When you shoot a deer, whats the first thing you do?

Not counting tagging the buck, whats the first thing you do? I was taught from the first buck i shot at 7 years old to cut off his hocks and his testicles. However, i have been in a lot of hunting camps, and see a lot of pictures on the THF, with people who dont do this. So I am curious, who does this before moving the buck back to camp to clean?

Not me. I know folks who do but I think it's an old wives tail.

Never heard of this. What is the purpose?

Not me, pics first!

phone calls first to rub it in on folks who are at work.

pics are great, yes.

I do it for a few reasons. First, a mature buck stinks, and when moving them i dont want to get urine from the hocks all over me. Second, no back flow of anything from the testicles back into the body. Dont know if it affects anything or not, but i dont want to change it now. I know that on pronghorn, the faster you skin them, the better they taste, less of a sage taste. So, same should go for a rut crazed buck.

Who knows if it really matters, but the hocks for sure are just nasty.

Pics, then the above

True dat! I do that before I leave the stand.

tag then gut

Pray, then shoot again.




no no.. im kidding.. I usually wait about 20 minutes, drink a beer, get down, go over, kick the body (just to make sure you know), tag, start carving.

depends on the person, I've been known to call them up and put them on speakerphone so they hear the shot.

I thank the One who created the beautiful buckola and then I dance around it. Then I proceed to tag'm so that he's no longer the states property but mine all mine. Then I look around wishing some one was here to help me load the beast in the truck(since I only shoot big mature bucks).

where the heck do you guys hunt where you have cell service?

In the panhandle

I've done that..... that's fun.

East Tx, but only b/c the hill I'm on is 100' above everything else around...it's the only spot I have service. When I hunt riverbottom, I have to hold my hand up and away from the tree to get a signal.

I now do that to my bro since he dropped his lease and my nephew no longer has a steady place to hunt...chaps my rear and I rub it in every chance I get. I've got to get that little squirt hunting, but it would require his dad to sit at home while he hunts.

I do the same with the exception of first sending a text that I've got one down.

If it's a buck, I pray.............that it's legal.
JUST KIDDIN'!!!
or am I?

I usually answer all of the "Was that you that shot?" texts, then I take a pic and post it on Facebook with the Blackberry. I only get one bar out there but it goes through.

I never cut anything off right away and I process all of my own meat so I can make sure it stays clean and its actually the one that I shot. I also bleed them out with fresh ice for 3-4 days before processing. They all taste great. Just got though with another batch of jerky tonight.

x2

there is no reason to believe that urine from the deers bladder would have an impact on meat that it touches.
just wash it off...

ever accidentally peed on your hands while at the urinal.. (i havent of course.. :))
did your hands fall off or become infected with disease...

most every piece of meat we take off a deer is covered in a membrane of some kind,meaning you arent going to be marinating the meat in pee.. so wash it off, bleed it out on ice and they taste better anyway.

i guess if you dont have water at your place to rinse the carcass then i would get the argument. otherwise, i just gut them as soon as possible and get the deer on ice.

that's a sig line!

first thing i do.... take a pic with my phone and send it to all my friends.....


then i tag it, go get the truck, drive over there, and get it loaded.

Go back to the house and hang it from the tractor to skin it out....

Thank the Lord for sharing such an awesome creature then text my brothers to come help

Thank God, tag it, gut it.

The 1st thing I do......turn to my Buddy Joe and ask him if he brought his knife?

I yell, turn off the light and stop the truck!

and, hurry up and load him before someone sees us....

....and hope he is 13 inches.

but at that point, who really cares lol.

I usually finish my beer first

Sit and let it bleed, thank God, poke it with the barrel of my gun to make sure, fill out tag and harvest log, cut off the hocks, use the butt out II and gut it. Pictures if someone is there to take them if not load it up and off to the processor.

Unless it dropped, I usually wait about 20 minutes to half an hour before I even think about getting out and looking for it. I shot a buck this year by taking out both shoulders. He literally tried to leap, but couldn't hold either front leg up so he ended up shoveling the ground with his face as his back legs pushed him forward. Obvious kill shot, but I still didn't go check the brush until my buddies got there. He didn't make it 5 yards, but I've had a bad experience pushing a mortally wounded buck, so I just won't do it.

