RE: self butchering
 

cARROL
I would be interested in your recipe for breakfast sausage!
Thanks
Dandbuck

RE: self butchering
 

That sounds about right :D

RE: self butchering
 

It also depends on who you have eating the meat. My wife is a city girl to the bone and wont eat a piece of meat that she cant tell the cut of. is it doesnt look like a steak she wont touch it. That usually send me to the processor every year unless I am makeing a lot of jerky and tamales.

RE: self butchering
 

I've been doing it for years and have it down to a science by now. Usually it's a great time spent in the barn with my Dad and whoever else is there for the hunt and we enjoy a few choice beverages and tell stories about the ones that got away. I really enjoy the time we spend butchering.........

I hang head down, skin, pull out inside backstraps, trim out the outside backstraps, then move on to quarters. I remove the front quarters from the carcass and trim everything I can thats not bloodshot and toss in a bucket which we later use for burger. The rear quarters I can actually debone on the carcass without removing. I will get the entire rear quarter off in one piece, then using my hands seperate the major muscle groups into 3 sections per rear quarter and then cut into steaks and/or roasts. If it's a really old deer then the whole rear end goes into burger or trimmings to be sent to a butcher that does sausage, salami, or hot dogs for me. I'm usually able to get a complete deer done and through the whole process (except grinding burger) in maybe an hour and a halfdepending on the amount of story telling that is going on.

Onereally important tip that works well for me is DO NOT scrimp on your bags. Good quality freezer grade ziplock bags will keep your stuff good for MUCH longer in the freezer. I also wrap everything in saran wrap first, squeeze out the air, then put into the freezer ziplock bags......this keeps them from freezer burning. I have had deer steak that was2 years old with no freezer burn with this packaging method.

RE: self butchering
 

I usually do about the same as everyone just has mentioned. I hang it up with my game hoist,head down, skin it, gut it without busting anything, take out the tenderloins, and quarter it up. After wards i take it in the house and clean all the hair off. If it is cold enough out side i will let the meat cure for a couple of day s hanging up. Then i put the meat into a cooler filled with ice and plenty of salt. I change out the water once a day for about 5 days. On the fifth day i take it up to the meat center and have it turned into jerky, burger, sausage, and cube steak. However this year i am planning on investing on some proccessing equipment and do it all myself. I am not sure but i am wondering if my butcher will sell me some fat to mix in with the burger and sausage. Afterwards you couldn't tell if it was deer from my honey hole or beef from the supermarket. YUM!!!

RE: self butchering
 

MartinJaguarArcher, most butchers will in fact, sell you the fat to mix in. That's what we do.