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Post by youp50 on Feb 3, 2009 9:23:52 GMT -5
Do you cut your own deer? How about skinning?
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Post by ozark on Feb 3, 2009 9:31:40 GMT -5
I have done both but as far as cutting up the meat I just debone it and try to cut any meat to be grilled or fried across grain. I try to remove all the silver threads between muscles. Skinning is simple. After splitting the hide down from throat to annus and around and down each leg to meet the center cut, I cut a ring around the neck just back of the ears and secure a walnut, golfball or simular object. Around that I tie a rope or chain and with the back legs secure well above ground level I hook a vehicle to the secured object and simply drive off taking the skin and leaving the rest. It come of as slick as a peeled onion in a matter of seconds.
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Post by youp50 on Feb 3, 2009 9:45:36 GMT -5
I have skinned using that method, Ben. The only thing I could add is I do it hanging a deer from a tree and wrap an old bed sheet around the tree. It keeps the tree bark and lichens from getting all over the deer.
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Post by jims on Feb 3, 2009 10:02:21 GMT -5
The place that processes our meat will only take deboned meat so we skin and debone. They do a good job but it still runs over $4 a pound to make small deer sticks and jerky. Sometimes we almost hesitate to shoot too large a deer or too many.
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Post by johnc on Feb 3, 2009 11:17:12 GMT -5
Mr. Ozark wrote "cut a ring around the neck just back of the ears and secure a walnut, golfball or simular object. Around that I tie a rope or chain and with the back legs secure well above ground level I hook a vehicle to the secured object and simply drive off taking the skin and leaving the" This is a great way but if deer is badly damaged one can end up with a two piece deer with one piece on the ground. ;D ;D ;D Not to say I ever had that happen
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Post by ozark on Feb 3, 2009 13:07:40 GMT -5
Never tried this method on deer that were shot half into. If the skinning is done soon after the kill it slips off easy and leaves a clean carcuss.
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Post by jims on Feb 3, 2009 14:00:16 GMT -5
Ozark: I have sinned with my dear but I have never sinned with my deer. ;D Ozark, if you modify your last post you will make me look bad or get me banned here. ;D One omitted letter can make a big difference.
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Post by ozark on Feb 3, 2009 15:06:16 GMT -5
Yes, one omitted letter can alter the minds of the reader. Ozark
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Post by jims on Feb 3, 2009 15:18:37 GMT -5
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Post by ozark on Feb 3, 2009 15:59:06 GMT -5
By correcting my errors you look bad? LOL
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Post by whyohe on Feb 3, 2009 17:57:45 GMT -5
we use to butcher our own deer and used Ozarks method but had some one stand by with a sharp knife in case a shoulder started to peal away. but then i got married. my wife doesn't hunt and hates to see animals killed. so even before we got married it was agreed that I'm not giving up hunting but i cant bring carcass home unless in packages!
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Post by wilmsmeyer on Feb 3, 2009 19:35:05 GMT -5
For me there is no other way. It's not hard and I know what I'm eating. Haven't we all seen the deer hanging in trees too long on a 40 degree day? Deer riddled with bullets from front to back? Stacks of deer on a 45 degree day outside the butcher shot? Blades and saws that have ripped through all the above in a quest to get the work done? No thanks.
I will only eat my own deer...and it will taste great everytime.
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Post by tcmech on Feb 3, 2009 20:10:36 GMT -5
I prefer to skin and butcher my own. If I had a meat processing place that would do it for a decent price with a decent turn around time I might take it there.
I also have a meat grinder and a dehydrator so sausage and jerky get made around my house on a regular basis also.
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Post by rossman40 on Feb 3, 2009 20:37:17 GMT -5
I process my own now also, have a grinder and a vacuum packager. Use to have one guy do it but he retired, did an excellent job for a fair price but I suspected he was keeping half the backstraps. Then had another shop do it and when I looked at the first pack of steaks and seen sawed bone that was the last time I used them. I found another shop (actually the brother of the first guy) that did a great job but was expensive. I do it myself much for the same reasons as Wilmsmeyer. My next goal is a smoker.
If it is much over 40 degrees the deer at least gets skinned, quartered and put in the freezer. I take all the stuff to do it at the deer cabin if the weather is warm.
