Stonewall308

I shot a deer last Friday and dropped him off at about 3:30 the same day at a butcher who does processing. He says it will be "probably not more than a couple of days."

So I figured it would be ready by Monday, but Tuesday at the very latest. I wait until Wednesday to call him. Over the phone he is very abrupt and says "we will call when it is ready." He also says they are planning on doing 20 or more deer that day. There were less than ten deer there when I dropped mine off, so I figure they will be butchering it that day.

I didn't call Thursday, and I didn't call Friday. Today is the eighth day, and this guy told me it would probably be ready in two days. I went over there face to face, and he wasn't much more helpful. They just keep saying they will call when it is ready. I am going to start getting very pissed with every passing day; I am starting to think they either mistaked it for a donation or somehow they spoiled it.

Isn't 8 days a little much for a deer to be sitting in a refrigerator without butchering or freezing? For those of you who use processors, how long does it usually take?

Anyone know of a really good aid to show me how to butcher them myself? I'll probably get at least one more before the season is out, and I'll be damned if I am giving this butcher any more business. I'd like to know how to do it myself anyhow.

7.62NATO

I wish I could let mine hang for eight days! Unless he already gave yours to someone else, you're ok. Shoot though, since you were there, you shoulda asked to see your deer to make sure it was still there! This is why it's good to process your own. Search YouTube for a guy in a butchers shop doing a deer. It's pretty good.

99dakota5.2

By the sounds of it, he did something wrong. If there were ten deer of so there when yours was droped off, he should have had that deer back to you within two days, hell cutting deer up by myself I could knock 10 deer out in a days time..

7.62NATO

Here ya go. Quality sucks but the info is good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzYGB...e_gdata_player

silverskin

No need to get the butcher all pissy, hes the one handling your food. I would be patient, keep it in the back of your mind and when u do get your stuff never go back. I would seriously learn how to butcher your own because 100% of all butcher's who do quantity processing mix it all together. So u never end up with your stuff anyway, if that matters to u. If you are having him cut it up for you and not processed, thats ridiculous. We butcher our own and our scraps we bring to get processed into sausage, ground meat etc...

Youtube butchering

Skinning and quartering... a little fast and crazy but you'll get the idea.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28mZCOij4Vk&NR=1

Butchering.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tudPGNL9LK0

These are just two from a ton of videos. Try it... you'll get it. good luck

silverskin

another good one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj6aW...eature=related

Chuck7

Butchering the deer is my favorite part..I always do my own and I use every morsel.

I'd ask for my deer back and do it myself.Take a sheriff it needed..something aint right

SecondChance

My dad has been a meat cutter for 50 years this year. He just retired this past July and did it with 10 finger nails!!!!!!!!! Thats a very big accomplishment for someone been in the business that long!!! I know he has dealt with over 20K deer in his time!!!!
I will say from him doing it that time, it can and does take up to 2 weeks to get it taken care of. Skinning, de-boneing, grinding, mixing in the spices, re-grinding, stuffing or smoking. It all takes time, depending on what you wanted to have done. Especially if he had other deer to do in addition to yours and that does not take into consideration to any that were brought in after yours or if he had any to do before yours.

Point being, you got your deer, got it to the processor, now sit back and give it a minute, perfection takes time!!! Would you rather have him hurry and mess up your order or would you rather have him take care of it correctly? Who knows, something may have came up in between and he was delayed for a minute.

Give him till the middle/end of next week and see what comes up.

Michlw39

I think it's pretty easy for anyone to at least skin and quarter your deer. It's not like I've down it a ton of times, but on a very basic level it can be broken down thusly: hide off (this is a good time to cut the legs off at the first joint), cut off the backstraps (cut down along the spine just like filleting a fish), tenderloins, cut off each leg quarter (if you pull the leg away and cut it'll go where it needs to go naturally).

Viola.

From there you can de-bone the quarters and do whatever you want to do: roasts, steaks, burger, whatever.

You can then go back and trim the carcass for an extra meat, if you want to do that.

Michlw39

Good video. I like to trim the fat from the backstraps while still on the carcass and then cut them out...if you do that first and make one cut along the spine you can pull them out whole by hand.