What prompted you to learn to process your own Big Game VS the Butcher?

[Moose22]

I am fortunate to have a retired Federal meat inspector as my next door neighbor that is more than willing to help. We spent a Sunday afternoon butchering my deer. We had a great time and got to know each other a little better. Thanks Marty.

[T Pearce]

I'll trim and toss what might end up in burger somewhere else.
Dont feed my retriever blood..... I remember probably 15# hitting the garbage last time.
This is why I wont help without the owner being there making those decisions.
A good butcher has probably experienced the same.

[T Pearce]

my grandpa always took his to the butcher, but my new hunting partner is a tight wad lol and thank god for it cause he has taught me more this year about hunting and butchering then i have ever learned befor. Also I find it quite fun butchering deer, it could just be the green in me talking but man havin acouple beers and shootin the *censored* with my hunting partner as his 3 year old is watching us butcher his dads biggest buck to date will be a memory that i will never forget!!!

And this Gentlemen is why I hunt!
May we always be green enough to find joy in the mess of our labor.
Thanks for sharing
Tom

[jasnt]

I've always done my own butchering. Chickens, ducks, goats, hogs, lambs, cows, bears, deer.  Sometimes we take to the butcher to hang in the cooler over night or so.  I have a friend that's a butcher, he is dam good at what he does but I've seen him cut wild game. He treats it the same as cows and hogs. It is not the same! I'll do my own till I can't do it any more, by then my daughter will do it for me

[RadSav]

It pays to take the time to discard as much of the fat, silverskin, little ligaments and what not. You'd be surprised how much better it tastes.

Absolutely true there   No butcher will ever take the time we do removing silverskin and ligaments.  Such a huge difference when it comes to deer meat!

Also, you want to ruin a good bear?  Just take the band saw to a bear and you are certain to have some nasty tasting bear meat!  Something about the marrow in bear bones that will contaminate the whole dang thing.  If you ever do take a bear to a butcher request they butcher immediately without extended hanging and that they butcher saw free.  If the butcher will not do that...find another butcher!

[jasnt]

It pays to take the time to discard as much of the fat, silverskin, little ligaments and what not. You'd be surprised how much better it tastes.

Absolutely true there   No butcher will ever take the time we do removing silverskin and ligaments.  Such a huge difference when it comes to deer meat!

Also, you want to ruin a good bear?  Just take the band saw to a bear and you are certain to have some nasty tasting bear meat!  Something about the marrow in bear bones that will contaminate the whole dang thing.  If you ever do take a bear to a butcher request they butcher immediately without extended hanging and that they butcher saw free.  If the butcher will not do that...find another butcher!

exactly! Most butchers treat a bear as a hog.  

[lokidog]

I grew up in WI, everyone in camp hung their deer at our house.  We would get an assembly line going from the garage to the cooler.  Lots of wine and beer and a big pot of venison stew or soup was on the menu.  We did not do our own grinding or sausage making, however, even back then, my dad would wait until February to bring our meat in as he figures everyone else's garbage had already passed through and it would not get mixed with ours.

I had my moose processed in the Yukon a couple years ago.  My first bite of burger had a 1/2X1/4 inch piece of blood vessel in it.     I have had to regrind the entire batch as I thawed and ate it.

I'll trim and toss what might end up in burger somewhere else.
Dont feed my retriever blood..... I remember probably 15# hitting the garbage last time.

But, don't throw out the trimmings.  If you have clean trimmings, you can make good stock out of it.  With bloodshot, hairy, whatever, package it up in small enough balls to fit in your crab pot bait jars.  I turn my scraps into a lot of yummy crab, a trade I will make any time.   

[jasnt]

We feed the trimmings to the chickens during the coldest times of the year.  Really gives them a "pick me up". And they thank us with a few extra eggs that week

[Jason]

Its all I knew.

Same here. Up until I was about 17 I didn't know people actually took their game animals to a butcher, we always butchered our own so I assumed others did the same

[lokidog]

We feed the trimmings to the chickens during the coldest times of the year.  Really gives them a "pick me up". And they thank us with a few extra eggs that week

We've done that as well, but I have seen them have a hard time with some of the longer/larger pieces of silverskin.  We also toss our bones out for the chickens to pick at until they get smelly and I toss them in the bay (the bones that is....     ).

[T Pearce]

I grew up in WI, everyone in camp hung their deer at our house.  We would get an assembly line going from the garage to the cooler.  Lots of wine and beer and a big pot of venison stew or soup was on the menu.  We did not do our own grinding or sausage making, however, even back then, my dad would wait until February to bring our meat in as he figures everyone else's garbage had already passed through and it would not get mixed with ours.

I had my moose processed in the Yukon a couple years ago.  My first bite of burger had a 1/2X1/4 inch piece of blood vessel in it.     I have had to regrind the entire batch as I thawed and ate it.

I'll trim and toss what might end up in burger somewhere else.
Dont feed my retriever blood..... I remember probably 15# hitting the garbage last time.

But, don't throw out the trimmings.  If you have clean trimmings, you can make good stock out of it.  With bloodshot, hairy, whatever, package it up in small enough balls to fit in your crab pot bait jars.  I turn my scraps into a lot of yummy crab, a trade I will make any time.   

thanks!
How many wonderful crab for a half dozen fresh unnotched tags?
Seriously, next time I trim I'll keep you in mind.
T

[jasnt]

We feed the trimmings to the chickens during the coldest times of the year.  Really gives them a "pick me up". And they thank us with a few extra eggs that week

We've done that as well, but I have seen them have a hard time with some of the longer/larger pieces of silverskin.  We also toss our bones out for the chickens to pick at until they get smelly and I toss them in the bay (the bones that is....     ).

they get picked clean pretty fast but we have about 35 chickens. Then they go to the dogs that normally just go out to the field and bury them. Found a bunch when I was disking it this year

[T Pearce]

Things found when disking around the house....... a topic in itself.

[Kazekurt]

Cost, 100% guarantee I get my own meat, I prefer wild game deboned.  I do use butchers on occasion for specialty items and have received some great stuff from Stacy's meats in Ephrata.

[The Weazle]

I shot a cow elk and couldn't afford the butcher.  I borrowed a grinder attachment for a kitchen aid and made it work.  Every year after that, for Christmas I asked for something, or cabelas cards.  Now I have a1hp grinder, sausage stuffer, scale, slicer, Bradley smoker, patty maker, vacuum sealer, etc.  I figure I'm even as of last year.  It's taken me 5 or 6 years to get it all, but now it's all even, and I know what I'm getting in my meat.


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