mounting man

What is the going price to have a deer cut up in your area of Pa?

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Why would you pay someone to do it? Butchering your own deer isn't difficult and it only takes about 2 1/2 hrs to do it once you have some experience. Plus by doing it yourself you know how it was cut, if it stayed clean and you know for a fact you're getting your meat. When you take it in you don't know any of these things.

Uncle Nicky

I butcher my own deer. But all reports I've gotten are anywhere from $70-$100+. The closest processor I know of is at least 20 miles away, most processors have retired in the area (including myself).

Oldtimr

My butcher charges $52.00 to process a deer, an additional 6 bucks to wrap in paper and .38 a lb to vacume pack. He also makes a lot of good products, sausage, dry venison(think dry beef) hot dogs and others, they cost by the lb. I always know I get my meat back. There is a minimun of 10 lbs for sausage, his recipe is for 10 lb batches, that way no one elses meat gets into yours. He also will hang mine, skinned when I bring it in, and I mean now, for 6 to 7 days in the walkin. I also have my meat vacume packed in the amount I determine. I know how to butcher a deer, I butchered in a grocery store when they actually butchered meaty with a meat saw knife and cleaver. However, I have no place to hang my deer to age a bit and I do not have the equipment needed to make some of the things I like nor do I have a decent place to process the deer. I am perfectly happy with the guy I use and I am confident that I am getting my farm area deer back and not an upstate deer, and I think his prices are more than reasonable. I also take my wild hogs to him. If you have the equipment and the place to do it right, doing your own deer will add a lot to the experience, however, not all of us have that.

Valentine

you never did before.
Easy for you when you've done it a couple of times.

I was interested in a current price. I haven't done it in decades. Wanted to know, what I didn't know. A price.

Tundra10

$35 .

mounting man

$75 around here.
I don't have any where to do it now days! The last few i've shot i gave away. The only thing i will shoot,at this time,is a deer with a good sized rack.

Uncle Nicky

I still do a few for friends & guys I hunt with...I wouldn't even bother with one for less than $70. My time is worth more than that to me. It wasn't always that way, when I was younger and just starting a family, money was tight and it helped me get through some rough patches. A young guy that's aggressive and willing to put the hours in could have a nice side-business in my part of the state (Montgomery County).

mounting man

Uncle Nicky, What you say is very true but i have not come across any one aggressive enough to want to put in the hours. It seems like everybody wants the easy money jobs?

Oldtimr

I am not saying the seasonal pop up deer deer processors can not do a good job, but I have not seen many good ones around here. These shops open up in garages and sheds during deer season and are no way prepared to do a decent job. They don't have commercial refridgeration or freezers, they don't have enough help to get the job done and even worse most are filthy. I have been in many of them and I would never allow any of them to work on my deer. Deer are stacked up on the ground like cordwood wating to be skinned, they can't get them skinned because they don't have a walkin and they can only work on one deer at a time then move on to another, on top of that, because they stack them up, the last deer are the first to be skinned and butchered. I really can't believe anyone could drive up to those operations and give them a deer to process. Fortunately, they seem to be few and far between today because people have learned having your venison ruined by poor handling is a high price to pay to save a few dollars.