Home Game Processing

[TXGunNut]

I'm no expert on the subject, just want to share what I've learned and encourage others to try it-safely. There's no way I can cover it in detail here, just want to encourage folks to think about the DIY possibilities.
First step is preparation. I take a 100 qt Igloo on most hunts here in TX, the weather and geography make that part of a good plan. A 54 qt will hold one S TX deer, my 100 qt cooler will hold two (or a big hog!) easily. Inside I'll put at least 4 bags of ice at my last fuel stop. Next step comes after the critter is dressed and cooled a bit, if possible. Skinning is pretty straightforward, many good videos on the subject on youtube. Quartering pretty straightforward as well, with S. TX whitetail the leg quarters, loin, tenderloin, heart and liver go in the ice chest and get covered with ice. Takes no more equipment than proper field dressing! I generally trim all the good meat off the ribcage and discard it or use it for coyote bait. Keep the meat covered in ice until you get home, draining off water and adding ice as needed.
Converting your kitchen to a butcher shop is no big deal, a good scrubbing before and after are important steps that can't be overlooked. Efficient butchering involves sharp knives, cold meat, and a good cutting board or two. I keep the meat in the cooler until it goes on the cutting board. I generally just debone the meat and package it as roasts or 1" chunks. Chunks are used for stew or sausage. I like to package the meat in vacuum or ziploc freezer bags, labeling is important. I try to spread the bags of meat around in the freezer so they freeze quickly. Once everything is in the freezer you can scrub the kitchen and start planning menus!
I've only hit the high points here, please share your tips or feel free to ask questions! Nothing against commercial processors but they aren't always the best way to get wild game into the freezer.

[leadman]

I do all of my own processing. I try to get as many steaks as possible since I like to marinate them and grill them. So the backstraps, "hams" on the upper rear legs, and a few from the front shoulder blades. The meat left on the pelvis is usually cut into roasts. Tenderloins are cut as small steaks. The rest is burger or stew meat.
If cutting up deer or antelope the ribs are good for grilling so have a meat saw or a dedicated hacksaw to cut these.
If you want to vacuum seal your meat but have too much liquid in the bag put paper towel on top of the meat. This prevents the liquid from getting into the machine works.
Plan how much burger you want to put in a bag. I usually make some #1 bags for putting in spaghetti and such. Larger bags are good for making chili, jerky, sausages, brats, etc.

I have been making jerky but am going to branch out into making sausage this year from the antelope I got in Wyoming.

Block ice will last much longer in your coolers.

I buy the 2 gallon Zip-lock bags and they are great for keeping the big chunks of meat clean and dry when you cut it off the carcaus. If you don't have bags put your meat on top of the ice so it doesn't lay in the water, which you will have to drain periodically.

[Lloyd Smale]

62 deer butchered this year so far. If i had to pay someone to do it id have to sell my house!!! One hint ill give you guys is to not cut up steaks. Cut your meat like back straps into blocks and freeze it like that and when you want steaks take it out and cut them right before you cook. Doing it that way you will have less freezer burn if you store for a long time. Its especially important if you dont vacuum pack your meat.

[smoked turkey]

The processing fee here last year at a professional shop was $80. Too expensive for me but the past couple of years the temperatures here have been too warm. So to avoid the risk of spoiled meat I have paid the high fees a couple of times. My problem is that I am so slow in the process. I need to learn to do it faster. I have a big ice chest on my Christmas list this year. That and plenty of ice should help avoid the spoilage. I would like to see some good pictures or video on the subject of deboning showing the various cuts that should be "hams", "steaks", etc. Thanks for this interesting and needed thread for those of us who really want to do it from casting the boolit to putting it into the freezer.

[44man]

62 deer butchered this year so far. If i had to pay someone to do it id have to sell my house!!! One hint ill give you guys is to not cut up steaks. Cut your meat like back straps into blocks and freeze it like that and when you want steaks take it out and cut them right before you cook. Doing it that way you will have less freezer burn if you store for a long time. Its especially important if you dont vacuum pack your meat.
Best tip!
That is what I have always done.
Then with back straps in chunks you can butterfly and stuff them.

[leadman]

I'm located in Phoenix so it is always to hot to hang meat. I have a refrigerator in the garage dedicated to game meat.
I did start out with coolers and ice but the fridge works better.

The vacuum seal machine was the best investment I made. I can keep fish and game meat for at least 3 years with no freezer burn. I recheck my bags about a week or so after sealing them to ensure they haven't leaked. They will leak if there is any debris or moisture where the bag is sealed.

[snuffy]

It certainly varies from one state to the next.

Here in Wisconsin, you HAVE TO register a whole deer. Once registered, you can then skin, quarter, or completely butcher the deer.

The annual deer season opens the weekend before thanksgiving. Up here in the frozen tundra region, it's usually quite cold on opening day. In fact one of our concerns is preventing the carcass from freezing!:!: There have been butterfly days that late in November, but a day in the 50's won't rot a dead deer.

