Quote:
Originally Posted by Cardfish1
Why would you want to go through the sternum? I've never heard of doing that before. It seems like a lot of work for no benefit.
Actually it is not all that much work, especially with one of those saws. Cutting the sternum and then up the neck allows you to get the lung cavity all cleaned out very easily as well as getting a good bit of the wind pipe out.
Now, IF you are going to want the deer caped for a mount then you do not cut up any further than the sternum. But then it is a huge pain in the tail reaching all the way up into the chest cavity to get all that stuff out of there. i have done it but it always ends up being far messier. Actually I have had to do this to a Bison and ended up inside the chest cavity up to my shoulders!
The other thing splitting does is let the inside cool off much quicker which keeps the meat better.