I just got done putting up 2 whitetail from this weekend. I made lots of stew meat, burger, front quarters left whole to be smoked, and cut the loins into 1lb sections to do medallions with. Who else does their own? There's no better feeling of knowing where your food came from. Around here the deer processors all grind hundreds of lbs at a time so your deer gets mixed with the deer that was gut shot and paraded around town 8 hours before it got dropped off. I'm not interested in my food being mixed with others. I take great care of my game. It deserves that respect.
I grew up doing so... And i still do for everything but deer sized game.. There is a butcher literally 1mile from my house, he gets $50 for under 70lb dressed and $60 for over 70lbs.. I value my time more than that, as it takes me a while between skinning, cutting, packing, supplies, and clean up. I kill anywhere between 10-20 a year. Its kinda expensive I guess, but we dont buy food so its a hand off. I know him well, his farm is right next to mine. I know he takes care of me and I trust him. He only runs the deer shop part time (deer season) and is a full time butcher at a grocery store about 30min away and has been for 30yrs.
I do all the cutting, and boning but I take some of the meat to a shop about a mile from here for trail, summer sausage and sticks.
I used to cut mine with hunting friends and package up. Now another friend does it for me and vacuum packs everything, he grinds the burger with pork butt and it is awesome...
I only started hunting about 10 years ago, and had to learn field dressing/butchering from the internet lol, no close family members who hunt. That first year was a lot of wtf moments, but all the rest have been smooth sailing. There's some pride in putting up your own game (nice and clean,hair free too!), and having it turn out well.
Do all my own. Got 2 hanging now. I make steaks out of the backstraps and sirloin. Keep a couple roast sized chunks from the hind quarters. I figure I can always cut them up later depending on what I want to use them for. Whole neck, unless it is a bruiser buck, goes in the crock pot for sammiches. All that connective tissue melts in the crock pot. If you like Italian beef this is where it's at. Grind the rest for chili, burgers, and summer sausage. I learned from trial and error...wish I had found the a long time ago.
I was born into cleaning what you harvested. But as I got older, I realized that I learned from people that got the job done. I have bartered with a few butchers time for knowledge. I learned a lot. Like most of us that process our own, I am particular. We keep a running tally using hash marks in the freezers so we know what to cut/grind. We do it all, steaks, stew, roast, jerky, sausage (breakfast, kielbasa, hot, summer) hot dogs, snack sticks, ground. Love the field to freezer feeling. I love that my wife and kids help.
There aren't any good butchers around here. There are places where you can drop off a deer and get back who knows what who knows when...and lighten your wallet a Benjamin.
My wood cutting buddy does all of his own deer, and mine too. I've helped, but he's much better at it than I am. I'll be helping him with my buck I got the other day. I make my own jerky, but I drop off meat for summer sausage, and hot sticks.
My wood cutting buddy helps me too. My middle son, 6 loves anything outdoors, motors, sharp, high likelihood of getting hurt. His is a great meat cutter. Attention to detail, listens, a good hand glad to have his help. With all 5 of us helping out we can butcher a moose and clean up in 12-14 hours. Minus any smoking/specialty items we are doing. I love butchering and preserving my catch. Kids always get to pick what kind of snack stick flavor they want, or sausage. I need to get a caribou and moose, so I can have some fun too.
Me and my BIL usually butcher together. We can have a whitetail from hanging in the hide to in the freezer in about 2 hours
I do similar. Skin and de-bone at home then take some meat to butcher for sausages and pepperettes. I did recently buy a grinder/ stuffer so I may try some sausages myself. I just need to get myself a deer this year
I’ve never done my own, but am motivated to start. I have made my own sausage from the last couple, with really good outcome. Just last night I stumbled onto this video, which makes processing seem a lot less intimidating...
All this whitetail talk has me wanting to get to the whitetail woods. Or deer are moose. I have not had whitetail since 12, mmm miss that. I need to come down for a hunt.
Pending crock pot size vs neck meat. If room, put the whole neck, bone and all. Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste. You can use broth or water with bullion cubes. The bone will give some flavor, may not be enough. I usually put onion and garlic powder. cook until its falling off the bone, and has the pulled/shredded look.