My brother was an apprentice butcher for a while,(decided to become a cop instead). So he knows the cuts and trained the entire family on how to cut up a deer. Dad had a bandsaw that he converted to be able to cut meat. It was as simple as a guide for the steaks, and careful clean up to keep sawdust out of the meat. Now-a-days we simply bone the meat off the back, resulting in back strap steaks and loins.

A saws-all with a demolition blade works well to create roasts of the front legs and rump. The neck is boned out as well as the ribs destined for the meat grinder.

The main problem with meat processors locally, is you have no guarantee you're getting your own meat back. Another problem is IF you just might have one of your boolits that did NOT pass through, you have the possibility to find it! That makes for great pics here on cast boolits, along with the story that goes with it.:!:

[waksupi]

It is my opinion, the fastest way to ruin venison is using a meat saw on the bones, and dragging the marrow through the meat. You need to get an animal as big as moose or bison before the marrow is good enough to not harm the meat.

[gnoahhh]

I learned something today about deer marrow. Thanks.

I only ever put one deer in the freezer per year. Living alone, it takes me about 6 months to eat one. (Not a big meat eater) If I shoot a second one, and have no one to give it to, I go the baloney route, and give most of it away anyhow. My butcher charges $70 to cut up a deer which is ok by me since I only do the one and it won't break the bank, and saves me the hassle.

Actually, I have often threatened to take some cutlery and a couple loaves of bread into the woods with me, and cook him and eat him right there on the spot. Pitch a tent, build a fire, stay there 'til he's gone. Saves dragging too.

[firefly1957]

I also debone all meat I never saw a bone as the marrow and the bone meal do not taste good another thing on a white tail that tastes bad is the fat* remove as much as you can. I cut the rear legs into what i call round steaks (Cutting with a long sharp knife around the bone) and the back straps into steaks some of the rest is cut into cubes for stew or fajitas**. I have a hand operated meat grinder which all the other meat goes though for burger . Some add fat or pork sausage to venison burger i quit years ago and just use some oil in the pan when frying it up .

*Deer fat (tallow) makes great suet for the birds
** cut venison into pieces cover bottom of container with taco seasoning on top a light sprinkling of garlic powder & chili powder reverse order of seasoning as you layer meat leave in fridge overnight up to a day. Cook meat in hot oil till just done remove from pan add butter stir fry strips of bell peppers and onions . Put of warm tortilla shells serve with sour cream and salsa i like oven heated corn chips and refried beans as sides. I also use hot peppers but sometimes i just ain't right in the head!

[flounderman]

couple of things nobody mentioned. Aging an animal for a week or so makes the meat more tender and taste better. You can section up a deer by cutting the front shoulders off, tenderloins, removed, neck, ribs, cut hind quarters off at hip joints, roast from pelvic area. no saw needed unless to cut ribs off backbone. Lay the sections on the racks in a refrigerator for a few days and the surface will dry and you can wipe off any hair and trim the bloodshot meat. If you bag it, the blood will collect in the bag and you won't get rid of any objectional smell. A rutting buck is a different animal if you refrigerate him a week , unwrapped. Meat should never be frozen until it is totally cooled out. If you don't have a grinder, get one. burgers are not tough no matter how old the deer was and you can use most of the deer. ageing the meat makes a world of difference and I try to keep water away from it.

[SPRINGFIELDM141972]

I try to keep water away from it.

I am the same way. I have found that if you attempt to age meat that has come into contact with water it will spoil at any temp above 38 deg. before it ages. I try to age game until it has the distinct smell of aged meat. That sometimes takes more time than other times and I've lost two animals because of that. I have'nt seen a problem arise if you don't age the meat.

Regards,
Everett

[deerslayer]

We always skin them ASAP and leave hang and cool out if the temp is right, otherwise we qaurter them and we have a fridge dedicated for deer. Before we cut it it has to be cool almost frozen makes it cut easy! We then debone completely, saving the back straps, tenderloins, and any roasts wanted. Then we chunk it into 1" chunks if it is good cuts for canning! Everything else gets ground through the homemade grinder, if you don't have a bagger funnel for your grinder I highly recomend them http://www.lemproducts.com/product/ground_meat_packaging_system/bags_tape
they are a little bit of a learning curve, and you will screw up a bag or 2 but once you get the hang of it you will never freezer wrap it again. When I leave our processing room (converted milkhouse) at the farm all the ground meat is ready to go in the freezer and in perfectly portioned and sized packages!

[44man]

Long ago I wanted to see what deer fat would do for a boolit lube. It was like candle wax.
I had huge hunks rendered so I put them out for birds. Best thing I ever did for the feathered friends. I never seen anything go so fast.
Strip off the fat and hang it for the birds.

[41 mag fan]

Hundreds of deer killed over the decades and i've had 5 processed over the decades.

I don't like the meat to age, and esp to have a processor take care of it. The last one was so rank, we couldn't eat it and gave it away. When i butcher it takes me about 1 1/2hrs from skinning to putting wrapped and vaccuumed meat in the freezer.

