I always process my own deer that way it is done just the way I like it. I enjoy that whole aspect of the "after hunt". It normally takes me about 4 hours from the skinning to the butchering then vacuum bagging and clean up. I normally do all the grind and sausage making on another day. The elk I have killed some were done with a local processor but as time went on our hunting party decided that it was better in the long run to do our own.