Well dressed

Over the last couple weeks I've been off work and took a trip to see some friends who live hundreds of kilometres away up north and I also took the time to visit some of my partner's family who we don't see very often. On one of those visits we had a BBQ, some venison (deer) I'd shot several weeks earlier and brought for them; it was tasty.

One of the young lads, my partner's cousin, a non-shooter/hunter, expressed an interest in how I'd obtained the deer: Found, stalked, shot, field dressed, skinned and processed it to be able to present it in such a way it can be BBQ'd and consumed. We talked about it at length and it was cool to see the lad take an active interest in the processes rather than take it for granted that his food (meat) would simply materialise in front of him on a plate with a side of greens, potato salad and a slice of garlic bread.

Field dressing - Deer (or a hog)

I'll not go right into the full process but thought I'd outline just the field dressing stage. Just for the record, I don't like doing this, I find it objectionable, however as a responsible hunter and someone who values self-reliance it's something that needs to be done and so I learned how to do it a long time ago and make sure I do it well when it's required.

Field dressing is basically taking the insides of the deer out of the inside of the deer while in the field, usually at the spot the deer has been dispatched. One needs some equipment: Sharp hunting knife, a length of rope, (I use nylon cord as it packs down smaller than rope), clean cloths, plastic bags, disposable latex gloves (surgical gloves) and a stout heart.

• Roll the deer over to its back - this takes effort if it is a large one - and ensure its rump is lower than the shoulders then spread the hind legs so you're looking at its undersection - A stick can be used through the hind legs to hold the legs apart. Make a cut from the breast bone down the centre of the belly to the base of the tail. You don't want to cut too deeply or you'll open internal organs which can be messy, smelly and all-round fucken terrible - You're basically cutting the hide only and then once that's done you're going to cut through the belly muscles (without cutting into the stomach or intestines.)

• Cut around the anus and draw it back into the body cavity so it comes free while still connected to the intestines then roll the animal to its side and remove the stomach and intestines as a complete section. (Some save the liver but that's not my thing.)

• Cut around the diaphragm separating the chest and stomach cavities then cut the esophagus and windpipe in front of the lungs. The heart and lungs will come free now and you can easily drain any blood from the now empty chest cavity. If you've been a nutbag and sliced into the stomach or intestines you'll need to wash out the body cavity with clear water at this stage - That's an important thing to remember.

• _{Note: Some prefer to cut the pelvic and breast bone using a hand saw or maybe pruning sheers during the above process which helps lessen the risk of cutting into the large intestine and bladder and it makes the removal of some of the internal organs a little easier.}

• From there the carcass needs to be cooled so it's hung with the cavity propped open - This is ideally done in a walk-in cooler although there's none of those (generally unless one has a vehicle mounted cooler on a truck) in the field so a cool, shaded place is generally used. The venison I took for the BBQ was aged so hung (in a cool room) for about 15 days or so but the in-field cooling time is usually about three to four hours...and then it's ready to be carried out (on one's shoulders whole) or cut into smaller pieces and bagged. My suggestion is people get very familiar with food safety and proper meat-handling techniques, the net result of not doing so could be catastrophic.

That's pretty much it really, a process that, once mastered, doesn't take long at all. It's important to wear gloves when doing this work as the animal can potentially be infected with pathogens that can pose a health risk and after field dressing (or butchering also) a decent clean up is required, hot water and soap folks, not hand sanitiser.

I'm not really into field dressing hogs, they're filthy creatures and can carry disease however on the occasions I've had to (rarely) I burn the remains, the gloves and cloths and ensure to minimise any contact I actually have with the animal however I generally shoot those and leave them where they fall - They're a feral and invasive species here so are typically shot on sight.

I understand most people will never do this, but this process occurs for the meat you eat by someone. It would be convenient if meat simply materialised in little plastic trays in the supermarket or butcher's shop but the reality is that it has to be killed, dressed and butchered for human consumption and somebody has to do it.

Do you think you'd be able to do something like this if it came down to having to kill and dress your own meat? I guess many would say no and prefer to eat something else and many will simply want someone else to provide for them but me...well, I think it's responsible to know how to do these things and to be able to provide for myself and others and it was cool to see that lad I was discussing this with feel the same way - The world needs more self-reliant people.