Meat cuts or sausages?

[trevj]

what are the differences in Mule Deer meat and Whitetail meat?

Tail and ears, mainly.

The texture and flavor are more dependent upon what the deer have been eating over the course of the summer prior to their harvest, than on the species.

Take either out of grain country, and they taste pretty much the same, same as they do when you take then out of the Alfalfa patch or the sage flats. Take one from the grain patch, and one off the sage, and you may notice the difference. Or not.

I have a freezer with both in it, and the packages are chosen by cut, not species.

If you shoot a doe, she typically has her winter fat on her, while bucks, esp. the bigger boys, tend to not have much.

Never had a manky tasting deer, me, so cannot really tell you what makes that for sure, and I have shot a couple bucks that were rutted up till their necks were simply massive.


I think a LOT of people have had really bad experiences either with badly overcooked venison, or venison that was not well handled between field and freezer. It does not behave the same way as most domestic meats.

I almost always add oil or fat of some sort to my burger, whether it's with some bacon, fresh pork, shredded cheese, etc. Not a big deal if the stuff is filler in the mix, like in chili, but it makes a huge difference with burgers and meatloaf.

Cheers
Trev

 

[Wrong Way]

Gamey....god I hate that word.

Ill bet if you take a prime Angus, shoot it in the guts, hack it open and pull everything out, tie it behind a quad, drag it through 10k of swamp, hang it in the sun for 5 days then leave it in the open bed of a pickup for 8 hours before delivering it to "Joe who cuts meat in his shed" to have butchered...it'll probably taste "gamey" as well.

But it'll still get blamed on what the cow was eating I'll bet

 

[Hotwheels81]

Gamey....god I hate that word.

Ill bet if you take a prime Angus, shoot it in the guts, hack it open and pull everything out, tie it behind a quad, drag it through 10k of swamp, hang it in the sun for 5 days then leave it in the open bed of a pickup for 8 hours before delivering it to "Joe who cuts meat in his shed" to have butchered...it'll probably taste "gamey" as well.

But it'll still get blamed on what the cow was eating I'll bet

Every single mule deer I have ever eaten tastes like a mule deer... And my farts smell like a mule deer after I eat it no matter how much garlic or onion or curry it's been soaked in... I still eat it but the difference is about as clear as comparing white tail to elk.

 

[Ian Sa]

I would like to learn how to properly butcher an animal and appropriate handling. I am a new hunter and have cut up one animal, I think I did an okay job but could have surely done better.

Where did all of you learn these skills? I live in Toronto so there isn't a strong hunting community around. Would books or a course somewhere help?

 

[Suka]

For us it was really a combination of reading, online research (N. Dakota state has a bunch of GREAT material online, everything from butchering to canning), and just plain old trial and error. Each time is better than the last.

Watch kijiji off season for a grinder and sausage press, but it's probably pretty tough to find them used. I got our grinder and slicer from a small butcher shop that went bust, and our sausage press is an Old cast iron one (we call it steam powered, but that's just the sweat coming off me from cranking it. ) Get yourself a good(home butcher) bone saw (I doubt they're over 20 bucks new from the major sports retailers) and either a vacum sealer or a roll of butcher paper and tape.
My biggest advice would be (after breaking it down to legs, ribs, etc) to really pay attention to the muscle groups and split them up before cutting rather than just cut through them. When cutting, pay close attention to the grain of the meat. Some is almost tailor made for jerky, other makes melt in your mouth steak, and they're often side by side. The first time I do an animal I print off a butcher's diagram of cuts for that animal and have it on the table as a helper. (Until recently you could buy a pig on the hoof for less than the price of a couple hams)

You can make jerky, pepperoni and sausage in your oven, jerky by turning it on the lowest setting (likely 170) and leaving the door open a crack. Lot's of guys use liquid smoke until they get a smoker.
Personally I'd say the largest factor is having the desire, so I'm thinking you'll do just fine.

 

[Suka]

Forgot to mention, far as the animal, clean, quick kill, get it cooled down fast and keep it clean pretty much covers it. The opposite of any of the previous will degrade the taste and tenderness of the meat.

Snow in the chest cavity and on the hams, or rinse the cavity with cold water, even just getting the hide off and hanging it in the shade, whatever you can do.

 

[Ian Sa]

the hunters course I took was not bad. The teacher did tell me both the legal side plus some practical about field dressing (good guy in Scarborough....sorry but I forget his name at the moment).
But it was only an introduction into hunting. Does anyone here want to offer a 'teach the newbie' course?
Or does anyone know where I could find similar training?

Learning these skills and being responsible are not as easy as it sounds if you live in the city (and wish to learn some country skills). Your help would be appreciated.

 

[jholl72]

We butcher our own deer, not hard if you take the time to learn. I take the backstraps, tenderloin and big roasts out...the rest gets tossed into a bag for pepperettes, sausage etc.
This year I bought a grinder from Cabellas for $99, the heavy duty one they sell and we did 50 pounds of summer sausage, 20 pounds of jerky and 20 pounds of bratwurst sausage. We used the premade spice mixes they sell at Cabellas and added our some extra cracked pepper, garlic etc to taste. The grinder also doubles as a stuffer and the spice kits came with the casings. It worked great and everyone loved the meat. We were quite happy with our first attempt, we will make a few adjustments to the spicing next time.
I also picked up a smoker to use and it was great too.

 

[jholl72]

I should add there are some good video's on youtube to help guide you through the butchering process.

 

[Mattones]

My wife only eats venison in ground and sausages she's not a steak eater. So each year the first deer is that. Then the second is slices, pepperettes and more ground. I can't eat all the slices myself in a year without getting sick of them. We tend toward ground and sausages once a week.

 

[ironsighter]

I should add there are some good video's on youtube to help guide you through the butchering process.

Yep. I use this series. I watch it as I go along. Each time, I need to watch it less and the job is done quicker.

ht tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aD43mDtk70

ht tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5DoFyERrgw

ht tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wyVLXwqIdE

ht tp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePci87C10GM

 

[MD]

Well my buddy brought over some of his whitetail sausage I mentioned in the first post.

Had some for dinner last night.

Tasted like the 3 for $5.00 garlic ring my local butcher has on sale now and again.

What a friggin' waste of nice whitetail venison.

Plus I think his share of the bill was $240!!!

 

[sheephunter]

Sausage making is an art and very few butchers do more than one or two types well. Many do none well. We take meat to three different butchers depending on the type of sausage we want made. We eat a fair number of smokies and have one butcher that makes incredible bacon/swiss and jalapeno/cheddar. He also makes the best dried peperoni. We had 60 pounds of meat made into it last year. His garlic sausage on the other hand is just okay so we drive 300kms to have it made. Finding good sausage makers is a constant search.