Prices for processing a deer??

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I am thinking of going out for Dec. archery near Grand Forks in B.C.

Since I am relatively new here I thought I would contact some local butchers and find out what it would cost to debone, process and make some sausage (20 lbs) from say a 130 lb (live weight) whitetail doe. I was quoted around 240 bucks. This seems pretty expensive. It used to be around a hundred bucks cheaper in Alta when I hunted there a couple of years ago and they also made sausage.

What are hunters here paying for processing meat??

Yeah, Yeah, I know I can do it myself but they do do a nicer job.
 
Fella I know charges.$0.75 a lb for cutting and $2.75 a lb for basic sausage most places need about 25 lbs unless they mix your meat with other peoples
 
My buddy just took a deer into Muskoka Meats (central Ontario) and there charging him .95 cents per pound plus 50 bucks to skin it. A couple years back when I was still running the deer camp we paid $365. to have a deer skinned, cut a wrapped plus 40Ib of pepperettes made. Seems unless you find a moon lighting butcher that visits your garage after supper for a C note or a good bottle of scotch this cut a wrap issue gets expensive, especially when you start having sausage or pepperettes made.

Personally this year I bought a 1hp meat grinder from Cabelas, watched a couple how to videos on Utube and we home butchered old Charlie on the kitchen counter. Works for me as I am retired and have a wife that helps out with this sort of thing, might not be everyone's option though. My math tells me two deer with some sausage and the grinders more than paid for.
 
Shop I use ( in southern Ontario) wont take a deer with the hide on it, so years ago it was $50 cut and wrapped, now its $75 cut and wrapped, and I skin it and take the head off it. But thats just steaks, chops, roasts and ground cut up and wrapped up in the butcher paper. Cant remember what the price was years ago when the same butcher did sausage and pepperetes for me.
 
I did my friends deer for him myself when I was 20. Bought a manual meat grinder as well as a bradley smoker. Took me all day to cut it up, but had all winter to play around with sausage, jerky and pepperette recipes.


Fast forward to 2012. I shot a big buck, didn't have time with work to cut and wrap it so I brought it to the local place down the road. At $0.75/lb it cost me $120-130ish after tax to have my deer cut and wrapped. If you add up all the costs of hunting, another $130 on top of it really isn't much, but its a service that certainly isn't worth $130.

Fast forward to 2014. I cut and wrapped my deer myself in the garage in less than 3 hrs. I'll process the meat later on myself too.
 
usually I butcher my own deer but if I need to go to a butcher
my local guy has a golden reputation

game meat butchering is .65 a pound cut and wrapped
sausage/pepperoni is 67.50 per 30lbs (30lbs minimum)
cut and wrap fee is based on hanging hook weight
my butcher will skin if he has too for 65.00 for a deer but we don't like to put him thru that inconvenience.
Butcher Bobs, forest grove BC (100mile house)
 
The last few years I've butchered my own deer and the first couple of them I definitely gave new meaning to the word "butcher"! LOL I do it to save money but also because whenever I seem to get my deer the local butchers are always filled up. The first ones took quite bait of time since I was such a novice,,,,, a lot of Youtube BUT it is definitely the way to go for me now. We have a pretty good meat grinder for burger and a good quality vacuum sealer. These are the two jobs my wife does. It seems like the larger the deer the easier it is to do. It definitely helps to have a background in muscle anatomy for making better cuts but because I purposely shoot deer to the smaller side for the meat quality every deer has been a winner. Some of them you can use a butter knife to cut up your steak with. Haven't had to make sausage out of any of them.
 
A couple knives and a meat grinder, and a supply of butcher paper, or ziplock type freezer bags. A vacuum sealer if yer feeling flashy, eh. :)

Watch a couple videos on youtube. Pay attention to the basics of breaking it down into chunks, and making the chunks smaller until you are happy with them.

Anything that you don't like the looks of as a steak or roast, can always be made into burger or stew cuts. Hard to go too far wrong.

Definitely easier with an experienced friend helping, but with the great info available to watch, it's pretty easy.

One of the things to keep in mind is that you can usually fit a whole deer worth of meat into the fridge. Strip the backstraps off, the shoulders come off pretty easy, the sides and brisket get stripped, along with the neck, and it all gets taken into the kitchen where the bones are removed and the meat piled neatly into a couple large tupperware tubs or big steel salad bowls and you can refrigerate it and process it in parts as you make the time.
You can break down the hinds the same way, into big chunks, then make smaller parts from those.

It's a little overwhelming if you try to do it all, all at the same time. Break it down into chunks, then those chunks into smaller chunks...easier.

Cheers
Trev
 
I guess I'm lucky. There is an older guy here that is a friend of mine with a walk in cooler in his garage. He butchers on the side. He charges $35 cut and wrapped for a deer and about $.25/lb for larger game. He does a great job. I have done lots of my own but I like going to his place to shoot the breeze.
 
If U learn how to do it yourself, that is if U have the time, facilities and interest, it will of course cost U nothing after some initial investment into a few pieces of equipment. You will need a cutting table, a few butchering knives, such as boning etc., get a good meat grinder, an electronic set of scales and some meat tubes and yur in business. It is not rocket science, anybody can do it and it is fun processing yur own harvested game. Whats more U will know that your meat was handled with good food hygiene processing techniques, and it is YOUR OWN MEAT.
 
I may try to do this one myself - it may not turn out to be perfect but you gotta start somewhere. Any suggestions on you tube videos I should see?
 
Bill the Butcher in Liskeard is about $0.70 per pound hook weight for wild game. 100lb minimum weight charged. Individual cuts however you want, bone out, sinew out. Sausage is more. If you have the time, learn to do it yourself. Best option for learning would be do it with someone who knows more than you do.
 
Flat rate of $ 110(tax in) here in Eastern Townships of Quebec......Regardless of size. Up from $ 100 last few years. This includes skinning, and vacuum packaging in the cuts you request....ie more/less roasts, thickness of chops/steaks, and stewcuts vs burger.
 
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