How do you process your deer?

[cattleskinner]

With the talk of everyone's success this year, it got me to thinking...I wonder how everybody gets there kill from the field to the table.  Personally, I choose to cut them up myself.  Partly because I've worked in a meat plant since I was 14, but mostly because I'm a tightwad when it comes to spending money.  With the generous limits that you southern boys have, one would think you would go broke if you payed for all your harvests.  So what is it guys?  Cut them up yourself, or pay a processor to do it?

~~~Amos

[tscott]

I filet on the spot of kill. Take everything, including heart and liver. Into plastic bags, and backpack. I have it down to about a half hour / 45 minute operation. Two folding 4" pocket knives do the trick. A Gerber folding saw, for antler removal. I take care of my legal responsibilities, by
phoning in the particulars on my cell as soon as the deer hits the ground.
So easy here in NC, as opposed to my native NY, as far as reporting... I fine butcher out of the refrigerator at home over a few days... I carry a small gambrel, and parachute cord to string the deer up in the woods....
Very easy on knees and back, as I approach my 60's...

[Charlie Tango]

I always cut the deer up myself.  It's one more step in completing the harvest.  I too am a tightwad so it saves me save some cash.

[od green]

depending if i want jerky or sage sausage at $ 50.00 a head i"ll go with the butcher but i" m getting better at home cutting it up my self and with two hungry teen age boys a deer doe'snt  last long.

[Snowshoe]

I used to cut meat for a living and am far to pickey to let anyone else cut up my meat. I used to take the boned out trim to the butcher shop for sausage, but now have an electric grinder, and do it all myself.

[DaveP]

We do them all ourselves,including sausage.Like to KNOW how MY meat was handled,plus,and maybe most importantly,I'm CHEAP. Family of 5 and we go thru 'em.

[longwinters]

I do it myself also.  I take good care of how my venison is cut up and do not want it mixed up with some of the ya hoos that leave em in the back of the truck for several days and then bring in their strong/gamey meat.  Many of the processers around here will just cut up a deer like a beef with bone etc... not removed.  And will throw a bunch of meat scraps, from various deer, for grinding etc.....  Not for me.

Long

[WylieKy]

I split the middle.  On the rare occasion where I get 2 deer in a sitting, I do one and take one to the processor to get some ground meat (other than the backstraps.)  If I didn't personally know the processor, however, I would probably do it all my self.  Also, if it is a larger deer (I prefer deer that aren't over thier spots yet) or a buck in the rut, I'll take it to the processor because he will quarter mine and let them hang in the cooler for about 14 days or so, and in my opinion, this improves the flavor.  I know of a lot of processors that are cutting up your deer before you hit the end of the driveway, assumeing it's not sitting on the bottom of an 8 foot pile of deer.   :? That's just not good eats.

[Redhawk1]

I like my done by a butcher. I like all the summer sausage, snack sticks and ring bologna. Chip steaks and tender loin's butterfly. Always packed nice and it gives me time to just relax after a hard day of hunting.  

[Leverdude]

I cut most of them up myself. Sometimes when hunting from camp in NY state we use a butcher like this year, we only got one at camp between 3 guys & had it made into sausage. Between 3 guys its only $20 each.
It costs $60 home in CT as well for any deer. I took 7 so far here & still have almost a month left. I cant afford to pay 4 or 5 hundred a year anyway so I guess its good I like to cut them up.

[rockbilly]

:roll: When possible, (I do it myself.  I know I can do a better job than most processing plants.  I do it faster and in a much better enviorment that available in most game processing plants.  And I know, I got my deer back, not one that has been hauled 400 miles on the hood of a vehicle.

I went to one processing plant several years ago to drop off a deer, I looked behing a fence, and there were 10-12 on the ground, out in the sun, with a million flys all over them.  I put my deer back in the truck, went home, skinned and quartered, then packed it on ice until I could finish the job.

Most all meat processing plants are NASTY period! But for some reason, most of those that process game are the worst. :roll:

[DavOh]

I grew up with my mom processing it. She really got after it too.... them bones looked like something you find years old in the desert when she was done with them....

Laste year, for the first time since I was on my own I butchered it myself. I didnt come out too well. Anyone know a good guide for which parts to turn into which cuts/types of meat?

Also, Here in Texas the limits on deer tend to be between 1 and 5 deer per hunter, but most leases allow a buck and doe/spike per paid gun. How are some of you guys getting 7, 8 and 9 deer a year??? wow... I'm capable of finding and killing that many... but legally and ranch rules usually preclude such a great season.

-Davoh

[cattleskinner]

DavOh,

Here is a site that I think might be able to help you cut up your deer.

http://www.biggamehunt.net/sections/Whitetail_Deer/A_Guide_to_Butchering_Deer_11220412.html

I didn't read all the info, but from the looks of the pictures, it shows the process pretty good.  If you need any more help, just ask, and I'm sure I can, or somebody else can help you with the answer.

~~~Amos

[DavOh]

Thanks Amos!  

That'll really help!

-Davoh

[grousehunter]

When I was younger, I had 2 uncles who had butcher shops and I could not get a deer cut the way I wanted it! ( to much mass production) prob. the weather! but had learnt enough to do myself and have done that way ever since, unless the weather is to warm to let em hang for 3 or 4 days to get it done! fortunatly I have found a processor that does it as I wish, so I do'nt mind spending the cash when I have to!!!!!

