Deer Processing; Do You Do It, Tips, Short Cuts, or Drop ‘em Off

[kirk1978]

I do it all. Field dress, then once home it takes about an hour for me to skin and quarter up. Few days(4-5) on ice then I de-bone, grind and slice.

And I really have no idea what I'm doing, just wing it!!

 

[2busy]

I do my own. Front quarters go in the grinder. Hind quarters are separated into individual muscles for further processing. Back strap is sliced. Tenderloins are kept whole. All the guts hide and bones are hauled out to the back pasture.

 

[dennishoddy]

Started out processing my own with a hand crank grinder after field dressing and smothering inside and out with ice from the first convenience store that was closest to cool the meat.
Then work and overtime got in the way, so dropped them off at Tonkawa Meats that don’t do them any more as beef processing has them almost a year behind schedule.
Now, after retiring, there is a used Hobart commercial slicer and a 3/4 hp Cabellas Conivore grinder to process them. Everything goes into a commercial double motor vacuum sealer.
Not very speedy at doing one, taking a day or so to get it all packaged and in the freezer.
Consider it part of the hunt.

 

[Hirschkopf]

For Coues deer in AZ, I'd gut them in the field (rope over a tree limb); wrap in a tarp; throw in the back of my Lexus SUV; weigh, skin, and quarter (with a battery-powered reciprocating saw) at the required place on Ft Huachuca. Put the quarters on ice and take them to a local processor for loin steaks, grinding, and snack sticks.

For the WT deer I've harvested in AZ so far, I man-handle them into the back of my KZ Mule and go to my barn with water; use a Redneck hoist mounted in my Mule receiver to get them up for gutting, skinning, and quartering. Throw them in a YETI 210; find some ice; debone on a plastic table in the kitchen of an Airbnb. Keep the YETI and deer chilled until rifle season is over; drive back to AZ and take them to a local processor. I hope finding CWD in OK does not hose my ability to legally take deer parts back to AZ. Otherwise, I'll start grinding my own and take them back anyway.

 

[FlyGuyGSP]

Kill/gut immediately in field. Preferably get them skinned asap while still warm. I skin them using a cheap gambrel and rope tossed over a tree limb, hoist up with the truck.

From there I’ll qtr them and toss into a big cooler. If the weather is warm, or if it’s going to sit for a few days I’ll take measures to keep the meat from soaking in water. Like layer of plastic between meat and ice with drain plug open. Or use 2 L bottles filled with water and frozen instead of bagged ice. To prevent the meat from getting soaked.

I’ll let it rest for a day or two. Then from there pull out sections at a time and process them. If my schedule is busy I may do a little here and there in the evenings and take a few days at it. Adding ice to the cooler as needed to keep everything chilled.

Back straps get cut into steaks. Hind quarters get cut into roasts. Turn one front shoulder into stew meat. The other front shoulder goes into the grind. I try to get every scrap of meat off the bones, even cut the thin stuff between the ribs and put it in the grind pile. The hindquarter roasts can be turned into jerky or snack sticks later.

I normally don’t use a vacuum sealer. I like to wrap everything in freezer grade plastic wrap, then wrap that with freezer paper. Label with a sharpie. The ground meat gets put into those 1 pound bag straight out the grinder.

We make lots of venison stroganoff, venison chili, shepherds pie, etc

I enjoy butchery and process farm animals as well. I find processing deer to be easy and enjoyable.

My process is very similar. I also make pastrami, barbacoa and corned venison. Hank Shaw has some great venison recipes.

Hunter Angler Gardener Cook - Hank Shaw's Wild Food Recipes

Hank Shaw's website featuring more than 1200 wild game recipes, fish and seafood recipes, foraging tips, fermentation, preserving, and pasta.

honest-food.net

 

[HiredHand]

Venison blended with a little pork makes some good chorizo. It’s been a long time since I made any, not sure if I still have the recipe.

 

[C_Hallbert]

With the increasing incidence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer, I advise gutting in the field and having the carcasses tested for CWD before processing. Since few people have a means to store their game while waiting for test results, it’s probably best to resort to commercial alternatives. The disease is transmissible to humans and cooking doesn’t prevent transmission; also, it is incurable as well as fatal.

 

[KroyWen]

With the increasing incidence of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) in deer, I advise gutting in the field and having the carcasses tested for CWD before processing. Since few people have a means to store their game while waiting for test results, it’s probably best to resort to commercial alternatives. The disease is transmissible to humans and cooking doesn’t prevent transmission; also, it is incurable as well as fatal.

Any idea if you can test CWD in processed/ frozen meat ? ?

 

[mgssamn]

I have been processing deer since before i was a teenager. My dad always field dressed until in was I teenager or so. I was raised in Minnesota, so we had the luxury every year I can remember of being able to hang the deer outside in "natural" cooler. If it was too cold (below freezing) we would hang in shop / garage No bugs etc. Normally below 50 during the day, cooler at night. Some years we processed a day or two early due to weather. Never used a cooler until I moved to OK to stage meat prior to processing. :-)

 

[Coach_1]

Do it all myself now. Best tip is to have a good sharp knife and good grinder. That’s a must. Don’t cheap out on the grinder because it will save you time and frustration. I’ve got the Cabelas Carnivore and it’s amazing. Never clogs or bogs down.