Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 10:16:45 AM
Post by: addicted on August 12, 2008, 10:25:31 AM
i eventually figured out the secret to successful hunting though. Hunt close to home so you can spend as much time doing so as possible. if you can go every day with taking very little time for travel and very little time for gas its way more efficient. :twocents:
Post by: tlbradford on August 12, 2008, 10:31:07 AM
Post by: MountainWalk on August 12, 2008, 10:33:09 AM
While I do it myself, I never have any burger or sticks. No grinder. Most all of what folks turn into burger, I render it into chunks perfect for frying.
Post by: huntnphool on August 12, 2008, 10:37:22 AM
Post by: smdave on August 12, 2008, 10:37:43 AM
I voted the butcher does a better job, I would really like to do it myself.
Dave
Post by: Houndhunter on August 12, 2008, 10:41:44 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 10:42:32 AM
I just dont have the money to give to someone to cut up my game and get it all mixed up for me. I have no clue about up here in WA, but when I first started in AR, the cost of a deer was 50 bucks. You could kill 4 deer. Four deer at fifty a pop? No way.
While I do it myself, I never have any burger or sticks. No grinder. Most all of what folks turn into burger, I render it into chunks perfect for frying.
:yeah:
For my first deer, the pieces that woulda been ground got cubed up for stew. I made another post in the Recipies forum about investing in a grinder. I'm still relatively young and probably have 40+ years of hunting in front of me. It wont break my bank so I think it makes sense to invest in a Cabelas Commercial Grade Grinder. I'm a big proponent of the healthy benefits of wild game over commercially raised stuff and in explaining this to people I like to describe that I process it myself.
Probably the biggest difficulty I'm running into is how to 'hang' the meat. I can make room for four deer quarters in the fridge, but I know its best if the quarters get hanged. I'm thinking of getting a cheap, used refrigerator/freezer on Craigslist and trying to jury rig some sort of meat hooks into the fridge part. Anybody done this?
I know some of you with butcher friends resent comments like this, but I also like controlling the process. If I were to just drop off 40 lbs of meat for burger how do I know that I'm getting back just my deer? I talked to a butcher who makes sausage and he simply weighs out what you bring in, then makes sure you get that weight back--but not before it gets comingled with everyone elses animals.
Post by: DeKuma on August 12, 2008, 10:47:06 AM
Last year, I shot my deer on the last day late evening in Colville. Ended up leaving it with my Dad to process both his deer and mine. Felt bad about that, so if the situation arises this year, I will probably take it in.
Need to get a grinder as well........
Post by: huntnphool on August 12, 2008, 10:48:15 AM
I know some of you with butcher friends resent comments like this
Not me, I have the same concern and know exactly how you feel, that is why I take it to a friend that I trust.
Post by: SpokaneSlayer on August 12, 2008, 10:49:35 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 10:50:15 AM
i do, but that being said i've had people show me how. i can see where a guy wouldnt know where to start if he had no exp.
Yeah. My first few hunting seasons I was 100% self taught. My first year hunting with buddies, I learned more that year than I did by myself for years of being clueless. FWIW, I wish I coulda bought this video from the Kentucky DFG in my first hunting season. Its only $17, and it will show you in good detail, gutting, skinning, AND butchering. https://secure.kentucky.gov/Mall/Store/7803440a42df458c815d9db55890b738/Product/2457ec1426cd42e2b5d4cbb53d6d2387/
It has nothing to do with being a man or not
Poll amended. I stand corrected, and offer appologies to anyone I offended. ;)
Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 10:52:52 AM
Sweet! I'm the only one who has voted I don't know how. I do wish to learn though. I want that feeling of when I sit down with my family and have a nice venison dinner that I 100% provided this meal.
Check out this preview of the aforementioned DVD.
If you like the job they do in showing you how to gut, you'd probably like how they show you how to butcher. I recommend the video.
Post by: M_ray on August 12, 2008, 11:11:32 AM
Post by: Ridgerunner on August 12, 2008, 11:21:46 AM
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It has nothing to do with being a man or not, myself I would rather pay the money and use the time to spend with my kids or do more hunting or fishing. Perhaps you should add "it takes too much time" to the butcher answer.
as far as making sure you get your own meat just ask the butcher if he does batch processing or whether it is done by individual animal. Stay away from the batch processing guys.
Post by: hunterbuilder on August 12, 2008, 11:26:14 AM
Post by: Curly on August 12, 2008, 11:40:03 AM
We always cut and wrap our own steaks, roasts and stew meat. Then we take the rest in to be ground. We used to just take the hamburger meat in and watch them grind it and then they would give it all back to us right then in garbage bags; then we would go home and wrap it. Now we just have them wrap it too.
Can't find a butcher anymore that wants to just run the meat through the grinder for a small fee. We used to be able to get them to grind an elk for $10 and we would wrap it. It only takes them less than a few minutes to toss the meat in their grinder and hand over the ground meat. It was nice to watch them grind the meat........you knew you were getting the right meat.
Post by: Mike450r on August 12, 2008, 11:43:01 AM
Been doing it for over 20 years so I guess I am experienced but just consider it part of the job.
That being said. Last season my youngest son got his deer at 7:00 am, I got mine at 8:00 am, wife got hers at 8:15 am. Hanging and skinning wasn't bad but it wasn't that cold in mid November so we busted ass and butchered them all up together and that was a pain.
