How do I find someone to teach me how to field dress animals?

I thought it would be a useful skill to learn how to prepare animals for cooking.

So I'm asking around if a butcher/hunter in the SW Ontario, Canada area wouldn't mind having me tag along with them.

If there are any tips people have, I'd appreciate them.

Have a nice day

You could pay someone. Or you could watch, for free, any of the several hundred "How to Field Dress an Animal" videos on You Tube.

If you don't find someone here on the forum, I would suggest hanging around a sporting goods-type store.

Most hunters I know field dress their kill and then butcher the animal at home.

So I am assuming you want to learn how to field dress the animals.

This post is very thorough so you or others might find it very helpful:

https://permies.com/t/40/116852/teach-butchery-dressing-carcass#1179790

And this article:

https://extension.psu.edu/proper-field-dressing-and-handling-of-wild-game-and-fish

I have never field-dressed an animal though I do cut up the larger pieces that is left after the hide is removed, etc.

I found this video to set a really clear baseline of information, at least as a starting point. I thought it was well-presented.


I have thought about this myself since I don't live where I can access family experience; my thought is to find a processor who does the butchering for local hunters and ask if there is someone who brings in well handled deer (or whatever you are interested in) and try to connect with that hunter.  You'd kind of have some perspective from an objective (the processor) on who does a good job so you aren't just asking around and getting answers from people with a shakier skill set.

It's pretty amazing what you can learn via video these days, but I do think it's good to learn in real life when possible.

Check with your fish game dept. first to see what the laws are and what you can do in the field. You have to take any kill to a proper station for registering because most states track the kill each year. I'm always on the look out for poachers (called in one last year) and my property is posted and I ride it with my atv and gun boot (the new rat patrol =O )

I'm not an expert in preparing animals, but with most things it helps to start small. I've been given rabbits a few times (and my dog killed a hare accidentally once  :( ) and I managed to get those in a fit state for cooking pretty easily using an article from a Home Farmer magazine and John Seymour's Complete book of self sufficiency. A really sharp knife is one really useful thing. My dad showed my one easy way to gut a fish (cut the head off from the top through the bone then use the knife to hold it down as you pull the body away - almost all the guts come too), although wasn't a fisherman himself.
It occurs to me though, that the advice on hanging round hunting stores might also lead to a close 'bigfoot' encounter (you never know where they go in diguise!).

Online videos will give you the information on gutting and skinning.
As for the meat, when harvesting a deer I simply cut loose each individual muscle from the bones and I either leave them as a roast, slice them into steaks, or cube them into stew meat which could them be ground into burger if desired.  Some parts may be damaged from the harvest, you may want to cut that section out and use any good meat around it as stew meat.  After removing all the large muscles do your best to trim off any remaining small pieces, again probably best used for stew or burger.
It isn't difficult, just take your time, use a sharp knife, don't cut yourself, and have a good supply of gallon and 2 gallon sized ziplock bags available.  Get each piece into a cooler as soon as possible.  If flies are around you can sprinkle the skinned animal with fine ground pepper and for the most part the flies will stay away, keep sprinkling the pepper as each new section of meat is exposed.  When you get home rinse everything with water and cut or slice each piece as desired.  This is when you decide to keep them as roasts or slice them into steaks or cubes or burger, not in the field.

Ive been hunting for 50 years and doing my own wild game butchering/processing/sausage making ect. I trained many folks that come by for lessons.

I wrote this to help folks back in 2008.

https://ronkulas.proboards.com/thread/44/step-deer-processing

Ive written a lot of wild game meat usage pictorials for folks like you. You can find them here.

https://ronkulas.proboards.com/board/1/photobucket-project-20images-euromount11-processing