Deer Processor??

[bamalefty]

Hey guys do any of you happen to know of a deer processor near the Tri Cities.  If I happen to blessed enough to kill something I wouldn't know where to take it.  I will be hunting near Dayton.  Thanks!

[bow4elk]

To be blunt and honest, save yourself the misery of a bad experience and just cut and wrap it yourself.  You can buy a roll of white butcher paper (lined) at Costco that will last you years.  Use a good film wrap (Stretch Tite, costco too) works well.  Or you can vacuum bag it for a bit more investment but of similar cost to getting it hacked up by a processor.

It's not difficult to do. Just takes a little time but the rewards of doing it yourself far exceed the alternative.  If you need help, I'll gladly help you with a phone call ahead of time, or you can rent/buy a processing video.  There are many out there and I'm sure somebody here can recommend a good one for you.

Good Luck!

[bamalefty]

I have done that in the past too.  But I don't have the stuff here to make sausage.  I know how to cut everything up..I have been doing that for years.  But I just thought I would see if there was a place close by.  That way, I wouldn't have to fool with it..lol

[bow4elk]

I see.  Well you can always take all your trimmings, etc. and just have sausage made.  You will usually have a 20# minimum order so just toss in enough shoulder meat to get there.

[C-Money]

Had a heck of a time finding a processor in Oregon this year. Finlay found one in Joseph. Than goodness! I need to buy a game processing video and do it my self!

[ThePascoKid]

There's 1 butcher that handles wild game in Tri-cities on Burden Blvd off the Rd 68 exit the name is Bryan's Butcher Block pretty much right across the street from TRAC I personally wouldn't go there but if it's your only option maybe.  He is extremely expensive and his jerky, sausage and peppersticks taste like *censored*.  I had a 117 lb hanging weight WT done there last year and it cost almost $200 and that was just a cut and wrap.  I would seriously consider doing it yourself.  The only reason I took that particular deer in was because I was moving and in between houses and had no where to hang the deer to cut it up.  If you've got a little extra time I would take it to McCary's Meats (not sure of spelling) in Basin City they do awesome work.  Very good jerky and sausage.

[Bean Counter]

To be blunt and honest, save yourself the misery of a bad experience and just cut and wrap it yourself. 

  Save yourself some money for those binos and scope you want, Bamalefty!

[alchemyforge]

I've watched a couple of processing videos, but this is the one I bought : http://www.homedeerprocessing.com/
It's only $20 and they go through all the steps of field dressing, skinning and butchering three times.  They butcher two in the shop and one in the guy's garage. 
In fact, send me your address via private message and I'll send you my copy so you can watch it for yourself, if you wanna.

Since this is my first season I'm debating whether to take it to a local place or DIY in the garage and take the "scraps" to the butcher shop I frequent and have them grind sausage.... the wife said we should give it a try in the garage ("we have a spare folding table and we can use your ceiling hoist" she says  )

[bow4elk]

It's really not difficult. My meat is usually already boned out in coolers on ice but if yours is not, you can start by removing the large muscle masses from the bones.  You want your meat cool to start with so keeping in on ice while you work is best.  I have one 40 ct. cooler wiht a good 2-3" layer of ice on the botton next to me while I'm working.  All my burger/sausage trimmings go in this cooler.  I keep a large stainles steel mixing bowl on the counter and put the trimmings in it first; when it's full I dump it in the cooler where it will stay cold.  I do the same for my steaks, roast, etc. but in this case I cut them and stack them on a cookie sheet.  Once full, wrap them at the other end of the counter and use rubber stamps (I had them made at OfficeMax) to mark the packages with the Cut and Date.  Once wrapped, I load them in the freezer and start the process over again.  I usually do the hinds first and get all my steaks and roasts accounted for and in the freezer.  Then I start on the fronts, rib meat, and neck which are more time consuming if you are a picky trimmer like I am.  I don't leave ANY white fat or silverskin on my meat, unless it will be used for stew.  The shanks can be cubed up and slow cooked for a tasty stew and the silverskin/tendons just melt away while cooking.  Once your done with all your cutting, you have a cooler ready to load up and take in for grinding, unless you grind your own.  That is really easy to do as well but you will need to invest in a quality grinder.  I add about 8% beef suet or bacon fat to my burger to hold it together while cooking.  It cooks up best if you let your burger patties cook more on the first side, then flip them.

I like to wrap my tenderloins whole and BBQ them whole.  They can be good coated and pan fried as well.  I used to butterfly the backstraps but I've found that our favorite cooking method is to make a large roast, dry rub it, BBQ indirect heat with a meat thermometer until it reads Beef Medium/Rare.  Pull it off the grill and transfer to a cutting board, then slice into the best tasting venison of your life!  A slight crust on the outside; tender and moist on the inside with just a touch of pink.  For elk I cut the roasts about 6" long and for deer a tad longer because they are smaller diameter.

Hope this helps, I just started rambling on a bit...Good Luck.

[stlhdr1]

Just take a 120 ct cooler and bone the animal out at camp...  Then you can cut/wrap your own when you get home and take the scraps in for sausage or pepperoni. 

My buck gave me 37 pounds of steak/jerky meat and 63 pounds of scrap meat for sausage and pepperoni....  It was $4.25 for the pepperoni and $2.19 a pound for the summer sausage...

Keith