Then I slam several beers as hard as possible.

I do a victory dance

thank GOD...

lift the animals head and admire what just happened. then take some photos if i have my camera or cell phone. i usually gut the deer in area that would not affect hunting - due to coyotes.

Cut it's throat to bleed it out. Same for hogs.

first thing i do is call my buddy. Pictures, tag and transport to gutting area.

Guess you are not going to be shoulder mounting that bad boy?

First thing is texting everyone with BBD!

Second thing is everyone gathering around the buck for some celebration. That would consist of taking turns on taking pulls from a bottle of Gentleman Jack. That can be quite fun at 7:30 in the a.m.

really..noone on here starts writing a check?

The very first thing I do is take pictures.

Next, is get him loaded up and back to the cleaning rack. Nothing needs to get cut off before getting him back to camp.

Pray for the gift of that animal and it's life. Then Pics and a shot from the "Kill Bottle."

I pee all over it to mark it as mine. I have some friends with some thieving ways.

tag it. take pics. then load it up and take it up to camp to clean it

Doe: tag it

Buck:

Tag it, load it on ATV, go to camp, cut of tarsel glands, wash hands, field dress.

Wait for the "was that you shooting" texts, then tell them to get there but over here to field dress. Then pop a top

So if you cut the hocks off so you dont get anything on you do you also skinn the entire leg from the hock down? cause there is wizz all over that too.

Why does skinning one reduce the sage taste in a deer? I would think they get that from eating it... which has nothing to do with their skinn.

We shoot take pics gut quarter and put on ice and finally remember to put a tag on the horns or go find the leg out of the gut pile to tag it.

Tag, Pics (if its a good one), gut. It takes longer to tag it and take pics then gut it.

1st thing I do is stand up and do a few dry humps at the air

Sounds like me when away from the house. I've often forgot to tag it immediately - usually get it done about the time the gutting is over and someone reminds me. Someday that is going to bite me in the [censored]. If in my pasture it is drag back to house, pictures, butcher, wife washes hair off meat, then into the fridge. Next day I make burger and wrap everything.

I have never bothered cutting the testicles or tarsal glands off early, nor have I seen any doing it. If it was okay on the animal for several years, I figure another 15-20 minutes ain't going to change anything.

1st thing I do is go get my hands on them Antlers.

drjoe hit on the head. Say a prayer of thanks. Son shot his first deer this year and after the excitement walking to the deer, I made him stop, pause and we said a prayer of thanks.

Exactly what I do unless it is close to empty, then I drink another.

Pics, than I make calls and celebrate than the work begins. I then clean the deer or whatever animal it is.

I usually tell the guide im hunting with, hey ill give you 40 bucks to quarter it and put it in my cooler for me.

Yep, I am a texting fool up there.

X2

That made me spew my beer on the floor!
I have learned to turn my head away from my laptop, finally!

I throw in another round. Just in case

1st is to remember to breath, then I thank the Good Man upstairs.....

I bow my head and give thanks that my eyes are still good enough to hit what I'm aimin' at and then say thank you for puttin' the durn thing close enough for me to see!!

After pics and cleaning its time for a tender loin mmmm.

Usually try and calm the ole pumper down cause my pulse is about 200 at that point! Fill out the tag while I"m still shaking. Maybe take some pics, off to camp for the work. In the rut, I sometimes cut the hocks off if they stink extremely bad.

I hold my hand out and wait for the check, does that count?

Where is it going to flow to? Back into its bladder? Back into the gonads? How is fluid in the deers testicles and in the deers bladder going to affect anything?

By the way, fresh urine is sterile, no bacteria whatsover. Its only after urine sits around that bacteria can grow in it.

I grew up where we didn't even field dress the deer. All deer were stacked up on the wharf, everyone had a nice filling breakfast and then we cleaned the deer. First of all they are much easier to skin if they aren't gutted. All of the deer were gutted hanging up, much less of a mess. Then all of the guts are hauled down the bayou at once as the tide is dropping.

