Want to learn how to butcher
- Thread starter joehr
- Start date
- Location
- WMU248 near Edmonton
Thats about what we do, bone out all the nice cuts in roast size chunks, that way you can have either roast or cut them up later as steaks. Everything else goes into the grinder. Get a good grinder and hook up an electric motor (geared down to reasonable cranking speed) just dont put anyting into the grinder that you want to keep attached to your body
M12shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East St. Paul, mb
Best to learn how to bone out a carcass as it will occupy less room in the freezer... although boning takes much more time than cutting through the carcass with a saw.
The average deer is quite small after skinning and thus difficult to divide into cuts after boning out the thing..as inside/outside round roast or steak, sirlion, top sirloin,etc... The shoulder can be ground with an inexpensive kitchen grinder into burger. Just watch the the hind quarters as there is a gland that runs through the muscle groups in the centre. In cold hung meat it will appear as a triangular vien of whiteish fat. This is hooked to the tarsals on the inside or the lower hind legs. If you cut throught this it might give the meat a stronger gamey taste.
Plenty of video on youtube or videos available for purchase. I have been doing my own cutting and boning for 25 years...the only way to go! Takes me a good afternoon to cut, bone, grind and wrap a deer. Better teaming up with a buddy and doing a couple deer at once.
An average whitetail when completely boned will occupy not much more than a common kitchen sink can hold.
Ribs, bones, spine, neck, etc. make good coyote bait to boot!
The average deer is quite small after skinning and thus difficult to divide into cuts after boning out the thing..as inside/outside round roast or steak, sirlion, top sirloin,etc... The shoulder can be ground with an inexpensive kitchen grinder into burger. Just watch the the hind quarters as there is a gland that runs through the muscle groups in the centre. In cold hung meat it will appear as a triangular vien of whiteish fat. This is hooked to the tarsals on the inside or the lower hind legs. If you cut throught this it might give the meat a stronger gamey taste.
Plenty of video on youtube or videos available for purchase. I have been doing my own cutting and boning for 25 years...the only way to go! Takes me a good afternoon to cut, bone, grind and wrap a deer. Better teaming up with a buddy and doing a couple deer at once.
An average whitetail when completely boned will occupy not much more than a common kitchen sink can hold.
Ribs, bones, spine, neck, etc. make good coyote bait to boot!
Last season we removed all the meat from the bone without gutting the deer. Just skinned back the pelt as needed from a cut down the spine, back of legs and ring around the ankles and neck. Put meat in bags in a cooler to later wash, trim and steak or grind. We only opened it up to get at the tenderloins, and at that point we were done. Never even had to lift the deer up on the hoist. Clean and easy. Only one object to haul away when done. I'll never gut and fully skin one again.
Actually, check this guy out. I've been using his technique for deboning for a few years now, and if I do say so myself -- I can debone a whole deer in about 10/15 minutes now that I've got the hang of it.
http://www.newjerseyhunter.com/video/deerfield.wmv
My favorite quote on butchering is from the lady who taught The Wife(tm) and I to do our own some years ago. It was something to the effect of "Don't be intimidated; it's just a big piece of meat shaped like a deer. We're just going to cut it into little steak shaped bits and eat it." It really is that simple, for the most part.
When doing it yourself have you found that there is less wasted meat? I have a tendancy to think butchers throw a lot away, and a do-it-yourself-r would try to scrape as much as possible off the bone.
In general, How much are you guys (who butcher your meat yourselves) get as a percentage in weight from a gutted deer?
Here is another good series, if you click on the link, you can get the rest of the vids, I think 4 in all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYGBNDc_xU
[youtube]uzYGBNDc_xU[/youtube]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYGBNDc_xU
[youtube]uzYGBNDc_xU[/youtube]
definetly watch and re-watch the video that 7.62mm has put up. The gang I hunt with butchers there own meat and this is exactly how we do it and I find that with 12 guys doing the butchering we can butcher around 9 deer from tree to butchering paper in about half an hour.
I cut my own deer and bear, but I'm more careful than some.
I make roasts from the hinds, and chops from the back straps, but I de-bone and save the shoulders for pot roasts, save the shanks as-is for boiling later as soup, trim nice odds and ends into stew or even high-grade "goulash," save the ribs in strips for baking, and save all little unusable scraps for grinding into burger and save all the bones for soup.
An average size deer or bear then fits into two liquor store wine bottle boxes, with maybe four packages of ribs and the bones in a 3rd box.
