RE: Meat
 

I mostly do the jerky for everyone.
Venison, goose 'n duck, sometimes "grab bag" style (grab a bag or three from the freezer. whatever is in it gets ground up and made into jerky)
But then, I have 2 small to medium dryers, one is automatic, 2 smokers and a large vacu-sealer. And have my eye on a larger "automatic" dryer at Cabela's. I can crank out several pounds of jerky in a day. Usually make upwards of 10 - 15pounds right before the season. That way everyone has a ready supply for their trips.

RE: Meat
 

We do everything in my grandpa' sshop. We process and make all the sausage, jerkey, slim jims and all. Pain sometimes, but can be fun and saves money.

RE: Meat
 

Well we have done our own and have taken it to be processed and its a toss up i had mine processed last year only because i didnt have time to do it myself and the guy we go to is very very reasonable

RE: Meat
 

i always do my own, it saves money and its really not that hard, just takes time

RE: Meat
 

I have always processed all my meat myself. I field dress, skin, quarter, butcher, package, and then later cook all my meat. Thus far I have done four deer and two pronghorn antelope (the pronghorns were butchered and packaged in my hotel room in Gillette, Wyoming, and without too much trouble or mess I might add). I like to do this because I get the meat cut up the way I want it cut up and I have control over the process. I know I'm not getting someone else's meat -- maybe someone who didn't take as much care of his kill as I do with my own -- and I am getting ALL of my meat, none of the ternderloin or backstrap is being cut off for a special treat for the butcher. I find processing my game a satisfying process, even if it can also be a little messy and fatiguing. I do all of my hunting out-of-state, so processing my own meat makes the process of getting the meat home a little more straight forward -- I don't have to wait until the butcher works through his back-log of processing that builds up during hunting seasons, I don't have to pay to have the meat shipped to me. Of course, I also save the money of paying a processor, but I think this is a minimal advantage because my time -- maybe 3-4 hours for a modest sized deer -- is more valuable than the $60 I would pay the butcher to do this job. It is the other advantages of do-it-yourself processing that attract me.

I plan on going on my first elk hunt this year. If I am lucky enough to take an animal I will process that big beast myself also.

I see many grind all their deer meat but the backstraps and tenderloins. I cut each backstrap into two equal parts and package them togehter -- thus two packages of backstrap meat per deer, each enough to provide one meal to my family of 5. I cut roasts out of the hind quarters and front quarters. If possible I take a roast out of the neck, but often this is not possible. Other meat I cut up into good sized chunks and package in 24 to 30 ounce packages for stew meat. Little bits and scraps of meat I collect and package in 20 ounce packages for making into "terrines" -- highly seasoned meat pies that are cooked, cooled, and allowed to mellow for a couple of days in the refrigerator before eating cold in slices about 1/4" thick. Some of the roasts I braise slowly in the fall/spring to make the meat good and tender. Other roasts I will slice into thin slices and pound out still thinner to make scalopinni which is fried in butter. I sometimes make some jerky, but I don't care much for this -- this is a gesture to my children who like jerky a lot.

RE: Meat
 

Skeeter7mm hit it, as did others. Process myself, more control over the finished product. When the season is done then I make my burger sausages and jerky. I cut and the wife wraps...... mostly done at night when your not allowed to hunt, so no time in the field wasted. I would love to get the recipe off NBhunter for the canned (bottled) venison though.
Kudos to Alsatian and good luck w/your Elk..... butchering in a hotel room thats classic:)

RE: Meat
 

I like doing it myself that way I am able to cut off any fat or silver skin before it is frozen or made into sauasage. The only time I bring it to a butcher is if it is too warm to hang it in my garage a few days before butchering.

RE: Meat
 

I think when my mom makes my canned meat, it just makes it's own juice from water. Good stuff! Yea, I work up my own also.

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I hunt with 8 other guys, so we will hunt for 4 days and usually process what we have so far on the 5th day witch is usually around 5 or so deer. We hunt in Minn. so if its cool enough they can go at least 4 days, but it has been pretty warm the last few years. We make it an event the wifes come over to see their husbands and help us wrap.... All of us get together and talk smack to each other and enjoy a couple;)adult beverages!!!!! Its good times....Plus like everyone else said we take good care of deer meat, And trust me some people dont. But it insures that we all get the deer that we killed not someone else's.

RE: Meat
 

We do all of out own processing ... always have and then I went and married a butcher so it was a given that the tradition would continue. We use the tenderloin for steaks and you can get some steaks off of the hind quarters. We use the front shoulders for roasts or just boil the meat off of the bone and mix it with BBQ sauce for sandwiches. We mix the scraps with some pork to make sausage (pan and link) -- and we do all the grinding and stuffing ourselves. And we have a vacuum sealer so the meat lasts a longer time in the freezer.

As for being cool enough to hang the meat, you can quarter it out and keep it packed in ice in coolers for several days until you get the time to process it. We do this a lot. It helps with the time and it also soaks a lot of the blood out of the meat.

Shannon