[Mindy up North]

...out of curiosity, how do you process your game meat. I know some people who just grind everything but the backstrap and tender loins. As for me, I take advantage of all the primal cuts as much as possible (I love steaks and roasts) and then grind the scrap pieces. So, let's hear it, what do you do and why?

Also, how do your store your game? I vacuum seal everything.

 

[mouser868]

After it's hung in the tree and skinned I take the tender loins out and leave them whole, if they need cut up, I can do that later. Then out comes the backstraps, and they are done the same way. The hind legs are done a few different ways. Sometimes I cut them at the knee joint and keep them whole to make roasts with, sometimes I take the meat off the bones and cut steaks, and sometimes I just make burger out of them. Rib meat, shoulders, and front legs go into burger, and the neck is made into a roast. Then I wrap it all in freezer paper, then freeze it.

 

[Jaison]

Prime cuts guy here.

Straps, steaks, and neck roasts are choice. Don’t vacuum seal, but portion out in styrofoam trays left from steak, chops, etc.

Everything else gets ground or turned into jerky.

Will probably take the next deer to a processor. They’ll do a much better job than the butchery I commit.

 

[ChaZam]

Primal cuts and as many steaks and roasts as possible. I bone out all the ribs etc and use as much of that stuff as possible for burger meat, sausage, chili meat, stew mea, etc.

If I get a chance to get one this year I'm going to try this guy's method. I will finish pulling the skin off to gain access to the neck and all the rib meat that they didn't show in this video. I'm more than a little impressed with his technique.After getting it in the cooler I'll probably let a processor deal with it but I do have a great LEM vacuum packer if I should decide to do it myself.
************

 

[austinjoe13]

Whitetail is the only big game I’ve been able to deal with. First, I take the heart and tenderloins on the day of the kill. Sometimes the liver for a friend’s dog. After a few days of hanging, I break the deer down into quarters, then I break them into their main muscles. I’ll trim one shoulder and keep the other whole. Shanks are kept whole for braised dishes like Osso Buco. Hindquarters are kept as roasts. From there, I cut steaks or slice jerky. Hamburger is made from the trimmings and some other lesser cuts.

As far as packaging goes, I wrap the meat in cling wrap then butcher paper. I opened some 2017 venison a couple weeks ago, and it was still good.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I pay to have mine done any more. I stopped doing my own long before I even retired. Back then if I was hunting I was taking a day off work to hunt. Because I like to hunt. I didn't like processing enough to take a day off work for that, plus it would cost me ten times more money to take a day off than to pay for processing.

If I did it or hired it done I wanted it the same way. All the neck in roasts. Steaks from any thing that could be cut in to a steak as big as a hamburger or more. Everything else grind it up and I make jerky from that.

 

[runfiverun]

I like deer burger but I cut it with beef fat.

tenderloins, back straps, some steaks off the back legs, and maybe neck roasts if the deer is big enough.


if the deer is a smaller one I will take a couple of parts of the back bone with the straps on both sides and make rack of deer.
but different, I brine the meat for 4-5 days and then smoke it for 3-4 hrs.

 

[shanebrews]

I was appalled at what many customers would bring in the shop at the last processor I worked for. This was in S. Texas and a lot of people wouldn't keep anything but the back straps and hind quarters. Typically they'd want the hind quarters boned out and made into smoked sausage. I often thought, where's the rest of it? It was very seldom that anyone dropped off a mostly intact carcass.

 

[Txhillbilly]

I've always processed all of my game. On deer, I usually do prime cuts out of the first one, and any other's get grinded into hamburger & chili meat, as well as summer sausage mixed with ground feral hog meat.
I love me some jalapeno and cheese venison & hog summer sausage!!!

 

[63B20]

I try to do mine like the processors do the bigger the pieces I ca leave it in the better for me then I can make it in to other cuts later use a
vacuum packer so it keeps longer.

 

[jerry]

In short. Prime cuts, trim and grind. I mix 50/50 pork sausage. Seems to work well for a lot of dishes.
Use butcher paper and tape liberally.

