It's pretty hard to mess up butchering your own deer. Just cut the meat off, then trim the fat/tendons and you're good to go. My dad had me doing it (pretty much by myself) since I was 12...
8SteelTown said:
U be surprise what some people will do..
But i for one wasn't actually saying that the butcher will do that.. What i meant by it is that it is quite an easy thing to do as other have also mentioned..
With the deer there's two things (like most other animals) that super important to do. CUT off the Glad on the rear legs then clean off ur knife (cut around the glad NOT the actual gland ok) Second Don't cut into the bladder nor guts. thats it pretty much. (the skinning part its not as difficult as u might think) see a video on how to do it and u will do it easily..
The rest like other have mentioned each part of the meat has natural lines u can see and just cut along.
If u take it to the butcher U won't learn a darn thing Because U wont get to see him do it for you..
BUT it is your choice either way and me on my part NO judgement just giving advice its up to you what u do with it..
Good luck to you on first getting the deer then deciding what to do process it urself or take to a butcher. best of luck either way.
I butcher my own pigs and deer mostly because I assume I'll get at least 10% more meat than someone else will. I don't think processors are dishonest, but they are probably not as motivated as I am to get every useable scrap of trim meat. I take everything I can get from a kill (including heart, liver, kidneys, skin if the coat is in good shape, etc). Nothing wasted.
Elk is different: so much good meat, and it needs to be packaged well to make good steaks 9 months from now. Jim had a good reputation but this time I went out to T&H. Talked to Jacob and I was impressed with him. Will see in two weeks when I pick it up. In the meantime, I need to buy another freezer
Elk is different: so much good meat, and it needs to be packaged well to make good steaks 9 months from now. Jim had a good reputation but this time I went out to T&H. Talked to Jacob and I was impressed with him. Will see in two weeks when I pick it up. In the meantime, I need to buy another freezer
Pretty awesome, but takes a little work.
You will be happy with Jacob. While he is expensive, his sausage has won every contest he has entered in California. Jacob Kappeler is a trained and certified sausage Meister. An accolade most butchers never achieve. His meat is also vacuum packed for longer term storage. I am not sure it is better than paper wrap if done correctly but it works well nonetheless.
One of the challenges I have found is that most of the butchers we have used over the past 30 years are clueless regarding how to freezer pack meat. And some of the above mentioned fall into that category. The best packaging I have seen comes from a guy named Mike in New Mexico. He has the long term storage packaging down to a science. His ability to get every ounce of meat off a carcass goes unmatched as well. Snake Charmer, Skinny Hunter and Lungpopper can attest to this. When you find a good butcher - take good care of him.
What kind of sausage did you get done Don? I like the linguica, sweet onion, jalapeno and cheddar and his hot Italian. He makes over 50 different sausages (smoked or fresh).
One of the challenges I have found is that most of the butchers we have used over the past 30 years are clueless regarding how to freezer pack meat. And some of the above mentioned fall into that category. The best packaging I have seen comes from a guy named Mike in New Mexico. He has the long term storage packaging down to a science. His ability to get every ounce of meat off a carcass goes unmatched as well. Snake Charmer, Skinny Hunter and Lungpopper can attest to this. When you find a good butcher - take good care of him.
What kind of sausage did you get done Don? I like the linguica, sweet onion, jalapeno and cheddar and his hot Italian. He makes over 50 different sausages (smoked or fresh).
I had them do some work for me, before I did it myself, and I didn't leave there impressed.Breacher said:
Not sure what it was, not a good vibe for me.
Once you see a deer broke down, it's pretty basic, just don't psych yourself out, and take your time.
MJB said:
Mike is a meticulous guy. He uses 3 different materials when wrapping. First he uses some sort of waxed paper, where he tightly wraps the meat. Then he very tightly wraps it in a plastic wrap so its air tight. Then he wraps it in butcher/freezer paper, tapes it and stamps the cut, date and species.
I actually think it keeps better than vacuum sealing. But that is from my experience. Like my signature says: "These are my express opinions derived from my experiences - I know less than most and half as much as some!"