# Deer processing



## tryinhard (Jul 19, 2007)

Do you prefer to process your own deer or do you send it off?


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## Outlaw9 (Jan 9, 2006)

I process all of mine. Mainly justy money thing I guess. Of course all the butchers seem to be packed out and say it will take a few dasy to get it in. So usually we just clean and cut em up ourselves. Nothing fancy tho. A few yrs ago my brother and law killed a elk. Now that was some work.


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## CGUARDSMAN (Dec 28, 2006)

I have always had mine done but given the prices the past couple years i need to learn to do it myself!


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## Outlaw9 (Jan 9, 2006)

Like I said I dont do anyting fancy. I will cut the meat off the bones and sepereat each piece of meat and then cut it up like little steaks. Most are about 1/2 inch thick and maybe as wide as a reg mouth on a mason jar. All turns out prtty good.


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## CGUARDSMAN (Dec 28, 2006)

about the only cuts we keep are the loins everything else is ground up with a little pork fat added. i go through a couple a year so the wife starts puttin on the pressure when deer season approaches.


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## Outlaw9 (Jan 9, 2006)

This thread is making me miss the cool weather. Our squirrels season opens Sep 1st I cant wait. Hope to go through a few suirrels and deer this yr.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Hey CGUARDSMAN one thing about it we can Debone our Deer in the woods if we want now.Makes life better.

Cost too much to have Deer processed and it only takes about an hour not counting grinding.

big rockpile


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

knowing the condition of many deer that get processed...no way will i send mine off. i don't want my harvest to be anywhere close to the nasty, gut shot and 3 days in the sun kills many folks send to be processed. especially true when it comes to getting meat ground...like that butcher is going to clean his rig for every deer he does. i do know one guy who runs a tight ship. if i need anything done, he would get my business.

i have my butchering down pat for myself. loins get sliced and vaccuum packed for the freezer. the best part of the hind quarters get cubed for canning...which i do myself. the shanks, front and rear get vaccuumed for soup and roasts. the front shoulders get halved for roasts along with the neck roast...all vaccuum packed. if i decide to make bologna, and until i have my own grinder, the afore mentioned guy grinds my meat and stuffs the casings...i bake it myself.

i met another guy who showed me a neat trick. this old timer cooks the carcass, it must be a fresh kill and butchered promptly, he pulls the meat and adds chicken or turkey meat and corn meal to make scrapple. he salvaged 9 lbs. of meat from the doe carcass i gave him last year.


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## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

Up until last year, I've had my deer processed at the butcher paying about $75 for what ends up with about 100 lb. venison. The butcher process price included wrapping and 20 lb. of italian spiced sausage links. 
Granted that it doesn't cost to self process, and some cost for sausage making (spices, etc.), but I'd rather process myself now that I know I can. I'm just 'tuning up' the technique.


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## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I debone mine hanging. I hang tail up on a gambrel. The onlt bones that I actually remove from the carcass is the shoulders and front legs. I filet them off the carcass and bone them seperatly. The loins and hindquarter meat all gets boned off the hanging frame.


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

Yep we always do our own and some of the friends too, cause nobody does a better job than we do. We normally do prolly 10 or 12 every year. We have a set-up in the pole barn for skinning, then all the meat is fine tuned in our kitchen, pulling all the muscles apart in the hind quarters, removing all silver skin and boned. The back straps are nothing but pure red meat when we are done. Trimmings are lean red meat used for sausage or burger and nothing goes to waste. The tender loins are pulled when the deer is hung to avoid any drying of the awesome tender viddles.....


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## Outlaw9 (Jan 9, 2006)

Meloc, Ive never heard of deer balogna. Sounds interesteing? How do you do it?


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2007)

You really need to check into who out there processes deer. If it's a regular processing plant they will probably do a rotten job for you. They may process 25 to 50 deer per day. In my opinion, there's no way that many deer can be processed adequately in such a short time. 