I strip the whole backstrap off the carcass, but don't cut them into chops until just before cooking. The part behind the shoulder I call "chuck" and it can be sliced thinly into stir fry, stewed slowly or even ground later if I'm short of burgerized meat. The neck is de-boned for burger too.
I make roasts from the hinds, and chops from the back straps, but I de-bone and save the shoulders for pot roasts, save the shanks as-is for boiling later as soup, trim nice odds and ends into stew or even high-grade "goulash," save the ribs in strips for baking, and save all little unusable scraps for grinding into burger and save all the bones for soup.
An average size deer or bear then fits into two liquor store wine bottle boxes, with maybe four packages of ribs and the bones in a 3rd box.
I strip the whole backstrap off the carcass, but don't cut them into chops until just before cooking. The part behind the shoulder I call "chuck" and it can be sliced thinly into stir fry, stewed slowly or even ground later if I'm short of burgerized meat. The neck is de-boned for burger too.
I applaud you for wanting to learn... completes the cycle! I've been doing mine for years. There are some dvd's out there that detail how to do it. As well, when you take your deer in to be done, they have to use the bone saw out of necessity, and by cutting through the bone, they impart the bone marrow dust into the meat... sure changes the taste! take the deer piece by piece; if hanging by the hocks, start at the shoulder, work your way up.As others have said, I too use the hams for steaks, roasts, the tenderloins if they make it home( usally end up on the grill the night of the kill.) are cut into nice little steaks, the backstraps make wonderful steaks. I grind the shoulders, neck and hocks for sausage. I personally don't bone out the ribs: too much fat for me, and they do make great coyote bait! Try it, don't worry if you loose some meat; practice makes perfect!!!
) are cut into nice little steaks, the backstraps make wonderful steaks. I grind the shoulders, neck and hocks for sausage. I personally don't bone out the ribs: too much fat for me, and they do make great coyote bait! Try it, don't worry if you loose some meat; practice makes perfect!!!
Have a look at this website, there is a lot of good info on proper deer butchering.
There are videos how to process the deer from skinning all they way to cooking recipes.
http://www.myoutdoortv.com/video/video.php?v=fy9kplh9p75Oba9Qs0pmKqY6oG6r3DGC
on this website there is a full series of deer meet processing, about 2 hours worth of video just for deer meet processing.
Hope this info helps
Good luck.
There are videos how to process the deer from skinning all they way to cooking recipes.
http://www.myoutdoortv.com/video/video.php?v=fy9kplh9p75Oba9Qs0pmKqY6oG6r3DGC
on this website there is a full series of deer meet processing, about 2 hours worth of video just for deer meet processing.
Hope this info helps
Good luck.
It's pretty easy. My father in-law taught me years ago. I find that you get more meat, cleaner cuts, and guaranteed to get YOUR deer back (not everyone is careful with meat care in the field). Now I only bone them out, no cutting with the saw...
We keep the trim for sausage, but I think I'm going to pick up a grinder this year for burger, or maybe try my own sausages (gives me an excuse to buy a smoker )
My wife and I can cut and wrap a large deer in an hour being very selective and cutting off all the fat. I also double wrap the packages. We save some of the inferior cuts for canning as it tenderizes them up nicely.
The boys at the camp always want to have the meat done by a lad who does a deer for $40 each out of his garage, but I find he leaves too much fat on. I'm going to offer to do the camp's deer for a case of beer for each deer this year.
If the weather is warm and I can't get the deer done right away, I have chunked out the meat and put it in the fridge in large plastic bins for a day or 2 until I can get to it. Just put something to keep the meat off the bottom of the container as there will be blood pooling and the meat will soak in it.
Lastly, doing my own game completes the cycle of the hunt for me. It's all part of the experience IMHO.
We keep the trim for sausage, but I think I'm going to pick up a grinder this year for burger, or maybe try my own sausages (gives me an excuse to buy a smoker
)My wife and I can cut and wrap a large deer in an hour being very selective and cutting off all the fat. I also double wrap the packages. We save some of the inferior cuts for canning as it tenderizes them up nicely.
The boys at the camp always want to have the meat done by a lad who does a deer for $40 each out of his garage, but I find he leaves too much fat on. I'm going to offer to do the camp's deer for a case of beer for each deer this year.
If the weather is warm and I can't get the deer done right away, I have chunked out the meat and put it in the fridge in large plastic bins for a day or 2 until I can get to it. Just put something to keep the meat off the bottom of the container as there will be blood pooling and the meat will soak in it.
Lastly, doing my own game completes the cycle of the hunt for me. It's all part of the experience IMHO.
