Now to the nitty gritty. Once the animal is down, ensure that it has expired before grabbing it. We often see hunters in videos poke a deer on the rump to see if it will react. I do this, but go further. I will then go around to the front end and use a branch to touch the animal's eye. If it is truly dead, it will not blink.

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Figure 1 -- The essentials of field dressing : On top is a strong, sharp lock-blade knife with about a 3 1/2 inch blade. On bottom is shown a handy folding saw for cutting bone and cartilage.

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I consider a really sharp 3" (or so) knife essential for field dressing and a folding (sierra) saw important also (figure 1). Before beginning the task, round up a couple boulders or short lengths of tree trunk (figure 2), usually readily available as naturally dead hunks lying around. These are to tuck against the sides of the animal to keep it from tipping over while you are working on it.

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Figure 2 -- Positioning the animal conveniently will aid in the field dressing process. Note the boulder used to prevent sideways tipping and the slight downhill angle from head to tail.

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Lay the animal on its back, with a slight downhill slope from head to tail if possible (figure 2). Moose can be a little difficult, so hopefully help is nearby. With your knife, begin a longitudinal cut from the top of the brisket (as long as you're not saving the cape for taxidermy work) all the way back to the tail (figure 3). Cut through the hide along the sternum, right to but not into the hard sternum cartilage. From the bottom end of the sternum, cut through the hide, thin surface layer of muscle, and tough membrane covering the body cavity - being extremely careful not to cut too deep into the abdomen and slice a gut or the stomach - right down to the anus (figure 4). I usually do this in 2 passes - hide and muscle on the first lick and membrane by itself after that. A nice, stout knife with 3" blade is easier to control than larger knives and is plenty big enough. Once a short slit is made right into the body cavity, hold the knife blade-side up and slice with blade between fingers to guide. For a male animal, you will need to cut along one side of the penis but can leave one half of the scrotum on each hind quarter if your regulations require proof of sex. Don't try splitting the pelvis quite yet.

Figure 3 -- Initial pass with the knife, with hide and outer muscle layer having been cut. The membrane into the abdomen has not yet been breached.