If you take it to a private individual who does it just for the deer hunters (such as myself) you may receive the best processing job you've ever had. I have many customers who say they will never do it again thereselves or take it to anyone else cause I do such a great job and give back plenty of meat compared to what they receive back from other places. My secret is, I treat every deer as if it was going into my own freezer at home. I try to make the most out of it. 

This year I will be charging .65 cents per pound hanging weight. A hundred pound deer will cost $65. bucks. Less if it weighs less then 100, more if it weighs more then 100. If a trigger happy hunter brings me in a 50 pound doe, it will only cost him $32.50 If a lazy hunter brings me in a 175 pound undressed deer it's going to cost him 114 bucks. 

No matter the cost, seems I have a lot of happy customers.


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## Guest (Aug 7, 2007)

Try this one the next time you get a deer. Cut the backstraps into about 2" thick slices. Take the slice and lay it between two peices of plastic film. Beat and flatten the heck out of it with a roller pin till its about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. If you have a electric meat tenderizer run it through it. If not a take a club meat tenderizer and beat the heck out of it some more. 

You now have steaks ready to be rolled in flour and chicken fried. Smother it and mashed taters with gravy and you will think your in heaven.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

If you cannot care for a deer, or any other animal, after you've killed it, you shouldn't be killing it. And perhaps you should be preparing for passing from this plane of life to the next.


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## CGUARDSMAN (Dec 28, 2006)

I have had my deer processed by the same family for 25 years and they do a very good job. You get back the deer you bring in even with the ground which is why we use them. One of the issues with doing our own has always been that we hunt on an elderly friends property and stay there for the week. We really don't have a place where we can get it all done at their property. Gilberte I don't for the life of me see anyone on this thread who has mentioned not being able to care for their kill so if you are just trolling for issues that is not what this thread was about.


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## DavidUnderwood (Jul 5, 2007)

One might just wonder where gilberte is coming from.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

I thought I was plain and succinct in my post. If you have a question, ask it and I'll do my best to clarify.


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## DavidUnderwood (Jul 5, 2007)

You sound a bit self-righteous.
Many people need a lil help with
processing after a kill.
Hope I read you wrong initially, in 
which case, I would offer an apology.


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## gilberte (Sep 25, 2004)

I don't know if you read me wrong or not, let me reiterate, if you kill a deer, you should have the wherewithal to properly take care of it. If you don't, you have no business killing the deer. 

Not to say that you cannot enjoy deer meat taken by those able to kill, and then care for the carcass. But you have no right (in my opinion) to take the life of the deer yourself. That's just killing for the sake of killing.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Prices being what they are in my area for deer processing ( $75 per animal ) I opt for doing my own..also much prefer to know that it was actually my animal that I recieved and not someone else's gutshot deer.
I feel really good knowing that I can and do process most of the meat that my family eats.


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## CGUARDSMAN (Dec 28, 2006)

gilberte said:


> I don't know if you read me wrong or not, let me reiterate, if you kill a deer, you should have the wherewithal to properly take care of it. If you don't, you have no business killing the deer.
> 
> Not to say that you cannot enjoy deer meat taken by those able to kill, and then care for the carcass. But you have no right (in my opinion) to take the life of the deer yourself. That's just killing for the sake of killing.



Again who on this thread stated they did not care for their kill :shrug: It makes no difference on if you butcher it yourself or have someone else process for you that is still being responsible and making use of the kill. so what exactly are you trying to stir up :shrug:


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## Outlaw9 (Jan 9, 2006)

gilberte said:


> If you cannot care for a deer, or any other animal, after you've killed it, you shouldn't be killing it. And perhaps you should be preparing for passing from this plane of life to the next.



Who said anything about not being able to take care of their kill? They asked do you have it processed or do you do it your self. Never read anywhere in th original post about what to do when you kill something with no ability to care for it.


