Here is another sight with good info

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

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

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.

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!!

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?

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

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

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.

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.

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