One way or the other the meat has to get processed

[WNY Bowhunter]

Without a doubt, the BEST knife that I've ever used in butchering a deer is a Rapala fillet knife...it stays sharp WAY longer than any butchering knife that I've used. I'll never use anything else. Just finished up putting a nuisance permit doe in the freezer...

[WNY Bowhunter]

4 minutes ago, Rockspek said:

May call on you for some advice later then.  Watch I had such a good season last year being my first season hunting, this year I'll get skunked.

I'd be happy to give you a hand.

[BigVal]

Glad to see guys are willing, this will be my first season doing my own as well. I've had it with finding hair in the "cleaned" and wrapped packages from the butcher. And spending 80 plus bucks each time. 

[wolc123]

I like cutting up my own because I know I can make whitetail taste better than most beef.  The secret is to age it properly, especially with older deer (6 month olds don't require any aging for great taste and texture).  I age the 1-1/2 year olds for a week, 2-1/2's for 10 days and older deer up to two weeks at 33 - 50 deg F, prior to processing.  If it is too warm for that in my insulated garage, I can hang the front and rear halfs in an old refrigerator with the shelves removed.   When deer are cut up and frozen too soon after killing, rigermortice is locked in, causing the meat to be tough.    Lack of control of aging temperature accounts for most "gamey" flavor in venison (usually when it gets too warm).   I remove the hide from those that hang in the refrigerator, but leave it on for the rest to insulate against daily temperature swings and to keep the outer meat from drying out too much.  If I can not age the carcasses properly, I cut them up right away and grind most of it into burger (that breaks up the rigermortice).  The backstraps and tenderloins are usually pretty tender, even without aging, so I never grind them.

Processing them up is easy and requires minimal equipment.  A sharp knife, and cutting board is all you need.  Getting most of the fat off is important, which makes bucks easier to process than does, especially later in the season.   A grinder is nice (we usually grind about half and make the rest into small roasts, chops, and steaks).   A vacuum sealer is great if you will freeze it longer than 6 months.  I always put the first one every year into zip-lock bags and vacuum seal the rest.  The vacuum sealed stuff tastes fresh-killed for up to 5 years in the freezer.  A vacuum sealer is a waste of time and money if you eat it in less than 6 months.       

 

       

[turkeyfeathers]

41 minutes ago, WNY Bowhunter said:

Without a doubt, the BEST knife that I've ever used in butchering a deer is a Rapala fillet knife...it stays sharp WAY longer than any butchering knife that I've used. I'll never use anything else. Just finished up putting a nuisance permit doe in the freezer...

I have that same knife and i use it to breast out wild turkeys. Nice knife. 

Side note : how good are summer nuisance deer to eat ? Buddy gave us one a few years back. Man , can definitely taste a difference . Fall / winter deer are great but summer deer was superb IMO 

[The_Real_TCIII]

I use a filet knife to trim backstraps and remove all of the silver skin


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[stoneam2006]

Man....after reading all of this I have the best butcher in the state lol...he is excellent and does anything and everything I ask from him. There is no way I could do it the way he does for the price I pay.

Granted I do get 100 percent smoked or cured meat...no ground no stakes no nothing. Snack sticks bologna pepperoni jerky hotdogs.

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[WNY Bowhunter]

7 minutes ago, turkeyfeathers said:

I have that same knife and i use it to breast out wild turkeys. Nice knife. 

Side note : how good are summer nuisance deer to eat ? Buddy gave us one a few years back. Man , can definitely taste a difference . Fall / winter deer are great but summer deer was superb IMO 

I shot her last friday, so I would consider her a fall deer. From what I can tell, she tastes as good as any other doe that I've eaten...lol

[wolc123]

I never noticed any difference in the flavor of summer nuisance permit deer.  Due to warm temps, I always put them in the fridge for aging though, so that makes dealing with them and early archery season deer a bit more trouble than during gun season, when outside hanging temps are usually better.  Last season was so darn warm throughout, that I had to cut up two right away during gun season so we ended up with lots of hamburg.  My kids love that however, with their favorite meals being venison tacos and spaghetti with meat sauce.      

[fasteddie]

I shot 2 deer so far with the nuisance permits this month . Don't think I will get out again . I let my son who also has permits do the butcher work . I have never noticed any taste difference .

[The_Real_TCIII]

Man....after reading all of this I have the best butcher in the state lol...he is excellent and does anything and everything I ask from him. There is no way I could do it the way he does for the price I pay.

Granted I do get 100 percent smoked or cured meat...no ground no stakes no nothing. Snack sticks bologna pepperoni jerky hotdogs.

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I sincerely hope your butcher is keeping your backstraps!


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[stoneam2006]

I sincerely hope your butcher is keeping your backstraps!


