If You Butcher Your Own Deer.....

[The_Real_TCIII]

On 8/23/2021 at 10:19 PM, Moho81 said:

 

 

I don’t remember who I’ve really extended this offer to before in the past I know @turkeyfeathers is one of them but for any of the WNY guys that want to learn my garage is always open to hang a deer, drink some beers and learn how to do it yourself. I am by no means a professional but I can get the job done. It will usually take me 6 hours by myself to do a deer from start to finish but that’s broken up between 2-3 days including vacuum sealing.

Larry I know your well versed in processing so it would be cool to have you along as well as I’d probably learn a thing or two from you.


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Im 100% in on this, first deer from the group comes to your shop for an epic night of instruction, grilling, comradery, and beers?

[Five Seasons]

On 8/23/2021 at 7:56 PM, Lawdwaz said:

Steve Rinella was doing a show on butchering deer and goes further into depth than I do but, like I said, you'd be hard pressed to mess up the deal.  At the end he said how he prefers to use plastic wrap and butcher paper over a vacuum sealer for red meat.  I called my wife out and she watched the end of it with him wrapping the meat up and she said, "huh, just like how we do it".  

So.....how did you learn, trial and error or were you fortunate to have a mentor like I did? 

 

that's interesting because he talks about vac sealing all the time on the podcast. I wonder if this was an older episode or in the field? 

Anyhow, I learned out of necessity. I too had always taken my deer to a butcher and then i moved down south. After a few phone calls I learned there wasn't any around and so I took the old youtube. I started just like my dad and uncles by quartering and then boning out, but have since moved to boning out while hanging which I much, much, much prefer. I've since grown my setup to include dedicated meat totes and cutting boards. I like to butcher and pack all my steaks and loin on day 1 and then save the grind for day 2. Storing the grind pile in a meat lug in the fridge. Some stuff I've added over the year that I'd recommend.

https://www.lemproducts.com/product/economy-meat-lug/lem-meat-lugs (plus cover)

https://www.lemproducts.com/product/meat-lug-drain-tray/lem-meat-lugs

2x for placing all cuts onto the cutting table https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C81T4R8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYXMKT1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

a great starter kit

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/outdoor-edge-butcher-max-11-piece-game-processing-set?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Shop|CAB|TopPerformers|Hunting&gclid=CjwKCAjw95yJBhAgEiwAmRrutGNh4bU_v3KJtrnk3i7hodaA0GfxjzTcJ5HZ14FJJqIptd_b5tfhyBoC0f8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.dshttps://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/outdoor-edge-

I also bought a good all purpose sawz-all blade that i use to cut the rack off easier. Just make sure you peal away the hide first. 

[Five Seasons]

the method i use referenced above

 

[Five Seasons]

there's a new product that's an electric silver skin trimmer but i'm not going to be the first to try it, but if it works... it's probably worth every penny.

I encourage everyone to save their hearts. I can't think of how many I've left in the woods but have recently been making heart tacos and they're delicious. The liver on the other hand... well I tried but that's staying from here on out. 

[Five Seasons]

22 hours ago, Jeremy K said:

Did you keep the bear fat? A recent joe rogan episode the guy he was interviewing brought him a jar of bear fat for cooking . He made it out to be the best thing ever for cooking with? 

he's another meateater guy. I was not going to do go to extremes with my bear if I ever get one, but listening to him talk so much about the fat over the years I now feel like I'd have to save it haha.

[phade]

It's part of the process. I am personally slow as hell with it but I am OK with that. that said, we've field processed deer hanging on trees off a rope with no major issue.

I also admit to really only like ground and backstraps. Tenderloins would rank third for me. Not a huge fan or roasts, etc. Not sure why.

I actually like the hanging method to gut. With my bad back, bending over to traditionally field dress is about the least favorite thing I can think of hunting-wise. Once they are up, it's pretty easy to dress them and have everything land in a nice trash bin/bag. We actually use a wheel barrow underneath for NY deer. Wheel that puppy back behind the shop a bit and there is some predator bait/camera bait lol.

[Nomad]

50 minutes ago, phade said:

It's part of the process. I am personally slow as hell with it but I am OK with that. that said, we've field processed deer hanging on trees off a rope with no major issue.

I also admit to really only like ground and backstraps. Tenderloins would rank third for me. Not a huge fan or roasts, etc. Not sure why.

I actually like the hanging method to gut. With my bad back, bending over to traditionally field dress is about the least favorite thing I can think of hunting-wise. Once they are up, it's pretty easy to dress them and have everything land in a nice trash bin/bag. We actually use a wheel barrow underneath for NY deer. Wheel that puppy back behind the shop a bit and there is some predator bait/camera bait lol.

