How to make the best of a bad job!

Monkey Spanker

Well-Known Member
If you shoot enough deer, then occasionally it goes a bit wrong as it did for me tonight! Whilst it was a perfectly humane shot, it was slightly messy! I get paid to shoot in this particular wood for contract culling and I'm under pressure to reduce muntjac numbers, so basically any humane opportunity is taken, regardless of carcass damage. So here we have a slightly oblique chest shot which has ruptured the Rhumen on exit. Small deer - 25.06 with CBT 115 grain Ballistic Tip!
Muntjac Gut 2.JPG
So, what would you do to get the best out of this? Obviously this cannot ever make its way into the food chain via a game dealer, but why waste it? It can still be used for personal consumption or dog food if nothing else. If you gralloch it, it will be very messy and will stink out your chiller and spoil very quickly.
There is an alternative!;)
Whilst it is still warm, hang it up. This can be best done in the field whilst very fresh and not stink out your larder!
Plug both holes with kitchen roll.
Muntjac Gut 1.JPG
Skin deer as you would normally without opening the abdominal cavity.
Muntjac Gut 3.JPG
Remove shoulders, loin fillets and then haunches as best you can.
You should find that you are able to recover almost all of the useable meat other than the internal tenderloin.
Muntjac Gut 5.JPG
This last photo shows the oblique angle of about 45 degrees, which even though I pulled it forward slightly, was not enough to avoid the rhumen! If the animal had been stood the other way around I may have got away with a liver shot though. Once the meat has been saved it is obviously wise to check as many lymph glands as you would normally to ensure that the carcass is fit to eat. As you can see though, very little waste and not much mess! The meat can be matured in the fridge if required as it would if still in the skin. Worth carrying some food safe poly bags and a roll of kitchen roll in your vehicle maybe?
Waste not - want not!;)
MS:)
 

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MS,

Must say, I'm starting to like you ;)

Very useful tip.

African way that I know is to always skin first (it has most value) then drop the guts off suspended gralloch. Meat is then taken off. Bad shot/Good shot the carcass is treated the same.

Stan
 
Thanks for that.

I remember seeing a Japanese (I think) chap on a video in which the shot deer was placed in a sitting position, the skin opened along the midline of the spine and the fillets removed. The skin was further peeled forward toward the ground, allowing removal of haunches and shoulders.

It wasted the skin but kept the exposed meat off the ground and didn't open the abdomen. As you say, an inspection of nodes/pluck etc should follow if you use this technique, followed by responsible carcass disposal.
 
Nice tip and most pertinent to us off-hander stalkers!

In respect of the assertion that “obviously this cannot ever make its way into the food chain via a game dealer” such demonstrable commitment to Best Practice is to be commended but is not, in my experience, the reality in terms of what a; - Game Dealers will accept and b; - that which certain stalkers will offer with an accompanying Hunter’s tag. This mindful that I was lead to believe that any indication that a hose delivering DCW had been deployed to washout a carcass automatically disqualified it from progressing any further into the food chain.

You are a credit to the industry MS.

Cheers

K
 
Ms, have you ever considered a small deer rifle for one species work? Im currently clearing roe and muntjac from some ground, but when the roe numbers are right im considering a .222/.223 for the summer muntjac maintenance visits.
 
Ms, have you ever considered a small deer rifle for one species work? Im currently clearing roe and muntjac from some ground, but when the roe numbers are right im considering a .222/.223 for the summer muntjac maintenance visits.

No mate, I wouldn't. Most of the ground I stalk has at least 3 species on it, as many a 5 species on one bit. All areas have Roe. The 25.06 is a great all-rounder, and to be honest some of the smaller centrefires can cause as much trauma and meat damage anyway. My 280AI with Barnes TSX's also seems to expand in proportion to size of deer with minimal meat damage. Even if the larger species are out of season, there is always a chance that a 'humane dispatch' may be required. I wouldn't fancy trying to dispatch a large lowland stag with a .222 - probably just annoy it! I did look into loading a 30.06 up with a 250 grain bullet that was subsonic and 'super quiet' with a moderator for muntjac in urban areas but it wasn't really possible to get it 'deer legal'!
It would also require a load of case filling media as well as powder. That muntjac was actually shot within about 150m of a housing estate and school!
I suppose I could get a .243, but then there's my pride to consider!:lol:
MS
 
I have to shoot them a lot closer to a village than that, last one was 5m from someones back fence and 40m from a someone in their garden. Shot was 100% safe, 6.5x47, just think something a little quieter might be more appropriate. Only roe and muntjac on ground, so dispatch not an issue, and the roe will be managed properly once numbers are right. Pm me your number please, wouldn't mind a chat about "charging" for this service, dont want to price myself out of the market!! $€$€$€$€
 
Thanks MS, a very handy tip.

How can you tell if you have ruptured the rumen without opening the carcass? I was gutted when I found my shots on two of the roe had also hit slightly further back than intended and at slightly oblique angles, the exits (140-170m .243 90g) having some of the intestines pulled through them. I was expecting a right mess and completely contaminated carcasses, However, after very carefully poking the intestines back inside and completing the gralloch in the normal way, I found the rumen had not been ruptured after all and the carcasses were absolutely fine.
 
Top tip MS:thumb:,
Been thinking of doing something similar the next time i shoot a red with a difficult extraction, salvage the meat rather than hump the full carcass off.
Paul
 
Thanks MS, a very handy tip.

How can you tell if you have ruptured the rumen without opening the carcass? I was gutted when I found my shots on two of the roe had also hit slightly further back than intended and at slightly oblique angles, the exits (140-170m .243 90g) having some of the intestines pulled through them. I was expecting a right mess and completely contaminated carcasses, However, after very carefully poking the intestines back inside and completing the gralloch in the normal way, I found the rumen had not been ruptured after all and the carcasses were absolutely fine.

If you have ruptured any of the intestine, you can generally see it in the exit hole. Even if you can't see it, you will definitely smell it if you sniff some of the blood around the exit wound!The situation you describe happens when the diaphragm is ruptured, but the intestine isn't. As long as the ribs don't puncture it, the gralloch can still be clean.
Knowledge of anatomy is key here also. If your bullet exits a bit far back on the right of the animal, you will generally get away with a liver shot as the liver sits against the diaphragm. However, the same angle exiting the left of the animal will be disastrous as the stomach sits against the diaphragm! A rear left exit as the animal exhales is generally quite messy!
MS
 
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