Butchering

GB1

GB1

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Anyone else have a hell of a time finding someone to butcher their deer this year? Seems like no one is doing this commercially anymore. In Sask anyway...
 
Cutting up a game animal is not a hard thing to do. This time of year you can set up in your back yard with a couple of tables if you don't have a garage.

If money is tight a few friends can go in on a grinder or sausage stuffer. I have found the best method is to leave the animal whole ( if possible ). Remove the back straps and tenderloins. Cut your roasts etc. off the hinds and debone the rest for grinding. Take the time to carefully remove all fat etc... so you grind nice lean meat. It takes me less than one hour from set up to clean up to do a deer by myself.( Do not take any saw to the bones as the dust makes the meat taste bitter )

Funny that when I have help it takes longer ( Little brown bottles get in the way:D)

When I hear about what guys are paying to have animals cut up I cringe a bit. They are paying enough to just go out and buy beef or pork. Also, I know of outfits that will simply add your meat to all the other game they get and give you a pre weighed amount back. You take time and care to prep your animal and it gets mixed with some POS that was left in the back of a truck for a week.


Processing your game is rewarding and can be a lot of fun when your friends join in. The more you can do for yourself the better off you are.
 
powdergun said:
You take time and care to prep your animal and it gets mixed with some POS that was left in the back of a truck for a week.


Processing your game is rewarding and can be a lot of fun when your friends join in. The more you can do for yourself the better off you are.
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That was my concern (besides being a tight s.o.b.). If my game meat tastes lousy, at least I can only blame myself.
 
Take a quarter at a time throw it on the kitchen table buy 4 pound bags, debone it,cut it into cutlets,double bag it,tape it up,when your done get the wife to clean up, you'll have the best deer you ever had.
 
anschutz said:
Take a quarter at a time throw it on the kitchen table buy 4 pound bags, debone it,cut it into cutlets,double bag it,tape it up,when your done get the wife to clean up, you'll have the best deer you ever had.
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And the fastest trip to your divorce attorney:D
 
It is worth the time to do it yourself, it takes a long time but it is worth it when it is time to take it out of the freezer and there is no bone or fat on it and it is butchered in the exact shape and sizes you intend to use.
 
I've never brought a deer to a butcher, but have been told how its usually run like an assembly line, and many times you do not get meat that came from the deer you shot, but from someone else.

If this is the case, then YES, it would make a huge difference from doing it yourself. Some people take great measure in field dressing a deer as soon as possible to cool it down, and some do Not. Some people are very careful on keeping the exposed part of the deer clean, so do Not. Some deer are bang flops, some are not, and end up with a lot of adrenaline getting into the meat.

I believe the preparation you do before your meat even gets in the kitchen, will determine how well it tastes on your supper plate. So when you butcher your own deer, you know if you do things right, you should end up with some tasty venison. If what I heard about bringing it to a butcher is true, you may get a lesser quality meat due to someone elses lazy habits.
 
It's really not that hard to cut up a deer and package it, especially when you have an uncle that has a fully outfitted cut shop:D

I've heard people complain about not getting the same meat that they drop off at the butcher's:confused:. My family has a shop that does a lot of deer and moose every year, each carcass gets a tag with the owner's name and are packaged and boxed by owner. What kind of meat you get back is entirely dependant on what you drop off and believe me some guys make a hell of a mess out of a wild animal. Looks like they skinned it in the middle of the woods and rolled it around for awhile. Even had one come covered in Christmas tinsel, skinned it on the floor of the shed.
 
If you can't or don't have the time yourself,there are quality folks out there processing wild game.
Usually specific to where you live...what neck o' the woods you in GB1?
I may be able to point you in the right direction.
 
Looks like the universal recommendation is that I stop being such a lazy ass and learn to do it myself! Guess i should check out the sausage machines next time I hit up Cabelas.
 
If you are close enough to Saskatoon, Prairie Meats (Millar Ave.) is advertising $0.75/lb cut boneless and wrapped. On Clarence Ave. at 12th St. there is a small grocery that advertised they would butcher game with the promise you will get only your own animal back, but I don't know their price or even if they are still in the game-butchering game.

I have always done my own so I don't vouch for either of them.
 
GB1 said:
Looks like the universal recommendation is that I stop being such a lazy ass and learn to do it myself! Guess i should check out the sausage machines next time I hit up Cabelas.
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It can be as simple as cutting away all the parts you don't want to eat.;)
 
Went out for a ride along with Iceman and Rick65Cat over the last couple weekends, and watched them cut up a couple deer and a moose. I would've gotten in there to give it a whirl, but it was pretty cramped. At least by watching, I can say it looks like a better bet to DIY than to pay someone else. At least you're gonna get the big thick He-Man steaks as opposed to little fast-fryers if you want them. The deer my folks were given last year was butchered by a "pro." The steaks were a joke. The roast looked like a steak, and there was a ton of ground meat, but in the "pro's" defence, he did make a kick-ass deer sausage.
 
Took me an hour and a half to skin and debone a mulie buck the other night. Another 30 minutes to really trim up the cuts properly. Cheaper than the $70-$150 they charge around here to cut deer and the meat is better quality because I CARE about getting the silverskin and fat off of the meat. I leave mine hanging and debone right off of the hanging carcass, leaving the rear shanks to the end.

I'll have cut 8-10 deer by the time the season ends.
 
do it yourself. today it took 2 of us about an hour to do a small buck totally deboned. thats bagging and a couple pops included ;)

too many people are afraid of the meat spoiling, but its easy to keep the meat cool at this time of year (not this year though:rolleyes:)

just buy a good book and go step by step.
 
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