We use mostly ground as well as backstraps, tenderloin, and some steaks . Now try pressure canning ! The steaks and roasts turn into delicious tender meat . If your freezer goes out ( or just the power ). No biggie canned venison will last up to three years . No need to thaw out ahead of time either . I did two quarts of year old frozen steaks awhile back, I was canning chicken and just decided do a couple quarts venison. Mrs Nomad made some stroganoff and we added the canned venison, we were blown away with how good it was . 

My plan this year is to can an entire deer, minus backstraps and tenderloins .

[Fletch]

I probably started "helping" when i was 10-12 years old. When my Grandpop and Uncle would be cutting up deer. I have done quite a few on my own. I'm slow lol and with the amount of deer I shoot that equates to a lot of hours. I have an exceptional butcher and at my rate per hour he is way cheaper.  I imagine when I retire I will lean more towards doing them all myself but for now most go to the butcher. I do think every hunter should do a couple of their own though. The animal knowledge alone is worth it.

[Fletch]

3 minutes ago, Nomad said:

We use mostly ground as well as backstraps, tenderloin, and some steaks . Now try pressure canning ! The steaks and roasts turn into delicious tender meat . If your freezer goes out ( or just the power ). No biggie canned venison will last up to three years . No need to thaw out ahead of time either . I did two quarts of year old frozen steaks awhile back, I was canning chicken and just decided do a couple quarts venison. Mrs Nomad made some stroganoff and we added the canned venison, we were blown away with how good it was . 

My plan this year is to can an entire deer, minus backstraps and tenderloins .

Canned venison is great. My grandma taught me how to can venison 40+ years ago.

[Five Seasons]

12 minutes ago, Nomad said:

We use mostly ground as well as backstraps, tenderloin, and some steaks . Now try pressure canning ! The steaks and roasts turn into delicious tender meat . If your freezer goes out ( or just the power ). No biggie canned venison will last up to three years . No need to thaw out ahead of time either . I did two quarts of year old frozen steaks awhile back, I was canning chicken and just decided do a couple quarts venison. Mrs Nomad made some stroganoff and we added the canned venison, we were blown away with how good it was . 

My plan this year is to can an entire deer, minus backstraps and tenderloins .

this is on my long list of things to try. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Since we do so much of our own sausages we butcher with Backstaps in about 8" long pieces (good for 2 people), and all the roasts we can pull out of the hinds and neck. Front shoulders and any remaining is chunked for grinding, placed in a big vacuum sealer bag and frozen for the Sausage making days. We went to all roasts for a couple reasons (sealed individually). First it is faster than making steaks or whatever but more importantly we never know what we want to make as the year goes by. Want a roast? there it is. What ground or stew, partial thaw and chunk or grind. What jerky, partial thaw and slice, Want steaks, partial thaw and cut. Just seems to work better for us. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

that's interesting because he talks about vac sealing all the time on the podcast. I wonder if this was an older episode or in the field? 
Anyhow, I learned out of necessity. I too had always taken my deer to a butcher and then i moved down south. After a few phone calls I learned there wasn't any around and so I took the old youtube. I started just like my dad and uncles by quartering and then boning out, but have since moved to boning out while hanging which I much, much, much prefer. I've since grown my setup to include dedicated meat totes and cutting boards. I like to butcher and pack all my steaks and loin on day 1 and then save the grind for day 2. Storing the grind pile in a meat lug in the fridge. Some stuff I've added over the year that I'd recommend.
https://www.lemproducts.com/product/economy-meat-lug/lem-meat-lugs (plus cover)
https://www.lemproducts.com/product/meat-lug-drain-tray/lem-meat-lugs
2x for placing all cuts onto the cutting table https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07C81T4R8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06ZYXMKT1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
a great starter kit
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/outdoor-edge-butcher-max-11-piece-game-processing-set?ds_e=GOOGLE&ds_c=Shop|CAB|TopPerformers|Hunting&gclid=CjwKCAjw95yJBhAgEiwAmRrutGNh4bU_v3KJtrnk3i7hodaA0GfxjzTcJ5HZ14FJJqIptd_b5tfhyBoC0f8QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.dshttps://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/outdoor-edge-
I also bought a good all purpose sawz-all blade that i use to cut the rack off easier. Just make sure you peal away the hide first. 

I appreciate the links, I'm ordering totes and the drain panels


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[The_Real_TCIII]

there's a new product that's an electric silver skin trimmer but i'm not going to be the first to try it, but if it works... it's probably worth every penny.
I encourage everyone to save their hearts. I can't think of how many I've left in the woods but have recently been making heart tacos and they're delicious. The liver on the other hand... well I tried but that's staying from here on out. 

I will post coordinates to all hearts in the future, first come first served


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[wolc123]

2 hours ago, Belo said:

there's a new product that's an electric silver skin trimmer but i'm not going to be the first to try it, but if it works... it's probably worth every penny.

