Butchered my first deer
- Thread starter Nathan
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p_ham
Well-known member
The first few are tough. You'll be able to do it with your eyes closed before long. No need to really worry about "the right cuts" when its for you and you family.
LuketheDog
Well-known member
Look up the Bearded Butchers on YouTube, they have excellent instructional videos.
Aussie_hunter_JD
Well-known member
Good on ya mate, like anything the more you do it the more sense it makes. Over here our hands have been tied, just yesterday a bill passed parliament finally legalizing hunters to have their deer butchered at a butcher/processor. Because of that everyone up to this point has done it themselves.
KipCarson
Well-known member
Congrats! It will get easier, just don’t overthink it. Like @p_ham said “don’t worry about the right cuts”. As long as you’re not wasting it there is really not a wrong way, just do what works for you. After a few you’ll know what parts make the best steaks roast or burger and just get to chopping! Something I started a few years back is just breaking it down into whole muscle cuts, that saves time on the front end, later down the line you can decide to leave it whole as a roast, cut it into steaks, or grind it up if you find yourself low on burger!
KipCarson
Well-known member
Sounds like you could be in on the ground floor of a great business, Lot of good money to be made in wild game processing, especially if your the first to specialize in game meat!
sbhooper
Well-known member
Don't overthink it. Just cut! You are not going to ruin anything. It will still taste just as good. I learned on my own and can make pretty short work of one, now.
Everyone does it a bit different based on what they want out of their venison.. more ground, steaks, roasts, etc...
Im guessing your former butcher friend is a little more technical from his past job than the average hunter processing their own meat.
I'd just add that make sure you remove any bloodshot meat, fat, silverskin, hair, sinew, or glands so its CLEAN meat and you cant go wrong.
Im guessing your former butcher friend is a little more technical from his past job than the average hunter processing their own meat.
I'd just add that make sure you remove any bloodshot meat, fat, silverskin, hair, sinew, or glands so its CLEAN meat and you cant go wrong.
devon deer
Well-known member
I agree, they butcher the deer the exact same way I do mine, great video.
Richard
I did my first deer in a couple years over the weekend and it's definitely tough work! I always start too anal and by the end I just want to get it done so I get a bit more loose. I don't necessarily waste more meat, just lose sight of all the "right" cuts
wolfpup
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Watch youtube videos.... Randy has several, meateater has an episode on breaking one down, and seems like I watched one from eastmans. I have found that I approach each animal different and take different cuts each time. Don't worry too much and if everything ends up in a grind pile, cook more ground meat recipes! It's all good and just learn as you go. DIY butcher jobs taste better. Congrats and keep at it.
Robertsj22
Member
while growing up my dad was a butcher. now he cuts for farmers on the side for some spare money. he is almost too fast to learn from as he doesn't use a meat saw and hand dejoints everything. i started to pick it up recently in the last couple years as he has gotten older. The other thing that has helped me is leaving alot of cuts whole. ill have alot of roasts for crock pots or smoking. Front shoulders are a pain to butcher so i just use them as roasts
Walkathon
Well-known member
It will get easier. If you like steaks and roasts, then figure out where the top and bottom rounds are along with the cut on the hind quarter that looks like a small football. I think it may be the sirloin tip. Backstraps are obvious and easy to remove... Anyway, no real way to do it wrong as long as you remove all the meat and use it. Congrats on your first deer butchering !
44hunter45
Well-known member
Congrats on getting a tasty doe and tackling the butchering yourself! There's a real pride in pulling out a package of meat from your freezer which you cut and wrapped yourself. There are as many meat cutting "experts" as there are rifle cartridge experts. They can leave you feeling that if you don't do meat their way you are going to die. That is simply BS.
It gets easier. Even though I was ranch raised, I had never learned to break down a deer. I have OCD level attention to detail. The first dozen took 4-5 evenings because I was so retentive about trimming and sinew removal. I used to be really stressed about it because my ethic won't allow me to be out hunting to fill more tags while there is unprocessed meat at home. The most important thing I've learned is that you simply don't have to do that. You just need to get it in the freezer. You can pull and thaw those bigger hunks of deboned meat out and break them down into the cuts you want later. It doe's not hurt the meat to be thawed and refrozen. It does not hurt to freeze with some fat on it.
