Anyone else butcher?

[JimP]

I've butchered most of my animals since I was 16 and my first deer.

My dad would watch and if I had a question he would answer it. He had always butchered the deer that he had shot also.

There have only been a few times that I have taken my game meat into a processor and that was usually because of time. I usually take a evening to butcher a deer but a elk will take almost a full day for two people to cut, wrap, and grind the burger. By that time I can't even look at any of the meat I am so tired of it.

 

[mdwest]

Huge difference. I keep mine in a cooler off the ice . Can’t leave ‘em hanging outside here in East Texas. Usually process on a Thursday if I took it the previous weekend Would wait longer, but I’m usually headed back out the next day. Back in a tree on Friday afternoon. Mix my ground venison with beef trimmings if I can get them. 80-20. If not, I’ll splurge on a brisket and mix 60-40.

Same… I keep ours in a cooler for 5 days then process…

 

[HuntingGold]

This Roosevelt bull is aging now... butchering will occur in about 10 days. The last bull I shot of this size was a bit dry (no fat after the rut) and tough. Im hanging an extra few days in a walk-in cooler to see if that will help.

 

[Troubleshooter]

Yep, been doing it for years. Gives me confidence in how the meat was handled and that it is actually the animal I took.

It depends on the meat locker. I regularly deal with several custom meat processors when selling beef cattle. One in particular told me that if a customer drops off a deer, he will pick up venison but there was no particular effort made to ensure that it was the same animal. Another does make an effort to keep the orders (and venison) separate, but since 2020 they no longer take in wild game due to lack of hired help. Livestock butchering for customers is obviously another matter.

I usually bone mine out myself, but have on occasion used a local processor when on a hunt far from home.

 

[wesheltonj]

Did it one time. Hopefully, I never have to do that again. Too much work.

 

[baxterb]

This Roosevelt bull is aging now... butchering will occur in about 10 days. The last bull I shot of this size was a bit dry (no fat after the rut) and tough. Im hanging an extra few days in a walk-in cooler to see if that will help.View attachment 570766

Again - the cut determines the cooking method. Braising is your friend. The 'tough' is because you have not cooked the meat long enough to break down the connective tissue in the muscle - not because of fat content. There is a stage in braising where the meat is absolute leather. + 3 hours it falls apart. Just be patient.

 

[steve white]

We have been butchering for years. We have a fridge dedicated to aging venison. When a deer hits the ground on our farm, it is boned and racked within an hour. Seven days to age and then we butcher, vacuum seal and freeze.

Completely agree on aging--but was flabbergasted to find that hanging wild hogs for 10 days to 2 weeks eliminated almost all the wild taste. Always wondered how the Germans managed to rid the meat of it. Would not have believed it possible, but tasting is proving.

 

[steve white]

My wife makes the best steak and Guinness stew I’ve ever had, so our steaks all end up as stew meat.

Willing to share the recipe?...

 

[Tra3]

Absolutely! We butcher everything we can. I travel with a cosco folding table and a knife roll. The folding table makes it much easier to have a clean work station. You can cut directly on the table surface.

I also bring a vacuum sealer. It makes a huge difference on reducing freezer burn. After using a vacuum sealer you’ll never wrap in paper again.

This year I smoked 4 front quarters and a rear quarter, then picked them apart and ground it with lamb fat. It makes a very tasty smoked burger mix for common, easy dinners. (Tacos!!)

I am a huge fan of using lamb fat in venison grinds. It is a better flavor with venison, in my opinion.

We also keep the kidneys, hearts and liver and make meatloaf out of it. That takes some art in the spice mixture, but can be done right.

In the fall of 2020 we had nothing to do but hunt, so we hunted a lot. We ended up butchering 20 big game animals (5 elk, 4 antelope, 3 mule deer and 8 whitetail). Two archery turkeys were brined and smoked. (The smoked Turkey meat was amazing and got eaten immediately.)

 

[Ray B]

A business that my dad operated would cut/wrap deer along with other animals. For deer we cleared out a cooler of everything else, then hung the various deer carcasses, usually 5-7 days; then cut an wrapped them per customer specs. We preferred to break them down and slice using a bandsaw but some preferred for it to be boned. that was in northern California and 50 years ago- I don't know if they allow that sort of thing now.