I like to qtr up and put in freezer till it's almost frozen then butcher, makes it lots easier for me

[gbrown]

I only had one deer processed by a processing/butcher shop and that was the first one I killed. Thought my dad was going to have a fit. Cost $25.00. That was back in 1972. After that, every deer was processed at my dad's or my house. My friend (34) has his processed and cut into chops/steaks/sausage. $165/deer. I basically do the same as TxGunNut. My cooler sits on the deck behind my house with the drain open. I check it daily for ice coverage, and let the meat sit for a week. Like flounderman says, and, the way my dad taught me. Being retired, after that week wait, I can take a day and cut the meat off the bone. I do not care for venison chops/steaks. We love ground venison and sausage which I prepare in our kitchen. Lloyd Smale and waksupi both make wise and good recommendations IMHO.

[mtnman31]

My wife and I spent most of yesterday butchering the deer I got.
Sunday I got a nice 3x3 mule deer - not a large rack but pretty big body. I was at 10000ft and had just walked out of my camp. I was still munching on breakfast when I spotted him through some brush. It was an 85 yard shot through the lungs with my trusty Rem 788 (.308Win).

First time I've shot a deer since I was a kid (maybe 22 years ago?). It had been so long that I wasn't even sure on how to field dress him. Took me over an hour to get him dressed. Got him home and let it sit in the garage overnight. I couldn't hang it since there isn't anything in the garage to hang him from and he was too heavy to hang from the garage door tracks. I didn't want to let it sit any longer since it has been pretty warm. It's been so warm that Saturday I hunted in shorts. Anyway, we spent the better part of the day fumbling through the butchering process. Butchering is no fun when you don't know what you are doing. Youtube had a few videos that were helpful. Being that we are amateurs, we took the time to trim fat and gristle that processors often leave and I'm sure that added to how long it took us. We now have a freezer full of steaks, roasts, some cuts for jerky, and a pot full of cuts for burger. Yes, the vacuum sealer was a fantastic investment.

[Dennis Eugene]

I was a grown ,but still young, man before I even knew there was such a thing as takeing meat to a processer. I have still never taken one there tho. Dennis

[firefly1957]

I have aged deer and not aged deer and in my case i have noticed no difference. Really important thing is to field dress the deer well at once to keep meat from being ruined.

[gbrown]

I have aged deer and not aged deer and in my case i have noticed no difference. Really important thing is to field dress the deer well at once to keep meat from being ruined.

This post reminded me of a time when I had taken some evidence to the State crime laboratory in Austin, sometime between '80 and '82. I was looking for a place to eat and I was on Burnet St or Ln? and I come up behind this big, old '76 olds or pontiac. Well used and rusted. On the trunk area is a white tail buck, an 8 point as I remember, and apparently the fellow had the legs tied by rope through the back windows. No blood or anything to indicate it was gutted. You could see the pelvis bones through the skin. Temperature about 75. Never could get beside him, because of heavy traffic to see. All I could think of was "I bet that'll taste yummy." [smilie=l:

[waksupi]

Another consideration if you take your deer to a processor. Don't expect to get your own meat back. You can take in a nice clean carcass, and it will be mixed in with cuts from people's gut shot deer, that have been in the heat for days. They just split up the cuts when they are done cutting all of the deer, and who knows what you will get. This goes double for having sausage made.

[smoked turkey]

Saving money by doing your own is important but what waksupi said is also true around here and the number one reason to do your own IMO.

[rtracy2001]

The only time we ever had aged venison was when granddad came back home late one night with a nice buck and hung it up in the hay-barn (like he usually did). Well it got COLD that night, and by the time we got up the next morning to take care of it it was frozen solid. Not wanting to put a heater in the hay-barn (would have been kerosene and the risk of fire was too great) we had to wait until it warmed up enough to take care of it. It was April before it was completely cut up. I miss living in Maine.

Anyway I do not age venison at all. (temp in town is usually about 70 or so during hunting season, though this year has been cooler) Once a deer is down, it is dressed then taken back to the truck. We drive straight to the nearest service station and pack it full of ice, then head for home. If we get a deer in the A.M. then it is usually in the freezer by nightfall (I have left a quarter in the bottom drawer of the utility fridge overnight before.)

We mix the burger 2:1 venison to ground beef. It adds just enough fat to get the patties to hold together. We used to grind by hand, but last year I picked up an electric grinder at Harbor Freight, and it has been a lifesaver, or at least a limb saver.

I don't use a vacuum sealer. I wrap the meat in plastic wrap, then wrap that in good old fashioned freezer paper. The venison packaged October 12, 2011 showed no sign of freezer burn when we opened a package last week.

[Adam10mm]

62 deer butchered this year so far. If i had to pay someone to do it id have to sell my house!!! One hint ill give you guys is to not cut up steaks. Cut your meat like back straps into blocks and freeze it like that and when you want steaks take it out and cut them right before you cook. Doing it that way you will have less freezer burn if you store for a long time. Its especially important if you dont vacuum pack your meat.
Yup. Bone the meat into muscle groups is the fastest and best way to freeze meat.


It is my opinion, the fastest way to ruin venison is using a meat saw on the bones, and dragging the marrow through the meat. You need to get an animal as big as moose or bison before the marrow is good enough to not harm the meat.
Only time I ever use a saw when butchering is to remove the ribs from the spine. I cut one side, then the other. I lay the full rib cage on the table then press down with my hands and break the sternum. Rinse off and done.