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Post by ozark on Feb 3, 2009 20:49:32 GMT -5
If you have the equipment, the knowledge and take the time doing your own can be a big plus of what you get in cleanliness and taste. There is a big plus in knowing how to cook and serve it. Most cooks overcooks wild game and many put so much seasoning thinking they are getting rid of what they call the wild taste they ruin it. Prime Choice beef doesn't taste good cooked poorly. Ozark
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Post by getonit on Feb 3, 2009 21:00:04 GMT -5
For the same reasons as Wilms is why I started processing my own- when the local favored butcher ( whom I was freinds with the family) let me know how they divide the meat from all the deer they get in- they weigh your deer and calculate the amount you get- not the venison you brought in- that was pretty much the end of doing business with them- I too have seen how other hunters are lax in their pre-processing regimen- or not worrying about a 65 degree day or two and cooling the carcass- deer that are shot to doll rags- found deer claimed that the hunter didnt know when it was shot (this has happened a couple times, believe it or not!) I do know that my venison tastes much better now - And I dont think I'm imagining it ;D Rick
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Post by deadeye on Feb 3, 2009 22:09:48 GMT -5
i agree with butchering the game yourself,its the next to last step of the entire hunt,the last in a iron skillet upon a wood stove in a garage w / a few good buds enjoying a brew also! priceless$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
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Post by younghunter86 on Feb 3, 2009 23:00:43 GMT -5
We process all of our deer from pulling the trigger to placing the fork in my mouth. We skin them, pull all four quarters off, grab the loins and finally the inner loins before gutting. This pretty much eliminates any hair or blood from the chest cavity getting on the meat.
If we took our deer to processor I think I'd have to take out some more school loans to pay for it. It's very expensive around here for what you get.
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Post by youp50 on Feb 4, 2009 3:55:32 GMT -5
Lately I have been peeling them while still warm. I usually drive several miles from camp to hunt. I have been contemplating fabricating one of those jibs that mounts in the receiver hitch. It would be nice to peel them right in the woods should I catch one in the AM.
I have a friend that processes meat. I will sometimes wait until I know he is done and then go over and use his grinder. I have to clean it, but he just stores it in the freezer during the cutting season. Mine is old and slow, but always clean.
I usually let the deer hang after skinning. I will loosely wrap it with an old bed sheet to keep the chickadees and peckerwoods off.
I grew up thinking venison was poor table fare. It had to do with the band saw pulling that marrow through the meat. I would take a drink of milk and the roof of my mouth would cake up with that tallow. I kept trying to believe it was good. And my Mom would start cooking it at noon. Once I started cutting my own and not overcooking it life got better. And our deer live on browse, those corn fed jaspers down south are better yet.
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Post by jkruger on Feb 4, 2009 5:36:56 GMT -5
We always cut our own deer. It would cost a fortune to have it done professionally in these parts. Mostly because I harvest more than a few each season. we also bone our venison out. The exception being the hocks and shanks which I like to make soup with. neck gets made into a roast ,pull meat off and put into a bbq sauce then onto hard rolls like pulled pork. I'm feeling hungry!!!!
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Post by raf on Feb 4, 2009 9:19:11 GMT -5
Always do my own. Skin it in the garage as soon as I get home. Then bone it out and cut into steaks. Grind the trim and poorer cut into burger and then freeze the works. Come spring I make sausage and jerky. Some steaks are kept for the BBQ.
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Post by Chris Champion on Feb 4, 2009 10:25:02 GMT -5
Always do our own. My dad and uncles went in together several years ago and bought a small walk-in cooler at an auction along with a used Hobart commercial grade meat grinder and band-saw. Don't use the band saw any more because it took longer to clean the saw up than it did to process a few deer. The cooler is probably 6x8 and will hold 10 to 12 carcasses if you pack them in tight. We let them hang for 4 or 5 days in the cooler and then once there are a few ready we will have a meat cutting party. A few people boning meat to grind and a couple of people cutting up steaks, roasts, etc and a couple of people running the vacuum sealer. Including clean up time we can usually fully process a deer an hour. My wife and I don't eat a lot of venison. Mostly the burger for chili, goulash, hamberger helper, etc and the back straps and tenderloins are good in other various recipies. We love the salami and snack sticks though so If I get more than one deer I usually have one of them all put into these yummy treats.
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Post by edge on Feb 4, 2009 12:16:17 GMT -5
I have been doing my own for about 20 years. I prefer to skin while still warm and it comes off very easily. Even though a big deer around here is not much over 150 pounds gutted, I have a 1 ton hoist in my garage which makes raising any deer a snap. Most Does are probably 90-110 lbs. With the exception of grind meat, all muscles are removed of all connective tissue. 99% of all meat is cut about 3/4 inch thick and pan fried in butter and it rarely needs a knife to cut when cooked with a pink center. This year I will try some new recipes, so if you have some good ones please add them to the recipe forum edge.
