Field Butchering Tips and Tactics Blog by Marcus Weiner Photos by Brian Woobank Butchering big game is a skill earned from experience and can be daunting to the new hunter. But it doesn’t need to be. Ungulates are constructed the same way, so learning how to break down a deer will give you the introductory skills needed to tackle larger animals like caribou, elk and moose. Here are some field butchering tips and tactics. There are two school of thought on butchering big game in the field – the gutless method or the gutting method. I prefer the gutless method of field butchering big game. Since most of the animals I take in Alaska require them to be packed out, then breaking them down into four quarters; two backstraps; two tenderloins; two sets of ribs, briskets, flank and skirt steaks; and neck meat are the usually butchering method. With that fact in mind, the only reason to gut the animal is if you don’t have the ability to break it down immediately. My goal with every animal is to remove every last scrap of edible meat. Assuming you can begin butchering immediately after taking an animal, then let’s use a moose as an example. Lay the moose on its side, and make a long incision (careful to slide your knife under the hide but not puncture the muscle) from the base of the head to the tail. Other hunters prefer to lay the animal on its back, make an initial cut from the genitals to the base of the neck (assuming you aren’t keeping the cape for mounting), and then peel the hide back on both sides. I prefer to start with the animal laying on one side when butchering big game. Next step is to remove the backstrap. This long chunk of meat sits adjacent to the spine and the top of the ribs. Trace your knife along both those surfaces to remove the backstrap. Note that it runs from the neck to the pelvis. Essentially you make a long, L-shaped cut to remove the backstrap. The next step is to remove the flank and skirt steaks, which are thin cuts of tough meat that cover the gut cavity and ribs. Systematically remove fat, silver skin and connective tissue from around the rib cage and you will expose these cuts. Next step in the butchering big game process is to remove the ribs. Saw the connection between the spine and top of the ribs, or use the tip of your knife to separate each rib from the spine. The bottom connection of the ribs to the sternum can be separated with a knife. Some hunters prefer to leave the ribs in and remove the rib meat, but I find it easier to do when I remove the rib cage. Next is to move on to the tenderloin, which is located under the spine, from the last rib projecting towards the hips. It can be separated from the spine mostly by hand and will require just a little bit of cutting to extricate. After removing the tenderloin, proceed to removing the brisket, which is located on the chest towards the front of the ribcage. The final section to remove on the first side of the moose is the neck meat. Fillet this meat off the bone like you were filleting a salmon. Flip the moose over and do the same to the other side. If you intend to do a shoulder mount or a European mount, then it makes sense to remove the head and cape before flipping the moose and it will make the process of flipping the animal easier.