Butchering your own big game

[firefighter4607]

Ok so I have searched this site and found nothing. I have looked on youtube with little to no results. Same with the web. Now I am turning to you fellow hunters.

I was wanting to find a good write up with pictures or a good video on how people process their own game. I was thinking it would be better on my wallet if I did it myself. With the price of tags going up I have to save money somewhere. I have a few questions that I am not sure about. I am mainly looking to make jerky and sauage out of my game. Not too fond of steak and roast. Also I would make some hamburger.
How long to you let it hang? At what temp. would you let it sit in?
Any tips, write ups or a website or video would help me out greatly. Thanks for all the advise.

[MtnMuley]

There's been a few links posted up quite a while ago on here.  I can't sem to find them now though. 

[MichaelD]

Ourdoor Edge has a series that shows you how to care for your game basically from the time you shoot your animal to the time you eat it.  I have a couple of them and they take you step by step through the processes.  We have always taken care of our own game (at least a couple of deer a year over the past 20+ years) and I learned a couple of great tips and hints when I watched it.
I am sure there are more/better out there, but this was easy to watch and informational for me.
 
Michael

[firefighter4607]

There's been a few links posted up quite a while ago on here.  I can't sem to find them now though.

  I thought I saw some a few years ago also but I cannot find them.

Thanks MichealD I will look into that!!!

[runningboard]

there are a few, look here
http://www.highcountryhunting.com/index.html
I bought a video from them at a sports show and it didn't work they sent me a new 1 no questions asked.
as mentioned outdoor edge
http://www.outdooredge.com/Articles.asp?ID=132
step-by-step, I like that even though the guy has all the equipment at his disposal he uses a hand powered grinder and uses it to stuff his sausage too. shows that you don't need all the expensive "cool" stuff

[steve04]

There is a 5 part video on you tube that I thought was pretty good. It is called How to butcher a deer at home.

[bearpaw]

This is a good topic, sorry I don't have any useful info handy, try googling for some info. Post any good links or info you find in this topic, someday I will try to remember to look back here and compile useful info for everyone to use in the future.

[3nails]

 You might change your mind about steaks and roast after you do your own. I felt the same way after going through several different butchers. The quality of the meat is so much better when you do it yourself. We bought a 1 horse meat grinder from Cabelas and was some of the best money I have ever spent.

[bearhunter99]

You might change your mind about steaks and roast after you do your own. I felt the same way after going through several different butchers. The quality of the meat is so much better when you do it yourself. We bought a 1 horse meat grinder from Cabelas and was some of the best money I have ever spent.

 

[stormin85]

I actually just butchered my deer for the first time last weekend, all the others have been taken to the butcher, I guess we'll see if i did everything correct  lol however i just made steaks out of the tender loins and back straps, i know you can make other cuts with different parts, but the rest of the deer i made hamburger, but was able to pull a few roasts out of the hindquarters.

Looking back i should've taken some pics through the process and that might have helped, my brother in laws brother is a butcher and gave us a bunch of tips while doing my deer from last year.

If i get an elk down i will try to take pics as i run through it next time, but all in all it isn't hard, just time consuming with how tedious you want to be de vaining (sp?) and stuff.

[BIGINNER]

 

[Miles]

I have always cut/butchered all my own animals.  It's a pretty simple process once you do it a couple times.  If I was to offer one piece of advice in a situation like this (where person to person instruction isn't really possible) it would be this:

 Separate the muscle groups and cut steaks by cutting across/against the grain, not with it (see image below). 

The muscle fibers (grain) are going left to right.

[Sumpnneedskillin]

I actually just butchered my deer for the first time last weekend, all the others have been taken to the butcher, I guess we'll see if i did everything correct  lol however i just made steaks out of the tender loins and back straps, i know you can make other cuts with different parts, but the rest of the deer i made hamburger, but was able to pull a few roasts out of the hindquarters.

I've done a couple of deer on my own now.  The wife had bought a recipe book that had a section on butchering your own.  I'd look at the pics and start cutting.  There were a few times I had to have her hold the book while I was trying to figure out where to cut.  There's been some trial and error too.  Some of my roasts and steaks don't look very pretty but they taste fine.  Usually save the tenderloins, straps and the sirloin roasts.  Rest gets ground up.  I spend quite a bit of time taking the silver skin and gristle out.  We use straight ground venision like some people use ground beef, burgers, tacos, stroganoff etc.