Post by: Gutpile on August 12, 2008, 11:43:49 AM
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It has nothing to do with being a man or not, myself I would rather pay the money and use the time to spend with my kids or do more hunting or fishing
I do it with my daughters 11-15 and they love it. Whats this? Whats that? This is my steak!!! Etc. Etc. They do enjoy themselves, but my wife hates to see the kitchen table loaded up with a bunch of venison. :chuckle: I have as much fun doing the boning and cutting as I do hunting. Kind of turned into a tradition.
Post by: Gobble on August 12, 2008, 11:49:08 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 01:27:08 PM
I do it with my daughters 11-15 and they love it. Whats this? Whats that? This is my steak!!! Etc. Etc. They do enjoy themselves, but my wife hates to see the kitchen table loaded up with a bunch of venison. :chuckle: I have as much fun doing the boning and cutting as I do hunting. Kind of turned into a tradition.
:yeah:
Part of me is nervous to start having children but the other part of me can't wait to start taking my little ones out.
Post by: ICEMAN on August 12, 2008, 01:38:01 PM
Do it yourself. You can spend as much time as necessary to do it right. "Cutting" is a misnomer for this process. Getting your meat to the freezer is all about cleaning, trimming, discarding, cutting and wrapping. In my opinion, wrapping is as important to the process as any other step. I could not emphasize this step enough. If you took fillet mignon and wrapped it like I see butchers do, it is going to freezer burn in a matter of months. We wrap our meats as tightly as possible with clear plastic wrap, two separate times, then overwrap each with waxed butcher paper. The purpose of the butcher paper is to protect the plastic wrap from impact when in the freezer as you paw thru looking for more tenderloins. If air can circulate around the meat, then it will dehydrate the product and "freezer burn" it... Butchers cannot take the time necessary to wrap meat this well. You may cringe or think I am full of crap, but we have opened steaks that were over 6 years old wrapped this way, and they look as though you had wrapped them yesterday.
We make the cutting and wrapping sessions fun, with maybe a football game going, drinks, or music, snacks, story telling....just plain fun to hang out with your buds, or family and reminisce about the hunt.
Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 02:11:17 PM
we have opened steaks that were over 6 years old wrapped this way, and they look as though you had wrapped them yesterday.
We make the cutting and wrapping sessions fun, with maybe a football game going, drinks, or music, snacks, story telling....just plain fun to hang out with your buds, or family and reminisce about the hunt.
Dang, six years old! I agree--its a part of the hunting experience. Just don't have two many beers when cutting that deer--you don't want to add "ER Visit" to the list of experiences. :'(
Post by: PolarBear on August 12, 2008, 05:54:21 PM
Post by: Bean Counter on August 12, 2008, 06:13:24 PM
It depends on how much crap I have going on. Usually i do it myself but if I am short on time, I will have it done. I usually will hand my elk in a cold storage whether I have them cut it up or not.
Oh, that's cool--you mean you can pay some storage place to hang it a few days even if you're not going to have them cut & wrap?
Post by: PolarBear on August 12, 2008, 06:23:40 PM
Post by: jeff100 on August 12, 2008, 07:55:09 PM
I took a bear into him one year, asked him if I could come back and watch him butcher it, I wanted to learn to do it myself. Sure, no problem he says. So I get a call one evening, I'm gonna do your bear, come and watch. I get there, all excited to learn the art of boning out a bear with a knife. Long story short, he cut everything up with his meat bandsaw. Everything.
I was pretty dissapointed, but what are ya gonna do?? Besides, spending a few hours with Del is always entertaining anyway....he's a good ole boy that has a LOT of hunting stories....
I plan to butcher my own this year. Question is how long to hang before butchering? How do you know when it's hung long enough?
BTW, the people here considering buying their own equipment, keep an eye out for someone who is getting out of the business of butchering. You can get commercial grade equipment for quite a bit less than it would cost new. Craigslist....
Post by: MountainWalk on August 13, 2008, 12:05:56 AM
Post by: Bean Counter on August 13, 2008, 09:12:16 AM
I dont really hang my game. I just put it all into a few big coolers full of ice and rock salt. Everyday, I drain the water and add more ice and salt. I keep this up for seven days, then I do most of my wrapping. Works for me.
Probably better than nothing. My understanding of the benefits of hanging are two fold:
One: it keeps the meat from soaking in its own blood as it pools toward the bottom (accelerating spoilage)
Two: It allows the cells and muscle fibers to stretch out, increasing the tenderness.
The champ I learned from told me that if you can't hang it, at least keep it in the game bag with plenty of newspaper underneath, and change the newspaper daily. That way you're getting as much of the juices away fromt he meat as possible.
I'll look more into jury rigging the second fridge with some sort of meat hook/hanging system and post what I find out.
Post by: BlackTail on August 13, 2008, 10:09:23 AM
http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/B513Rpdf.pdf
Post by: robb92 on August 15, 2008, 06:23:41 PM
Post by: girlwithbow on August 16, 2008, 12:15:06 PM
Post by: Antlershed on August 16, 2008, 12:45:54 PM
Post by: huntsonofgun on September 03, 2008, 05:18:51 PM
Post by: 3dsheetmetal on September 03, 2008, 05:52:21 PM
Post by: runningboard on September 03, 2008, 08:25:05 PM
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I've had butchers take some meat more than once.Same here, had a friend who worked part-time at the local butcher's and she says that every day one of the workers would say "looks like steak tonight" and grab from any random box in the freezer. found a local semi-retired gentleman who does good work for less dough and doesn't help himself.
I do know how but with work, kids (school & sports), wife's honey-do list, where could I find the time?