Never had a bad tasting deer.

give my son a high five.. we have a deal based on distance.. he is 10, he gets shots 100 and under and i get the rest.. works out great usually for him. then on bucks i usually remove those glands and field dress as soon as i can,, not sure if it makes a diff or not but only takes about 15 seconds to remove those, and about 7 min to field dress one

Tag it, go back to camp to get the ATV trailer,

Load it up

Hang it up

Cut it up

Wash it up

Pack it up

Then drink up

I try to get that bastag over to my side of the fence as fast as possible and hope nobody was lookin'

Whether he's laying there or not, I have a smoke and either a cold one or a cup of coffee from the thermos, depending on the weather, just to make sure he's not going anywhere. I kicked up a "dead" buck about 25 years ago. I'll never make that mistake again!

send mama a text, (no cell service) say a prayer, load him/her in the 4 wheeler, head to camp, hang it, start working on tag an log, someone hands me a wellers, get to skinnin, then hang in the cooler

U mean tag then move, gotta a buddy for moving his buck before he tagged it

Tell my son yes that was me that shot.

nope, move then tag. MLD, permits are kept in binder at the cabin, we dont use our license tags or yes, we would tag first. Be a heckuva treck to go back and forth

I think alot of old timers cut the nuts out and glands first thing.I have caught hogs with a few that cut the hog first thing, only been with one guy that cut the deers hocks.Never done it and meat taste fine.

Wonder if they happen to be in camp what they would say? If they will write a ticket for coming to camp before tagging with your license, seems like could in mld ranch as well, just curious

Regs state that due to paperwork involved you can wait till in camp to tag the deer under MLD.

Just wondered, I think there shouldn't be an issue taking on to camp to tag, but after he got a ticket for it I tag em before I move em.

stxranchman, I bet the first thing you do when you shoot a deer is eat popcorn.

If they have been on the deer for years, what is the extra 10 minutes of them being on there going to do? Seems pointless to me.

X2

yep ^^^, and back to camp is the ONLY way out of the place. We don't use our license tags, we use the MLD tags, numbered, that are recorded in a log for TPWD. We have to cut the jaw, tag it, and weight em.

The hocks are more about getting it on you...that doesnt have anything to do with the meat's taste. Now the huevos, i prefer my way, but it's prolly just habit, who knows if it matters.

I think alot of old timers think about waiting for something else to walk out so they can shoot it. I know thats how my dad is and grandpa was.

I normally have very few bullets with mine when I used to go for hunting Deer. So, before shooting Deer, I though about a dialog of a movie (I forgot the name of the movie). The dialog is "aim small, miss small".

1) rack another shell in
2) wait and see while drinking a beer
3) make the walk to it
4) make sure it is down- secure rifle
5) thank the lord for the animal and my aim
6) start the texts
7) field dressing time
8) go back and repeat

I'll tell ya as soon as I get one..LOL

I have caught hogs with a few that cut the hog first thing, only been with one guy that cut the deers hocks.Never done it and meat taste fine.

i have never heard of cutting the hocks off but nuts yeah. i was waiting for someone to reply go to town and buy a hunting license if he had real good horns.

.....gut it, Quarter it and put it on ice, cycle the ice and Cook the Tenderloins and Straps that evening.

The Patriot, Mel Gibson tells one of his sons this just before they take out some Brits.

Thanks buddy

Yes, you are right. Thanks for the name. it was awesome and the most favorite movie I ever seen.

I usually check my phone after my adrenalin slows down and I gotta text message saying "I heard that one hit"

All of that is a preference thing, IMO. I've never heard of cutting out the nads / hocks and only half the people I hunt with bleed it in the field. I don't do any of that and have never had a problem or foul tasting meat. I have a friend who loves to talk about the health benefits of draining the blood from the meat by cutting the deer's throat. The he eats the heart, liver and kidneys from the deer.