I encourage everyone to save their hearts. I can't think of how many I've left in the woods but have recently been making heart tacos and they're delicious. The liver on the other hand... well I tried but that's staying from here on out. 

There's two other parts you should be saving from your bucks.  Just dont forget Steve Rinella's secret ingredient (lots of pepper), and to make a small slit through membrane so they dont explode in the frying pan.

Tip for livers: 6 month can be eaten fresh but those from older deer need to sit at least a week in the fridge to let the rigor mortis pass or will be very tough.  Also, best eaten rare.

Edited August 26, 2021 by wolc123

[The_Real_TCIII]

1 minute ago, wolc123 said:

There's two other parts you should be saving from your bucks.  Just dont forget Steve Rinella's secret ingredient (lots of pepper), and to make a small slit through membrane so they dont explode in the frying pan.

I will post coordinates to all balls in the future, first come first served

[Moho81]

3 hours ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Im 100% in on this, first deer from the group comes to your shop for an epic night of instruction, grilling, comradery, and beers?

If the temps are perfect I like to let the deer hang for a few days. A year and a half old it probably does not matter but on older deer my honest opinion is it does make the meat more tender. I will pull the inner loins out as soon as its hanging otherwise those dry up. 

Letting it hang for a few days will allow us to organize an evening to do it as well. I actually just got a little excited because I just remembered I was gifted a set of knives and hide puller for Christmas and my birthday so I got some new toys to play with.

[Five Seasons]

31 minutes ago, wolc123 said:

There's two other parts you should be saving from your bucks.  Just dont forget Steve Rinella's secret ingredient (lots of pepper), and to make a small slit through membrane so they dont explode in the frying pan.

Tip for livers: 6 month can be eaten fresh but those from older deer need to sit at least a week in the fridge to let the rigor mortis pass or will be very tough.  Also, best eaten rare.

no and no.  haha

[Five Seasons]

1 hour ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

I will post coordinates to all hearts in the future, first come first served


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you're missing out  man trust me.

[Moho81]

34 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

I will post coordinates to all balls in the future, first come first served

I'll bring them home if you promise to throw them at his front door like a weird game of ping pong

Edited August 26, 2021 by Moho81

[Five Seasons]

1 minute ago, Moho81 said:

I'll bring them home if you promise to throw them at his front door like a weird game on ping pong

I will happily collect any balls harvested in 8F and throw them in the freezer, then on Christmas I will ship them to Wolc as a present from all us in wayne and monroe.

[Nomad]

2 hours ago, Belo said:

this is on my long list of things to try. 

If you want you can borrow my pressure canner , and assorted tools to try out a batch . I can fit in 7 quarts at a time, about 2# of meat in each . Pints of course hold 1# . There’s a good supply of jars and lids available right now , last year they got hard to find .

This is what I did a “prepper “ friend loaned me his , and sent me a very good instructional video .

[SportsmanNH]

4 hours ago, Versatile_Hunter said:

You’re missing out! Neck and shoulder are delicious. A slow, low temp braise will dissolve all that connective tissue while keeping the meat moist and flavorful. Even better if you go bone-in and save on the deboning work. I’m making an axis deer blade roast (bone-in shoulder) tonight. 

Pics in the " Whats For Dinner " thread or it didn't happen !   

[grampy]

Beef, Pork, Chicken, was for as long as I can remember, butchered on the farm. Long before I ever killed a deer, I was familiar with the butchering process. Doing a deer or anything, is a get together, with family and close friends. The process goes pretty easy, as we are set up for it well.

Once, about fifteen years ago, my buddy and I each brought a deer to a local place to have it done. I don't recall why we did it? But never again, as we both had deer hair on the meat, and even some in the burger. Yuck! No one can do it better than yourself. It's not hard to do. And the satisfaction of doing it yourself, is far better than leaving it to someone else.

I have shown many new hunters how to do their own deer over the years. From the field dressing, to the cutting and wrapping of their first deer. Explaining that this is all apart of it! You shot it. You need to now take care of it, and get it in the freezer.

I do understand that it isn't feasible, for everyone to do their own. Though most can without too much trouble.

[The_Real_TCIII]

1 hour ago, Moho81 said:

If the temps are perfect I like to let the deer hang for a few days. A year and a half old it probably does not matter but on older deer my honest opinion is it does make the meat more tender. I will pull the inner loins out as soon as its hanging otherwise those dry up. 

Letting it hang for a few days will allow us to organize an evening to do it as well. I actually just got a little excited because I just remembered I was gifted a set of knives and hide puller for Christmas and my birthday so I got some new toys to play with.

Ive done a week, even ten days. Makes sense to wait until we have more than one to do anyway

[Moho81]

2 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Ive done a week, even ten days. Makes sense to wait until we have more than one to do anyway

More than one? I see your faith in the group is strong!