American Hunting: Starting with Solitary Life in the Wilderness

Chapter 50 Processing the Prey
Lin Yu'an put his left index and middle fingers together and carefully inserted them into his abdominal cavity through the small opening.

You can clearly feel the warmth of the internal organs and the elasticity of the abdominal wall with your fingertips.

He gently lifted the abdominal wall with his two fingers, creating a safe gap of about one finger's width between the abdominal wall and the internal organs.

"This way, my fingers act as a guide and barrier, preventing me from cutting through the intestines and other internal organs below during the cutting process."

Lin Yu'an pressed the tip of the knife tightly against the inside of his two fingers.

Make smooth cuts along the midline of the mule deer's abdomen, towards the sternum and pelvis respectively.

As the blade sliced ​​through, the deer's entire abdominal cavity was neatly opened.

A mixture of the smell of fermenting grass and the warm, fishy odor unique to offal immediately hits you.

"The abdominal cavity has been completely exposed; all internal organs must be removed as soon as possible."

Lin Yu-an first carefully located and separated the entire tangled intestinal system inside the abdominal cavity.

It includes a light brown stomach, as well as a complex network of small and large intestines.

“These are the first to be dealt with, as they are the main source of contamination, and the bacteria inside multiply rapidly after the animals die.”

"However, deer stomach is a good thing; tripe is a delicacy in China!"

Lin Yu'an continued processing his prey, reaching into the relatively empty abdominal cavity to search for any usable internal organs.

"The liver, that's a good thing too!"

He carefully held the huge, dark red liver with a very delicate texture, peeled it off from the connecting mesentery, and showed it to the camera.

"Deer liver is rich in vitamin A, B vitamins, and a large amount of iron, making it a very nutritious food!"

"I need to examine it carefully; a healthy liver should be a uniform dark red color."

"The surface is smooth and elastic, without obvious white spots, lumps or traces of parasites."

"Hmm, it looks like this mule deer is free of pests and can be eaten safely."

He examined it carefully several times to confirm that the liver was very healthy before he was finally relieved.

Then the huge piece of deer liver was placed on a piece of birch bark that had been prepared beforehand.

"When dealing with the liver, you must be especially careful with this little thing—the gallbladder."

He held up the dark green gallbladder that had been removed from the side of his liver, reminding the audience of this.

"This contains bile, which is very bitter. It must be removed completely with great care."

Right next to the liver was the heart, which he also removed intact.

"The heart is also a top source of high-quality protein. Whether it's grilled or used in soup, it has a very elastic texture and tastes great."

Cut off some of the large blood vessels connected to the heart and the excess fat covering the pericardium with a knife, and place it on the bark of the tree where the liver was placed.

Then there are the two kidneys, which are located deep in the hollows on either side of the spine.

"Deer kidneys are also edible and have high nutritional value."

He pointed the tip of his knife at the white part in the middle of the kidney.

"However, this should be the ureter, and it must be completely removed, otherwise it will have a strong odor."

He then used a multi-tool to cut a sufficiently large opening along the lower edge of his ribs, through the thick muscular membrane connecting his chest and abdominal cavities.

Then he reached his arm into the still-warm chest cavity, feeling the curve of the ribs and the sensation of the internal organs.

The lung, which was pink and had a sponge-like texture, along with the trachea and other respiratory organs connected to it, were removed.

"Lungs are generally not recommended for consumption in the wild, as it is difficult to determine whether they contain parasite eggs or potential lesions that are invisible to the naked eye."

"However, it can be used as excellent bait for making traps later, as its scent is very attractive to many carnivores."

Once all the internal organs are removed, they are categorized into three main groups: edible, usable as bait, and to be discarded.

After the internal organs were mostly processed and the prey began to cool down slowly, Lin Yu'an began the skinning process.

"Now we can start peeling! I think my mattress is finally ready!"

"The key to peeling lies in precise cutting and a clear understanding of the layers connecting the skin and flesh."

Lin Yu'an hung the deer's body, from which the lower legs and hooves had been removed, upside down on a tree with nylon rope.

"Because I had already removed the lower leg, the peeling started from the cut on this leg."

