Not a bad day's work!
The cost to have a processor in Craig handle 6 elk at $225 each would be $1,350. We processed our own in the main camp in a single day. Having 8 pairs of hands didn't hurt anything! One nice thing with the CWD concerns in Colorado, we know
to the animal which animal is which INCLUDING the hamburger. I'm betting (1) there is no way the commercial folks clean all their equipment between animals and (2) commercial hamburger is commonly dished up out of the communal grind.
Below: We started early. You can see our elk trailer and a row of empty water containers outside through the wall tent door.
Below: Part of our cutting crew. The table is elevated about 10", covered with plastic for each critter. The 5 gallon bucket is the "trim and discard" bucket. This part of our "wall tent" is made of a steel frame, 6 mil visquene, and fly.
Below: We use a KitchenAid mixer to grind our burger. Our rule is: "If this grinder don't like it, then we don't want to eat it!" Looks like some knife sharpening going on. Kitchen wise, we set all our coolers up on tables so it is easier to "dig for stuff".
Below: This is the other side of the "cutting tables". Note the 12 gauge "bear gun" 7 slugs.
Below: More hamburger grinding with the in between critter "clean up" going on in the back ground. There is always a pause at this point while we seal and wrap the meat and code it: Elk, 2004, Burger (for example), V (for the hunter the animal belongs to). BTW all meat is split evenly among all the hunters who particpated in the hunt.
Below: Getting late (we did finish by 930 PM including all clean up and put away), note the headlamp on our #1 deboning guy who has been going out side to the freezers to carry in game bags of meat. These freezers let us handle 6 elk in warm, almost hot weather with NO problems, not even one little whiff of "green" meat. If you have never smelled "green" elk meat, well, you just don't know what you are missing! If all the cutters/trimmers started to get ahead of my #1 deboning guy then I would jump in with him and debone to we got ahead of them ---- usually happens right when you start a new critter after the clean up from the last one.
IMHO, few things build camaraderie (sp?) better than (1) sharing the meat (2) sharing in the processing of the meat as there is no "running off with the spoils" by the "victor" as is so common.
EKM