RE: Deer Processing Question.
I think many are missing the point. He didn't just order jerky and burger. He ordered several choice cuts. Now, it may take a lot of meat to make 20 lbs of jerky, but the butcher should have caught this and at least let him know that the amount of meat he brought in wouldn't give 20 lbs of jerky plus the choice cuts plus the burger. He got ripped off. He may have received all the meat, sure...but not what he ordered and if the butcher couldn't give him what he ordered then he should have told him and either made a possible alternative suggestion or else simply told him that he was going to have to use it all in order to get 20 lbs of jerky. Now...I do all mine myself with whoever I'm hunting with. It is easy and fast, and the best part is that you know you are getting your deer back. A butcher may give you the right weight, but it might not be the exact deer you harvested, which might also mean you receive meat that was poorly handled in the field. Would you like to handle a deer with utmost care and then get a deer that was poorly handled in return? If you do it yourself, you can insure that your deer doesn't sit in warm weather too long or wasn't tainted in any way. It is hard to ruin meat, I know, but it can happen. I'd rather not take the chance of a butcher just giving me a bunch of meat from his freezer that may or may not have been dressed and hauled out correctly.