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I tell him to if still in there I sometimes pull inners and drop to uncles

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[chrisw]

Like others have said, its not difficult just takes a little practice. I've never taken a deer to be processed, I actually enjoy it as part of the whole experience and i know exactly what I'm getting (my burger isn't a conglomerate of 10 other deer which may have been riding around in a truck for 4 days). Also I didn't see anyone mention it but cutting your steaks against/across the grain will make a big difference in how tough the meat is. All that I use is a Kershaw Pro fillet knife (I only use one knife for the whole deer) a vacuum sealer, grinder, a scale for weighing out my burger, and a jerky cutting board. Oh, and a 12 pack and a radio is essential also.

[chas0218]

15 hours ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

I have one. Me. Just not a fan of bone in butchering for deer. 

I agree bone in sucks and you have to do a lot of trimming while eating. I would rather trim first then enjoy the eating without needing to spit out chunks of bone. 

 

Biggest investment would be a grinder. If your wife has one of those kitchen aid blenders they make a grinder attachment. They won't break any records in the speed department but my buddy grinds about 4 deer this way every year. If you buy a grind do not buy one of those $150 units spend a little more money for a nicer one it will make all the world of difference in quality of the ground meat. The cheaper units don't cut the meat nearly as well and require a 2nd and most times a 3rd grind where a nicer grinder will only need a once through. Knives I usually get from the "Suasage maker" out of buffalo and horseheads. The knives have worked great for me and keep an edge. I can usually get 3 deer out of the knives until I touch them up. I like a razor sharp knife.

 

www.sausagemaker.com 

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 9/22/2016 at 8:36 AM, Culvercreek hunt club said:

I'm not next door but am in Henrietta area. When we get one this bow season, if you PM me you info I would be happy to have you stop over to see the operation. The equipment is minimal for what is "needed'. I think you get a better product that is more customized to what you really want.

Basically you only NEED the following. Some way to hang it. a good sharp knife or two, a sharpening tool, a cutting board and a way to wrap it up. (plastic  wrap and freezer paper will get you through. 

As far as time, once you get to understand the process and get a couple under you belt there is no reason that the time from hanging to closing the freezer door should be over 3 hours. (depending on the cuts you want)

Let me know. 

Im a bit closer than Culver, right down in Bristol, but my setup isnt nearly as nice as his. In fact, mine is kind of in flux right now, but later on in the season when I have everything set, youre more than welcome to come by. If you get something during gun season (ill be all set by then), let me know and Im sure we can find a few hours for you to bring it over and I can help you through it.

[WNYBuckHunter]

11 hours ago, wolc123 said:

When deer are cut up and frozen too soon after killing, rigermortice is locked in, causing the meat to be tough.        

Baloney. Id put my fresh cut and frozen venison up against your aged (incorrectly with that much of a temp range btw) meat any day of the week. You wont be able to tell the difference toughness wise, and you wont get the runs after you eat it.

 

BTW, I wont eat yours, we would need a non-biased 3rd party to be the guinea pig.

[Rockspek]

16 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

One other thing; that piece of meat looks well done.  THAT is another no no.

It's just the way that picture looks. This better for ya?

[wolc123]

WNYBH:

"Baloney. Id put my fresh cut and frozen venison up against your aged (incorrectly with that much of a temp range btw) meat any day of the week. You wont be able to tell the difference toughness wise, and you wont get the runs after you eat it.

 

BTW, I wont eat yours, we would need a non-biased 3rd party to be the guinea pig."

 

Why not try it yourself to see what you are missing? 

Do you have an old beer fridge out in the garage?  That is an easy way to age them at the right temp.  Just pull out the racks and hang the skinned halfs in there so the air can get around them.  One week will usually do the trick, maybe rotate them every couple days. 

I usually get to compare at least one "fresh froze" one every year for one reason or another (usually because I am going away from home on another hunt).  Except for those under a year old, which don't need any aging, the aged ones have always been more tender.  My wife and kids really prefer the aged ones and no one has ever got the runs or even an upset stomach.  

Let some women and kids in on the comparison also.   I have quite a few buddies who's wives and girlfriends don't like their venison, which puts a bit of a damper on their hobby if you know what I mean.  It might have been different, had it been aged (most of them use processors or cut them up fast themselves).  It sure is nice when your wife encourages you to hunt more because she wants some more great food.

Archery season is coming up fast, so good luck and hopefully you will let us know how that turns out real soon.         

 

[fasteddie]

My wife bought a knife set for me a few years ago and one of my sons also gave me a knife set . I bought a wusthof dreiz werk filet knife on EBAY and a Dexter 6" filet knife from Pagliusso's Meat Market in Ontario so I have plenty of cutlery for processing . 

[Lawdwaz]

7 hours ago, Rockspek said:

It's just the way that picture looks. This better for ya?

That looks darn good!

