gralloch
- Thread starter nick.308
- Start date
PointBlank
Well-Known Member
I don't want to be the one to say it but if you are still watching videos on youtube on how to gralloch deer then you could probably do with some more mentoring from an experienced "best practice" stalker (ie. an AW)
Follow the DI best practice guide and you won't be far wrong.
Follow the DI best practice guide and you won't be far wrong.
Pointblank is spot on here, you need to gralloch a few deer before going for assessment, watching videos and reading books is not enough, it's highly unlikely you will have the knowledge or skills to pass without having had a reasonable amount of practical experience. The gralloch you choose will be appropriate to the circumstances you find yourself in when you have the deer on the ground, there are several different ways and you really should be proficient in more than 1 method. Going for assessment too early is a waste of your time and that of your AW, there are not a lot of transferable skills from rabbits to deer, get out in the field and learn from someone who knows what they're doing, there's no reason why this can't be the AW you wish to use for your assessment.
Moray Outfitting
Well-Known Member
Nick, as a long serving AW I have seen many different ways of gralloching an animal. Some start at the back and others from the front. Some only take the green offal out in the field where others will clean it out front to back. If the situation allows some do a suspended gralloch but out on the hills we do it on the ground.As long as the candidate has been able to show me lymph nodes and ended up with a clean healthy carcase to go into the food chain, then they are all correct methods in helping you to pass the part2.
I get frustated when I am witnessing someone , I know deals with a lot of animals, and they seem to be making an awkward hash of it. I have to end up saying" is this how you normally gralloch a beast". The answer comes back"No I was told I had to do it this way for you". I tell them to just do it as they would on a normal days stalking and hey presto the gralloch is done quicker and less awkward!!!!
As one or two have said earlier, it sounds as if you are in need of more experience. You have to learn where all the organs lie in the body so as to know what will happen when you put your knife into it. Try different ways and find out what suits you and your situation.
In the good/bad old days , gralloching was just something that had to be done . Now the majority take pride in presenting a clean animal . Even if it is for their own consumption and not for the game dealer
Good luck in your education and good luck in your stalking. Because to gralloch you first have to get your beast.
JOHN
I get frustated when I am witnessing someone , I know deals with a lot of animals, and they seem to be making an awkward hash of it. I have to end up saying" is this how you normally gralloch a beast". The answer comes back"No I was told I had to do it this way for you". I tell them to just do it as they would on a normal days stalking and hey presto the gralloch is done quicker and less awkward!!!!
As one or two have said earlier, it sounds as if you are in need of more experience. You have to learn where all the organs lie in the body so as to know what will happen when you put your knife into it. Try different ways and find out what suits you and your situation.
In the good/bad old days , gralloching was just something that had to be done . Now the majority take pride in presenting a clean animal . Even if it is for their own consumption and not for the game dealer
Good luck in your education and good luck in your stalking. Because to gralloch you first have to get your beast.
JOHN
Thanks john. useful advice.
I have gralloched about 7 beasts this year and I think im not too bad. I dont do anything fancy because I usually have a big drag.
The last beast was a 15st stag. I shot it on the edge of dusk so when is came to gralloching it was difficult because I didnt have a torch.
Its stomach was huge and full and when i tried to roll it out it tore near the diaphragm. Is there a way of separating the stomach from the oesophagus without causing a mess?
Is this way wrong now because I have seen videos of them cutting the oeophagus in the neck and dragging it through the chest cavity.
Also which way of bleeding is preferred. I always stick a knife into the base of the neck but i have heard others cut the aorta in the abdomen.
Lymph nodes is something I need to look at coz I aint got a clue?
I have gralloched about 7 beasts this year and I think im not too bad. I dont do anything fancy because I usually have a big drag.
The last beast was a 15st stag. I shot it on the edge of dusk so when is came to gralloching it was difficult because I didnt have a torch.
Its stomach was huge and full and when i tried to roll it out it tore near the diaphragm. Is there a way of separating the stomach from the oesophagus without causing a mess?
Is this way wrong now because I have seen videos of them cutting the oeophagus in the neck and dragging it through the chest cavity.
