SJDeerHunter
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How many of you process your harvest on your own? Is it hard?
Deer Processing
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Outdoordan
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I have been cutting up my own kills for a while. I get way more back, I have a good system. I also throw the trim in a pan on the stove as I am cutting and my dog eats good. He usually gets most of the heart and liver as well. I pre-marinate my steaks, vacuum pack them, then into freezer. When I want some, I'll take them out of freezer and leave them in the vacuum sealer bag for up to a week. Open bag, cook and eat some of the best meat ever!
Neverdrawn
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We've been doing our own for years. Once you learn to break down the muscle groups it's easy and you can spend the time to clean it up right that a butcher just doesn't have.
Focoelkman
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Let it hang i- get it skinned out keep it cold - somewhat easy = make some sausage &
I can send you some old school recipes !
Do you have a grinder !?
BLooDTRaCKeR
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After last years trip to the butcher shop and $350.00 later for elk meat that prolly isn’t even mine, I opted to cut my elk up this year.
Time consuming? Yes. It took 4 of us about 8 hours to cut up my bull.
worth it? Yes. Like was mentioned, you get way more meat back and you get it trimmed up nice and clean....the way you want it.
get you a grinder, some 1 lb burger bags, freezer Wrap and freezer paper and have yourself a fantastic time with friends and family!
Time consuming? Yes. It took 4 of us about 8 hours to cut up my bull.
worth it? Yes. Like was mentioned, you get way more meat back and you get it trimmed up nice and clean....the way you want it.
get you a grinder, some 1 lb burger bags, freezer Wrap and freezer paper and have yourself a fantastic time with friends and family!
Bluehair
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About 40 years ago I was in a hurry and ran a deer by a butcher in Phx. He was in the middle of skinning a deer that stunk, had been gutshot several times, and had clearly been in the sun for a couple days.
I asked him about it and he said you get back what you brung, maggots and all. He told me not to worry because he cleaned his tools after a bad one. I ran; something I hardly ever do.
Made sure I had the time to do my own ever since.
I asked him about it and he said you get back what you brung, maggots and all. He told me not to worry because he cleaned his tools after a bad one. I ran; something I hardly ever do.
Made sure I had the time to do my own ever since.
middlefork
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A little practice should cut that time at least in half if not more. Once you figure it out it is no big deal.
Longun
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I took aprenticeship butchering classes in High School 50+ years ago and have taken care of my meat ever since...I don't like it but I do it..cause we love to eat it..local butchers always offer me a job but I refuse..can't stand to be inside and on my feet that long of a stretch of the day..looking for a good 16in bandsaw if anybody has one for sale..
roadrunner
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Anyone looking to getting into doing your own, check out waltonsinc.com.
Also, a stuffer saves a lot of time dealing with grind.
Also, a stuffer saves a lot of time dealing with grind.
After having very sub par "professional" meat processing experiences, I broke down and purchased a grinder. It probably paid for itself after just 2-3 animals. I like to grind most of my animals (for hamburgers, tacos/burritos, spaghetti, etc).
Like others have said, it is not difficult, but time consuming. If you plan to grind, be sure to go to your local butcher for some beef fat to add to your deer grinds as they are very lean already. Add anywhere from 10%-15% beef fat will do the trick.
I also recommend buying a decent vacuum sealer when packaging the meat for the freezer.
Good luck!
Like others have said, it is not difficult, but time consuming. If you plan to grind, be sure to go to your local butcher for some beef fat to add to your deer grinds as they are very lean already. Add anywhere from 10%-15% beef fat will do the trick.
I also recommend buying a decent vacuum sealer when packaging the meat for the freezer.
Good luck!
jester
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Basic game processing should but taught and encouraged..you don't need a grinder..you can take trim for burger. sausage to a butcher that does that at a fair and taste price..he doesn't have to process it much .. all other is simply trim cut and pack a zillion ways...I vac pac everything..
Jester
Jester
sjhgraysage
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We have always done our own butchering of game. I've been doing it for over 40 years. My dad showed me how and he just turned 91 this week. I don't ask him to help me any more 
.
I got my own grinder about 15 years ago. Before that dad took the trimmed meat for grinding to a butcher and had him run it through their big grinder while he waited.
