Any deer butchering advice/tips

[RonnieM]

I worked on that buck last night I killed last Tuesday for at least 5 hours. Cutting, cutting and cutting more. First time I butchered one without doing it with my dad or brother. I still have grind meat up too. I have a huge pot full but going to do it Monday. I try using all the meat I can off the animal since Gob blessed me with one. Comes in very handy for the family. Anyways I cut steaks, roast and ground the rest up. The thing is most is going to be ground cause I messed up lots cutting around the bones and having no idea the best way to do it. I watched videos and was like I got this, boy was i wrong. Any advice on butchering up a deer? I plan on a doe Tuesday so hopefully that one goes better. I just want to get all the meat I can and not having a off taste from any of the silver or anything. And boy was that stuff hard cutting through. I would go a bit then sharpen a bit. It looked like a deer blew up in my wife's spam.

[RonnieM]

Weird. It says spam at the end but I spelled spam. Then go to edit and it says spam.

[RonnieM]

Still says spam instead of k I t c h e n

[strum]

Still says spam instead of k I t c h e n

Ronnie you cant use the "K" word because of so much spam ..the moderators had to do it..

one tip I can tell you is get that meat cold ..almost freezing..it just cuts better that way. from there it becomes practice. every one you do youll get better ..keep on shootin em you be an expert in no time.

[Fullquiver]

one tip I can tell you is get that meat cold ..almost freezing..it just cuts better that way. from there it becomes practice. every one you do youll get better ..keep on shootin em you be an expert in no time.

Great tip. Also once you get familiar with what cuts come from where you will gain considerable speed in getting the job done..

Keep your knives as sharp as possible. Think of it like you are dissassembling your deer. Pay attention to the joints and how they come apart, and remember that cleanliness will have a huge impact on how your meat tastes so it pays to be picky. Keep as much fat as you can out of your meat it will over time give your venison a very gamey taste.

[awshucks]

Deer cutting my style: [these are shot close to my house]
0 don't gut it
1 Hang it by the neck
2 make normal skinning body cuts, cape out neck back
3 cut off legs w/ sawzall
4 tie a golf ball under back of neck hide
5 pull hide off w/ 4 whlr
6 cut off front 1/4's
7 fillet back straps off it
7.5 Make a cut behind last rib, reach in and cut out tenderloins
8 cut and save hams
9 cut off ribs [throw or save]
10 cut two neck roasts w/ helper holding them

Wala, beer time 30 min later......[you still have hams to deal w/]

[onebigskittle]

Use a sharp knife always. I keep a sharpener with me at all times while cutting up Deer. Follow the grain of the meat in the Quarters as they over lap and you can separate the pieces into roast and I use the long pieces for my jerky.
Anything else goes into stew meat or I grind it up. Front shoulders I just use for grinding. Backstraps are the easiest, Just follow the bone and cut out. Neck I use for roast. Ribs just cut with a meat saw if you have one or a old hand saw will work.
Thing to remember is if you save it you have done your part.

[Waif]

