Okay all...

I am just getting back into hunting again after taking 7 years off (not my choice).... When I did hunt before I hunted with another group of guys and they handled all the game and I never got much meat - So I'm now hunting my own spots and loving it!!

My question is, Once the deer is shot and field dress and it is finally home what do you do with it?

Hang it? How long should it hang (temps here are now in the 20's overnight and 40 daytime)

I have heard of people icing it down....

Also I would like to learn how to butcher myself. I have a vaccum food sealer but need to learn the "cuts" to make.. Any suggestions?

Thanks! Got to go see if I can find one... Rut should be starting any time, now that it is FINALLY getting cold.

Mike S

http://www.biggamehunt.net/sections/Whitetail_Deer/A_Guide_to_Butchering_Deer_11220412.html

It's really pretty easy, just take your time. I learned from a Dan Fitzgerald movie where he takes a deer from the field to the freezer showing you slowly how to do it all.

Given the temps you mention the deer would be ok for a couple days. Personally I get them into the freezer within a day or two.

Basically:

- Hang by the back legs, skin starting just below the back knee joints down the entire body and cut off the head.

- take out the inside tenderloins. Look inside the deer on each side of the back of the spine, there's a small stip of meat, on a typical deer they are 8 or so inches long. You can mostly free them with your finders, then run a filet knife under to detach from the body. Butter fly these, or whatever you want, VERY tender meat here!

- Disconnect the front legs. There is not shoulder joint here, they are hooked by soft tissue. Pull the leg away from the body like you are pushing the leg out sideways. then work the knife between the leg and chest, you will have to work up and around the shoulder blade, just follow the cartilege edge and it will pop right off. Filet the meat off the shoulder blade, theres a ridge running along the shoulder blade, start here and filet down each side. Depending on the side of the deer, this is either stew or burger. Bottom half of each front leg might also yield some stew meat, further down the leg you get the more tendons you run into.

- Back straps are next. from the top of the back of the deer, facing the spine, run the knife along the side of the spine, let the knife blade follow each vertabrae, and filet down the length of the deer. The cut will go in, then towards the side of the deer, just follow the bones. You will end up with a 2 foot (or so) section of meat about 4 inches or
so in diameter. Butter fly this into steaks (YUM). there's one on each side of the spine.

- Rib meat. Not much here on deer, but the flank runs the length of the ribs, almost like a skin over the ribs, this comes off and is burger. Same for the meat between the ribs.

- Now you are left with the butt end. LOTS of meat here. Disconnect each hip socket, its a ball socket, so you have to work the knife in to the joint to cut the tendons holding it in place and the leg falls off in your hand. There's a top and bottom side. From the side with the least meat on it (the leg bone doesn't run through the center), cut straight down til you hit bone, then follow the bone to the other end and up again, remove this meat, its either roast or steaks.

- Now the best stuff. You are looking down on the thigh with the leg bone showing, if you cut down each side of the bone, then slide your knife under it, you can pull that bone out and disconnect. YOu are now left with one the biggest single pieces of meat. this however is really 3 pieces, seperate the 3 by following the muscle groups, you can pretty much do this by hand. Take each and steaks or roasts they become.

- repeat on other leg.

- go over everything that's left (there's a good amount of meat on the pelvs) and make burger/stew out of what's left.

Now just find a place to get rid of the "waste" parts like skin and bones.

All done. Will take you a couple hours to do this. Get's faster with time.

WOW! Great info... It sound fairly straight forward.

Thanks!!

Watch this video from Kentucky Fish & Game. The beginning is just Tim Farmer on a hunt. Then he takes it to a processor. It shows himprocess the whole deer. Hope it is helpful.

http://www.kdfwr.state.ky.us/navigation.asp?cid=158&NavPath=C151

Ive been butchering my own deer for years and there is a few tips i learned from that video,thanks for sharing...

That video was very helpful

Thanks!!