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## shadowwalker (Mar 5, 2004)

I always wonderded what the meat was treated like. I found out one fall. I worked in a game processing plant because of the payment system was done on a per aminal basis.This was done at the biggest processor in three counties. Boy did I get educated. I saw how the meat was taken off the animals, basically thrown in a pile. Then the pieces were supposedly cut "how it is done". I was told. Then a guesstimate on how much each hunter was supposed to get. The bloodshot was just processed into hamburger meat. Hair was rampant in the pieces. Those are two real big No, No's at my house. That was over 21 years ago. Now the meat processing is done by me and my wife. If I hunt with someone else that wants to know how to do it I will teach them no problem. I have processed Buffalo, Moose, Elk,Deer, Antelope, bear, couger, bobcat, snake, gamebirds, fish, ect. I have two meat grinders electric, a custome wax paper dispenser, two meat slicers, I don't bother with cutting steaks. I "chunk" the meat, wrap in in gladwrap, then wax freezer paper. This allows us to make the meat what ever we want at the time, we cut it into steaks, chunks, roast jerky, ect. It is best when the meat is just almost thawed.
I do this as when your facing multiple animals or one as large as a moose. You got to do it fast. I don't have a freezer. I used to keep them in a freezer in town for a minimal cost. But once I didn't get my elk when I went to get it. They lost it. Now how the heck do you lose a full grown five point bull elk carcas. Shot once in the heart? Also in wyoming the processors don't like to just freeze meat for a customer they lose out on the processing.
With my wife helping and this is the truth. I can shoot a antelope, go get it. Set it on the truck tailgate, skin it, and have it cut up and in the coolers. In less than 30 minutes.
For those that will get this last statement. This was true a very,very long time ago.
When it comes to gutting and skinning. The daylight messes me up real bad.


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

Yep, i agree that it is really sad how the hunters venison is treated by the butchers and their employees. If proper care is taken it is far superior than any stinky beef. More nutricious than pork, beef, or lamb..... If you want it done right, do it yourself, ask someone that knows how, I'm sure they would show you, that's what country folk do. Giving a helping hand to someone that wants to learn how is what life is all about.


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## JJ Grandits (Nov 10, 2002)

My new son in law does deer processing. Makes absolutely fantastic sausage. Life is good.


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## Haggis (Mar 11, 2004)

We process all of our own meat: chickens, rabbits, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigs (hogs), cattle (beef), deer, or whatever. On deer we bone everything and slice the meat into steaks, or chunk the lot of it into the power grinder; I much prefer the latter, both in the eating and the processing.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

gilberte said:


> I don't know if you read me wrong or not, let me reiterate, if you kill a deer, you should have the wherewithal to properly take care of it. If you don't, you have no business killing the deer.
> 
> Not to say that you cannot enjoy deer meat taken by those able to kill, and then care for the carcass. But you have no right (in my opinion) to take the life of the deer yourself. That's just killing for the sake of killing.


I might be missing something here.But this sounds like alot of folks here on this Forum shouldn't be raising a Beef or Hog and sending it off to be processed.

Me I have at some time sent Beef,Hog or Elk off to be processed,for what ever reason.But for the most part do our own.But I'm not going to put down anyone that don't process their own. :shrug: 

big rockpile


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I started cutting my own about 10 years ago when i got a guy at the tech school i was going to to show me how since then i have read thru some books and watched a video from the library i should have doen that years ago personaly they shoud have kids watch that video in hunters saftey but i know that are already pressed for time 

opening weekend we bone them out in my aunts garage and pack in coolers we grind thanksgiving morning and vacume pack 
i shot one last year in the late season with the muzzelloader skinned it out in the garage and quartered it up and put it in coolers then boned it out that night and ground that weekend i am getting much faster with each deer 

i bought a kevlar glove for my left hand after the first time i nicked myself with the knife this was a good investment and when i am done it just runs thru the washing machine with aprons and dish rags but it has saved me from a few cuts.

i save back straps and tender loins and gring or make jerky from the rest of my deer.


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