Make 2013 the year you cut and wrap your own wild game.

[Damnimissed]

I'm sure the videos are explain the process very well, but if you can have someone with experience show you the ropes, well that's even better. Once you learn what kind of grain to look for, you'll find all kinds of extra steaks that a butcher shop won't cut for you because it would take more time to do. I was lucky enough to have a buddy who was a professional butcher on top of growing up helping my dad and uncle. Oh and lamrith, most of these elk were killed in November on the west side, so it was usually cold enough to just hang them in the shop. I've since switched to ML, so now if its a warm October, they get boned out and put in coolers on ice.

[Damnimissed]

I had to take my wife's buck to a butcher shop in the Olympia area (I won't use names) in 2012, because she killed it on Halloween and I had to go back to work after being on vacation. It was getting warm and I wouldn't have been able to get around to it. Boy was I disappointed. No fat trimmed, still some bloodshot on it. It just tasted like, well exactly how it should, given the way it was processed. If great care in the field is taken to keep everything clean, (cutting metatarsal gland off with a separate knife, keeping pee and poo off the meat) you should end up with a quality product if butchered at home. I believe laziness is the reason for gamey tasting meat. My wife grew up thinking all deer tastes gamey. Now she is revolted by the taste of beef!

[lamrith]

Do you guys that self butcher do traditional gut/skin/qtr in the field or do some do gutless boneout  method and finish process at home?

[billythekidrock]

Whole or quartered, hung at home. Processed as time allows.

[Southpole]

Cutting parties are a blast. When we get elk down, we have the guys cutting and grinding, and the girls wrapping. With some adult beverages as well! It's a just a good time.

That's a huge perk of processing your own meat

[Stein]

Do you guys that self butcher do traditional gut/skin/qtr in the field or do some do gutless boneout  method and finish process at home?

I gut, skin and quarter in the field.  This will give you four quarters, a bag of prime meat, a bag of heart/tongue/liver and a bag or two of scraps (rib, neck, trim).  I process everything into its final form at home.  The less cuts you make in the field, the neater and less meat that ends up in the dog pile during processing.

[Southpole]

Do you guys that self butcher do traditional gut/skin/qtr in the field or do some do gutless boneout  method and finish process at home?

I've only processed deer but, I immediately gut, skin and hang (outside cold weather or cooler) then after it's cooled off or sometimes frozen due to the weather (which is fine by me) I cut the deer in half, put the hind quarters and front half in heavy thick plastic bags put them in the freezer until I have time to cut it up, sometimes within a week or sometimes a month later when we have other deer or bear to add to it. So far this method has worked fine for me, really not too much waste and I don't feel rushed to process the animal when I really don't have time too.

[elk247]

Do you guys that self butcher do traditional gut/skin/qtr in the field or do some do gutless boneout  method and finish process at home?

For elk it depends on how far the game is from the truck (why pack 100+ lbs of bone?) Deer I always quarter and have a bag with backstrap and tenderloin and another with rib trimmings neck meat and heart, liver. If the deer is close to a road you can just gut and take out whole.