Deer butchering, who does their own?

[JWFilips]

In the 1990's I only hunted our "Antique flintlock season" after Christmas so most deer processors were finished and closed.
My FIL took the cars out of his garage and let me use it to process the deer I got at that time every year.
I basically deboned every piece of meat and stored it. Ground up all the suet for feeding birds and hung all the sinew to dry for making cordage
The first evening I started I would bring home the tenderloins and cut them into steaks and fried them in butter in a black cast iron pan until rare
As a reward for my wife and I ! She was the wrapper and grinder! We lived next door so she would walk back & forth picking up the cut meat to wrap and freeze.
Too old to tackle that anymore

 

[Rick H]

I have done mine for years. Most processors around here won't debone the meat. They tend to treat venison like it was a steer.

 

[Mitty38]

My major issue lately is hair.
I can no longer hoist a deer up. Just don't have the strength. Wife can't help either.
And my boy has been in school, with high temps out, the last couple I got.
So I ended up skinning them and quartering in the back of the truck. Or in the dirt.
Tried blow torching the meat but still ended up picking hairs out of my teeth. That and the meat is so tough and strong tasting, done before it gets a chance to bleed out al the way or hang.
Meh if it's not under 40 degrees with a couple days to spare I don't want it. I'll stick with squirrel.

 

[Elpatoloco]

I have done my own since the beginning. We put them in an ice bath here as its Hot even during deer season in Texas. Add ice to the chest every day for a week and leave the drain open. When I bring a quarter inside to process, it gets washed off of any hair or undesirables that may have found their way to the meat.
Both of my Sons worked at processors after school when in High School. Both would come home and tell stories of City folk bringing in Gut shot deer that were not gutted, and all sorts of nasties. No way would I take a deer or Hog into a processor. You DO NOT get your own meat back!!!!......no matter what they tell you!!!
We make our own Sausage, Jerky ,etc.

Both of My little Boys are Grown men now and have kids of their own! I taught them from the git go about putting up game.

Jesus.....Time sure flies

 

[Missionary]

Hey Mitty Get yourself a hoist. A cheap one will lift a 200 pounder. A better one will do it easier and double the hoisting weight.

 

[RBHarter]

$20 gambrel kit and an extra double roller pulley goes a long ways .
1 pulley straight to the hook is 1x lifting .
Over the pulley down to a pulley on the hook back up to an anchor halves the lift .
Use 2 double pulleys and you get 4x lifting. It takes more like 40-50' of rope though .
200# of lift takes 50# of input.

 

[Farmerjim]

Never sent anything to a processor. I have a friend 2 miles from me that has an electric hoist over a concrete pit wash down hot and cold water and a cooler 6 feet from the hoist. I go back and get the deer a couple of days later and finish up the job on my kitchen counter.

 

[Mitty38]

$20 gambrel kit and an extra double roller pulley goes a long ways .
1 pulley straight to the hook is 1x lifting .
Over the pulley down to a pulley on the hook back up to an anchor halves the lift .
Use 2 double pulleys and you get 4x lifting. It takes more like 40-50' of rope though .
200# of lift takes 50# of input.

I wonder if I could rig that up to one of the pockets of my truck.. I currently use a sled and ramp to load. I could put an eye in the sled, and use that, to pull the sled into the bed.

 

[Winelover]

I use an inexpensive come-a-long (fence puller) to hang deer.

 

[L Ross]

In 1966 Mom and I skinned a frozen buck my Dad shot on the farm house kitchen table. Then we picked hair, for hours.
I have a better system since then.

 

[Missionary]

Picking hair ranks right in there with all the left over little fuzzy feathers.

 

[CWLONGSHOT]

My major issue lately is hair.
I can no longer hoist a deer up. Just don't have the strength. Wife can't help either.
And my boy has been in school, with high temps out, the last couple I got.
So I ended up skinning them and quartering in the back of the truck. Or in the dirt.
Tried blow torching the meat but still ended up picking hairs out of my teeth. That and the meat is so tough and strong tasting, done before it gets a chance to bleed out al the way or hang.
Meh if it's not under 40 degrees with a couple days to spare I don't want it. I'll stick with squirrel.

OM GOODNESS NO EMMITT!!

Yes, absolutely a pulley or better a block & tackle! In a tree in tge yard or rafter in garage or car port!!
Gambrels are easily made or cheaply bought. (I made one in shop welding class back in HS!)

Some years back I bought a worm drive manual winch from HF and removed handle and replace with old cordless drill. MAGIC!! I bought one for my buddy couple
Years ago for when we butcher @ his house. Big screw eye in rafter. Good pulley and this winch and your in business! Not costly.

HINT, A propane torch "brushed" over the skinned carcass burns off vast majority of the deer hairs!!

CW

 

[300BLK]

I've done my own for at least 20 years. The hide comes off more easily while they are still warm, and my fingers don't get cold. If you see hair on the carcass, scrape it off with your knife blade before you cut meat.

While its usually cool enough to leave them hang overnight, there have been times when it hasn't. I take out the inner tenderloins and backstraps, and then take the front shoulders (hanging head down). Take off the neck meat, flank and brisket if there is enough to mess with, and then the hind quarters. Everything is boned out, and mostly goes through a coarse grinder (3/8) before bagging/wrapping/freezing.

The BEST tasting WT I ever had was the heaviest I ever took. It was a huge bodied , old buck taken mid November in the mountains of southern Virginia, and NOT a farmland deer. Too warm to hang, it was all in the refrigerator within 24 hours, boned out and frozen as quickly as possible.

As for hoisting, a gambrel on a 4 pulley block & tackle quarters the weight. An inexpensive boat winch and pulley would work as would a chain hoist.

 

[L Ross]

We skin ours while they are still steaming with a hook on the forks of my Kubota. Hung afterwards head up in the shade under a lean to. Cooled overnight and butchering begins the very next day. This November we shot 4 Saturday opening day and were done butchering by supper time Monday evening and that included grinding burger, canning about 3 dozen pints, and grinding the tallow for the birds.

 

[todd]

i use a Polaris front winch, 12" long parachute cord with a noose knot on both ends and a golf ball. i also have a hand crank winch in a shed that i use to put up my deer.

it is easy to do with one hand.

also just in case...

 

[Rally]

We have done all our own deer as far back as I can remember. I have a wall mounted, 110v winch in my shop, with ceiling mounted anchor points in various spots. A portable pulley that attaches to the ceiling mounts. Use the rigging for skinning coyotes, wolves, coon. Otter and deer. Deer get skun and meat filleted in shop then meat wrapped in kitchen. Skeleton cut and used for trapping bait.

 

[L Ross]

Well apparently we won't have to butcher our own for long. Some place in Germany is 3-D printing "meat" to the tune of 500 tons of the stuff already.
I don't think we are far from Soylent Green.

 

[Winelover]

Speaking of butchering, just finished cutting a whole beef tenderloin, this AM. Rather cut up a whole pork tenderloin...............whole lot easier/faster.

 

[Gary]

Well apparently we won't have to butcher our own for long. Some place in Germany is 3-D printing "meat" to the tune of 500 tons of the stuff already.
I don't think we are far from Soylent Green.

AND, what would prevent the "3D printing" folks from adding Pharmaceutical products when "processing" such as "safe" vaccine like matter, ect.
Nope, I'd never buy it. I'm leary of purchasing big box meats for the same reason.

 

[300BLK]

Well apparently we won't have to butcher our own for long. Some place in Germany is 3-D printing "meat" to the tune of 500 tons of the stuff already.
I don't think we are far from Soylent Green.

I would sooner eat one of our scrawny grey squirrels on a stick over an open fire