Another consideration if you take your deer to a processor. Don't expect to get your own meat back. You can take in a nice clean carcass, and it will be mixed in with cuts from people's gut shot deer, that have been in the heat for days. They just split up the cuts when they are done cutting all of the deer, and who knows what you will get. This goes double for having sausage made.
I've heard a lot of caution about this, but the guys that process deer in my area keep the meat together. You get your deer back. The only blending they do is pork fat for sausage and burger meat. Eat deer is assigned a bin and the customer gets the bin number when they drop the deer off. They process one animal at a time start to finish and it stays with the bin.

[Ajax]

I've heard a lot of caution about this, but the guys that process deer in my area keep the meat together. You get your deer back. The only blending they do is pork fat for sausage and burger meat. Eat deer is assigned a bin and the customer gets the bin number when they drop the deer off. They process one animal at a time start to finish and it stays with the bin.


Same here. The processing is $100 buck for it to be processed which is not too bad if you dont know how or have someone to show you.


Andy

[Lloyd Smale]

I too wont cut deer bone. I bone all my meat off the bones. I also dont age deer. Ive tried it both ways and in my opinion aging deer makes it taste stronger. Deer doesnt have the fat and tissue that needs to be broken down to make it tender. When you bone out a deer you cut away all the conecting tissue and fat (at least you should) In my opinion all your doing is rotting your meat. My deer are in the freezer withing 24 hours of shooting them and ive yet to have someone say there tough or gammy tasting. The two butcher shops ive delt with for other meat (I dont bring deer to them) will give you back your own steaks and roasts but mix many customers meat together for sausage making and burger making. to me thats the scariest meat mixing as if anyone gets sloppy with clean sinue and deer hair its for making sausage and many customers bring in there own allready made up scraps to have ground. No thanks, Ill do my own!

[Lloyd Smale]

As you know i get alot of deer and like to fool around a bit with it. Next time your packaging your back straps in a vaccum sealer put the chucks in and pour in a little italian dressing or ranch dressing or garlic and erb dressing and seal it like that and freeze it. When you take it out youll have marinaded meat. Another tool i wouldnt be without anymore when processing is the steak cuber attachment for my grinder. It will make about any cut of meat a decent steak. Ill do the same marinade trick for my cube steaks. Some would flip over backwards at it but ill even cube up a number of back straps. You can cut them with a fork! Want a great meal. take some cube steaks and sprinkle flour on them and pound it in lightly. Season with salt pepper and garlic powder and fry. Also fry some sliced up potatoe and onion. When its all cooked put it on a plate and pour homemaded sausage gravy over all of it. its a meal fit for a king!!
Best tip!
That is what I have always done.
Then with back straps in chunks you can butterfly and stuff them.

[waksupi]

I've heard a lot of caution about this, but the guys that process deer in my area keep the meat together. You get your deer back. The only blending they do is pork fat for sausage and burger meat. Eat deer is assigned a bin and the customer gets the bin number when they drop the deer off. They process one animal at a time start to finish and it stays with the bin.

Lots of luck on that one. Ever seen a commercial grinder? They don't grind one deer at a time, I will guarantee you.

[41 mag fan]

Next time your packaging your back straps in a vaccum sealer put the chucks in and pour in a little italian dressing or ranch dressing or garlic and erb dressing and seal it like that and freeze it. When you take it out youll have marinaded meat.


Now that's a trick i'm going to try!

I put down deer hunting 4 seasons ago, due to no time off with working in the coal mines.

Well since obama doesn't like my career field, i've got weekends free, i'm not drug down tired like I was working nonstop 6 day work weeks, so this yr I've got the itch back and will be going.

[Lloyd Smale]

keep in mind that freekshow lives in a small rural area. Not a big city and most butchers around here will keep your meat seperate with the exception of ground meat. If your getting your ground meat done seperately your either paying extra or are real good friends with the processor. hardly worth turning the switch on on a comercial grinder for the little bit of ground meat you get off of one deer.
Lots of luck on that one. Ever seen a commercial grinder? They don't grind one deer at a time, I will guarantee you.

[reloader28]

We can hang 6 deer at a time in my cool room after they get hosed off. In the fall my tool room becomes the cool room with an air conditioner in the window. If we babysit it part of the afternoon, it will stay around 45* in there.

Depending on how many deer are coming in (friends bring them too so we run out of room), we skin them out in 2 or 3 days, quarter them and cut them up on a covered ping pong table in the man cave. Everyone that hangs a critter there comes to help cut and we do 3 deer in about 3 hours every night.

We have a 1 horse grinder and the hamburger tube bags that was already mentioned by someone, vaccuum sealer, smoker, Excaliber dehydrator, and we can some meat. Oh, and an indoor grill and 2 kegs of Heffenwiesen on tap in the fridge.:drinks::drinks::drinks:

The last 2 years we've done 12-13 deer, 2 antalope, and 2 elk every year. We figure to double that this year with everyones extra tags.
We always make jerky, but this year I'm going to try summer sausage too. I would do a couple pics, but the wife aint here to do it for me.:oops:

[Adam10mm]

You can cut them with a fork! Want a great meal. take some cube steaks and sprinkle flour on them and pound it in lightly. Season with salt pepper and garlic powder and fry.
Wife and I make something similar. I'll cut some medallion size chunks and "bread" them with flour, egg, and parmesan cheese then season with salt, pepper, Lawry's, and garlic. Fry them in olive oil until the outside gets a touch crispy. We call it venison popcorn. Slightly crunchy outside and soft in the inside. Almost like popcorn chicken, only with venison instead.