My original grinder was a $79 dollar one from Cabelas, it worked but was small and slow. This year I bought a bigger 1/2 horse grinder, well worth the money! We did a bull elk a couple weeks ago, as I did alot of it by my self with some help from my son and my wife. Probably about 12 - 15 hours total including the grinding and wrapping. The end product is worth the effort if you enjoy eating quality game meat!
Good Luck!
.I got my own grinder about 15 years ago. Before that dad took the trimmed meat for grinding to a butcher and had him run it through their big grinder while he waited.
My original grinder was a $79 dollar one from Cabelas, it worked but was small and slow. This year I bought a bigger 1/2 horse grinder, well worth the money! We did a bull elk a couple weeks ago, as I did alot of it by my self with some help from my son and my wife. Probably about 12 - 15 hours total including the grinding and wrapping. The end product is worth the effort if you enjoy eating quality game meat!
Good Luck!
elkantlers
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It's not too hard. About the same as making your own Fuel.
bonepicker
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I use a pressure canner and can all my deer meat (except what I save out for jerky). Turns out great, and it's just a matter of cubing everything and canning it in quart jars. Takes a few hours but almost no waste.
For elk, I do a lot of burger, I have a grinder and mixer. I'll save out the backstraps for steaks and much of the hams for jerky and just burger the rest. Again, almost no waste, I can use the neck basically to the jaw. It is way faster, even if I am doing it alone, and we use it all year.
For elk, I do a lot of burger, I have a grinder and mixer. I'll save out the backstraps for steaks and much of the hams for jerky and just burger the rest. Again, almost no waste, I can use the neck basically to the jaw. It is way faster, even if I am doing it alone, and we use it all year.
rmanwill
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My dad always had a neighbor two house away that was a butcher do his deer for years ($15-$25 a deer if I recall right). One year he decided he was done, but offered to come over to the house and walk us through butchering a deer. I believe I was 16 years old at this time and have butchered all of our game animals ever since. On some given years this could be as many as 10 or more animals (deer, elk and antelope) for our extended family. At that number that is a huge saving $$$ on butchering expenses. I have done butchering for numerous hunting friends and shown them how to butcher their own animals with great success. Fun to watch peoples eye pop out of their head when you remove the front legs in about 5 seconds with just a knife.
I have always had a hand crank grinder that works awesome, but is time consuming and some what physical, but used it for 40 plus years (always try to put the boys to work cranking it).
My wife and son's bought me a Cabela's Carnivore 1 HP grinder for Christmas a few years ago and that thing will grind meat as fast as you can feed it. We go through a lot of deer burger on years we have several animals. Can butcher a whole deer in no time if you make steaks and roasts out of back straps, tenderloins and the large sections of hind quarters and then just remove all the remaining meat off the remaining bones, ribs and neck to grind.
For the past several years I have cut all my steaks into solid chunks and wrap in plastic wrap and then butcher paper. If I want a roast I use a couple of these and if I want steaks I thaw and cut into desired cuts at that time. This really keeps the meat from any freezer burn and saves time when butchering.
On several warm weather hunts I will take my knife, cutting board, plastic wrap, freezer paper and tape and just butcher the animal during the middle of the day on down time. Legs, bones and hide are all left on the mountain for the coyotes and the meat is good to go into the freezer when you arrive home. On our general season deer hunt this works well, due to my friend living at the base of the mountain about 25 minutes from camp and has a chest freezer set aside just for our processed animals. Meat butchered and in freezer that day and picked up frozen after the hunt and on way home. Placed in empty cooler and in freezer once home - Done. I have also seen numerous people with small chest freezers in their trailers with a small generator to freeze their meat and keep it on the long trips home!!! No grinder needed on these hunts, just cut into small pieces and wrap as stew meat (great stew and fajita meat).
Butchering your own animals can be very gratifying and can be very inexpensive or expensive. To get started you just need a knife (fillet knife work great and are very easy to re-sharpen quickly), plastic wrap, freezer wrap and a roll of tape.
Hand grinders can be bought for $25 or found on classified for little of nothing. Can always just cut into stew meat and not grind anything. Start with a knife and build your butchering assessories as you go.
My opinion is that boned out meat taste much better then bone in, takes less freezer room and you have no bone or bone marrow throughout your meat from just band sawing the meat into cuts and wrapping.
