Butcher Game

[AndreTTOW]

So I was wondering...who here butchers their own game?

I ask because I'm looking for guidance really, as I was hoping to butcher my own this year.

Information is pretty tough to come by...and this is not someting I'd enjoy messing up...

[one shot scott]

You or anyone else who may be interested are more than welcome to borrow a dvd I have titled "deer and big game processing" 3 hours long and lots of info. There is nothing they dont cover. Even how to cape a trophy.

[VixChix]

We have butchered our own for the last few and have been re very happy with the results.

We debone and are fussy about cutting away as much of the silver skin as we can - makes all the difference. Even that nasty ol' buck this year was surprisingly delicious.

There's lots of info on the internet. You really can't do it wrong - just separate the meat by following the existing "seams", then butterfly chops, cut steaks or grind as you desire. I double wrap our meat in saran wrap to seal out the air, then put it in a freezer bag and draw the air out of it with a straw as I seal it.

[lscha]

Once you clean and pack your own deer correctly. You will never trust processing again. Anything white or silver....OFF! All air out of the packages and it literally lasts for years and still tastes great.

There are many different ways to prepare your packages. For years I packaged most of the muscle groups in steaks. Now I package them in 1lb roasts and I have the choice of roast or steaks and what size steaks.

This year I found a great way to cook the roasts. I dust it with a little 'Fry Magic' or similar stuff. Sear it in olive oil and butter on the stove on ONE side for 5 minutes. Then put the roast (seared side up!)in a 400 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes, then let it rest for 5 minutes. It comes out wonderfully rare. Use your meat thermometer to vary the recipe.

Another thing we did differently this year was experiment with some of the hamburger. We ground some venison with bacon and packaged it up. YUM!!

Let us know how it goes this year.

[evaughan]

I butcher all my own kill but our rifle gang sends it out. I won't eat the venison we send out. The butcher who taught me says " if you want to ruin your venison, just freeze it with the bone in."

I butcher it boneless, same as a cattlebeast only smaller. I get prime rib roasts, sirloin tip roasts, inside/outside round, boneless T-bones and new york strips.
Every cut is individual and boneless so grain only goes in one direction for proper carving for maximum tenderness and proper texture. No silverskin between cuts (the rubber stuff you are pulling out of your mouth if your butcher does a cross cut bandsaw method.) It took a bit to learn it right but know I can't eat the bandsaw stuff. I also only wrap in proper butcher paper, avoid freezer bags if possible.

All my trimmings and front quarters minus the prime rib are deboned and frozen in blocks to take for summer sausage etc. Nice thing about this is I quit hunting hares and geese for a while because I couldn't stand eating them. Now I bone them out and just freeze the meat in with the venison trimmings for sausage. After all the seasons are over I take the frozen blocks in for processing
( I will also make garlic sausage with a grinder and press)

Once you learn you will never, ever go back.

[shaftthrower]

[quote="lscha"]Once you clean and pack your own deer correctly. You will never trust processing again. Anything white or silver....OFF! All air out of the packages and it literally lasts for years and still tastes great.

X 2 Wife & I are self taught. Been doing it for years now. Once steaks are cut we run them threw our cuber. We feel cubing makes for better eating. Wrap in freezer paper then enjoy.

[huntfishfam]

I like to butcher my own that way I get what I want. I watched some guys do theirs and said to myself," I can do that" and have been ever since.
Here's a site to help you www.eckrich.org I also bought a video at Bass Pro called Deer Processing From Field To Table.
I hope this helps.
Sean

[AndreTTOW]

You or anyone else who may be interested are more than welcome to borrow a dvd I have titled "deer and big game processing" 3 hours long and lots of info. There is nothing they dont cover. Even how to cape a trophy.

Thanks for the offer...not exactly sure how I would go about borrowing your DVD though...but I would appreciate the details to perhaps purchase my own copy

[one shot scott]

It Simple! Just pm me your address!

[AndreTTOW]

Rancid crabtree...that is a great post, thanks a million. Cannot tell you how informative that is...

To everyone else, thanks also...reading your stories is kinda taking away some of the worries I had

i'm planning on going bear hunting soon, end of May probably, and was wanting to attempt this butchering on my own...will let you know how that goes...if I harvest of course.

[crazyfarmer]

rancid, do you sell any of yours?

heck of a operation you have!

We use to process deer for hunters for the hungry, but when we started getting more deer that were so badly cleaned and taken care of we had to stop. Its a simple process but takes time. We normally got 40 or so per week on average and between me and my father that was plenty. We just process hogs and beef now which is a full time job during the winter and spring for us. We dont do retail since its a whole different ball game for USDA inspections and etc.

for for processing deer, just ask anyway.. its a pretty simple process and its only as complicated as you make it. Basically anyone with a grinder(hate the held held stuff but they are cheap), saw, knife, and wrapping paper/tape can do it. Simplest thing is to slice the hindquarters into steaks or roasts... bone the loins out or you can leave them in for deer chops. Cut any extra meat off and grind for burger but we add beef fat to that when grinding. Or you can add pork fat for deer sausage. You learn from what you do. My families been processing for over 100 years so it gets very easy over time. Normally it takes up about 10mins to break down a deer from hide to burger. Factoring out the hang time for cooling and ages a bit.

[crazyfarmer]

im hungry now LOL

[shaftthrower]

Rancid what a operation. You have my press. We (wife ) also can. Wife usally cans last years meat (if any is left) once we butcher a fresh kill. To the gentleman that wants to learn I have a book from The Hunting & Fishing Libary its called Dressing & Cooking Wildgame. Shows how to skin,quarter, de-bone and which cuts are what after de-boning. Also has some good recipes. I purchased at Meijers but would think any GM or Cabelas. Bass Pro should carry it.

[AndreTTOW]

Well now because of all of rancid's pics I'll be pulling out a piece of deer from the freezer tonight...that's for sure.

[hikerman]

Rancid, that is great info, thanks for posting all those pictures!