Deer questions- Graphic

I've never had a deer processed. We just gut, dehide and cut the meat up. Cut the hams into steaks and the bigger parts of the shoulders. All the leftovers are great for soups, chili, and stews. You could make sausage also.
 
Quote:
We hang ours by the neck because it is easier to rinse out the insides that way. Otherwise the chest cavity turns into a bowl and holds the water in.
lol.png

We also like to start butchering on the hindquarters. That's the best meat. You get all the steaks and roasts done first, then the front end meat gets mixed with the hind-end trimmings and turned into burger and sausage.
 
Quote:
We hang ours by the neck because it is easier to rinse out the insides that way. Otherwise the chest cavity turns into a bowl and holds the water in.
lol.png

We also like to start butchering on the hindquarters. That's the best meat. You get all the steaks and roasts done first, then the front end meat gets mixed with the hind-end trimmings and turned into burger and sausage.

And its stronger when it comes to pulling the hide off. heard a few processors had dislocated the hips/legs off from the deer. Either way you hang after gutting and bled out, it should be fine.
 
Hello,
I get a few deer each year and process them myself. I just pull the hide off and start cutting the meat off the bone. I burger everything, its very easy. Use a propane torch, like for doing copper piping, to burn off the hair after pulling the hide. Good luck. It makes great chili and spagetti. Take care.
 
Wow, tons of good information here. My son is a newbie deer hunter. Actually hasn't made a kill yet. We have a few more weeks of deer season left... Maybe he will have use of this great information soon! We always do get a little venison from neighbors, but a whole one or two of our own would be nice, free meat.
 
Couple things.

1. Watch the youtube vidoes that show how to pull the skin off rather than skinning with a knife. Skinning with a knife is easy while the carcass is still warm. Pulling the hide off is better, but still takes some messing around.

2. You can let a deer hang a lot longer than you think you can, although temperature is important. I am not afraid to hang one for a week. Leaving the skin on keep it from drying out. I usually have a couple of

3. Always get the guts out as quick as you can, especially with a deer hit by a car or a gutshot deer.
 
One more question,lol. If I am making the meat into burger can I go ahead and grind it and freeze it or does it still need to rest a few days in salt/ice/cooler?
 
I don't know about everyone else but, Poultry is done head down, Big game is done head up. Reasoning is b/c the poultry most times is kill instantly and hung to bleed out. Big game killed is different b/c they swell up, then you gut and then you rinse to avoid contamination of meat from the guts/organs. Then after it is rinsed you have to hang it head up and we put a spreader in the bigger deer chest cavity. This allows the water to drain properly and excess innard moisture to evaporate before butchering in 5-7 days.

I think everyone does it different b/c it depends on how they were taught. But, if you stop and think about it, I don't think even if someone had shown me the opposite, I think I would automatically revert after a few failed attempts of hanging improperly. I've always been into figuring how things work etc... Therefore the mind is always running away with thoughts!
lol.png


Hope this helps
Quote:
 
Last edited:
Quote:
You can freeze the burger meat right away. A double-wrapping with squares of white butcher and you are good to go. Don't forget to label each pack, as soon as it's wrapped, or you'll be defrosting "mystery meat" for the next year, and you won't know if you've got a tenderloin or stewmeat on your hands until it's thawed. I know someone who spaced-out on that important little detail once.

Also, if you don't have much experience cutting up an animal, don't forget about the tenderloins, which are little strips that run under the spine between the hips and the ribs. The back straps, which run on the top of the spine between the shoulder and the hips, are the best steaks. The neck is all sinew, and should be made into burger or stew meat, which you can cook slow and low until it's tender. I normally take the rear legs and cut all that meat into stewmeat, because I love stew and chili and venison curry, and, in my opinion, the only cuts that are really good enough for steak are the backstraps and tenderloins.

(As a side note, I'll just add: I do my own cut-and-wrap on a couple of deer every year and a couple of lambs. All the advice everyone gave above, about pulling the hide off, not covering it with a tarp, etc., is really good advice. Also, you did the gutting yourself? That's the hard part. The rest of it is just the simple process of taking big pieces of meat and turning them into smaller pieces of meat.)

(edited to add a couple details.)
 
Last edited:

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom