Once a deer is on the ground, the real work begins. Always approach deer from behind until it is determined dead before preceding any further. Once it is determined that the deer is dead, tag it immediately. Once tagged, the field processing can begin. The tools needed to field dress a deer are basic - a sharp sturdy folding or fixed blade knife, a pair of gloves (plastic or rubber), a length of string and a couple of plastic bags. Some hunters find the use of a small bone saw handy for splitting the sternum and pelvis. However, it can be done with a sharp knife.

Step 1
Position the deer on its back, legs in the air. While standing, straddle the front shoulders, facing to the rear quarters. With your forefinger, feel along the breastbone until you can feel where it stops and the abdomen starts. At this point, lift the skin and make a small incision being careful not to cut through to the intestines. Once a slit is made, insert the first two fingers, palm up, of your non-knife hand (in the case of a right-handed person - this would be your left hand).

Step 2
Keeping your first two fingers together, guide the knife, blade up, through them. Apply upward pressure with your fingers to keep the skin up and away from the intestines while sliding the knife towards the pelvic area. Keep the blade horizontal and shield the tip with your fingers to ensure that the intestines are not punctured.

Step 3
When the slit approaches the external reproductive organs, cut around them, removing them from the abdominal wall, but do not remove completely.

Step 4
At this point turn around and straddle the animal from the rear facing the head. Inset the knife into the chest cavity at the original sternum opening. Only do this if you are planning on NOT mounting the head. If you have an animal that you plan on mounting, only open up the abdominal cavity to remove the intestines and internal organs. Refer to our section on caping for further instructions.

Step 5
Using both hands, cut through the center of the sternum to the base of the throat. If the animal is large, you may have to use a bone saw to complete this process.

Step 6
Free the windpipe and esophagus by cutting around them at the base of the throat.

Step 7
Hold the rib cage open and cut the diaphragm away from the ribcage wall all the way to the backbone on each side. If you would like to save the liver and heart, now is a good time to remove them and place them in a protective plastic sack.

Step 8
Return to the rear portion of the animal and cut around the anus and on a doe around the reproductive opening. Separate from the body and tie off with string. At this time it is also a good idea to split the pelvis to aid in intestine removal - while it does not have to be done as the intestines can be pulled through the pelvis cavity once they are separated and tied off, many hunters find splitting the pelvis easier and cleaner. Cut through the middle of the pelvis region with a sharp knife while pulling the legs apart - the cartilage will pop loose, exposing the pelvic canal.

Step 9
Now everything should be cut free and is ready to be removed. Roll the deer over on its side, hopefully with the rear quarters slightly downhill. Start at the throat, grasp the severed windpipe and begin pulling towards the rear portion of the deer. Some additional cutting may be required as you go along, but if all these steps have been followed, all of the entrails should roll out onto the ground.

Step 10
Prop the body cavity open and allow it to cool - it is a good idea to hang the deer off the ground to prevent heat from being trapped under the deer - if the weather is warm, entire skinning as well as packing the carcass with ice is advisable.