RE: proccessing your own deer
 

Here is another sight with good info

http://home.rochester.rr.com/sevendzero/

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

My granpaps was a butcher and we cut up about 70-100 deer a year. after his passing he willed me all the hobart saws and grinders. I have seen nightmares how people bring their deer in some still w/ lungs in bladder you name it I've seen it all i know that when I make sausage etc its my own deer i want no part of somebody elses deer unless i know them and they do it right (field dress,proper care )alot of shops you never know whos deer your getting thats reason enough for me to do my own

RE: processing your own deer
 

My family butchers 2-3 a fall along with a hog (to mix with the burger and the sausage).

We still send 1-2 to the meat market in town which charges $300-$400 per deer (70-90lbs of venison)depending on what you get. We like to get a lot of snack sticks, jerkey, brats, summer sauage, etc.

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

Ive always done my own! All I use is two knives.(no saw needed)I totally remove it from the bones first, then seperate the muscles, then cut medalion size peices! 100% lean.Fat and tallow are nasty tasting!! Anysscraps and the few muscles from the front shoulders go to sausage!!

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

That's a good point matt068. You know your not eating tainted meat. Some processing places may not give you back meat from the actual deer you killed. Real prevelant with burger and sausage for sure. I know how my deer died.Somedody elses could have been gut shot, laying in 80 degree heat dead forwho knows how long, drug through swamp water for miles, improperly field dressed. Who knows?

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

amen guys. i dont see why anyone would pay a butcher, but thats just my opinion. its not hard at all, especially when u get the hang of it. its also fun IMO. only takes 30 minutes. i like to cut it up reallll good and make sure there is no fat or none of that slime (forgets its actual name). i cut them up in my back yard just to get the basic peices and then take it into the house and get down and dirty lol, cut off all the fat and slime, make sure there is no bone or anything. im getting hungry and i got to wait til SEPT 15 to get me more deer, this year im going to stack up. do it yourself, it will save ya money and make ya happy because u did it all yourself. beleive me, if it was hard, i would rather pay, but its really not

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

I know that everybody is entitled to their own opinion but I could not disagree with you more there is nothing that I look forward to eating more than avenison steak or roast

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

We do it ourselves. It's cheaper and you know exactly what you are getting. Also, some of the butcher shops have deals where they "Cache" deer. Meaning you drop off your deer, and you pick up meat from another. No way! I want my own meat!

We mostly cube it up and make sausages, etc. We keep the tenderloins and back scraps. We did an elk cow once, and might consider a butcher the next time.

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

Thanks to everyone that supplied video and website links!

I shot my first dear last year but had it processed locally. It was a small buck but I thought there should've been more meat than what I got back. Oh well, lesson learned.

I used to help my Grandfather butcher the meat but I didn't pay that much attention when I was younger...sure wish I would've.

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

yea it is easy. it could almost be explained right here with only words, but pics would help. do a search online and it should give u step by step

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

Hey Mich. We learned mostly by o.j.t. but picked up a few pointers along the way from others. Have processed probably close to two hundred of my own deer and who knows how many for others. There are tons of videos out there, but I have only seen clips from a few. Most were not worth watching. Probably going to a professional processor and watching for a couple of hours would be your best bet. We can have a fresh killed deer skinned, quartered and in the cooler inless than fifteen minutes using only a knife. I see guys break out saws and hatchets and just smile because you just dont need them. When you learn where joints connect you can slice a leg or hindquarter off with ease. When skinning, use more muscle than steel. I watch guys literally wittle a hide off a deer and it can take forever. Get the hide started, lay down you knife and put some weight on it! I have a boat winch rigged to actually pull the hide off and you only touch it here and there with a knife. After the hide is off, we fillet off both backstraps and tenderloins, slice off the shoulders, fillet off the neck and flanks, cut the hams off at the hip joint and your deer is in the cooler. The actual processing and wrapping takes a few hours but when done right, it's worth the effort. I see guys put a ham in a garbage bag and throw it in the freezer and it sickens me because that fine piece of tasty protein will be freezer burned in short order and will probably be thrown away. Good luck with your hunting and take care of that meat!

RE: proccessing your own deer
 

I ordered that DVD from a few pages back, and received it today. It's amazing I would highly recommend it to anybody thats looking to learn how to butcher their own deer.