Wild Game Meat Hanging

KODIAK BEAR

KODIAK BEAR

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GunNutz
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West of the Rockies, on an island.
Just heard today that butchers in BC who used to hang game carcasses prior to butchering have to have two separate coolers in which to hang wild game separate from domestic carcasses. Apparently these regulations came into effect on the 30th September. Has anyone heard of the regs? This will undoubtedly cause some problems for hunters.
 
Is this regulation in effect only for wild game that has the hide on... or for the skinned ones as well?
The rule is idiotic, as it is more likely to get sick from farm meat than from wild game. Cross contamination with wild boar or bear meat is only problematic if the meat is actually mixed by mistake.... not by contact.
 
It's getting tougher to find a cutter around Cold Lake. The guys that used to cut game are not touching the stuff, now. I cut and wrapped one deer here at home, and a bud and I did two, together, in a garage, that was a bit better set up than ours were. Dunno what I'd do with a moose carcass. The nearest guy I know and trust is about 3 hours from here, so I guess I'd drive.... Coronado Meats, just north of Gibbons, outside Edmonton, if ya gotta know. Cheers Trev
 
Cut it yourself. A semi-trained monkey can do it (I mean if I can, anyone can). Takes me 4 hours to skin, cut, trim, and wrap a deer -- and I'm slow (drinking beer, taking a few minute out to watch the game etc.). I've had two deer out of 40 done by "pros" and now know that I will do a better job because it means more to me than it does to them.
 
As Sjemac said do it yourself. You get a better job in the end. You will need some equipment. a Hand meat saw, good boning knife, and a good grinder is a nice to have. take your time and make it a social event with your hunting buddies. You can do almost anything in an afternoon.
 
The regs for butchers here in Ontario have gone completely stupid. There's so much red tape, alot of them are quitting now. Just too much BS.

I had my guy give up the business and it sucks....he was a great butcher, and his prices were awsome. He used to do my deer for 35 bucks, no matter the size.

(Now I just quarter everything and cook it caveman style!)
 
Big Guy said:
As Sjemac said do it yourself. You get a better job in the end. You will need some equipment. a Hand meat saw, good boning knife, and a good grinder is a nice to have. take your time and make it a social event with your hunting buddies. You can do almost anything in an afternoon.
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Do a way better job yourself. Bone them right out and trim ALL fat away from edible meat. Carcass should only be hung for extended aging if in the right conditions, that is controlled more or less at just above freezing. Hanging them in garages and the like at +10 by day down to -10 at night with auto exhaust and the local cats chewing chewing away at the carcass leads to sub standard table fare.
 
Helped my friend this afternoon with his bull moose. Fun and easy to do, but my back was getting sore while doing some final trimming on the counter.

A sharpener is absolutely vital for doing any butchering: no sharpener and you're going to be wishing you had one.
 
I stopped using a butcher to cut my meat for me at least 12-13 years ago when I got somebody else's skanky meat. Have been cutting my own caribou and moose ever since, with a much nicer finished product. By cutting my own, I can make sure all the fat, vellum and membrane is cut from the meat. Wild game fat can actually turn rancid, even in the freezer after only a couple of months. One of the big reasons why some people complain about "gamey" taste on the meat (along with inproper field dressing/meat handling).

I make sure its just 100% meat going on the styrofoam tray. The scraps are bagged and frozen for the dogs as special treats, along with the bones. I usually take the lesser cuts of meat and have them ground for burger, etc...That I get my local butcher to do, but I always make sure I show up just after their grinder has been sterilized and I watch while it is ground. That way, I know what I'm getting. I have been looking at the larger grinder advertized by Princess Auto lately though. I like the ability to hook up my own electric motor to it. I may have to go that route, as my local butcher shop may be closing due to the death of one of the owners and the semi-retirement of his remaining partner/brother. I tried the handcrank grinder conecpt some years ago. Too much work for too little results, so that has been in the junk drawer ever since!
 
