How to Debone & Quarter a Deer

Quartering

• 1

  Choose a front leg and lift the leg so that you can view the armpit area.

• 2

  Feel the area with your hand while manipulating the joint until the outline of the shoulder blade can be felt.

• 3

  Cut along the edge of the shoulder blade with the knife.

• 4

  Pull the leg up and extend the initial knife cut around the remainder of the leg circumference.

• 5

  Continue making small cuts in a circular motion until the leg separates from the carcass.

• 6

  Repeat steps 1 through 5 for the other front leg.

• 7

  Saw through the backbone at the bottom of the spine where the back strap and tenderloin has been removed.

• 8

  Cut through the meat on the top and bottom of the hip bone along the line of the spine until you reach the bone.

• 9

  Cut through the spine lengthwise along the cut lines with a saw

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Deboning

• 10

  Lay each leg on a table or solid surface in front of you with the inner area of the leg facing up.

• 11

  Cut around the leg bone right above the knee joints on each leg with the knife.

• 12

  Cut around the top of each leg bone right below the shoulder on the two front quarters with the knife. Cut around the top of each leg bone right below the hip on the two back quarters with the knife.

• 13

  Make a cut along the length of the bone using the knife on each of the leg pieces.

• 14

  Insert your hand into the cut along the bone and pull back one edge gently. Use the knife and make small cuts between the meat and the bone to release the meat around the circumference of the bone. Repeat these steps for each of the four quarters.