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jerseyhunter

You'll get better as you go along. And that 75$ saved each time adds up to new equipment.

hunter Leo

I used to hvae a regular person cut up my deer until 2 years ago. I shot a 10 pointer, biggest to this day so far. It dressed out to be 179LBS... Here in my part of NY thats a big deer. Well when i picked up the meat i had about 40LBS of meet. A $90 bill for cut and wrap the extra charge $30 was for suasage and cub steaks i had done. I was also charged $20 extra to get the cape and head back so i could get it mounted top of the $90. After that day i swear no butcher would cut up my deer ever again. I know all butchers arent crooked but that was the last straw. I enjoy cutting up my own deer and giving my friend $20 to come over and help. Save $$$ get all your meat and pass the skill on to a friend as was done to me!

cardeer

I did it a couple times.but felt like crap the next morning at 4am. The next day in the woods I could not stay awake. You need to find a honest butcher. I just cant understand how you guys do all that work then go hunt everyday. and not get tired. I hunt for fun,to me all that butchering is work. Plus what a mess in the kitchen ,the wife almost divorced me

VFT_MD

Dad and I shoot to many to pay for someone else to cut them up.It would be too costly. We take some of the meat to Millers in PA. to have sausage made.I cut 3 up the other day.

Bob1961

since 1983 and some 30+ deer and i had only one butchered for me at some shop and never again....when i get my deer i skin it that day and get it in the frig as soon as possible....the two front shoulders go in one 11 gal trash bag but not closed tight....the hind quarters go in each bag by it's self....and the back straps go in another and any chunks that come from the neck and such go in it's own bag....with towels on the bottom of the frig for blood drips if any from the bags....thats when i'm done for thedays and do a bag each day from there on out....so i'm not up all night doing the cutting.....................bob

BarnesX.308

We do it in the basement. The kitchen is the wrong forum for that kind of work. With two guys at it, it doesn't take too long. I do, however, drop them off most of the time. Time is just something I have little of these days. 40lbs is pretty lame for a big deer. I got 70lbs out of my last buck and that did not include any bones. Just ground meat, back straps and tenderloins.

Gulfwarsubvet

We have very long seasons, an abundance of deer and very liberal bag limits. (36 per year) Taking 5 - 15 deer per year gets very expensive. I usually donate one or two to the F&H Feeding the Hungry. Butchers in our area charge about $65 per deer. I don't know about you guys, but as the other guy stated I seem to be getting less and less deer meat. Last year I took in a 100 lb doe and got about 35 lbs of meat. Two weeks later I took in a 180 lb buck and got 40 lbs of meat. The butcher also uses a bandsaw and cuts the hindquarters crossways (the easy short cut) and the bone marrow ruins the taste. The last one I had ground into sausage had small pieces of my powerbelt bullet in each package. This guy used to be the best around but higher volume has caused him to cut corners. It also seems that he's eating deer meat all year for free. I've invested about $500 in good equipment and can cut and vacuum package a deer in about 2 - 3 hours. I think anyone that takes more than 1 or 2 deer a year should try cutting their own deer. There are plenty of books and videos out there to help you. Check out the following sites:
www.lemproducts.com
www.basspro.com
www.cabelas.com
Between the three they have anything you may need to process your deer from start to finish. LEM Products even have videos on how to make your own sausage. After your first 4 or 5 deer it'll become second nature and will save you a lot of money. There's also a lot more satisfaction, when you sit down to the table, knowing that you did everything start to finish.

cardeer

QUess Im just to lazy then. Just not fun to do for me. WORK ,dont want to here it at my age

Bob H in NH

We do all our own now. Kitchen isn't the best place, aside from wife problems with the mess [8D] its to warm in there.

I have a friend who remodels kitchens, he got me two 6 foot counter tops. I then went to home depot, bought saw horses, the kind that you can adjust the height of.

Me and my two sons cut up, his first deer this year, was a small button buck, but with me cutting off the pieces, and handing it to one of them to work on. We were skinned, cut, ground, wrapped and cleaned up in around 2 hours.

With someone faster than my sons, I could see having it done AFTER the skinning, in about an hour (I am a slow skinner).

The biggest reason we started doing it ourselves is that my wife is VERY picky about how the meat is trimmed to remove the silver skin etc. the butchers don't take the time and she would end up doing it before cooking. Now we take care of it ourselves, we can package and cut roasts to the sizes we want.

--Bob

--Bob