Deer processing fee!

[fishnfur]

 

I paid $263 for 101 lbs hanging weight this year and got  20  Lbs. of pepperoni, 45 Lbs of sausage and somewhere around 18 lbs of steak.  The pepperoni was 81 bucks alone, but it is awesome stuff!  I think the sausage was around $120 bucks.  My processor vacuum seals everything really nicely, so while it seems to be a ton of money for the butcher, the meat will still be in good shape nine months from now.

Perhaps the best way to do it in the future is have the processor do the parts that are hard or time consuming to do yourself.  I think anyone can cut steaks out of a back strap or tenderloin, and grind 20 or so lbs of trimmings and odds and ends.  Vacuum sealing gets tedious pretty quick, and the bags add quite a bit of cost to the operation too.  Mine is a really old Food Saver from the '90s, so if I was to try that next year, I think I'd replace that unit. 

It would suck to buy new equipment then be stuck eating the tag at the end of the season!

[heronblu]

I'm always surprised at how many people get their game processed by someone else. Butchering is easy once you do it a few times and then you have complete control of your cuts. You don't need to vacuum seal it either if you don't want to cough up the dough for the machine and the bags. I just double wrap mine in seran wrap and then freezer paper. Doing it yourself also ensures that you're getting your own meat back and you don't have to wait to eat it. 

[huntkah]

I'm absolutely shocked at the amount of people who don't do this themselves. That's all I have to say.

[PolarBear]

I'm absolutely shocked at the amount of people who don't do this themselves. That's all I have to say.

There are some folks who either don't have the ability, time or facility to do it themselves.  I have friends who live in an apartment who have nowhere to hang their deer or elk and cannot process it there.  I almost always do my own but when my daughter got her first buck I was working 12 hour shifts and we had a week of over 70 degree weather so the deer went to the butcher instead of rotting in my barn.  I've been cutting deer for 44 years now but every now and then something comes up where it has to go to the butcher.  I would be willing to bet that there are more hunters who have never tried to cut up their own game than have.

[bobcat]

It takes me more time to drive my deer to a butcher and then pick it up when it's done than it takes for me to do it myself.

[Duckslayer89]

If you debone your deer and bring the meat in to get cut and all the trim ground it's only 1 dollar a pound

[bobcat]

If you debone your deer and bring the meat in to get cut and all the trim ground it's only 1 dollar a pound

That's the way to do it if you're going to pay to have it done.

[Bob33]

If you debone your deer and bring the meat in to get cut and all the trim ground it's only 1 dollar a pound

That's the way to do it if you're going to pay to have it done.

If you only get the meat ground it is cheaper but you lose out on some outstanding steaks. At a minimum, take the backstraps home and cut them up yourself.

[bobcat]

You can still have them cut steaks. You're just not paying for the weight of all the bone. Since they usually charge by the weight of what you bring in.

I probably would leave the leg bones in though. Just don't bring in the rib cage/backbone.

[Bob33]

You can still have them cut steaks. You're just not paying for the weight of all the bone. Since they usually charge by the weight of what you bring in.

I probably would leave the leg bones in though. Just don't bring in the rib cage/backbone.

If you're having more than just the meat ground, most processors charge a minimum fee of $75 to $100.

[Duckslayer89]

You can still have them cut steaks. You're just not paying for the weight of all the bone. Since they usually charge by the weight of what you bring in.

I probably would leave the leg bones in though. Just don't bring in the rib cage/backbone.

If you're having more than just the meat ground, most processors charge a minimum fee of $75 to $100.

If the deer has hide off but meat on the bone it's like 98 dollar minimum but if it's deboned it's 1 dollar a pound to cut and wrap all the good stuff into steaks and a dollar a pound to grind it up. So either way ground or cut its a dollar a pound. I had a small 2pt this year cut and wrapped all good steaks and the rest ground up. It was 30 bucks for everything, wrap job included and they do GREAT work. Olsons in Enumclaw. They have amazing pickled asparagus to and if you want a batch of pepperoni that is great stuff as well.

I couldn't believe it was only 30 bucks for all the work they did but I'll never go anywhere else

[Thehowler]

They made a mistake and did not charge enough than, Or did you mean 130.00? Which would of been more like correct cost.

[tgomez]

You can still have them cut steaks. You're just not paying for the weight of all the bone. Since they usually charge by the weight of what you bring in.

I probably would leave the leg bones in though. Just don't bring in the rib cage/backbone.

I had no rib cage or back bone. Only bone was in the 4 quarters. I cut out back straps and rib meats in the field. The good news is my brother and his wife want half the meat, so my expense just got cut in half! I still have about 90 lbs of bear meat left to eat, so my deep freezer will still be pretty full.

[Duckslayer89]

They made a mistake and did not charge enough than, Or did you mean 130.00? Which would of been more like correct cost.

Lol dude I swear there was no mistake, I called in and made sure the prices. It's a 40 dollar fee to skin the animal. And 98 dollar minimum to cut and wrap if they have to debone it. Other wise it's 1 dollar a pound.

[270Shooter]

They made a mistake and did not charge enough than, Or did you mean 130.00? Which would of been more like correct cost.

Lol dude I swear there was no mistake, I called in and made sure the prices. It's a 40 dollar fee to skin the animal. And 98 dollar minimum to cut and wrap if they have to debone it. Other wise it's 1 dollar a pound.

so you only got 30 pounds of meat off the deer?