If you don' t butcher and process your own deer: Consider it! I think it is a great part of the experience and you get the cuts you want, packaged the way you want. (and quite frankly, your own meat, not someone elses.)

So what do you need? Here' s what I use.

Good knives, including a Wyoming knife which makes skinning easier. Sharpening stone also.

A vacuum sealer: Eliminates freezer burn, works great.

Permanent marker for marking bags.

Meat grinder: I use the Kitchenaid attachment. I don' t add other meat or fat to my ground venison.

Meat Slicer: For jerky meat. Honestly I only use this sparingly cause it is a monster to clean so I often get lazy and cut it with a knife.

Scale: For weighing out burger and jerky meat. I hope to get a digital scale this year.

Dehydrator: For making jerky.

I package the inner and outer loins for frying. I use the shoulders and the less sinewy hindquarter cuts for jerky, the sinewy, roundish cuts from the hindquarter for roasts, and the rest for ground meat.

I' ve never made my own sausage but I' m considering it this year.

I' m interested to hear other people' s thoughts on this.

I agree, butchering your own deer really adds to the whole experience, and you can do it exactly how you want to. I grind my own hamburg, nothing added - I like it best that way. I' m also trying to find a good sausage recipe. I' ve seen a few but it' s hard to tell which I would prefer. I' m not interested in making links, just hamburg with spices added. Tried some a couple years ago and I was really impressed!

split-hoof, if you find some good recipes let me know. I really wanna make some sausage but have the following caveats:

I' d really rather add some type of non-meat fat to the sausage, like butter or olive oil. I want my venison sausage to be venison. I' ve never seen a venison sausage recipe that didn' t call for fat from either beef or pork.

I' d like to use individual spices, rather than spice combos, where someone else decides what the proper proportions are.

These may seem silly, especially about the fat, but I' d like to do it that way if feasible. I' d like to find recipes for hot and sweet italian and breakfast sausages.

If you don' t want to add fat the Sausage maker in Buffalo NY. sell this stuff called RP Lean or (fat replacer) I think its some kind of oatmeal powder you add this and some water its not bad at all. Also soy protein can be used. I have reciepes for sausage but they all call for Either pork or beef fat. I have posted the reciepies before . maybe try a search if not I can post them again.

Sounds like a Michigander to me

Yeah. I love butchering deer. If you have children it is a fabulous way to teach them basic mammalian muscle groups. Plus, as guys have said, you can get the stuff cut as you wish and there is no doubt at all that it is your meat.

But I must say, the pros do an awfully nice looking job. Can' t beat a pro. I' ve been at it for years. I can get pretty close, but the pro knows what he is doing...