It is shocking how long you can safely hang meat so long as you have a cool, dry place where insects and vermin cannot get to it.
Meateater's books are helpful. I learned from a book by A.D. Livingston. (Before there was YouTube...)
I find processing an elk to be much easier than a deer.
It gets easier. Even though I was ranch raised, I had never learned to break down a deer. I have OCD level attention to detail. The first dozen took 4-5 evenings because I was so retentive about trimming and sinew removal. I used to be really stressed about it because my ethic won't allow me to be out hunting to fill more tags while there is unprocessed meat at home. The most important thing I've learned is that you simply don't have to do that. You just need to get it in the freezer. You can pull and thaw those bigger hunks of deboned meat out and break them down into the cuts you want later. It doe's not hurt the meat to be thawed and refrozen. It does not hurt to freeze with some fat on it.
It is shocking how long you can safely hang meat so long as you have a cool, dry place where insects and vermin cannot get to it.
Meateater's books are helpful. I learned from a book by A.D. Livingston. (Before there was YouTube...)
I find processing an elk to be much easier than a deer.
D
Deleted member 16014
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IMO the best advice is generally fairly simple. The good Lord provided all those lumps of meat in pieces, conveniently separated into muscle groups by silverskin and such. Just follow the lines to get things apart, and cut it into familiar shapes you like to eat from there. Grind all the inconvenient bits of meat into burger. The end 
I remember taking my first deer apart. 4 animals later I'm getting the hang of it. No master Butcher by far but its just me and my family eating it so I don't worry about it being perfect all the time. Just make sure to keep it clean.
Edit: Since I'm still new to it I always watch a video immediately before I start carving away. Just too refresh memory. Helps out a lot. Hopefully I can get to a point where I wont need one anymore.
Edit: Since I'm still new to it I always watch a video immediately before I start carving away. Just too refresh memory. Helps out a lot. Hopefully I can get to a point where I wont need one anymore.
Mallardsx2
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Take your time and dont cut yourself. Use a razor sharp knife.
HuntTalk Freak
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My first one was a nightmare and I felt I wasted too much meat trim in the garbage pile. I kept at it and kept doing research on various ways to do it. It does get easier once you find a method that works for you and your increasing skill level. At first I mostly did burger, now I mainly do cuts like stew, stir fry, steaks and roasts; even make my own sausage now and will start jerky this year. I save all the trim and grind later in the year. All that stuff would cost a fortune at a processor especially since I kill three or more deer a year.
I was short on time around the holidays last year and brought one of three to a processor I've used in the past. The difference in return was noticeable.
There is a whole other level of appreciation for the animal when you process it yourself, plus you save money and get more meat. Keep at it.
I'm going to try and do a detailed thread on home processing this year to maybe help some guys out with time and money. I hope my wife doesn't kill me in the process.
I was short on time around the holidays last year and brought one of three to a processor I've used in the past. The difference in return was noticeable.
There is a whole other level of appreciation for the animal when you process it yourself, plus you save money and get more meat. Keep at it.
I'm going to try and do a detailed thread on home processing this year to maybe help some guys out with time and money. I hope my wife doesn't kill me in the process.
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
It will get easier. I can do a deer sized animal myself in a couple hours, and I’m a meticulous trimmer. Everyone has given you good advice.
We process each one differently, depending on what recipes I want to make. We tend to leave as much as we can in larger cuts, as long as they’ll fit in a roasting pan. Shoulders and shanks get braised whole. I like having lots of roasts if I decide to do pastrami or corned venison. You can always cut things into steaks or stew meat later.
There’s no real wrong way...you cut into parts that work for how you cook. One of the most rewarding parts of hunting.
We process each one differently, depending on what recipes I want to make. We tend to leave as much as we can in larger cuts, as long as they’ll fit in a roasting pan. Shoulders and shanks get braised whole. I like having lots of roasts if I decide to do pastrami or corned venison. You can always cut things into steaks or stew meat later.
There’s no real wrong way...you cut into parts that work for how you cook. One of the most rewarding parts of hunting.
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