[Don Fischer]

I always cut and wrap my own game. Never though about the cost, just like to cut and wrap! Come to think of it, I did have a bear processed in Montana years ago. Had it sugar cured then cut it up on my own when I got it back.

Actually I even cut and wrap my friends animals. I don't like them wrapping after I cut because most of them do an ugly job. I think they do that on purpose just to give me something to complain about!

[longwalker]

We cut up ours at home. The reason is primarily cost. Three or four deer at $90.00 a throw is just to much. Initialy I would take all the nice cuts and prepar them for the freezer. The rest I would take to the butcher for sausage. Now I even make my opwn sausage. It's not all that difficult and with the long winters it gives me something productive to do when it cold outside.

longwalker

[killdeer]

I do the telecheck thing right there and start processing if conditions permit. The quicker I can get the hide off a deer the better they taste.

[K.K]

I actually enjoy processing my own deer.  I know what I want done, and liek doing my own jerky, sausage and such.  I do wish that I had a walk-in cooler to age them, but I don't so I butcher as quickly as possible and use a vacum sealer to preserve the meat.  My family and I eat venison all year round and tastes great.

[alsatian]

I have always done my own processing.  It saves money, but more importantly it gives me more control over my venison.  I have control over when the meat goes into my freezer, I have control over how my meat is cut up, I have control over the fact that I get all of my meat and only my meat.  I get some satisfaction out of processing my meat myself, too.  When I processed my doe in November 2005 my youngest daughter watched with fascination while I first skinned, then dismembered, then deboned, and finally packaged into meal sized packages a deer.  I was surprised, but she found this very interesting and avidly wants to start deer hunting ASAP!  She's only nine, so I'm going to defer her first hunt a few years.

[Land_Owner]

From the above posts, you guys have very good conditions to be able to process your own, most likely I speculate at your homes.  For the most part where I hunt I am two weeks and 600 miles from home and in need of refrigeration / freezer so I have mine professionally processed.  I make that contribution to the local economy out of necessity and I really like the result.  I am now close friends with several of the area processors, a tie to the community that I would not have otherwise.  Back home, I butcher all of my own hogs, but I still take my local deer to the processor.

[srwshooter]

gut where they fall ,skinned and quartered as soon as possible. in the spare frig for at least a few days in big tub on a rack to get all blood possible out. then its loins get sliced 1in thick (we like them bacon rapped on the grill) the rest get either cubed or canned. i ussually save atleast one hind quarter to marinate . i like to inject them before freezing . and i vacuum seal everything.

[BRL]

Land_Owner, do you hunt in Florida? If so, where?

Thanks

[Dave in VA]

I like to do my own butchering.  I know exactly what I'm eating and there's a great satisfaction to me knowing it went from hoof to plate all by my own hand.  Sort of primal.  I've also had the pleasure teaching several friends how to cut up a deer.  A couple of beers, working around the meat pole... thats good times, frying pan full of fresh t'loin and backstrap on the stove w/ mushrooms and onions... YUM.

gotta go, hungry :-D

Dave

[*ROCK-MAN*]

Well,
Being one of the aforementioned poor ole southern boys,I always process my own animal.I quarter the animal and let it soak overnite in ice water in the icechest.The next day I drain the water and keep the meat packed in ice till the trip home.Once home it's just a small mater of boning the meat,cutting my steaks from the backstraps , tenderloins and hindquarters.I make roasts out of the neck and shoulders and save the cuttins for chilli,stewmeat or maybe put with pork and have some sausage made.
But thats just me.I think if I had the money I'd let someone else do it.
Keep your vpowder dry,
Rock

[BRL]

I hunted at a game ranch once and shot an axis deer. The guide quartered it and put it in my ice chest with ice water. I made the trip home the next day, opened the cooler and the meat was gray, and in some places white. I drained off the water, cut it up to what I thought was the right way (first time). I cooked a 1 inch thick piece of backstrap and though I bit into a raquet ball. I assumed it was because of the way the guide put the meat directly on the ice (not wrapped). I gave the rest of the meat away. Was I wrong in assuming that? Is it okay to put deer in a cooler with ice when not wrapped in paper or foil or something?

Thanks.

[handyman06]

always process my own, id have to drive all the way to a packing house and back twice plus the fee, thats just way too much trouble. ive eat steaks that were "professionally" butchered and in my opinion they were way to thick and tough, cut like a beef. i think its becoming a lost art, something we should pass on to the next generation

[BRL]

I agree. I plan on learning and doing myself in the future. Hopefully teach my sons when they get old enough.

[Cheesehead]

My hunting party and myself have been cutting up our own deer for years. Not too long ago the butcher only charged 25 bucks a deer to cut and wrap. Now its 60-75 bucks. I take up to 5 deer a year. Too much expense. I streamline the process by freezing the steaks whole and cut them just before cooking, This also keeps them fresher. All the trim meat goes into 5 pound bags and frozen until after the January 1. At that time, when the rush is over at the butcher shop, I drop it off to be made into various sausages and burger blends.

Cheese

[Old Time Hunter]

In the processor!