue of GRIT magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.
Joseph Neel is a seasoned writer who has traveled the world and now lives in Missouri. He loves nature and the outdoors.
