SeabeeTim

I've been butchering for four years now, and can't honestly say I'm good at it. I get the job done, but it takes a lot of time and is less than perfect. I like it, because I can soak and marinate all of my meat before I freeze it, and I can vacuum seal it. I also like it because I can afford to do more deer this way, and stock up. I can look at the meat I have and decide on the fly if I want chops or filets, etc... I don't like it because it takes a lot of time, and sometimes I bleed. All I'm using right now is knives, and I'm de-boning everything. I'm not sacrificing flavor at all, its actually better with me processing it myself, but I don't exactly have the prettiest steaks.

So I'm shopping for tools to make the process easier and more professional. Here's the challenge; I'm not looking to open a butcher shop, I'm looking for tools that are going to be used once a year, so I don't want to invest heavily, and I shouldn't need the most heavy duty equipment. I'm looking at things like this from Amazon for $240:



Is it good or garbage? What are some other tools I could use to make my butchering easier and better? Thanks!

rbduck

I don`t know how many deer you butcher every year but if it is only one or two, I`d recommend this knife instead of the bandsaw.

Called a "carving knive" with different blade lengths, it is great for cutting steaks. The serrated edge helps cut through the meat without sticking. Do this in one stroke and if you can, have the meat semi frozen as this helps in the cutting.

Ron

jerseyhunter

Try partially freezing the muscle meat your going to cut into steaks for 4-5 hours, not solid, then slice, you'll get professional results.

SeabeeTim

Often when we let them hang in the barn too long they'll freeze and we'll bring them in to thaw. So I'll try my next one partially frozen then. Thanks for that.

Between my father and myself we're butchering 8-10 deer a year, and we now follow hunting week with butchering week, it seems we spend almost as much time butchering as we do hunting. I guess we'll get faster at it with practice...

Chuck7

I saw a very good video on youtube..The man is a pro and only used a boning knife..

He knew every joint and and took off every morcel of meat..including filleting out the neck..and getting every piece of meat between the ribs.

casey012293

Allot of people use regular hunting knives for skinning or gutting. When i killed my elk this year, my buddy laughed at me when i pulled my knife out. He grabbed a new knife he started using this year, havalon knives, and started hacking away at my elk. It was unbelievable how sharp the blade stayed and that if it got dull, he carried replacement blades in his pack. They worked like razor blades, and one blade did (skinned and deboned) my whole elk and skinned the skull.

This is why we started carrying them, it might not be something you are interested in but they are fair priced, blades are cheap for as long as they can be used and it is really nice not to be able to not have to spend a whole night sharpening it. Needless to say, i replaced my heavy knife with one of the new lightweight havalon.

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http://www.bugsnbullets.com/Havalon_...g_mid_102.html

flyinlowe

I myself don't see the need for the band saw. I hang my deer by the back legs. I remove the loins and backstraps. After that I start de-boning. I have one pan for hamburger and another scrap pan that I send in for sausage. The really nice pieces of meat go into the burger pan that I grind myself and the rest goes into the sausage pan. Some years I keep a couple of hams whole to be smoked and other years I de-bone them as well and make burger. I too am currently in the market for some good knives. I have another thread going in this forum and most people are recommending Forschner knives for quality without the high price. A friend of mine has 2 old hickory knives and I just bought one on Ebay for $9.00. They are carbon steel, which is very hard, they sharpen well and hold their edge about twice as long as my Schrade old timer and my Buck knife that I usually use. Being carbon steel they will rust so you have to take a little more time to hand wash and dry them good.
If it were me I would save the money and buy a nice grinder and or a vaccum sealer if you don't already own one.

Irishfan

You don't need a band saw. If you feel you need to cut bone just use a hacksaw.

Bocajnala

http://www.cutleryandmore.com/victor...g-knife-p14699

This is a great knife. I do 90% of all my butchering with this. Like you I only do a few a year, 8-12 typically between my whole family. But this knife has been great!
-Jake

Alsatian

You can use whatever you want. Sometimes having extra gear is pleasurable in and of itself. But you don't need anything more than one sharp knife.

I have butchered deer, pronghorn, and elk. A good hunting knife suffices to field dress, quarter (got to know where the hip/ball joint is located in the top of the thigh and cut those tendons loose, but not very difficult), and skin your beast. For changing these pieces of meat into meal-sized packages, a sharp boning knife about 5" or 6" long is plenty. For a big animal like an elk it may take awhile, but ultimately the bandsaw isn't going to help with the stuff that takes time -- removing membranes and tendons, trimming meat off the bones.

You should know how to sharpen your own knives (or change out to a new blade, it appears from one of the other posts on this thread). You will probably need to resharpen before finishing butchering an elk. With a sharp knife, the way you cut is not to press down with force but to press down gently while pulling the knife towards you or pushing it away from you -- slicing. You let the sharp edge do the work.

With reference to steaks, I assume you mean backstrap steaks. I freeze my backstraps whole. For example, for a deer backstrap, I take one whole backstrap, cut it in half, and then freeze the two halves side by side. This is one meal for my family of 5. When I thaw this out to cook, THEN I cut it into steaks about 3/4" thick. This keeps the interior of the meat more fresh, I think. I have never had a problem cutting these steaks, starting with a sharp knife. Yes, it probably makes it easier to have partially frozen meat, but often my meat has been thawed, and I haven't had any trouble cutting them.

Sometimes people cut steaks off the front edge of the thigh. These I will cut when doing the butchering. But same deal. With a sharp knife, I haven't had any problems cutting these steaks.

As far as YOU bleeding, sometimes you nick yourself butchering. Hazard of the trade. You need to be careful. Also, you want to be rested. I once butchered two pronghorn antelope in a hotel room in Gillette, Wyoming. As I was working on the second antelope I was tired and in a hurry. I managed to slice the top of my left index finger badly. I had first aid gear, so I was able to bandage up and continue. But it was not pleasant. Rest and attention to what you are doing.

I would add that one gizmo that I find handy is a good bone saw. When I have butchered deer, any old bone saw seemed to work to cut through the lower legs or the skull cap of a buck. When I began to go elk hunting I got a Wyoming saw. This makes the job a lot easier when cutting through the substantial leg bones of an elk and cutting through the skull cap of a bull elk. So, if you want a good bone saw, get the Wyoming saw. You can get it from Cabela's.