I like a sharp boning knife -- narrow bladed knife with a flexible blade, for getting the meat off the bone. I use a bone saw to take off the feet, but that is the end of my need for a saw. Actually, I also use the bone saw to cut free ribs and cut up other bones. I store these bones and later boil them to make venison broth which I freeze and use for various cooking purposes. If this is inconvenient for some reason -- like I am hunting a long ways away from home -- I may omit the saving of bones for making venison broth. I take out the backstraps and tenderloins whole, while others may use a saw to cut chops which include the backbone. I wrap my meat in heavy plastic wrap a couple of times and then in butcher paper, thus I have no need for a vacuum packer. I do like to work on a wooden cutting board but have used a plastic cutting board in the past. I hunt deer in Oklahoma, and the weather rarely lets me leave my deer hanging several days. The deer meat I get after hanging only overnight (let rigor mortis come and go) has tasted pretty good so I'm not inclined to pursue any special actions to age the deer longer.

I once cut up and packaged two pronghorn antelope in a motel room in Gillette, Wyoming. Anyone else ever cut up and package a game animal in a hotel room? Hey, I left the place clean when I was done!

On my elk hunt this year I am adding a digital scale so I can weigh meat pieces and cut them into meal-sized portions accurately. Admittedly this is an unnecessary elaboration, but the scale can be used for other purposes in our kitchen anyway.