[WNYBuckHunter]

16 hours ago, wolc123 said:

 

Why not try it yourself to see what you are missing? 

Do you have an old beer fridge out in the garage?  That is an easy way to age them at the right temp.  Just pull out the racks and hang the skinned halfs in there so the air can get around them.  One week will usually do the trick, maybe rotate them every couple days. 

I usually get to compare at least one "fresh froze" one every year for one reason or another (usually because I am going away from home on another hunt).  Except for those under a year old, which don't need any aging, the aged ones have always been more tender.  My wife and kids really prefer the aged ones and no one has ever got the runs or even an upset stomach.  

Let some women and kids in on the comparison also.   I have quite a few buddies who's wives and girlfriends don't like their venison, which puts a bit of a damper on their hobby if you know what I mean.  It might have been different, had it been aged (most of them use processors or cut them up fast themselves).  It sure is nice when your wife encourages you to hunt more because she wants some more great food.

Archery season is coming up fast, so good luck and hopefully you will let us know how that turns out real soon.         

 

I will not eat meat that has been aged incorrectly. You are talking about leaving it in temps up to 50 degrees, so I just wont take the chance. That is not how you age meat. The meat that I fresh freeze each year has changed many minds on whether or not they will eat venison. In fact, my girlfriend has been around deer and deer hunting all of her life. He uncle owns a deer farm, her family hunts, her ex husband hunts, and she rarely enjoyed eating venison. I have gotten her to the point where she enjoys eating it and actually asks for me to make it. In my experience, aging the meat makes no real difference unless it is aged incorrectly, and then you are running too many risks of it going bad.

[wolc123]

I prefer to hang the deer in my garage, with the hides left on, but only do it if the outside temperature over the 1 week stretch has predicted high daily temperatures not much over 50 degrees.   When it hits 50 outside, the temperature of the meat with the hide on and inside the insulated garage, with the windows closed by day and covered, stays well below that.  The concrete floor really holds the cold and I sometimes open the windows at night to cool it down.   The insulated garage and the hide also keep the meat from freezing when daily night-time lows get into the twenties.    I cant recall there ever being a stretch during hunting season when it was too cold to hang them for a week in my garage, but there have been many when it has been too warm - that is where the old fridge comes in.   Most refrigerators can be easily adjusted to keep the temperature inside in the optimum 32 to 42 degrees F range.

Venison is red meat, as is beef, and just like beef, the texture and flavor can be improved by aging.   You may like the fresh froze stuff but most folks prefer the aged stuff.  I know some hunters who really like the flavor of older bucks after they have been aged for two weeks or more.   Being a pure "meat-hunter", I don't kill too many that are more than 2-1/2 years old, so a week hanging usually does the trick for me.  Even the grind is significantly better after the carcass has been aged a week.         

After you gain a very little experience with aging the meat, you will be able to tell when it is ready to be processed just by feeling it.   It will feel like it did when it was fresh killed.   Rigermortice begins to sets in within hours of a kill and that is what makes the meat feel firm, almost like a pencil eraser.    After a few days (depending on temperature and age of the deer) it begins to break down, with a 1-1/2 year old deer, aged at 37 degrees F, taking about a week to return to that "just-killed" feel.    Older deer take longer and warmer temperatures move the process faster but can also cause spoilage.    

[WNYBuckHunter]

Look, you can babble on all you like, but as long as the meat is cared for from field to freezer, packing and freezing it right away is fine. Aging is not necessary, and the vast majority of people out there (including yourself from the sounds of it) lack the knowledge and equipment to properly age it (which doesnt make it any better anyhow). Theres more to proper aging than just letting it sit and start to rot.

[ATbuckhunter]

In order to age meat properly you really don't want the meat to go up or down more than a couple degrees from around the 40 degree mark. Will the meat be bad the way you do it wolc...probably not, but will it be properly aged...again probably not. I could just be talking out of my ass, but this is what I was told from a few family members that are butchers. 

[Bowguy 1]

You don't need to be a butcher. Learning to first just skin than quarter deer is a start. If time is short just throw it in refrigerator. Works great when it warm n late. Now this is where I differ from most guys. After it sits in the refrigerator a few days (except the loin n tenderloins) I take cuts off in pieces. Why on earth would I wanna wrap little chops or steaks in a bunch of packages? Only costing me time n money. I put the chunks in n when I'm ready to eat my steaks or whatever are taken from the block. Pretty simple. Also saves meat. If it freezer burns cut off bad section n you have the rest perfect. Nice evenly spread out meat looks great but we're not trying to win artistic awards or marketing for sale. 

I shoot lots of deer n I can normally do the whole thing on a warm deer, (hides are stickier cold) from my truck, to freezer (not the best choice) if I so chose, mess cleaned up, stuff away in under an hour. It's minimal time the way I do it n if you want breakfast sausage bring a chunk of the meat to a butcher