 

[CBH Australia]

When I can. I enjoy that part of it and got into making some salami and things last year.b

 

[Boela]

Oh most definitely! I really enjoy processing the carcasses of animals that I have hunted just as much as the actual hunt. To me, it closes the circle of the entire experience. And I absolutely love experimenting with different recipes and spices.

I have a very good friend, with the same interests, that helps me quite a bit though. It is a great help, and having a wife that really does not mind spending hours and hours processing meat with me, is an absolute blessing!!! We have three young boys at home, and they absolutely love helping out - be that cutting the meat into cubes or packaging the final product. It gives us the opportunity to spend a lot of time together as a family, and the boys are extremely proud when we sit down for dinner and enjoy something that they helped to produce.

Granted, being able to do so, does require some equipment, the space or facilities, and the time required..... and I may have gone a little overboard when setting up my facilities at home.

First up, my processing facility at home. I fitted a crawl beam flush with the ceiling, and in the back, I installed a 10'x 8' cold-room with shelves and a hanging rack that can hold 2,000lb of meat.

Dry wors (snap sticks) busy drying

Home made Nyala and Crocodile sosaties (kebabs)

The Mrs. teaching our skinner, Innocent, the finer details of meat cutting.

 

[Hunting Hitman]

We process about half of our animals and send the rest to our local butcher. When processing our own I purchased a 1 1/2 hp grinder from Cabela’s that makes things much easier. Turned it into a Christmas gift for the wife killing two birds with one stone. She loved it!

HH

 

[WAB]

Willing to share the recipe?...

Sure thing. I’ll dig it out today.

 

[Fatback]

I worked for a processor when I was in college and learned the basics then. Have been doing all of my own deer and pigs for the last 30 years. Have a nice grinder and the other tools needed to do the job effectively. Did the final work on the deer my daughter killed on 11-12-23. It’s too warm in my part of the world to hang outside so I age our venison in a cooler with ice. Here is the burger from her

deer last night before going into the freezer.

 

[Philip Glass]

I’m happy to say that the Mrs took her first deer over the weekend. My family has a rich tradition of pure DIY during deer season. Including butchering everything ourselves. Just curious what everyone prefers to do when hunting near home.

I have taken deer to a butcher, but have done it myself for over 10 years now. It is extra work, but my wife is willing to assist and I take pride in knowing that animal went from field to freezer without leaving my sight.

Everyone should do it at least from time to time. When I was growing up we had two options. We could butcher it ourselves or take it to a local Mexican man and trade for some tamales. The days of trading a deer carcass for several dozen tamales may be long gone but it is a great memory.

 

[Hunt anything]

We eat 3 whitetail a year, I cut one into stew meat, roasts and steaks. I take the other two to a butcher and they grind 1 into burger and 1 into various flavors of smoked sausage. They vacuum pack the burger and the sausage, I would like to do my own ground meat but not sure I have the time for all of that and the expense of the equipment to do it right seems a little expensive. I age the steak/roast deer for 8-10 days in an extra refrigerator and the deer to be ground 3-4 days.

 

[mdwest]

I would like to do my own ground meat but not sure I have the time for all of that and the expense of the equipment to do it right seems a little expensive.

You can certainly spend a small fortune on processing equipment… but if you’re only doing 3 deer a year, getting pro grade or industrial processing equipment isn’t really necessary…

I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of a pretty basic cabelas branded grinder… I’d guess it’s got 20-30 hogs and probably a dozen deer under its belt so far and is still going strong… out the door with tax it’s less than $200… and it’s small/compact enough that it’s easy to store in the pantry..

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/cabelas-deluxe-meat-grinder?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Cabelas%7CShopping%7CPMax%7CProprietary%7CGeneral%7CNAud%7CNVol%7CNMT&&&&&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2-uA4N3XggMV_DjUAR1S9gdDEAQYBiABEgKqPfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[revturbo9967]

I have been doing it myself for years

 

[BRICKBURN]

DIY from members of AH. Can’t say I’m surprised at the skill set.
Hats off to you.

When I was young a butcher shop was used. I walked in one year and found ownership had changed. The place was filthy, they took game in from slobs that did not bother to clean the carcasses before drop off, etc. That was it.
All processing is at the house now. Mince, sausage, jerky, steaks, etc.

Thankfully, I can regulate my cooler with a sliding window and fresh air during the deer season and hang it like beef. When it is chilled enough we can even keep the hide on the deer while aging. Big critters, not so much.