butchering your own

[mdcrossbow]

You all talk about meat lockers, I'd be in the poor house if I had to pay for a butcher.

Do many of you process your own?

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

I used to and sometimes still do if I just want to Goof off and watch Football. Now, I will shoot a deer and buy 3 or 4 10 lb. boxes of smoked Bacon Ends and Pieces to grind all together and use sausage seasoning to make a Pan Sausage. But mainly I just drop them by the processor, too much on the plate these days. John

 

[schmalts]

only time i pay to have it done is if I have to pay to have it frozen when i am out of state. They usually charge so much just to keep it frozen for a few days that sometimes it is just better off having them do it all. But if i am at home i always cut and grind my own deer and make my own sausage (except for summer sausage)

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

One thing I would like to try is making a smoker and smoking some Deer or Elk. There was a Fellow in the small town I grew up in that had a Cypress Tree (Hollow) that he made a Door and put a little Umbrella type roof on and that was his smoker....kinda neat. John

 

[MarvB]

Been cutting/grinding my own for years...usually one of the little squirrels wants to get involved in the process- it's not "icky" yet to them

 

[IDHunters]

We butcher everything ourselves. Don't have a grinder so we pay a little bit to grind the burger. We stuff and smoke our own german sausage. Uncle has his own cinderblock smokehouse-the kind with a fire pit inside. Thinking about buying a grinder.

Draftstud-take a deer/elk roast, marinate it and smoke it in a big chief smoker for 6 or 7 hours. Pretty tasty.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

ID, Yeah, we do that with a Brinkman Smoker, sure makes a nice meal with a couple of Drunk Chickens on the top half. Looks like Brisket without the Fat. I was told to buy some Pork Skin and Toothpick it to a Hindquarter to improve the moisture. Damn, I'm getting hungry!!!!!!!! John

 

[Curly]

We cut and wrap our game.

We used to grind the hamberger ourselves with a hand grinder and then a little electric one. Then we got smarter and we found a butcher that would grind the meat for us while we wait and place it into a big garbage bag. Then we wrap it ourselves. It doesn't cost much to have the butcher grind it.

 

[mdcrossbow]

Between me and my 2 older sons' we will shoot 40 deer this year. They learned to butcher over the years and I told them that if the deer comes in the sho to be butchered it has to be out by morning. So we get them done. I have a large Hobart grinder which makes it easy to her done.

I'd say about 1/3 of all the deer will be done up in Jerky.

 

[Nut]

We used to try and do it all. But since we did not have a grinder we took what portions we wanted for burger and had that done.

But we found someone near home that will skin,butcher,grind and wrap for $40 a deer. Can not beat that.

 

[ELKCHSR]

I spend two days on a deer and four on an elk

That way I don't end up with any of the silver skin, fat, and guck one normally would going thru a butcher

 

[coopaloop]

I used to take all my critters to the butcher. When I was in college I couldn't afford the astronomical price of having an elk done up so I bought a case of beer and invited a few of my buddies over to help cut up an elk. Since then I've done every one. I found it's not that difficult, I like what I get a hell of lot better and it's a good time to drink beer and B.S. with some buddies. It's become a part of the hunt for me.

I also don't have a grinder so I take the scraps to a local butcher and have them grind it for me. They charge almost nothing and I know I'm getting my critter back. I know too many butchers that take in a bunch of critters and estimate how much meat you'll get off of it, and when you come back you get a little bit of everybody's animal and maybe some of yours from one big pool of meat. I take too much time and am too carful with my meat to get some jerks gut shot, drug through the dirt deer back instead of my meat.

Coop

 

[TheGreatwhitehunter]

I gotta say I really enjoyed cutting my own would always get a buddy or two together and we would cut up a bunch at once. Simce I moved out west not to many of my friends have the patience to want to do this. I still cut some of it up my self though..

 

[mdcrossbow]

Doing your own is deffently the way to go if you have the means too.

I really enjoy spending an afternoon with the boys and some hunting friends at the shop. We fire up the gril and have have a good old time.

These are my boys, Jonathan is 24 and is a cancer servivor for 4 years now, Jarrod 21 works with me in the shop and can repair piece of furniture put in front of him and he is attending the local college for bussness and Jacob 16 attends Fork Union Military Academy and is in the 10th grade and made the varsity soccer team for the 2nd year in a row and is starting mid fielder.

John and Jarrod both are good bow hunters and they both do there on deer up now which makes it nice on me.

 

[Spitz]

Between me and my 2 older sons' we will shoot 40 deer this year.

That's a lot of freaking deer! What do you do with all of it?

 

[mdcrossbow]

well I give to FHFH which started here in Md. and also soup kitchens and allot go's to family and church members I also found out that the local zoo in the area will receive the meat and are very greatfull for any thing we can give them. I don't shoot many large deer most are small doe's since I hunt neighborhoods for many of my customers to drop the deer population.

 

[Steiny]

Yep, I like to butcher my own stuff. All set up to do a real nice job processing. Just bought a new walk-in cooler I need to get assembled and running pretty quick.
Getting real good at italian sausage, summer sausage and jerky.

 

[1_pointer]

Only time they go to a processor's is if I'm out of state and don't have the time. Heck, just a few days back I was 'Food Saver'ing antelope in a Howard Johnson...

 

[sreekers]

Time is my biggest thing. If I kill early I will even start butchering my own while I am still in the mountains. If I don't and have the time in the evenings to do it I will. If I don't have that time it goes to the butcher.

 

[Steiny]

Good point Sreekers ........ I always bone them out in the field when I have time. No point in bringing home a bunch of bones and suff you have to dispose of.