Lots of luck on that one. Ever seen a commercial grinder? They don't grind one deer at a time, I will guarantee you.
In my area, yes I have. That's the standard. I've been thinking real hard about starting to process deer for others as extra income, so a few local guys that do it let me watch a few times to see how the standard is in the area. They skin it, bone out neck and quarters for steaks and roasts. The trimmings and rib meat get ground up. Burger meat is included in the price, but sausage is charged extra due to casings and labor with seasoning and stuffing.

If you want sausage and burger meat off your deer you get your deer back. The trimmings and scraps get tossed in the grinder hopper as they are processing the other meat. It gets run through once like that, then collected and ground a second time. They process one animal start to finish, put the meat in its own bin separate from others. The standard charge in my area is $60 for the above and sausage is $2 per pound.

keep in mind that freekshow lives in a small rural area. Not a big city and most butchers around here will keep your meat seperate with the exception of ground meat. If your getting your ground meat done seperately your either paying extra or are real good friends with the processor. hardly worth turning the switch on on a comercial grinder for the little bit of ground meat you get off of one deer.
Yeah, my village 2,200 people and to be in the woods I just have to drive 6 blocks away from home and I live in the center of the village. The processors around here do less than 60 deer each year. There's a dozen or so guys that do it. Small volume, personal attention.

[Adam10mm]

Oh, and an indoor grill and 2 kegs of Heffenwiesen on tap in the fridge.:drinks::drinks::drinks:
Hefeweizen. I prefer the darker version, dunkelweizen. Keep the same grist but change a portion of the wheat from white wheat to dark wheat malt. Also keep the same 3068 or WLP300 yeast too. That's what drives the traditional Bavarian flavors.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

I have found large chest freezers on craigs list for free they make great coolers and no ice is needed my brother found a thermostat control that the freezer plugs into to regulate the temp where you want it , he used the freezer i got him as a keg-orator now for his home brew.

we have found the taste of the meat just fine if cut up as soon as it is cold

we have a set up in my aunts garage , her house is deer camp , we bring in a poly folding table with leg extenders to get it to the right height , the leg extenders are sections of pvc pipe the slide over the table legs and give us the extra inches we need to make backs not hurt

we have a hook mounted to the ceiling , and a set of wash tubs with a hose running in under the garage door and the waste hose running out

i have a come along with a gameberell , i drag them in form outside on a tarp , then leave the tarp below the deer as i skin an quarter it , as the quarters come off they go on the table and are de-boned and put in buckets the bone and fat go in a bucket to get put out with the compost

the meat is rinsed and put in 2 gallon zip lock bags in a cooler for the trip home , the same coolers we brought food up in brings deer home in

part of this is because Wisconsin has rules about transporting hole carcases , do to CWD you may drive into but not out of certain counties with a hole deer , it is just a lot more cost effective to cut them ourselves and bring them home in coolers

i leave the hams to be sliced for jerky some times , but we mostly grind all but the tenderloins and back straps , we use more ground than anything , also make some sausage , we make brat patties and save the step of packing into casings

our family of 5 will eat about 3-4 deer a year , the kids thought it was the only meat for a while , they preferred it to beef because it was all they knew besides chicken

also i have taken the little Saturn hunting got 34mpg for the 400 mile round trip , my gear fit in the trunk and the coolers across the back seat , the newer cars unless you have a truck are more difficult to tie a deer to , my van is heated so unless I pull a trailer it was a pain to put deer into and the van gets 12mpg , and i get much more help at camp , my dad, brother and cousins will help , we do everyone's deer who wants it done.

i go up to see family and get some good deer hunting in , not break the bank on gas

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

the first time i cut up a deer i had shot a doe i had to get back to school i was in college , i couldn't find any place still accepting deer , so for a case for beer a class mate showed me how in the garage at his rental house , we bagged up the quarters and i finished it in my apartment took me till about 1 in the morning after going to school in the morning and working all day but it was done.

I have gotten things much more efficient since then

found there are good books and videos , and if you are willing you can certainly learn and do it yourself

[M-Tecs]

Early on I had been taught that aging venison was the way to go so that’s what I always did for the deer taken during gun season as the temperatures generally allowed for aging. For archery deer it was generally too warm to allow for aging. I remembered that the archery deer tasted better than the gun season deer, but at the time, I thought this was due to the firearms season deer where more mature Bucks and or the archery deer bleed out better.

As my archery and hunting skills improved I started taking more mature Bucks in early season so I purchase a fridge just for aging but due to travel issues some would get cut up without aging. I couldn’t tell the difference so one year I halved one. I aged one side and cut the other without aging. I aged the one half at 42 degrees for seven days but I took sample cuts starting at three days. At three and four days I could not tell any difference when compared to the un-aged cuts. Started at day five the aged cuts started tasting stronger. Worse on days six and seven. Also the cuts seemed to be drier and possibly even tougher.