I have used a reputable processor a time or two. Too many deer to handle at once, cut shirt on time had to work, or just wanted some sticks (done right)

I could eat venison every day.


Sent from my iPhone using Gun and Game

 

[Jaison]

Great thread, Mindy!

 

[blaster]

some good tips in that video. especially (for me) on how to NOT cut the hind leg tendons when skinning. I'll do that on my next animal.
down here you can't hang meat or it will rot or get maggots so I have to process & ice down game immediately.
I have taken to skinning & butchering the carcass in the round like in the video but I gut it to get to the tenderloins. next time I'm going to try to get them out like he did in the video. on hogs, I usually keep the ribs so I have to gut it anyway but for deer, that looks like the way to go.
as far as butchering, I take the back straps & tenderloins, cut the front legs off and either leave the shoulder bone in for a bone in roast or de bone it. the rear legs I de bone while the carcass in hanging. since I've started making sausage, I cut off all the small pieces of meat left on the bones, cut the belly flaps off (keep them), and save all trimmings. on hogs, if they have good fat, (acorn is the best!) I keep some of that to grind into the sausage. the rear leg hams I will cut some steaks (on deer) from the big muscles and use the smaller muscle groups for roasts or grind for sausage. hogs I just cut the hams up into roasts.
I put the meat in plastic bags, label & date it then freeze it.
on all game I will cook up the back strap first. if its tough, I will grind up the rest of the meat for sausage. even on a tough animal though, I will keep some roasts intact.

 

[runfiverun]

I often thought, where's the rest of it?

338 ultra mag at 35yds over/under/next to the 6pm. corn slinger machine probably accounted for most of it.

 

[rando]

It all depends on what I am wanting at the time. No matter what I take the back strap and tenderloins out first. I like to butterfly the backstrap and vacuum seal. I will sometimes grind the whole rest of the deer and vacuum seal in 1 pound packs. If I have existing ground left and a surplus then I always debone the deer and cut into roasts. I dont make many steaks anymore. The rest gets ground. I also make jerky out of thinly sliced strips or use ground meat in the jerky shooter guns. My ground deer I add ground beef to it to give it some fat and juice when you cook it. I have even cut some meat into cubes and vacuum sealed to make stew and pot pies out of. So many possibilities. I have also made sausage and deer bologna is my favorite from the ground meat. You can freeze the sausage and bologna.

 

[Jack Ryan]

I watched the video today. I like his process all but the saws all. I don't care for cutting through bones.

I prefer it de-boned and request it at the processor. I don't like the bone chips in meat and I think a lot of the disease risks come with marrow and bone. I just don't like that, like finding bones in a fish fillet.

 

[rando]

I watched the video today. I like his process all but the saws all. I don't care for cutting through bones.

I prefer it de-boned and request it at the processor. I don't like the bone chips in meat and I think a lot of the disease risks come with marrow and bone. I just don't like that, like finding bones in a fish fillet.

There are areas where Chronic Wasting Disease is prevalent in quite a few states now. We have cases found in deer in the western part of our state every year. Also in bordering W.V. My brother has land there. Deer must be deboned before leaving state. Also they tell you to not saw deer. The disease is in the bone marrow. I choose to not saw anymore.

 

[cooker300]

To be honest it depends on how many deer we get.
I always try and get a few steaks and 1 roast. Along with back straps and inner loins, and buger
Now if we get more then one the rest will be the basic back straps inner loins and buger . My family eats more ground then anything and I can still make bologna, or sausage.
My dad always ask for a few pounds of buger and a few steaks

 

[455rocket]

I typically cut out the tenderloins, backstrap and roast. A local butcher will grind, package and flash freeze the rest of it for me for around $10. I quit hanging my deer years ago, and have it butchered and in the cooler within a few hours of the kill.

If this years deer season doesn't get any better, I'll be slapping a tag between two slices of bread and eating it.

 

[Rocky7]

Tried to deltet this one but can't find a "Delete" function. BLAH.