Congrats on the deer.

Congratulations, on your first deer and welcome to the Brother Hood!! You're hooked now for life in making smoke.

Way to go!! Like said above if you decide to butcher your deer yourself, first get the guts out ASAP, then remove as much fat as possible after skinning. Some folks like to leave them hanging a few days after the kill, but depends on the temps.

I work my deer up as soon as I can. If you take it to a processor, you will have better tasting meat if they don't slice any bones, like in making chops or steaks. The bone marrow leaves a strong tainted taste. IMO

You probably already know this, but just in case....

Congrats on the deer and good luck the rest of the season.

Yes, Congratulations on your two firsts! First deer and first ML deer! If you do decide to butcher your own, I think you'll find that rewarding as well. You can utilize the cuts and the remaining meat as you wish and there are hundreds of great recipes for Venison in the many books in print specifically for Venison as well as countless youtube videos on both butchering and utilizing your Venison.

I agree with toytruck, the fat and marrow imparts an unpleasant taste so I only use my saw to break the carcass down then the meat is boned off for cuts and grind. If you don't have them, a small #8 or #10 hand or electric meat grinder and a hand meat saw are real assets to a home butcher and well worth your investment.

BPS

Congratulations. The first blackpowder deer I shot I did exactly the same thing. Thought I had missed till the smoke cleared. The deer was exactly where I had shot it. Take that backstrap and wrap it 3/4 inch slices in bacon and cook on the grill till medium rare.

Congratulations!!! Way to go.

Your story reminded me of the first deer I took with my .54 caliber Renegade. I pulled the trigger and a cloud of smoke circled me and I was sure I missed. So I sat there, smoked a cigarette (yes I used to be a heavy smoker) and kept beating myself up for rushing the shot. Then decided .... I better go look. And like you walked over to where I was sure the deer was and there it lay. I think that was the best venison I ever ate that year. I relished every bite.

Congratulations again and enjoy your harvest.

Thank you bronco, I have been eating venison in various forms for many years now and appreciate you sharing the silver skin info. It was a proud night Sunday grilling some tenderloin for my wife and I and our neighbors.

Thank you Semisane, you are correct on my setup and I will add that I am very happy with all of it, I used 90 grains blackhorn.

I never knew about it until this year myself, thanks Gm54-120

Thanks donw, congrats on your breakout year! I hope your right on the senses, looking forward to learning something every time I get out into the woods.

Thank you for the kind words game stalker! Hard for me to put into words what I felt when I first saw the deer laying down exactly where I shot her, I will never forget it!

Thank you BuckDoeHunter!

Thanks BarnesAddict, I have read many of your post with much appreciation along with several others in this thread that were also kind enough to post here.

Thank you WV Hunter!

You are so right flounder, marinated a nice tenderloin Sunday with Tucker's and grilled it medium to medium rare and it tasted great!
Thank you!

Thank you falcon

Thanks edmehlig, you are sooo right on being hooked!

Toy truck, thanks. We gutted the deer as soon as my buddies showed up to give me a hand, I would guess within an hour of shooting the doe. We then hung the deer for about 2 hours then my buddy Ben skinned it and cut all the meat off right there while it was hanging. I didn't know about the bone marrow, thank you for sharing! We are processing the majority of the meat and I have many friends I owe a lot to that I will be sharing a good portion with as they have been very generous towards myself over the past few years.

Thank you, would be incredible to see more deer from a stand this season let alone harvest another.

Thanks Blackpowdersmoke, it was an easy choice to pickup my ML over my .375 Winchester. I will definitely look up some videos, thank you for the info. A couple of my buddies will process one or two deer each year which sounds like a good bit of work but well worth it.

Thank you deer655, happy to hear I wasn't the only one who has had that experience! I will try some bacon on my next tenderloin I grill!

Thank you cayugad, I have read many of post you have been so kind to take the time to share here, and I have learned too many helpful tips thanks to you and many others for me to count. It was a relief to hear others shared the same experience, I have a feeling I will be just as nervousness if I get another opportunity lol.

Neumonic...

It sounds (looks by reading) like you know what you're doing as far as butchering and cooking goes from reading your recent post. I'm sorry I took you for a complete newbie.

BPS