Also which way of bleeding is preferred. I always stick a knife into the base of the neck but i have heard others cut the aorta in the abdomen.
Lymph nodes is something I need to look at coz I aint got a clue?
Moray Outfitting
Well-Known Member
Nick, from your comments , yes you are still needing to do somehomework. Lymph nodes a crucial must for you to learn where they are and what they look like , good or bad! Also different ways of tying of the food pipe in the neck.
Bleeding is a debatable subject just now as well. Some bleed through the front and others from the diapghram. As I said before , its what suits different people and their situation.
If you can I would advise that you either buy a training session with a competant person or take up any offers to be shown where everything is and how to deal with it.
I have been in this game a long long time now (Oh God I hear Andy my work mate playing the violin in the background!!!!) and I am still seeing new and easier ways of doing things. My first headkeeper (long departed ) always told me " you are never too old to learn something new". So get out there Nick and get all the advice you can and then use what you feel suits you.
JOHN
Bleeding is a debatable subject just now as well. Some bleed through the front and others from the diapghram. As I said before , its what suits different people and their situation.
If you can I would advise that you either buy a training session with a competant person or take up any offers to be shown where everything is and how to deal with it.
I have been in this game a long long time now (Oh God I hear Andy my work mate playing the violin in the background!!!!) and I am still seeing new and easier ways of doing things. My first headkeeper (long departed ) always told me " you are never too old to learn something new". So get out there Nick and get all the advice you can and then use what you feel suits you.
JOHN
roestalker
Well-Known Member
Nick hello,
The advice from John at Moray is spot on. There are many ways to do a gralloch, all I look for is that the end result is a clean carcass and that the stalker knows why they are inspecting the glands and organs,what could be a problem and, they don't cut their wrists, or mine in the process
. I do always bleed, it just makes sure that most of the blood is out of the carcass and we end up with a cleaner carcass for transport however, I am mainly dealing with roe deer and it is easier to suspend them than a hunking great red stag. Get stuck in
Good luck and best regards.
Jon.
roedeerred
Well-Known Member
John/jon are spot on a clean carcass and knowing the lymph nodes master that whatever way and you should have no bother
Bavarianbrit
Well-Known Member
Get over to Germany and offer to help on a driven reds day. There there can be 150 shot reds & boar gathered with a team of butchers in a central place in the hunt where they are processed. Then you will know your anatomy.
Does that not also happen on the deer farms in the UK also when they harvest beasts?
Martin
Does that not also happen on the deer farms in the UK also when they harvest beasts?
Martin
+1 the no better way than grallocking for real
loch ussie
Member
read your level 1 bible..
should tell you where all the nodes etc are...
should tell you where all the nodes etc are...
norma 308
Well-Known Member
+ 1 park deer and farmed deer are a great way to learn to gralloch plenty to learn from and take part in ,even on our wild deer cull days 20 odd carcasses a day to prep .but you would be surprised how many "experienced " "qualified" stalkers stand back at the larder and don't want to show the skills they learnt on various courses in front of others .
get stuck in and have a go ,my stalking buddy showed and helped me on a fair few carcasses before I considered myself half decent at it .
As already posted Glyn 1 and jelen do park days
norma
Re suspended gralloch (which I've never done). All the photo's I've seen show the deer head down, wouldn't it work better head up?.
fraser
fraser
bambislayer
Well-Known Member
if they were standing back and not getting stuck in, I wouldn't have them near the place!
jo king aside, all very good advice. I,ve discussed at length in the past and I am looking for someone to present a clean carcass and they have to show me (not name!) all the lymph nodes. Many people get stressed about using and memorising high brow medical names, that's not what it's about. It's about proving your PRACTICAL ability.
The methods chosen should be right for the species and situation.
bambislayer
Well-Known Member
Head down means any blood will drop Dow through the chest cavity, other way round, it'll be over the haunches.
In Sardinia, I saw them do all the boar suspended by a butcher hook through the nose/jaw. Absolute bloody mess as their shooting wasn't up to much! I now know why they put all the meat into sausages with lots of spices!!!!
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