I have had formal meat cutting classes so I am aware of and understand the bacterial process of how aging benefits something like beef but I no longer see a benefit for something as lean a venison. I believe the drying of the lean venison offsets any benefit of tenderization from the bacterial break down of the meat.

When I purchase a ¼ or ½ of beef I still have it dry-aged but my venison get cut as soon as possible.

Surprisingly good info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beef_aging

[waksupi]

Something that can affect the taste of venison, is the season change. About the time of the fall equinox, deer and elk start changing their diet from grass, to more browse. You can see the change in their droppings, as their systems adjust to the diet change. They are what they eat!

[MT Gianni]

Took me over an hour to get him dressed. Got him home and let it sit in the garage overnight. I couldn't hang it since there isn't anything in the garage to hang him from and he was too heavy to hang from the garage door tracks.

You can run a 4'-5' 2x4 through the rafters and drop a couple of eye bolts off of it. Bolt two together if you need to hang and elk. If the garage is sheetrocked you can still slide it through your access panel and run the eye bolts into it. Probably not a good idea on a rental.

[Jailer]

Long ago I wanted to see what deer fat would do for a boolit lube. It was like candle wax.
I had huge hunks rendered so I put them out for birds. Best thing I ever did for the feathered friends. I never seen anything go so fast.
Strip off the fat and hang it for the birds.

It makes excellent soap too.


I have aged deer and not aged deer and in my case i have noticed no difference. Really important thing is to field dress the deer well at once to keep meat from being ruined.

I have tried aging as well and didn't notice any difference in the taste.


Saving money by doing your own is important but what waksupi said is also true around here and the number one reason to do your own IMO.

When processing hit $60 here I started doing my own. The only things I cut out are the backstraps and tenderloins, the rest gets ground into burger ot chunked up and canned. It just didn't make sense to pay someone $60 to grind a deer up when I could do that myself.


Something that can affect the taste of venison, is the season change. About the time of the fall equinox, deer and elk start changing their diet from grass, to more browse. You can see the change in their droppings, as their systems adjust to the diet change. They are what they eat!

Very true. I don't know how the Yoopers can stand to eat their deer. These corn/soybean fed southern deer are fantastic eating. :wink:

[TXGunNut]

Good point about getting your own meat back, around here it's hard to say but I know mixing happens at most local processors, especially when grinding. I love sausage and I like knowing what's in it. Only way to do that is to make your own or watch someone do it. Some of the best money I ever spent was on a commercial grinder. Had a smaller one that didn't hold up long and was more difficult to clean.

[gbrown]

I love sausage and I like knowing what's in it. Only way to do that is to make your own or watch someone do it.

Sorry if I go off topic, but I want to make a general statement here, please bear with me. I like this site because it has people like me who want to do their own thing. Like making their own boolits, (even using those J-bullets) reloading, working up their own loads, etc. Making sausage is the same thing. Using those things for our own tastes, blends and methods. Making things for themselves or their families that they know what is in it. An act of love, for those that you love. Processing your own meat, making your own sausage, boolits, loads, etc. is a work intensive, time consuming process, but an act of love for those that mean something to you. I was raised by people who worked long and hard for me, and I realized that early on. I see that in people in this site--why I love it!

[10x]

When my kids lived at home I would turn an entire deer into jerky - not the thin strip oven jerky but the biltong jerky that uses Mortons Tenderquick cure, 24 hours in the brine, a quick wipe down , 12 hours of cold smoke over hickery, alder, or apple, and then 21 days or longer to dry. The meat never gets warmer than 38F. And I weigh the meat before I mix the brine - so many grams of cure per kilo of meat.
Habecure used to be the best but that one seems to be a fond part of history we no longer can get.
One year my 3 sons and I each had 4 mule deer doe tags. We made jerky out of all but the best cuts and those boys and their friends ate a deer in two to three weeks, one thin slice at a time.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a harbor frieght overhead winch set up just for deer processing. it actually clamps to the rafters and can be mounted without any damage to them.
You can run a 4'-5' 2x4 through the rafters and drop a couple of eye bolts off of it. Bolt two together if you need to hang and elk. If the garage is sheetrocked you can still slide it through your access panel and run the eye bolts into it. Probably not a good idea on a rental.

[Lloyd Smale]

Most of the deer i shoot durning the year are right in a potaoe field and sorry fans of corn feed deer but i personaly think potatoe feed deer are even better. the deer we shoot durning rifle season at camp are about corn fed too. For a good month before season hundreds of hunters have big corn, sugarbeet, potatoe, and apple piles about every 200 yards in the woods. Its about like graining an animal before slaughter. I dont think ive take a deer in the last 10 years that didnt have a thick laver of fat on its back. Days of finding an old pourly fed swamp buck are long past in the UP. They eat as well here as they do anywhere.
It makes excellent soap too.



I have tried aging as well and didn't notice any difference in the taste.