Congrats on your kill and on making processing a part of your hunting.
Give it time for rigor mortis to set in ,you did that. As mentioned chilled near freezing helps. Not required but helps. Break it down into reachable goals. Inner loins come out soon as the deer is home and go sit in a bath of orange juice in the fridge,at least on one deer. After hide is off backstraps come off. Feel for top of spine,(now you know how the bones are shaped the next one will be way easier) and slice along each side leaving about a quarter inch wide strip on back ,or wider depending on animals size. Run those cuts along bone till you bottom out at more bone,mostly ribs.Chase away from strip of bone you left sticking out towards outside of animal by following ribs till backstrap runs out,just keep rolling it outward while filleting under it. Next cut neck off at front of shoulders. It is now a neck roast or two or lots of trimming for grinds, With neck and backstraps off ,assuming your hanging deer by rear legs, with brisket facing you, pull front leg away from carcass and starting near first rib run in between ribs and meat towards armpit.Any doubt cut towards brisket though that is not the goal. With the backstraps already out you can run up towards that area no problem.Keeping traction on front leg run up towards shoulder "joint"separating it from ribs then from spine almost..Very little cutting needed. Top of shoulder is held on by very little, but ring it with your knife on that three or so inches holding it on or cut through away from you towards back of deer..(You can really about just tear a shoulder off,not too neatly though.)After front quarters are set aside or processed for grinds,(you saw the shoulder blade shape last cut up you did, so next shoulder feel the ridge bone like you did the spine,run knife along each side of ridge again just like the spine for backstraps till it bottoms out then fillet away from ridge bone to outside by following bone/flat blade of shoulder. Or start at outside and work towards ridge,same difference but on opposite side an outer approach may help) the rib cage comes off by ringing spine ahead of rear quarters and the giving it a sharp twist. Work meat off and from in between ribs for grinds or easier have baked or fire cooked ribs by cutting along spine with a saw or using a hatchet.
Now hind quarters. I split them,it's easier for me to handle them. Feel for a button kinda shape in pelvis hole near end towards body cavity originally, if not allready split at field dressing or home arrival cleanout. Thats your center line, Cut with saw down between hams keeping an idea of where that button was till hams separate. Now you trim what you don,t want to eat of the whole outside of quarter with a sharp fillet knife if you have one ,then ring upper vs lower leg joint with knife,bend joint to spy tendons and cut them to remove shank. They are work but trimmed up go in grinds ,or tough but alright jerky.
The rest of the rear quarter you will be separating muscle groups. Most of that your hands will seperate more than your knife but each end of large muscles were connected to something at one time. By separating most groups into individuals trimming and cutting goes well. On some of the bigger bundles an option is to slice steaks out of them but will result in some silverskin remaining,up to you. Here for slicing steak a butcher,even a willow knife blade shines. An L shaped two pieces of board can be used to press roast against to slice across the grain for uniform slices. Cold helps and it can be done without a prop. Though tougher steaks ,a piece that is thick but smallish in diameter can be pressed flattish and cut through from the side to nearly cut through and then folded open. One big roast will become apparent when separating muscles in each hind quarter though. A boning knife has a little flex to it but not required anymore than a fillet knife. But a knife used for boning is grabbed now,still sharp as we have not used it yet, and when you want to remove muscle,all of a group or individual from bone,usually you want to find the thinnest surface from meat to bone. If separating a little by hand does not indicate where, then press and feel for that thinner area, your planned cut will run the length of the bone too,so feel for it. Now slice to the bone ,along center line of it. When bone is reached use many shallow strokes to work around bone. Full length slices or shorter,whatever works for you. Keep chasing bone like you are almost slicing the bone itselfs skin off it. You may need to flip every thing over and start from edge of original cut if you have trouble working underside from where you started..
All solid muscles in hinds can be sliced into steak. Even them silver dollar ones on each quarter. My record is around twenty minutes.O.k. maybe a little longer . Now a days it is two or three days. At my leisure and really trimming every thing. Day three is trimming out what is usually used for grinds to use in soups or stir frys,stew ect. The cut to the bone on a hind quarter ,keep an eye on to see if a different approach would have been preferred for future reference.
A couple deer cut up you will be an old hand, and perhaps fine refinements.
Bleach and water mix wash all your stuff for next time.

[Jray]

Good advice above. This is a fairly good video with some helpful tips.

http://www.growingdeer.tv/archive/#/dee ... s-your-own

[amythntr]

Good advice above. This is a fairly good video with some helpful tips.

http://www.growingdeer.tv/archive/#/dee ... s-your-own

Great video...gonna help me a lot this year....

Anthony

[luckymike]

waif.never did the orange juice thing with the inner loins.what does it do?how long should you soak them?like trying new ideas.thanks

[Normous]

Wear a cut proof gloves when using very sharp knives especially if you are having a celebration drink.

[Waif]

waif.never did the orange juice thing with the inner loins.what does it do?how long should you soak them?like trying new ideas.thanks

It gives a moister cooked meat and though inner loins don,t need it ,tenderizes too. A sweet taste result, not overpowering sweet, with hint of orange depending on soak time.
They go in soon as they are pulled and rinsed. A couple hours is plenty for a first try. They can get soggy if soaked to long. I prefer to olive oil rub what gets grilled or broiled before cooking and add by going easy on it fresh ground pepper. Then just a touch of sweet basil, (my favorite venison herb, but too much overwhelms) to make it a holiday. As always don,t overcook.
Salt to taste after cooking when slicing on your plate. Yummm.

[8ptbuk]

Here's a few of my tips , First be ready to clean a deer BEFORE you kill one , Some way to hang it with lights and water available . Second , I have 2 different skinning knives to get the hide off and 2 fillet knives( Kershaw )to cut the meat off the bone . With all these knives you don't have to stop to resharpen and the fillet knives are super thin and Razer sharp ! I basically cut the meat like skittle does . Keep on practicing !!!

[RonnieM]

Great advice folks. Taking it all in