deer cut up along

[VA Bowbender]

I didn't read every post, but what did you do with the shoulders?

[Shaun]

V A, I bone out the shoulders and use this for stews, chili, or grind for burger. Shoulder meat goes in packages marked "boned shoulder", and into the freezer. I prefer to make the decision about what to use each part for as the cooking muse directs me later rather than make them into finished or specialty cuts while butchering. Meat also keeps longer in large cuts rather than smaller steaks, pieces or ground.

[Coop]

Good job Shaun!  

I started a few years ago cutting up my own deer and it was one of the best skills I learned.

BTW I got to see Shaun's VW in person and it's in really nice shape. I have always liked those old beetles.

[Walkingstick]

Awesome job Shaun...after seeing so many deer stacked like cordwood, some smelling like fox bait at processors I learned to take care of my own the very same way that you do. I do my steaks and loins and the rest is either jerky or summer sausage. Just smoked 30 pounds of sausage on Tuesday. thanks for sharing with the gang. I will admit I use a vacuum sealer today for all my meats and like the quality over time much better than paper but of course it's just me and mom now. Once again...great job.        ...............Mac~

[kcbrown]

Been doing ours the same way for years. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Shawn Leonard]

Shaun, very cool!!! I do all my own with my Dad!! We also need someone to show guys how to gut a deer. Man, I watched a guy this morning and it was a mess. He just yanked and pulled. He said he was done and I said what about the heart and lungs, he was shocked when I showed him what he left inside. He said he always does it that way and brings them to the butcher!(LOL!!!) Shawn

[Little Tree]

shaun, what do you do with your hides?

[Roger Norris]

Shaun - I cut up several deer a year (2 last week), and thought I was pretty good at it...your tutorial taught me a few things, especialy about the hind quarters. Thanks very much.

[Shaun]

Little Tree, I often sell my hides to a local fur buyer for a few dollars each. This season I'm sending them off to W B Place in Hartford, WI to be tanned. Cost about $25 plus postage per hide. They will also do a hair on tan for about $50. If you are going to send hides in, contact them or a simular company (Google search) for instructions. Most want the hide salted and air dried for a few days - not scraped, and then packaged in paper & cardboard box only - no plastic bags or wraps.

Thanks all for the feedback. I meant this only as a primer to encourage folks to consider doing their own butchering. What you like to cook & eat and the size of your family will change the specifics of cuts. The same general methods will work for any large game animal, I use basically the same method for anything from elk to javies.

I hunt the gun season with a bunch of local farmers. Its a traditional neighborhood social and bonding event. More like a harvest than a hunt. They hang all the deer, leg peeling started like Jerry mentioned, at one barn. Then there is  a cutting up gathering one night at the end of the season. Their method is basically the same, but they cut "steaks" about 1/2" thick from the loins and some rounds. The balance of the meat is boned and taken to different lockers that do specialty sausage preparation. They also grind some with beef suet for burger.

Now, get out there and get some venison.

[Steve Kendrot]

Nice tutorial Shaun. I always considered the butchering part of the hunt. Last year I shot a deer in the warm weather and didn't have time to cut it up. Paid $80 to have it flash frozen and buzzed up on a band saw. Most of the vacupacks lost their seal and I wound up tossing half the meat due to freezer burn. Was such a waste! I'll  never do it again. Have taken to quartering and putting on ice in the cooler for a few days this year. Seems to work. Prefer to hang in 40 degree weather though. Learned something from you on the eye of round. Most of my deer are small enough that it gets left attached to the bottom round. It looks like a tenderloin though.

