Saw something that I thought was really strange last night when I dropped off my deer at the processor (South's Finest Deer Processing in Pelham). There were 4 other deer bought in while I was there and not a single one had been field dressed. Is that normal around here or did I just stumble into a strange coincidence? In Nebraska (where I grew up), the processor would almost never accept a deer that hadn't been gutted and, if they did, you'd pay handsomely for that extra service.

Not criticizing or anything but just curious if this was an accepted practice here.

If I kill one on my farm, it's a 20 min trip to processor once he's on the tailgate. My processor charges an additional $10 to gut and skin. I gladly pay it...

I know the 2 processors I have the most experience with claim they charge an extra $10 to gut one, but more-often-than-not they didn't actually charge it. But definitely worth $10 extra if you're close enough/it's cold enough that you can get by without field-dressing. At our old place, the processor was 3.3 miles (I just measured it on Google Maps) from the gate. Literally a 5 minute drive. When they're that close, and they usually do it for free, it's a no-brainer.

my lease is 30 minutes from south's finest. He will process and gut and deer shot on the lease this year. Its too convenient not too.

Simple answer, people are lazy. They want someone else to do the work even if it costs more.
Same people who claim deer meat doesn't taste good. They'll chase em with dogs, or leave them laying all night without gutting, and then complain that it tastes bad, or the processor didn't do a good job.

I don't guess I've ever given it much thought, don't really see an issue either way. I've never not gutted one myself, and unless it's disallowed where I'm at, or I don't wanna stink the spot up, I do it right where he drops. Most of my kills nowadays are public land, and often steep terrain. I just do it to ease the drag out as much as anything. Can't have ATVs, and often a wheeled cart is as much trouble as it is good, so it wouldn't be unusual to drag one several hundred yards.

However, in recent years I have met and talked to a lot of hunters who don't know how.

Dog hunting I usually gut them where they lay, or by the road.

If I kill one with the rifle I usually will gut it at the skinning shed.

Souths finest does a great job gutting them. I dont even gut them if I clean them immediately or if they stay in the back of my truck overnight. If I dont butcher it myself it goes to souths finest whole

Well, when they call a dog in to find the deer (without any effort to blood trail) 27 and 2/3 yards from where they shot it I'm not surprised.

Depends on where I’m hunting. If I’m close to processor I’ll let them. Multi day hunt I’ll quarter myself but I quarter my deer without gutting. Saves a bunch of time

This is super interesting to me. The gutting charge at a processor in Nebraska would be more like $100 vs. $10 if they even accepted it (big IF).

Great to hear the positive reviews of South's Finest. Seemed like great people in there!

I don’t gut deer even when I process them myself.

Do you leave the tenderloins?

I process my own deer. The whole family joins in. I want my kids to know how to. Helps with trigger control too.

Actually stops me from pulling the trigger more often. 😆
That's when the work begins.

I can count on one hand the number of deer I’ve gutted or field dressed. Most were big bucks and I only did so to make the deer lighter. I hang them up, get everything I need, including inner loins, without ever removing the guts. It’s so simple. Then you can discard the entire carcass, guts intact, without ever removing them and making a huge mess.

Im strange..i love gutting deer...my favorite thing about killin them besides eatin them...not sure why...something primal about it i guess.. Been fascinated by it since i was a little kid..so i wouldnt let a processor take my fun away. Also...ive noticed in my experience ..bout 3/4 of hunters are sissys who dont like the smell of blood and dont want to fool with it cause they think its gross..buncha pansies

I've seen it done that way a few times. It actually makes good sense if you don't want it processed.
I like to have hamburger and cube steak and sausage, so I want mine going to the processor.

I've always gutted deer soon as I got to them, whether it was a long drag or none at all. Just part of the whole experience of killing a deer to me. I would feel strange not doing it.

I always gut mine as soon as it's dead. I want it cleaned out and starting to cool as soon as possible.

If they're going to the processor I gut them on my club, at the club house. On the mountain property I gut them where they die to make them lighter. If i'm quartering them out, I leave guts in.