Horray!! FINALLY, cutting thru animal joints.

[boom]

i am not a great field butcher. doesnt help that i dont kill a whole hell of a lot for the practice.

anyways, the leg joints give me fits. i got some great practice this past weekend. baby-steps actually. wild turkey.

i slowed way down, and kinda bent the joint to and fro..watched how it moved..then i got my knife..1st the joint is not really where you think it is...i found it and slipped it around the ball..2nd.."it's a ball!, your have to take your knife around a corner" it was effortless..two more turkey dead sealed the lesson..at least on a turkey.

personally, i think if i am ever gonna cut myself field dressing, it will be when i am wrestling with a big game animal leg joint.

i think i have it..just a bigger joint. go around that ball thing.and go slow..dont force a damn thing. safety first.

 

[Nick Muche]

Super easy once you get the hang of it! Certainly a great place to end up slicing yourself though if you are not careful. Take your time for sure.

 

[toadmeister]

Thise ligaments and tendons are amazingly strong! Learned that from cleaning ducks too.

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[Btaylor]

Thise ligaments and tendons are amazingly strong! Learned that from cleaning ducks too.

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Please elaborate on how you clean a duck. I can not figure out where you are running in to any issues on a duck.

 

[Wapiti1]

Good point, I've never cleaned a duck, or any other fowl that could withstand the power of pruning shears. Snip, snip, no feet, legs, or head.

On deer, elk, etc, I seem to forget how to do it on the first leg, then catch on for the other three. Occasionally, I say screw it and break out the saw.

Jeremy

 

[S.Clancy]

We carry a light weight hatchet. Cut the hair with a knife, 4 legs off in 2 minutes. Wayyyy faster. Only downsides I can think of are the weight penalty and the synovial fluid makes the handle kinda slick.

 

[2five7]

Deer legs will practically fall off if you look at them crooked, now the back leg on an elk is a different story! One tiny ligament the size of 8# fishing line can defeat me some days!

 

[elkyinzer]

Takes about 5 animals to know where to cut. The back legs are tough at first. Kids that work at the local butcher get all 4 in about 10 seconds.

 

[boom]

glad i'm not the only one that finds it daunting.

 

[boom]

with Ducks. i heard you cut around the leg joint and pull it off - hard!..the tendons are supposed to pull out of the drumstick making it easier to eat later?

i havent duck hunting in a decade. i vaguely remember having this discussion while freezing my ass and trying to warm my hands on a wet black lab.

 

[twall13]

With ducks and pheasants, etc. I typically cut the skin around the joint and just pop the joint sideways and they come right off. I may need to snip a tendon really quick but after breaking the joint it opens up and is easy to get to. My dog loves eating bird feet!

The hind legs on elk have always been tougher for me and I typically dull my knife more than I should but I've always gotten through them without a saw/hatchet.

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[william schmaltz]

I grew up working in our family butcher shop and it drives me insane when I see people leave hooves and fur on the end of an animal quarter. Just a big petri dish hanging out on the end of your meat. I also worked in a wildlife disease lab for the fish and game for a few years and probably averaged doing necropsies on 1-2 moose a week and 3-5 deer. Several times we had to take hooves off the moose to load them in the picked bed.

Get a grip on the hoof like you are trying to hyperextend the carpal/tarsal (ankle) joints. Find the widest point of the joint and cut slightly lateral of that. Keep tension on the joint (hyperextend) while you cut and it should pop right off. If you see two carpal/tarsal bones, you got it just right. If you see three, you were a little too medial but it will still pop off.

Keep practicing. I always think to make a video on this once it is too late! It’s real simple way to save weight by not having to pack in a hatchet or saw. If I need to take out rib bones, it means I’m hunting moose or caribou and have a hatchet handy a short distance away at base camp. I just smack them suckers out. Good Luck!