When processing hit $60 here I started doing my own. The only things I cut out are the backstraps and tenderloins, the rest gets ground into burger ot chunked up and canned. It just didn't make sense to pay someone $60 to grind a deer up when I could do that myself.



Very true. I don't know how the Yoopers can stand to eat their deer. These corn/soybean fed southern deer are fantastic eating. :wink:

[Adam10mm]

Corn as a major component in their diet is toxic to deer.

[M-Tecs]

Corn as a major component in their diet is toxic to deer.

All animals with ruminant stomachs depend on fermentation by the microbes for the first stage of digestion. An introduction of large quantities certain types of food such as corn or alpha will cause problems until the microbe levels adjust. That’s why emergency winter feeding can be problematic. Animals will starve to death with full stomachs.

Deer in areas of heavy corn production will almost exclusively feed on corn for several months.

[44man]

All animals with ruminant stomachs depend on fermentation by the microbes for the first stage of digestion. An introduction of large quantities certain types of food such as corn or alpha will cause problems until the microbe levels adjust. That’s why emergency winter feeding can be problematic. Animals will starve to death with full stomachs.

Deer in areas of heavy corn production will almost exclusively feed on corn for several months.
That is true but deer that are eating corn on a regular basis are fine. Microbes change with diet. Deer cut suddenly from corn are also stressed.
Remember when winter yarded deer were dropped hay? They can't eat it. It is a liberal thing that makes them feel good while deer die. They would do better dropping tree branches to the deer. Someone with a chainsaw can save the deer.
Farms today hurt wildlife in a terrible way. They leave nothing in the fields. They leave no strips for birds, no grain and plow before winter. The land would support wildlife better if it grows wild.
It is the Obuma way, throw money at it.
If you feed deer, never quit, feed until spring. When bait piles are gone, deer go into stress.

[Lloyd Smale]

Personaly i think theres a good many deer around here that owe there lives to corn. For about 3 months the woods are full of corn piles and the deer you shoot then have a good layer of fat on them. Very few i know feed through the winter and most who do feed hey. Id bet that fat they put on is what gets a few of them through the long hard winter. deer in the deer yards around here are feed afalfa hey in the winter and they do fine on it. Maybe the stress of suddenly quiting the feeding at the end of season stress them some but id bet theyd be in even worse shape 2 months from then without it and like 44man said its not a bit differnt then farm deer who have unlimited food right up to harvest time and then have none unless they change there diet. We see it at the potatoe farm we do crop damage shooting at. they harvest the potatoes out of a field and leave behind many hundreds of lbs of small potatoes. It doesnt take the deer a week to clean them up totaly. they basicaly go nuts eating potatoes for a small window between the time they are ripe and the time they are harvested and then switch diets. Again these deer have a alot of body fat after this gorging though and im sure it helps them through the winter.

[10x]

In Northern Alberta there is a practice of spraying crops to ripen them evenly and earlier. The spray also kills the understory of weeds in the crops leaving the wildlife less food over the winter.
It is getting difficult to find even mice and the coyotes that feed on them in fields that have been sprayed before harvest.

[44man]

The thing that saves deer even if they eat corn or potatoes is that they still browse. They eat over 1000 varieties of plants. There might be a mix of microbes in them.
Deer in heavy snow yards that have lived on browse will not eat hay and can die if they do. Corn will kill them.
Once the microbes change, it is over.

[Beau Cassidy]

I hunt with 6 other guys, one of who put himself thru college working as a butcher. About once or twice a week during deer season we get together at an old school where we have a processing station setup. We can bone and completely process 5 deer in about 3 hours with 3 of us deboning, 1 running the grinder, and 1 running the vaccum packer. We have found the Cabelas Commercial vaccum packer and 1 1/2 HP grinder to be the cats meow. We also have a large industrial cuber that looks prehistoric but does a great job.

We mix our grind about 2 lbs of bacon to 10 lbs of deer meat. Some guys put ham or beef in theirs. When everything is ground and packaged none of us get in a fight over who's meat belongs to who. It is all nice and clean. We share. If somebody doesn't get a deer then we all share with them. We also give a lot away to family.

We cook lunch in the barn during the season. Our favorite dish is putting some cubed steak in a crockpot full of cream of mushroom soup early before going to the stand. It is ready by lunch. Talk about good! We have a lot of visitors for lunch when we cook that dish.

[smoked turkey]

Now just where was it that I could show up for lunch? That cubed steak/cream of mushroom soup sounds delicious. Also sounds like you guys have it pretty well figured out.

[Lloyd Smale]

beau i do the same with bacon and my bugger. about 2 lb to 10lb gives just a hint of bacon flavor and gives you the fat you need with venison. i also throw in a pack of lipton dry union soup mix to about every 5lbs. Ive found a simple way to add beef fat to burger that i dont want a bacon flavor in like for speggetti, chilli ect. I just go to the store and buy those cheap 3lb tubes of burger. the kind that is nast and more white then read. I add one of those tubes to about 15 lbs of lean venison and it works out about perfect.
I hunt with 6 other guys, one of who put himself thru college working as a butcher. About once or twice a week during deer season we get together at an old school where we have a processing station setup. We can bone and completely process 5 deer in about 3 hours with 3 of us deboning, 1 running the grinder, and 1 running the vaccum packer. We have found the Cabelas Commercial vaccum packer and 1 1/2 HP grinder to be the cats meow. We also have a large industrial cuber that looks prehistoric but does a great job.

