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Gut It Cut It Cook It
The Deer Hunter's Guide to Processing & Preparing Venison
by Eric Fromm and Al Cambronne

      The best way to learn how to butcher a deer properly is to be mentored by someone who knows how to do it well. For lack of a skilled mentor, the next best alternative is to follow the step-by-step instructions and detailed, full-color photos provided by Eric Fromm and Al Cambronne in Gut It, Cut It, Cook It.

      The authors cover all the bases, starting with proper shot type and placement for a humane kill that does minimal damage to the meat, proceeding to field dressing, transporting, skinning, butchering, and storing the meat. My only criticism of the book is that the skinning advice could lead to nicks in the hide, reducing its value for tanning. Be sure to read Matt Richard's Deerskins into Buckskins for additional advice on skinning.

      The book includes convenient checklists to consult before hunting or processing the meat, along with cut-by-cut photos and instructions for butchering, sensible advice regarding Chronic Wasting Disease, and how-to instructions for saving antlers and caping a buck. Also included with the book is a CD with fifty recipes, plus a field dressing chart and a meat cuts chart.

      The book layout and production is as high-quality as the text and photos, featuring a durable hardcover to protect the book, while hiding a convenient spiral binding inside that allows the pages to lay flat while the reader is following directions. Hardcover: 256 pages. Krause Publications. 2009. ISBN: 978-1440203701.

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Deer from Field to Freezer DVD
by John & Geri McPherson

      This is the video companion to Chapter Six of John & Geri McPherson's book Primitive Wilderness Living and Survival Skills. Using only common knives found in most kitchens, John McPherson demonstrates how to butcher a deer-sized animal from the moment of the kill all the way until the meat is wrapped and ready to put in the freezer. (Since a deer was not available at the time of filming, they used a goat instead, but the process is the same.) They show you how to skin, how to remove the sinews, and how to "debone" the animal, taking the meat off with a knife, rather than cutting through the bones with a meat saw. With this video you will see how easy it is to transform a fresh carcass into many months worth of good eating. 65 minutes.

Also see these related pages:
More John McPherson Books & DVDs
Primitive Archery Books from Bois d'Arc Press
American Indian Archery