After the shot we tag (depending on species), do pictures, then I gut it and we take it to camp for skinning and quartering. I gut on the ground or the pickup tailgate. For larger game (like elk and bison) I drag it halfway up my tilt-bed trailer and gut it using gravity to help.

I don't know. Never shot one.
If I ever go hunting and do, I'll let you know.

i stop shaking and let my adrenaline calm down. i have taken well over 20 deer and still get excited everytime

I pull a Stan Potts and have to take a second. And then make sure I don't need to change my underpants because I'm so excited.

start fist pumping, calm my self, knock another arrow, start texting everyone that is hunting, TRY to keep myself in the stand for an hour after. I have never cut off their hocks or anything.

I was also brought up to remove the hocks(tarsal gland) first thing (buck or doe). It really has nothing to do with meat preservation. It has more to do with scent. Nothing better than the real thing. I have taken a buck and/or doe and left the tarsals in the exact place where I recovered the deer the day prior and hunted the next day and watched deer bucks and/or doe go to them and smell them and get so excited they pee on themselves and start running around looking for that deer, I guess. You can also freeze them for the following year if you can get them in a freezer quick enough, just my 2 cents

Reload, drink a beer and text my son to come and clean it....

I thank Obama for letting me live freely in the best country in the world. As Ted Nugent would say "You can't do this in France."

Didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I read that.

I love taking a Stan potts moment. LOL.

Thank the creater God for the nourishment and hunt.

Give thanks to the King of Kings!

Turn on the TV and wait for someone to come back to the cabin. When they come back we get in the truck and go to where the deer is, I tag it, then they gut and load the deer for me.

Amen!!!

I hope you wash your knife when you wash your hands.

i've never worried about cutting off the balls or hocks prior to field dressing. my grandpa did though. like others that have posted here, it was the first thing he would do.

i like to take pictures in the field, and then get them dressed out as soon as possible. if its cold outside i like to let them cool out a little before i skin them. but if its warm, then skin, quarter, and on ice the go. same with hogs.

I usually kiss my rifle on the scope if I drop the deer or I see it drop. Then I'll bring the deer back to camp and celebrate with a "victory" cigar and beer while quartering it up

Deer or hog, I pause to honor the game. It's just a me thing. Tell them I appreciate the hunt/chase. Tag them as necessary, clean the game...then laissez les bons temps rouler! Good cigar and three ice cubes and three fingers of Wellers. Enjoy the night sky.

I was taught to cut the nuts and scent glands off immediately. I like the idea of freezing them till next season as a scent attractant. Never tried it before but I think it would work great.

I usually have a sniper treat aka cold beer. Then pics to my buddies reminding them they are inferior to me. Then load it up, quarter it at camp and have it in a cooler within 30 min. I like to get it over with quickly just like doing my taxes.

amazing how much of a variety there is.

Put another Round in the Chamber and make sure it does not get up, then wait a few minutes to see if anything else walks out.

Cut its throat and let it breed out.

I just sit back and enjoy the quiet that inevitably come right after the a shot is fired. Then I get down and yell like a crazy mad man!!

jump back in the truck. give high fives. go down the road turn lights back on wait an hour get deer and repeat!
just playin.

my biggest buck i told my dad i missed and drug the deer back to the truck with all the adrenalin i had and when dad saw the buck in the back of the truck i though he was gonna cry

Every mature buck I have killed.....I pause and reflect of what it took to get to harvest such a great animal. Call boss lady and hunting partners to let them know that a mature deer has been harvested.

Does.....a little different.

Rifle on safe:

Drink while hunting...real nice, not smart or safety-wise at all!

go change your diaper kyotee!

Reload my dip.

txt my hunt'n buds....

Whats not safe about it wanna be? Maybe you should loosen up and realize life... real nice

i shut off my headlights, throw the deer back over the fence and in the truck, and check to make sure nobody is around. then drive out with no lights.

its about being stealth.

coonsaw

Take pics!

As a proud lover and guzzler of beer (note my username) I implore everyone NOT to drink and hunt. It ranks right up there with being just as stupid and irresponsible as drinking and driving.

look for a skinner