[Bean Counter]

Grinding the meat inherently tenderizes the mrat so no need to hang it. It is a waste of timr and a risk for bacterial growth for no benefit. If you prefer to grind more than less definitely buy a commercial grade grinder rather than a cheaper $100 model. If you buy a Cabelas model you get sausage equipment as a nice bonus.

[spookgus]

Firefighter

It is not as daunting as it seems. Your basically going to remove the meat from the skeleton. Trim off anything your not willing to eat. Separate out each individual muscle that you feel is big enough to roast, steak or strip jerky and grind the rest. You can blend in fat later if you make sausage or patties.

This is how I do deer.

If the temperature is around 40, I will hang for a few days. If I feel that the temperature is not conducive to hanging, I will remove the legs and fillet the carcass from the backbone down. Grab the tenderloins and scavenge the carcass for useable meat. Bag each leg and the loose meat and place in the shop and camper refrigerators in a manner that allows air flow.

No saw.

I remove the rear legs by trimming along the spine and pelvic bone until the ball joint is exposed. Cut the ligaments holding the joint in place and remove the leg. The upper muscle group of the rear leg is taken off the bone by trimming around the femur from the inside. Each individual muscle is separated and trimmed and froze whole to be steaked, roasted or made into strip jerky later.

The front legs I remove by cutting behind the shoulder blades. On deer I just remove the meat from the front leg bones and put the meat in the burger bucket. The three sections of meat on the shoulder blades are used for strip jerky.

Cut around the neck close to the head and cut along the spine to the pelvic bone. Continue filleting from the spine down to the brisket staying as close the ribs and neck bone as possible. Take the backstrap out of this section. The neck meat can be rolled into a roast but on deer it usually goes in the burger bucket with the rest of the front quarter.

Remove the tenderloins and scavenge the leg bones, ribs, and carcass for useable meat that can be put into the burger bucket.

[Elkrunner]

Did mine for the first time this year.  I will never go back to a butcher again.  I found it very rewarding.  I have since purchased a meat grinder.  I have done burger, breakfast sausgage and did up some summer sausage this weekend.  I am very please with the results.

[jackmaster]

the absolute best way is to go to your local safeway or whatever with a meat department and talk to the meat cutters most anyone of them will gladly come show ya for a couple bucks and a case of brew or a bottle of whiskey, i learned from my dad as we have never took meat to a butcher shop, but a buddy went and did what i suggested and i have learned a ton

[Rhinoron247]

Always do our own, we have a very efficeint system now.  Always get exactly what we want and have 100% quality control.

[KFhunter]

I use cordless sawsall with a longer blade to split and quarter in the field, unless I bring it right home and hang it from a tractor bucket 
 
toss it in a big cooler
 
to process I use a kitchen aid grinder attachment to grind and stuff sausage - not the best but hell I'm not making a living of it
 
sharp knife for the rest, pretty much sums it up
 
this time I'll be doing seal a meal instead of wax paper for storage.
trick is to prefreeze then seal it so you don't suck all the juice out
 
 
 
still tempted to hire a butcher, trust is a big issue though as I grew up raising beef and butchers was almost a curse word.
 
I'd LOVE to have a home butcher cool house with all the neat tools to process anything from beef to grouse and fish

[gotshot]

We have done ours for a few generations now. We hang it for as long as weather allows. When we cut it up we quarter it then just seperate the muscles and then freeze the muscles whole to be cut into steaks when we are ready to cook. We call it fry meat. We mostly get fry meat and stew meat, very little left for anything else. 99 out of 100 there is no wild taste and the kids and grandkids can't get enough. That is the part I like the most.

[fishunt]

First time post, have enjoyed the site for a while. My question is: How long can you hang a deer before butchering? When is the temperature too warm?

[jechicdr]

Grinding most of your meat is such a waste of good steaks.  From Hind quarter, there are a lot of big "roasts" that you can separate from the other muscle groups.  Trim off ALL membranes and tendons.  Then just cut across the grain (3/4-1 inch) and you have tender, yummy steaks.  ALMOST as good as backstraps.  Front quarters are more tender, but the size of steaks are small.  Anything smaller than a 1 inch cube, feel free to grind.

[TheHunt]

For deer and elk

Back straps are the meat along the spine of the animal.  You can cut that out by cutting along the spine bone and the rib cage.  Cut that up on 8 inch chunks and wrap them up.  If you slice all the strap up it is has more issues and it easier to cut when it is frozen a little.

