I had some problems with using a butcher years ago. I had a good friend show me how to cutup deer and elk and bear, so I have done my own butchering for a long time now. What a lot of people don't understand is how much you would lose on a deer, elk or any animal when you kill it. Take a 200 lb deer and take the legs, head, hide, blood, and insides out and weigh it. You would be surprised at how much weight is lost. If you bone it out you really will see a loss of weight. When I grind up a deer I save all the scraps that I don't want, thats fat and all the stuff that you don't want in your burger. When I am done with my game animal I take all that scrap and grind it up an use it for dog food for my brothers bird dogs. Bird dogs work really hard for you so its a great energy food when you hunt birds with them. I try to get the most out of my game animal and using the scraps for someones hunting dogs is a good way of using it. I like the way I handle my meat and have the advantage of really cleaning it as I butcher my own meat.