X-man said:
I have been looking at the larger grinder advertized by Princess Auto lately though. I like the ability to hook up my own electric motor to it. I may have to go that route, as my local butcher shop may be closing due to the death of one of the owners and the semi-retirement of his remaining partner/brother. I tried the handcrank grinder concept some years ago. Too much work for too little results, so that has been in the junk drawer ever since!
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This may be repetitious. My processing is now to gut the deer in the field and if circumstances permit, take the hide off while it is warm. That is so much easier than peeling a frozen hide off a frozen carcass. Wrap it is cheesecloth and hang for 3-4 days in the garage.

The B-I-L has a hand cranked gantry arm that slips into the trailer recepticle on his truck. That is a huge improvement over working on your knees. LED headlamps are another leap forward.

Start cutting with the front shoulders (not much meat there), the backstraps (good meat there) and the hind quarters (most of the good meat there). Rinse off the clots, sage brush bits and hairs. Cut off the connective tissue and membranes, and throw the cuttings into Rubbermaid tubs. The B-I-L has a cast iron grinder with a pulley wheel he screws to the benchtop. The separator plate catches more unwanted tissue bits. I bag the meat in good quality Ziploc bags, mark and freeze.

A little investment in tools will last a long time, and makes the second part of the hunt that much more enjoyable.
 
BC regs

As I understand it, (it's been this way forever as far as I know?), a commercial butcher cannot use the same machinery/knives etc for wild game and commercially produced meats without doing a complete tear-down and cleaning of all the machinery etc. between the two. This is why most butchers won't do it. It causes a lot of extra work. Don't know if that applies to hanging the meat together or not. Probably does.
At least that's what a couple have explained to me.
 
those big grinders from princess auto are great, hook them up to a 1/2Hp electric, use a big wheel for gwar reduction, you don't need much speed.

Sharp knives, get several and a good stone, and it really dosn't take long to butcher

(unless you have to go to the hospital for stitches :redface: )
 
My local butcher says bring just the "meat". No hoves,head or skin. He charges $120 / deer flat rate, all cuts marked & vacuum packed in plastic for the freezer. He told me if I'm worried about getting the wrong deer, I'm welcome to come & watch when he starts .
 
i butcher all my own
sharp knives, sterile table and rubbermaid bins.... then it's vaccum packed with my "tillia foodsaver" vacumm sealer. keeps meat tasty fresh for 2 years in the freezer, though it never lasts that long. deer, bear, moose doesn't matter which, I'll only go to the butcher if i am very pressed for time. I do save all the decent trim and at the end of each season i take my moose trim and deer trim in and get sausage done by the butcher (ennis meats, langley b.c.), mixing the two meats makes for AWESOME bratwerst and pepperoni.
 
we just dropped a bull off at our butchers last monday and it still went in the same cooler as everything else, wish I was good nuff to butcher my own meat but I like my t-bones and such and just dont want to kill a weekend dealing with meat during hunting season, sausage we still make ourselves but pig gut casings are getting harder to buy around here and im not fond of paper casings
 
My family has a butcher shop and they do deer/moose as well as beef and pork. The gear is cleaned in between a switchover between wild/domestic, but meat is all hung together in the cooler. The carcasses have tags hung on em to make sure everyone gets back what they dropped off. They take wild game any way you want to bring it, hide on, hide off and whole carcass or quartered whatever, the price changes between of course. I think they charge 30-35 bucks for a deer, just cut and a bit more to wrap in freezer paper, label then shrink wrap.

Works out good for me, no charge and all the pro gear to do the work:D. If I can I usually don't even field dress the deer (if I can get it there quick) I hang it, skin it then gut it the same as we do beef etc. I find it easier to keep the carcass free of hair and debris this way. Works well if it's a short drag to the truck, poorly with a longer trip.:p
 
I cut my own deer. It's not that hard if you have the space to do it. Bleach, puckboard, sharp knives, beer and friends. Cutting the meat is part of the hunting process I really enjoy. Find a friend with some skills and experience and it makes it a lot easier.

Most guys in Alberta won't / can't process wild game in a retail shop.
 
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