We mix our grind about 2 lbs of bacon to 10 lbs of deer meat. Some guys put ham or beef in theirs. When everything is ground and packaged none of us get in a fight over who's meat belongs to who. It is all nice and clean. We share. If somebody doesn't get a deer then we all share with them. We also give a lot away to family.

We cook lunch in the barn during the season. Our favorite dish is putting some cubed steak in a crockpot full of cream of mushroom soup early before going to the stand. It is ready by lunch. Talk about good! We have a lot of visitors for lunch when we cook that dish.

[snuffy]

We cook lunch in the barn during the season. Our favorite dish is putting some cubed steak in a crockpot full of cream of mushroom soup early before going to the stand. It is ready by lunch. Talk about good! We have a lot of visitors for lunch when we cook that dish.


Now just where was it that I could show up for lunch? That cubed steak/cream of mushroom soup sounds delicious. Also sounds like you guys have it pretty well figured out.

Amen to that! What we need on the smiley list is one that's drooling!:2_high5::awesome:

Our camp cuisine was whatever the SWMBO's would send with us that could be eaten cold or warmed up. . We were a bunch of blue collar workers that had little extra cash to spend on food. The camp expenses were split in equal shares per person, regardless if one was just starting out at 12 Y.O. Gas to get there, cabin rent, food, was all split evenly Back in the 60's, we could have 12 people hunt the first weekend for around 15 bucks apiece!

Lake Arbutus area of northern WI. As we got older, and more prosperous, we went out to eat on Saturday night. We were just too tired from stomping around the woods to make supper. Usually to a local steak house.

[RP]

It sure varies from state to state and sometimes from county to county. I am very lucky on deer and how i can harvest the meat I feel like. We hunt near the house so after a deer is shot its only a short time to the cleaning station. The station as we call it is a small crane that was taken off the back of the truck and placed on the ground and welded to my frame of the double wide mancave. We dont gut the deer just hook them up to the crane cut around neck and down the back place a golfball in the breast side that is hooked to the bed. A few cranks of the winch and the deer is fur free. We then cut all the meat free from the bone and place it on ice. After it sits awhile draining the blood more then anything else its cut with a meat slicer and trimmed. everything else is ground for whatever. The steaks are run in a cuber that really is one of the best tools I have gotten over the years really makes a big difference. I place the meat in bags and sit them in the freg to do some ageing then frozen. So far the guys and gals have done 14 deer I have taken a grand total of 0 but skinned and processed around 10 The main thing is I got meat to eat. I have learned a lot of things just by watching others do their deer and now reading here its great. PS road kill is a bonus and if i get road kill I have to use a tag even if i just get horns.

[Beau Cassidy]

Pics or it didn't happen, right. I am learning I do NOT like the friggin' change to photubucket. Grrrrr.
The entire hunting party is not in these pictures. We are missing at least 2 people.

This is Randy. He is the fella who used to be a butcher.
http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-31-26_794.jpg

Tony
http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-31-33_324.jpg

The setup...
http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-31-41_775.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-31-51_873.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-32-02_881.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-32-10_571.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-32-18_48.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-32-27_321.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-32-53_84.jpg

http://i437.photobucket.com/albums/qq95/OrthoNP/2011-11-13_12-33-02_310.jpg

We do it right. It has taken several years to get to this level but it yields good outcomes. Some folks in the community do take advantage of us and we process their deer for them.

We have a great time doing this. We tell tales and joke with each other. We don't get possessive about the meat. If you need some bacon for your mix and I have some, well then its yours. That is how we roll.

[Boyscout]

I would recommend the DVD Easy Deer Cutting by Eldon Cutlip. It's a little dry but full of good information. I have butchered all my own for the past ten and most of my sons deer. First, get it cold! In hot weather, I pack them with ice and cover them with sleeping bags. Second, keep them clean. If you get rupture a stomach wash them and dry them off. Don't let it taint the meat. Three, never use a saw except to cut the legs off. Knives only! Four, be safe and use a meat hook. They are great when your hands are numb and the meat is slippery. Five, don't cut with fat if it may be in the freezer awhile. We add canola or olive oil at the time we cook for fat. The boys used to like to make jerky with a shooter as we like the roast too much to turn into jerky. We grind our own and we take our time and use really clean pieces of meat and probably get better yield than a butcher.

Tallow is bad and we had a butcher load some ground with it once. It was not edible.

[44man]

Wonderful setups! I have to use the garage to hang and bring meat to the kitchen table to bone.
I hang deer in front of the barn to cool, then drag into the garage once cold.
I had to pass early doe season, too warm.
In Ohio and here in WV, road kills do not count against tags. State police just give you a paper. Extra deer.

[Boyscout]

Indiana police don't even bother with the paperwork unless the accident is serious and a telephone call is all most insurance companies require. It's pretty easy to tell a bullet wound from a grill.