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| After the Shot - How
Can I Make the Whole Process as Easy as Possible? |
After many years of dear stalking I have come across
many innovative and ingenious pieces of equipment that have made
my life a lot easier. This is how and why Coolgame (UK) Ltd was born.
I will admit I do like gadgets but they must always
be of the highest quality and utility. I only sell products I believe
in and use myself, this is and always will be the motto of Coolgame.
So let me start from the beginning, from when the beast has been
shot and I will take you through what I use to get the job done.
The Gralloch
The problem with hunting knives is that most are
designed to do everything including: bleeding the carcass, gralloching
and skinning. Unfortunately this means that they don't usually
do any one thing very well. Knives with gutting hooks are a gimmick
and get stuck in the carcass if you use them to bleed out the chest
cavity.
For the gralloch I use a special knife I call the
gutting knife, with a bullet shape tip which will not puncture the
gut when the gralloch is performed. |
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| First you pinch the skin between thumb and for
finger, make a cut, then insert the gutting knife and cut forward
towards the chest cavity. You can also use the same knife to expose
the wind pipe and throat. |
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| To open the chest cavity in the field I use
the bone saw found in the Hunters Mate or my larger bone saw when
back at base. |
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Getting the Carcass Home
The Hunters Mate is a unique device that allows you to attach a handle
to the beast. It is inserted into the V of the jaw bone, and if
inserted properly, will not fall out. |
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| This handle will not twist your wrist will dragging,
as it incorporates a swivel joint. For larger species like fallow
or red I use the nylon strap provided and also a strong friend if
present. There is NO other device as good as this for dragging deer
out of awkward places. The Hunters Mate only weighs 140 grams, it
fits in your pocket, is dishwasher proof and will last you a life-time. |
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Chilling & Hanging the Carcass
Now you have got your beast home and the temperature outside is 20
degrees !!!
Before I purchased my game fridge my life was miserable. I love my
stalking, but returning home at 11pm with a Roe deer that needed butchering
down straight away because the temperature outside was still to warm,
coupled with those pesky flies and work the next day just caused me
too much stress.
So I invested in a LANDIG game
fridge, the best decision
I ever made and now I can enjoy my stalking again. |
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I hang my beast from a stainless steel gambrel
and wash out the carcass with clean tap water if necessary, I then
like to let the carcass cool out naturally, but with flies about
I place the deer inside the game fridge using either stainless steel
swivel hooks or mini gambrels and set the temperature to about 8
degrees and leave overnight.
The next morning I reduce the temperature to 4/5
degrees for the rest of the hanging process. Please read my article
on hanging game for in-depth details. |
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Skinning the Carcass
I have managed to devise a simple, fast and effective way of skinning deer. Please
follow the link to Skinning Deer. |
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Butchering the Carcass
One thing I have learnt is that if you have the right tools the job
is easier, quicker, and more pleasurable to do.
In the beginning I used any tools I could get my
hands on, domestic knives, wood saws and so on. Now I carry a full
range of Professional butchering equipment. The four piece knife
set with board and steel is what I use along with bone saw, rib stripper
cleaver and mallet. All the professional tools you need to do the
job. |
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The four piece knives set is top quality and are
sharp as razors. The set incorporate two boning knives, steak knife
and general purpose knife along with sharpening steel and large cutting
board. The meat cleaver makes light work of bones and is nicely weighted.
The bone saw, a very important tool, cuts through
bones like butter, a must for everyone.
The mallet is used to beat out flat steaks and the rip stripper removes
the rib meat for use in mincing. Nothing goes to waste.
For those of you who want the best I have a special
range of three knives of the highest quality. A 13cm and 15cm curved
boning knife with soft grip handle and of course the gutting knife
with bullet shape tip. All these tested high quality goods you can
purchase from www.coolgameuk.com the
home of stalking associated goods, selected by a stalker and not
by a pen pusher.
Andrew |
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