By all means, butcher it yourself. You think the butcher is going to cut around bone, cut out all the fat, peal big hunks of silver skin, save all the steaks? No way. He' s going to buzz through it with a saw and you' ll get bone chips, fat, hair, and gristle -- all the things that make venison taste gamey. Get all the cuts just the way you want them, save a few bucks (dollars), and have a great time of fellowship butchering with your hunting buddies.

Find someone who butchers and offer your services for the apprenticeship. That' s what I' ve done for the past 3 seasons and I think I could do it myself, now.

Butchering is like most things, everybody has a different way of doing it but we like steaks so EVERYTHING is cut for the grill. Loins, straps, and hindquarters. What won' t justify a steak I do take to a local sausage maker. For two does last year, that was about 20lbs of venison -- the rest is all steak

But by butchering yourself you get to make those decisions and whatever you cut, you can take your time and get good clean cuts.

rhetoric
0h, and it cuts better when it' s nicely cold -- say, about 35 degrees.