Once you learn to butcher your own animals. It sure helps you quarter an animal in the field and get the hide off on warm hunts which will get that animal cooled down very quickly to preserve your hard earned meat at it's best. You can keep it very clean and in game bags on the mountain much longer than a full animal. We have even hung the quarters at night and then placed them in a shaded tent under a tarp and piled our sleeping bags on top, which insulates them and keeps them cool all day until you hang them again at night.
Don't be afraid to try butchering your own animal. You cannot ruin it. Even a wrong cut is usually big enough to make a steak and there is always stew meat or the grinder. After one or two animals you will have it down. Plus there is numerous videos on butchering that are very good and will help. Enjoy your hard earned meat knowing you did it all on your own from planning the hunt to the meat in the freezer!!!
I have always had a hand crank grinder that works awesome, but is time consuming and some what physical, but used it for 40 plus years (always try to put the boys to work cranking it).
My wife and son's bought me a Cabela's Carnivore 1 HP grinder for Christmas a few years ago and that thing will grind meat as fast as you can feed it. We go through a lot of deer burger on years we have several animals. Can butcher a whole deer in no time if you make steaks and roasts out of back straps, tenderloins and the large sections of hind quarters and then just remove all the remaining meat off the remaining bones, ribs and neck to grind.
For the past several years I have cut all my steaks into solid chunks and wrap in plastic wrap and then butcher paper. If I want a roast I use a couple of these and if I want steaks I thaw and cut into desired cuts at that time. This really keeps the meat from any freezer burn and saves time when butchering.
On several warm weather hunts I will take my knife, cutting board, plastic wrap, freezer paper and tape and just butcher the animal during the middle of the day on down time. Legs, bones and hide are all left on the mountain for the coyotes and the meat is good to go into the freezer when you arrive home. On our general season deer hunt this works well, due to my friend living at the base of the mountain about 25 minutes from camp and has a chest freezer set aside just for our processed animals. Meat butchered and in freezer that day and picked up frozen after the hunt and on way home. Placed in empty cooler and in freezer once home - Done. I have also seen numerous people with small chest freezers in their trailers with a small generator to freeze their meat and keep it on the long trips home!!! No grinder needed on these hunts, just cut into small pieces and wrap as stew meat (great stew and fajita meat).
Butchering your own animals can be very gratifying and can be very inexpensive or expensive. To get started you just need a knife (fillet knife work great and are very easy to re-sharpen quickly), plastic wrap, freezer wrap and a roll of tape.
Hand grinders can be bought for $25 or found on classified for little of nothing. Can always just cut into stew meat and not grind anything. Start with a knife and build your butchering assessories as you go.
My opinion is that boned out meat taste much better then bone in, takes less freezer room and you have no bone or bone marrow throughout your meat from just band sawing the meat into cuts and wrapping.
Once you learn to butcher your own animals. It sure helps you quarter an animal in the field and get the hide off on warm hunts which will get that animal cooled down very quickly to preserve your hard earned meat at it's best. You can keep it very clean and in game bags on the mountain much longer than a full animal. We have even hung the quarters at night and then placed them in a shaded tent under a tarp and piled our sleeping bags on top, which insulates them and keeps them cool all day until you hang them again at night.
Don't be afraid to try butchering your own animal. You cannot ruin it. Even a wrong cut is usually big enough to make a steak and there is always stew meat or the grinder. After one or two animals you will have it down. Plus there is numerous videos on butchering that are very good and will help. Enjoy your hard earned meat knowing you did it all on your own from planning the hunt to the meat in the freezer!!!
Last edited:
roadrunner
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Stainless steel gears...
Bear in mind - most processors won't necessarily stop what they're doing to grind your trim. They may take it and do it later when grinding is being done and probably won't clean the grinder in between somebody else's and yours...
tylercreek2
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yes ,,, most butchers are good, some not so much ,,,we have been doing it ourselves for a good many years after a total ass of a butchers kid threw one of our bucks on the ground ,,, we take a lot of time to treat our meat right not to have some knot head kid throw a deer in the dirt,,,, we actually have three to do this weekend
bonepicker
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Yep, that's what I do most of the time!Try mixing cheap bacon with your burger.