Lin Yu'an carefully inserted the tip of the knife under the skin of the cut leg and began to make an incision. "Start from the inside of the leg, where the skin is relatively loose and easier to separate. Cut along the natural lines of the muscle."

He used the same method to make peeling incisions connecting to the abdomen or chest cavity on the cross-sections of the other three legs.

The cuts on the four legs and the torso form a complete "H" shape.

"Our goal is to completely separate the white, slightly resilient fascia layer between the skin and the flesh."

"This fascia acts like a natural barrier. Peeling along it minimizes the amount of fat and bits of meat left on the hide, making the subsequent tanning process much easier."

"Skinning is like 'undressing' a deer. When you encounter tightly connected parts, don't pull hard; just gently cut them with the tip of a knife."

It starts from the hind legs, gradually expanding to the sides of the body, and then to the broad back.

Large pieces of deer hide were gradually "shed" from the bright red muscle.

The entire peeling process took him nearly an hour and a half.

"Phew...perfect!" He unfolded the huge deer hide in front of the camera.

"The skinning was done very successfully! There are almost no tears. After the subsequent tanning, it will definitely be a top-quality mattress!"

With the internal organs and skinning process complete, the next step is the final decomposition to obtain the main edible meat chunks.

Lin Yu'an picked up the logging axe, already having a clear plan for dividing the wood.

"The hind leg of a deer is one of the most muscular parts, and the meat is excellent. Whether it's grilled or made into jerky, it's a great choice."

"The key to dealing with these large joints is finding the joint gaps, unless you have a cleaver that can directly chop the bone."

After the major ligaments and muscles were severed, he grabbed his hind leg with both hands and forcefully rotated and pulled it outward and downward, with a "crack" sound.

The femoral head was then easily dislodged from the acetabulum of the pelvis, and the entire hind leg was then completely separated from the torso with a scalpel. The other legs were treated in the same way.

Then Lin Yu'an turned his attention to the sides of the deer's spine.

"These two tenderloin cuts, also known as 'loin tenderloin,' have almost no fat or fascia, making them arguably the best cut of deer."

He used a multi-tool to carefully remove the two tender pink pork tenderloins.

Next is the loin, which is the long muscle located on both sides of the spine on the back. This is another very high-quality and tender cut of meat from the deer.

He also used the same multi-tool to remove it completely.

For the remaining ribs and neck, Lin Yu'an roughly cut the ribs with a lot of intercostal meat into several sections using the small saw on the multi-tool.

Because the neck meat is more active, the muscle fibers may be slightly coarser, but the meat has a rich flavor. He roughly cut it into pieces.

At the same time, he would carefully trim some large, hard, lard-like pieces of fat from the meat and collect them together.

"These are high-quality animal fats that can be collected and used in cooking to enhance the flavor and calories of food."

"Let's estimate the haul! I estimate the live weight of this male deer to be around eighty kilograms."

"Excluding bones, head, hooves, and most of the inedible internal organs, I conservatively estimate the pure meat content to be at least forty kilograms!"

"This does not include at least two or three kilograms of edible liver, heart, and kidneys."

As he spoke, he picked up a heavy piece of hind leg meat and showed it to the camera, where the full muscle fibers and moderate layer of fat were clearly visible.

"If this meat is prepared properly, it will be enough to sustain my energy supply for a long time."

"Guys, the challenge has been going on forty-six days now. Can I pop some champagne to celebrate?"

"Next, I will eat these two tenderest pieces of pork tenderloin and offal as soon as possible to replenish the energy I have used up over the past few days."

"I will smoke most of the rest of the meat so that it can be preserved for a long time, which is also the key to whether I can get through the long winter!"

It was getting late, and the western sky was beginning to glow with orange-red sunset colors.

Lin Yu'an glanced at the large amount of venison, deer head, and huge deer hide scattered on the ground, and frowned slightly.

"These things are too many and too heavy. It will probably take several trips to move them all to the Pioneer."

He estimated that if the shipments were divided into several trips, it would definitely be impossible to transport them all back to the shelter tonight.

"No, we have to find a way to take them all away at once!"

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(End of this chapter)