Butchering yourself or have it done for you?

[maine canoe guide]

I have always cut up and processed the deer Ive shot. What about you guy's? I'm no butcher but I can cut up a deer make jerky, sausage and mincemeat. I feel it's part of the job and I like to make stuff from scratch. It's usually cold enough in Maine to hang it for a few days and not have to do it all in a rush. When I shot a moose in September I had no choice but to farm it out to a local processor. That would be too much for me. What do you do with the meat ?

 

[Gr8bawana]

I've never butchered a moose but I have done a few elk. I did everything except the front shoulders from which I had burger, Italian sausage and salami made.
As long as you have someplace to keep the meat cold you can take your time and do it over several days if you have to. I do all boneless so I don't even need a saw of any kind.
I'm very picky about my game meat so I trim everything as clean as possible. That way when I want to cook something it is ready to go.

 

[JimP]

I'll do it both ways depending on my time frame that I have. There have been a few hunts where I have a very quick turnaround and I'll have a butcher do it for me. I like to make some of my own smoked meats and brats and salamis so I'll have them just grind some of the meat and package it into 5 lb packages if I plan on curing it myself.

 

[Hilltop]

I process 90% of my own wild game. The only time I take a whole animal to the processor is when I have to to avoid spoilage. All of my processing equipment paid for itself in 3 animals and my family really enjoys doing our own meats. I do occasionally take some trim meat in to have sticks made as the processor can make them so much faster and easier than I can. I also think my burger and bulk sausage turns out better at home because we can really take our time to trim perfectly. I don't grind anything that isn't red...

 

[Slugz]

I pretty much always for elk and deer do all the butchering, cutting and packing of the rear qtrs, loins, backstraps, brisket and neck meat. The front qtrs I take to the processor to cut the shanks in discs and grind the rest to make plain burger or chorizo burger.

 

[tim]

if you have lots of time, but no money. butcher yourself. if you have no time, but money, hire someone or do something in between the two.

 

[CrimsonArrow]

I've never let anybody touch my game meat with the exception of taking some trimmings to get made into sticks. That's including 2 moose, 2 caribou, an elk, and about 75 deer.

 

[wa-hunter]

we always do our own. every year we add to the butcher room. we make everything from burger and steaks all the way to sausages, hot sticks, and smoked hams sliced into lunch meat. for warm temps we have a couple old refrigerators we put all boned out meat into. someday will build a meat cooler.... we like doing all our own processing just makes it that much more rewarding.

 

[ivorytip]

I enjoy doing my own, I took my elk in this year do to how hot it was outside and it turned out really good. I just had burger roast and steaks made from it. my only complaint was I have to trim fat when meat has thawed and I keep finding myself biting in to pieces of bone! that's is no Bueno in my book.

 

[missjordan]

I also enjoy processing our own game, however the speciality meats like the summer sausage, kielbasa, and even breakfast sausage I let someone else do. I've tried doing my own with the kits you can buy and they just don't taste as good. I even had one recipe from scratch turn into a disaster so I've decided to leave that stuff up to the pros. I really do enjoy processing the basic stuff and think it adds to the whole experience to do it yourself


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[Mr Drysdale]

With the heat here in Mississippi and really no place to butcher a deer, I carry to the processor.

 

[CrimsonArrow]

With the heat here in Mississippi and really no place to butcher a deer, I carry to the processor.

Get yourself a cheap, used chest freezer. As soon as you kill the deer, skin it and throw it in the freezer, quartered if you need to. Then run the freezer just long enough and often enough to keep the temp just above freezing. Age it 5 days or so, then cut meat. I do this all the time.

 

[Colorado T]

I like to do it myself but travelling for work the last couple years has made it very difficult so I have taken the last couple in and had them done.

 

[Grantbvfd]

I would like to if I had the time. We always butchered our own growing up but now days time just isn't there. I take all mine in now.

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[kidoggy]

if it's cold enough to hang it for a while, I do it myself. when hot,it's about 50-50 on wether I do it or have it done.

I PREFER TO DO MY OWN, that way I know it is done right. but on occasion work schedules will not permit it

 

[go_deep]

I have done all mine for over 10 years now, I have a bunch of big coolers that I put the meat in and pack with ice. If it takes a few days because of work no big deal, if it's hot no big deal. I do leave the drain plug pulled to drain any blood and melted ice out, seems to work great for aging the meat.

 

[dan maule]

I always do it myself about 5 years ago my son won a free processing from one of the local butchers so I brought a deer to them and as my wife was preparing some she said we are never doing that again you do a much better job. Really surprised me because she is usually standing over my shoulder "helping" me through the process. Our family goes through between 4 and 7 deer a year and know how we like it cut. The only exception is when one of us is successful in Wyoming I always trade in some meet for sausage at Big Horn Meets in Buffalo we love their summer sausage and beer sticks.

 

[mallardsx2]

I am too cheap to pay someone to process my own game. lol

 

[Calbuck]

Do mine myself..I end up with very little waste (have a meat grinder) and my wife knows when she takes a package out of the freezer that it's ready to go as we like it. And there's some satisfaction knowing that it went field-to-grill with only me/family touching it. Very satisfying feeling!

 

[Predatore]

I have processed my own deer and elk over the past few years, with the exception of this year's elk (due to time constraints). Processing yourself requires a lot of time. It has taken me on average 6-8 hrs for a mule deer and about 15-20 hrs for an elk. If you have a helper, this can be reduced to half. Bear in mind that I am very careful and precise with my processing, removing all silver skin, vacuum packing all non-ground meat, double grinding meat, and sticking to high food safety standards. I bought many of my processing supplies from http://www.webstaurantstore.com/, and a 3/4 hp grinder from Cabela's when it was on sale. The supplies pay for themselves after a few animals. If your time is money, as in a vacation refund from work is in order, make sure your days off work don't cost you more than going to a processor. It is rewarding processing your own meat, but it is also hard work.

After getting back my elk meat this year from the processor, I wished I had done it myself. It cost me $1/lb with my de-boned meat (which is a great deal) but what bothered me was the types of cuts I got back. From the 180 lbs of meat I dropped off, I got back 69 packages (~1 lb/ea) of grind, a ton of steaks (loin, round, sirloin, etc), and very few roasts (round). They remarked about how clean the meat was, so I don't think that so much needed to be ground. I would have preferred more roasts to steaks with the rounds, and less grind overall. I also only saw one package of tenderloins, so I'm unsure where the other one went (maybe mislabeled or ground?). Beforehand I accepted the fact that I would have little control over how my meat would be processed, but I didn't have a choice. Something to keep in mind.