Tenderloin inside the body cavity and sliced similar to the back straps

There is one big ass roast that comes out of every elk and deer.   It is the sirloin Tip Roast this is the one big muscle that is connected to the hip socket up to the last part of the ass you cannot miss it.  It is the biggest single muscle in the ass.   

You can make roast out of any muscle but I tend to grind more meat up then I do roast.  All the neck and other meat gets ground up. 

[Bean Counter]

First time post, have enjoyed the site for a while. My question is: How long can you hang a deer before butchering? When is the temperature too warm?

Welcome aboard, fishunt!

You can hang a deer for 5-7 days depending upon humidity (less = better). There isn't much benefit IMHO to going beyond the 7 with the risk of bacterial multiplication and they don't seem to get more tender. Also, IMHO, if you can't hang it for at least four days you might as well butcher it the day you shoot it. Hanging it for only one to two days produces little benefit to me as I understand the rigor mortis process to cause the muscles to harden before they get more tender again.

As far as temperature again that depends on humidity and elevation. 40 degrees is the general rule of thumb. If you're in a costal area the temperature is more consistent. But up high, it may warm up to the mid 50s or even 60 degrees during the day but it will get so cold at night that hanging meat will not warm up to the danger zone if its in the shade during the day. This should go without saying but be sure the animal/quarters are skinned and wrapped in a burlap bag, not plastic--you need the air circulation.

[jackmaster]

First time post, have enjoyed the site for a while. My question is: How long can you hang a deer before butchering? When is the temperature too warm?

you can hang a deer for along time if its cold or pretty cool, if its hot and you cant refridgerate the meat then i would cut it up as quick as you can, we have cut are own meat for as long as i have been around and my dad was obviously cutn are own meat before i was born, i am 39 now and have learned alot about hangn meat, one thing i like the most is to hang the meat until i see little mold spots and then we wipe it down with a vinegar water mix, about a 70x30 mix water to vinegar ratio, let hang for a couple more hours and then cut it up, however if its warm out i let it hang for just acouple hours before i cut it up but i still wipe it down with the water vinegar solution...

[C-Money]

FF4607, It to the wife and I about an hour to do a good job cleaning and trimming fat on the buck we boned out Saturday. It was not hard to do, and I am now very interested in processing my own animals as well!

PS, the bag of meat you carried out weighed 65lbs.  You are an animal!

[triggersbuddy]

get ahold of me I'll show what to do 20+ years

[BLUEBULLS]

My family has always done their own. I like mine clean and trust only myself and my dad. I do take my burger in to have it ground and packed. The butcher does it right in front of me and for .95¢/lb I can't hardly justify the clean up that grinding requires.

[jechicdr]

   Except never was a fan of "hamburgers" made from deer.  Hamburger is pretty cheap.  I just grind my leftover deer pieces (less than 1 inch cubes) up into ground meat for spaghetti/chili/etc.  The cubes make good "mini" steaks or dipped in flour and fried and mixed with fried potatoes for a yummy "hash".  Would rather not spend the extra money to have someone grind or add fat to my ground meat.

[jackmaster]

i agree deer has never been my favorite burger thats for sure but elk now with 10% bacon ends and ground up makes the best burger known to man 

[pips4bucks]

I used to think butchering my own game was a pretty daunting task.  Until I did one or two.  Now we almost always cut up our own animals.  It's pretty simple really, as mentioned previously, just remove all the meat from the bones. 

We have 3 piles, steaks, stew meat, and hamburger.  The neck gets saved to make mincemeat, if the front legs/shoulders are big enough, we cut some steaks out of them, but it usually goes toward
stew and hamburger.  The backstraps and the tenderloins become steaks, as well as some of the bigger cuts out of the hindquarters.  Sometimes we'll save the hindquarters for roasts, but it usually gets steaked up.  Anything left that's big enough goes to stew, the rest into burger.  Some of the burger is made into sausage.

Unless you're really particular about what your steaks look like, there's really no wrong way to do it. 

Weather dictates how long we hang it.  40 degrees or less and we'll hang it at least 3 days as long as the weather holds at that temp.  Often times I've cut up the critter the same day because it's too hot.  I just got all the equipment to build a cooler..... for free!     So now we can hang our game in a controlled environment until we're ready to cut it up.

Have fun with it! 

[elkoholic]

We always do our own, I have a large walk in cooler and my son loves to help... We make our steaks and roasts then I usually hold on to all my scraps and either grind them ourselves or take them in to have pepperoni or beer dogs...