HUN Chapter 50: Processing the Prey

Lin Yu'an brought together his left index and middle fingers, carefully inserting them into the abdominal cavity through the small opening.

His fingertips could clearly feel the warmth of the internal organs and the elasticity of the abdominal wall.

He used these two fingers to gently lift up the abdominal wall, creating a safe gap about one finger's width between the abdominal wall and the internal organs.

"This way my fingers serve as a guide and barrier, avoiding cutting through the stomach and other organs below when making the incision."

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

Along the mule deer's abdominal midline, he smoothly cut both toward the sternum and toward the pelvis.

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

A mixture of fermented grass smell and the distinctive warm fishy odor of internal organs immediately hit his face.

"The abdominal cavity is now completely exposed. I need to quickly and completely remove all the internal organs."

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

This included the light brown stomach, as well as the intricate small and large intestines.

"These must be dealt with first. They're the main source of contamination, and the bacteria inside will rapidly multiply after the animal dies."

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

Lin Yu'an continued processing the prey, reaching into the now somewhat more spacious depths of the abdominal cavity to search for those valuable usable organs.

"The liver, this is also a good thing!"

He carefully cradled that dark red, very tender-textured enormous liver, separating it from the connecting mesentery and displaying it to the camera.

"Deer liver is rich in vitamin A, B vitamins, and abundant iron. It's a very nutritious ingredient!"

"I must carefully examine it. A healthy liver should be a uniform dark red color."

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

"Hmm, it looks like this mule deer has no parasites. It's safe to eat with confidence."

He carefully examined it several times, confirming this liver was very healthy before completely setting his mind at ease.

Then he placed this large deer liver on a piece of birch bark he had prepared beforehand.

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

He held up the dark green gallbladder he had detached from one side of the liver, reminding viewers.

"This contains bile, which is very bitter. You must very carefully separate it intact."

Next to the liver was the heart, which he also completely removed.

"The heart is also a top-quality protein source. Whether grilled or made into soup, it has a very elastic texture and great taste."

Using his knife, he cut away some of the large blood vessels connected to the heart and excess fat wrapped around the pericardium, also placing it on the bark holding the liver.

Then came the two kidneys hidden deep in the lumbar recesses on both sides of the spine, what we commonly call "waist meat."

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

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

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

He used the multi-tool knife along the lower edge of the ribs to cut a sufficiently large opening in the thick muscle membrane connecting the thoracic and abdominal cavities.

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

He removed the pink, sponge-like lungs along with the connected trachea and other respiratory system organs.

"The lungs, under wilderness conditions, are usually not recommended for consumption because it's difficult to determine whether they contain parasite eggs or potential lesions invisible to the naked eye."

"However, they can serve as excellent bait for making traps later. Their scent is very attractive to many carnivorous animals."

When all organs were removed and categorized into three groups: edible, usable as bait, and to be discarded.

After the organs were basically processed and the prey began to cool slowly, Lin Yu'an started the skinning work.

"Now I can start skinning! I think my mattress is going to happen!"

"The key to skinning is precise knife work and clear judgment of the connection layers between skin and meat."

Lin Yu'an hung the deer carcass, already with lower legs and hooves removed, upside down from a tree using nylon rope.

"Since I've already removed the lower leg portions, the skinning starting point begins from these leg stumps."

Lin Yu'an carefully inserted the knife tip under the skin at the leg stump and began cutting downward.

"Cut from the inside of the leg, where the skin is relatively loose and easier to separate. Cut along the natural grain direction of the muscle."

For the other three leg stumps, he used the same method, cutting upward toward the abdomen or chest cavity.

This way, the cuts from the four legs and the body trunk formed a complete "H" shaped outline.

"Our goal is to completely separate that white, slightly tough fascia layer between skin and meat."

"This fascia layer acts like a natural barrier. Following it while skinning can minimize fat and meat scraps left on the hide, making the subsequent defatting work much easier during tanning."

"Skinning is like 'undressing' the deer. When encountering tightly connected areas, don't force it, just gently cut through with the knife tip."

He started from the hind legs, gradually expanding to both sides of the body, then to the broad back.

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

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

"Whew... perfect!" He displayed that enormous deer hide in front of the camera.

"This hide was skinned very successfully! Almost no damage. After subsequent tanning, it will definitely be a top-quality blanket!"

With organ processing and skinning complete, next came the final breakdown to obtain the main edible meat portions.

Lin Yu'an picked up the felling axe, already having a clear cutting plan in mind.

"The deer's hind legs are one of the most muscular parts, with excellent meat quality. Whether grilled or made into jerky, they're great choices."

"The key to handling these large joints is finding the joint gaps, unless you have a cleaver to chop directly through bone."

After the main tendons and muscles were cut, he gripped the hind leg with both hands and forcefully rotated, pulled outward and downward. With a "crack" sound.

The femur head smoothly dislocated from the hip socket of the pelvis. Then using the knife, he completely separated the entire hind leg from the torso. He processed the other legs using the same method.

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

"These two strips of the most tender tenderloin meat, also called 'waist strips,' have almost no fat or fascia. They can be said to be the best meat on the deer."

He used the multi-tool knife to completely strip away these two tender pink tenderloins.

Next was the backstrap, the long strip of muscle located on the back along both sides of the spine. This was another very high-quality tender meat from the deer.

He also used the multi-tool knife to completely extract it.

For the remaining ribs and neck, Lin Yu'an roughly divided the ribs with abundant intercostal meat into several sections using the small saw on his multi-tool knife.

The neck meat, being more active, might have slightly coarser muscle fibers, but had rich flavor. He roughly cut it into chunks.

At the same time, he also carefully trimmed some large, suet-like hard fat from the meat pieces and collected them together.

"These are high-quality animal fats that can be collected for cooking, adding flavor and calories to food."

"Let me estimate this harvest! I estimate this buck's live weight was around eighty kilograms."

"Excluding bones, head, hooves, and most inedible organs, I conservatively estimate pure meat weight at least forty kilograms!"

"This doesn't even include at least two to three kilograms of edible liver, heart, and kidneys."

As he spoke, he picked up a heavy hind leg, displaying it to the camera. The full muscle fibers and moderate fat layer were clearly visible.

"This meat, if properly handled, will be enough to maintain my energy supply for a very long time."

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

"Next, these two most tender tenderloins and organs, I'll consume quickly to replenish the energy I've consumed these past days."

"The rest of the meat, I'll smoke-process for long-term preservation. This is key to whether I can survive the long winter!"

By now it was getting late, and the western sky was beginning to show orange-red sunset clouds.

Lin Yu'an glanced at the large amount of deer meat, deer head, and that enormous deer hide scattered on the ground, his brow furrowing slightly.

"There's too much here, too heavy. Transporting it all to the Pioneer would probably take several trips."

He estimated that if divided into several transport runs, he definitely couldn't get everything back to the shelter tonight.

"No good, I must find a way to take it all at once!"

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