Cabral401

Do you butcher your own deer. If so do you know of a book,video or anything online that can teach me or be a Guide on how to butcher your deer? By butchering I mean different cuts after quartering it.

alleyyooper

I butcher my own deer, that way I know what I got was taken care of properly after the shot.

This link will take you to a real good step by step how to.
http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/forums/...hp?f=8&t=87556

Thing is to be flexible and cut to what your needs are We package our burger in pound packs since there is only the two of us at home now. If more is needed it is easy to add several packs together. Steaks we pack in twos, for the same reason.

Al

flyinlowe

Youtube can usually find everything you need.

I butcher my own but I typically cut out the loins and backstraps whole. Then the rest I cut for sausage meat and meat to can. Sometime I take the hams out whole and have them smoked.

MZS

Butchering can be as non-complicated as deboning all the meat and taking it in to be made into burger mixed with beef and sausage. Some of the deboned meat can be packaged for stew. And cut some steaks off the hind quarter and I also cut away the loins for stew. This is what I do. And as I debone the meat, I immediately place in large bags and cool in the freezer. Quick cooling of the meat is important. This is very simple and after the meat is mixed with beef at the butcher for burger, one deer can go a long way. I don't freeze the meat, but get it to where it is just starting to freeze when I take to the butcher. One may also grind their own burger - I have done this in the past as well. The reason I like to have the butcher grind the meat for burger is that they can mix in beef trimmings and also their grinder can handle the fattier deer trimmings that will often plug up my meat grinder (and then I have to unclog the grinder and clean it up). An option if you grind up the burger yourself that works well is to not grind any fattier or sinew meat but separate it out and take it in to the butcher for sausage - then only grind the nice fat-free meat. We found that we made better use of the burger than the sausage so I just started taking all the deboned meat in for burger.

If you want more in-depth methods for different cuts of meat and info on dressing a deer out and butchering, see this page at http://www.deerhuntingbasics.com/tracking-gutting.php

flags

I've always butchered my own game including grinding it and making my own sausage. I was taught to do so by my grandfathers and father. I've never looked at a video or read a book on it, I just do it the way I was taught. When you kill, cut, grind and wrap game yourself you have total control of the entire process. When you pay someone to do it you lose that control.

Plus, I feel you owe it to the animal you killed to do the job yourself rather than pass it off to a paid flunky.

Oldtimr

You owe it to the animal to care for it the best you can. While I know how to butcher, I was a meat cutter in a store in highschool. I do not have a place to hang a deer in a controled cool envirenment nor to I have a place that is suitable to butcher a deer. However, my "paid flunky" will skin my deer upon arrival, will hang my deer for a week in the walk in cooler, he makes me the best smoked dried venison(think dried beef) you ever ate, makes the best venison sausage, fresh, Italian and smoked and provides me with stakes cut to order and burger. All vacume packed per my instructions as to amount and how thick the cuts are or weight. All this for about a hundred dollars. As a custom butcher, he knows what he is doing and his work is well worth the money. He is anything but a paid flunky. I am very particular about who handles my food. He also does my wild hogs for me. This is the best way for me to handle the big game I kill to show it respect.

rockport

Ive always done it my self. I think if I were starting now I would research butchering cattle. Probably a lot more specific information on that from professional "flunkies" otherwise known as butchers then apply that information to deer.

Jenks

I know several that were butchers. I suspect that they would not like to be known as "paid flunkys". Not everyone can be rocket scientists or nuclear engineers, some of us have to make a living doing the more ordinary chores. Most all of us buy cut meat from time to time so we need butchers, it is honest work should not be looked down upon.

nchawkeye

That's the beauty of growing up in the country, we butchered and smoked 20 pigs a year...

I do my own deer and usually debone as I go...I also grind it up to burger meat...

smitty0220

Cabral401 - One of the best books I have found is called, Gut it, Cut it, Cook it. Sells for about 15.00 on Deer & Deer Hunting site. I had a basic understanding of the process, but this book really helped.

Where in RI are you located? I'm in S.Kingstown.