You will get used to the "blood and guts" part more as you get older and get a few more game kills to your credit. I thought it was pretty gruesome the first time I cleaned a squirrel or rabbit myself. My parents used to always tell me about hog, cow, and chicken killing in their youths, and how you couldn't be squeamish and live long on a farm, you'd have starved to death. We in the modern world have gotten our feelings away from the blood and dirty work part of eating meat, since we can just go to the grocery store and pick up some nicely wrapped in plastic. BUT, somewhere, people had to take that piece of meat from an animal; they had to to lead it to the slaughter, kill, skin, gut, cut up, and clean that meat. Doing it yourself sometimes helps to a person to truly comprehend the cycle of life and death, the food chain, and mankinds role as caretaker and manager of life on this world. Another thing that might help will be gained with more experience actually doing the job; as you learn to clean the animals more efficiently, you'll actually get less blood and guts on yourself, and get much faster at it. And try to get head shots, since that won't spill blood and fluids internally in the parts you have to handle. That also helps build markmanship skills. My daughter who is now 13 went a few years ago to a local farm with here school class on a field trip. She came home telling Mom & Pop how GROSS it was, they milked a cow, had to actually TOUCH it, and did we know that eggs came out of a chickens butt! I was laughing so hard I nearly had rib cramps! :-) Cleaning squirrels, rabbits, fish, even deer, it's all part of the hunt, sometimes small parts of that are unpleasant, and even after doing this for over 25 years I still sometimes get that big queasy stomache urk when I slice open that game animal. But the memory of the day, and the thought of the great meal coming from what I have killed with my own mind and body, soon overcomes any squeamish feeling. Have a great time with your hunting, Phil Nesmith out.