[Tim Clark]

Thank you, Shaun - now I know I've been doing it right! I'm serious - I first started cutting my own for two reasons: 1. The meat was always gamey due to bone being sawn through for steaks, etc., and 2. After bringing a 197# dressed weight 8-point buck to the "butcher" (just a guy with a bandsaw, a garage and 3 sons) and holding the paper shopping bag worth of meat from my deer, I asked where the rest of it was. I was told that what I had was what there was, and that I was "ignorant" of how much waste there was in butchering. Yeah, like into his OWN freezer kind of waste. Anyhow, it's a pain for me because of time poverty these days, but my oh my what a wonderful way, to butcher your own. Anyhow, like I said, it's nice to know that I figured out by accident what you've shown is the way to do it. I always had those nagging doubts, especially when people would ask what cut of meat were they eating. Beyond the tenderloins and loins, what did I know? What I called the "round" is actually the sirloin... oh well, good learning times at hand.

Oh yeah, and Max (the family mutt) REALLY likes that I butcher our own! He gets all the scraps, and he especially likes the front quarters after they've had the meat boned off them. Of course I'm sure he'd prefer that I'd leave the meat on them, but that's not how it's gonna be! I'm glad he's not too visible from the road, it looks like a dinosaur kill around his house when we're done.

[DeerSpotter]

Shaun,


There is a guy in Wisconsin that has a DVD, he butchers his deer the same way you do.  Everything is deboned.  You guys can get the DVD if you want to his (Bill Hesselgrave web site is:


 www.hessvideo.com

The DVD is called: " Care and Processing of Venison"
click on videos available


He shows you everything from field dressing, to wrapping the meet.  It's something you can put into your library for archery.  I purchased mine at Gander Mountain, it's a sporting-goods store.  I'm sure they would have at Cabel's, or you can order it right off his site.

BrokenArrow1


Carl

[VA Bowbender]

Here's a DVD I made for VA Dept of Game and Inland Fisheries and it's only $12.00.

  https://www3.dgif.virginia.gov/estore/proddetail.asp?prod=VW250  

 

[tippit]

Shaun, Very good surgical technic!  Doc

[mqqse]

Man, what a great thread.  I'm going to put this info to use tomorrow night on a deer shot Wednesday morning.  I do have a few questions that may have been addressed earlier but I might have missed:


1)  Food savers (Tilia type).  Is it better than butcher paper?  If so, do you freeze your burger meat and then grind before use or grind and then freeze?

2)  Are my tenderloins inside the ribcage toast since they have been exposed to air for 3 days?


Thanks again for a great post.

[Alsea]

Originally posted by mqqse:



1)  ....do you freeze your burger meat and then grind before use or grind and then freeze?

2)  Are my tenderloins inside the ribcage toast since they have been exposed to air for 3 days?


 

1) Quality wise it doesn't matter. What I like to do is to freeze the burger portions and scraps until all the deer killing is done and then thaw and grind all at one time, package and refreeze. Just more efficient that way.

2) The tenderloins will have a little rind on them, but are still worth the trouble, not toast yet. A good practice is to pull these as soon as possible.

[Robert Kennedy]

Figured I'd offer an alternative method of getting the hide off that I learned from my Dad who learned it from a couple of old guys that did all the skinning for a club in the Mississippi Delta back in the 60's.  It's going to seem backwards for all of you that do it the way Shaun showed, hanging by the heels, but trust me, this way works and it really good when you're by yourself.

First, cut the hide all the way around the neck and then down the center of the chest/stomach and ring around the rear end as usual.  Next ring the legs and then cut in from the rings to the centerline cut along each leg.  Now, peel the hide back on the neck until you can roll it around a golf ball.  Cinch a small cable or piece of rope around that with a foot or two of slack on it. Hook the other end to something solid, like the bumper of your truck. Next, loop the rope of your lift pulley around the neck and hoist the deer up.  As you lift the deer, the hide will be peeled off without all the huffin and puffin.  Growing up we used a boat winch for our lift, so all we had to do was turn the crank and the hide came right off.  The guys that taught the trick to my dad used a piece of clothesline wire with loops in both ends and just dropped the loose end over the hitch on the jeep, put the jeep in gear and drove off to pull the hide.