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Post by tar12 on Feb 4, 2009 21:49:44 GMT -5
Once the local shops got crazy on price and Quentin started adding deer to the tally, it was time to set up shop.I purchased a commercial grinder and vacum sealer.Best money I ever spent!We grind burger,select choice steaks for summer grilling.I have had sugar cured hickory smoked deer hams and they are FANTASTIC! My next purchase is going to be a smoker, can not decide on what route to go yet.I want to smoke some hams and salami and snack sticks I also had some venision ring bologna last year that my buddy from PA brought me.I was very impressed with that as well.
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orion
8 Pointer
Posts: 128
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Post by orion on Feb 5, 2009 14:46:46 GMT -5
Cutting your own is well worth the effort. I have cut my own for many years. Skin them when warm if possible, use a blow torch (be careful with hair left on the head or feet as it will burn like hell) after to burn any residual hair off. Bone out the remaining with a fillet knife. Keep the loin or back straps whole. Keep the ribs, liver and heart.
Best piece of advise to a newby: except for the loins, when you cut steaks, make them about 1 inch thick, especially if you want to grill them. Too many people get quarter inch steaks from their cutter, slap them on the grill, and 2 minutes later they are well done and tough as leather. Marinate big steaks in olive oil, fresh garlic, balsamic vinegar and onions in the afternoon, grill in the evening, it doesn't get any better.
Good luck
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Post by fowlplay on Feb 8, 2009 1:36:49 GMT -5
I process my deer also. I normally go deer hunting for two or three days at a time. When I harvest a deer I will hang it in the barn and skin it while the deer is still warm. I then will quarter the deer and place in a large cooler covered with ice and drain open. The early seasons are to warm to hang a deer around here. I will finish butchering the deer at my leisure once I get back home. I have vacuum sealer, meat grinder, and a nice set of German blades that makes the job go easy. I also use the two pound deer burger bags that hooks right up to the grinder. Makes packaging the burger real easy. Deer Jerky is always made and frozen to snack on through out the year. Steve
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Post by 12ptdroptine on Feb 8, 2009 11:41:49 GMT -5
I pay $75 to have mine done... My family will kill up to 4 a year at most. With our work schedule's and all it just isn't practical for us. By the time we would buy all the stuff needed it wouldn't be real feasible. We usually have it all ground. But a cooler and grinder and wrapping materials and then a place to do it for a deer here and a deer there..Its just easier for me to drop it off at the locker. Drop
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Post by northny on Feb 8, 2009 21:42:40 GMT -5
I process my own deer. Started at our old camp, we had processing parties. As a new guy you apprentice as a framer (skinning and quartering, pulling out backstraps), when you became adept at that, you progressed inside to be a finisher. First as a wrapper (watching others), then you got to do front shoulders until you were good at them, then you went to hind quarters. Gets you experience you would not get on your own. When you skin 6 deer in a row, and pull out a dozen backstraps, you pretty much have it down. I started my sons the same way. They are both qualified "framers", and now working on finishing. I purchased equipment piecemeal, and now have a full set. Built a shed at camp to store my UTV, and sized it so we can hang four deer inside away from animals. I have a grinder and vacuum packer, want to buy a hydrator next.
My experience with commercial processors were not real bad, but not good.
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Post by sincyrman on Feb 8, 2009 23:08:42 GMT -5
Last Sept, I shot a deer on a very warm day. Our bow season starts on Sept 15. I brought the deer home, hung it, skinned it, quartered it, and wrapped the pieces in plastic and placed them in my fridge. I had to do some arranging in the fridge first, but it all fit. Then, it was just a matter of working on it, one piece at a time. I too have the grinder and vacuum sealer. no sawing of any bones, and like thick cuts.
My buddy has an old fridge that he keeps in his cellar, just for occasions like mine. Unfortunately, he does not live nearby.
PS The look on my girlfriends face when she opened the fridge was priceless!
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Post by deadeer on Feb 11, 2009 14:50:11 GMT -5
We used to pay, but the prices are $100 now after pork is added to burger. I have seen some guys with $300-$400 bills after specialty meats are done. We have been cutting our own for 6-7 yrs now, and it definately tastes better knowing it's your own. I had to laugh when I read younghunter86 butchering before gutting. We do the same and people think your crazy or lying, but it really makes life easy if all conditions are right, ie. temp, time, etc. I don't have a vacuum sealer yet, have heard some people dislike for various reasons, but sure think it would save on freezer burn. Which ones do you guys have or like. I see them on sale all the time, but want some actual input from hunters, not manufacturers. Thanks. deadeer
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