Deer processing

C

cdmckane

New member
Just wondering what everyone's paying for deer processing. My processor went up on her price by over 25% from last year because of the cost of freezer paper. She's charging $65 up from $50 last year for skinning, boneless cut and wrap.

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I'm pretty sure my wife would flip her lid if I dragged a deer in the house and heaved it on the table.

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My processor vacuum seals then flash freezes everything, but the only cost increase this year has been for dressing (was $10 now $25). Too many folks avoiding the dirty work I guess.
 
Who doesn't field dress their deer? It's not hard and only takes a few minutes.

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ive never paid to do it. deer are easy and even a very large buck can be completely processed in only a couple hours by two or 3 people that know what they are doing.
skinning: the easiest part of the process, all you need is a sharp knife, just peel the hide back and gently run the knife along the fold between the meat and hide to cut the sinews that hold the hide in place, if you skin it while it is still warm you barely even need a knife, you just get it started, grab the hide firmly and it peels rifle off with a little elbow grease.

legs:
large muscle groups are roasts/jerky.
small groups with low tendon/sinew/fat composition are hamburger.
small groups with high tendon/sinew are stew meat.


backstraps and tenderloins are steaks.

that's about all that there is on a deer, everything else can serve as cheap, high protein dog/cat feed.
 
The more you process, the more you pay !!

The only processing I ever pay for, are the smoked meats like sticks, ring balogna and summer sausage. I also have deer burger made after boning it out. I usually keep out a ham or rump and jerk it out in the summer. As mentioned, you can do most of it, yourself... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
To have skinned (they keep the hide), deboned and cut into chops, roasts, tenderloins etc (and shrink wrap packaged) cost $70 this fall. $80 if you keep the hide.

Now if you want it made into hamburger, sausage or whatever.... bring more money!

(This is at a super good store that guarantees you get YOUR deer meat back -they tag the carcass- and makes the best deer sausage on the planet)..
 
Probably about $5 between going to the store and getting some zip lock bags, and plastic wrap.

We tossed the last one on the golf cart, took it back to the house, hung it off the back deck with ratchet strap hooked through the back tendons. Once the deer was hung, we removed the skin, cut off the shoulders, backstraps, and hind quarters. We got it back to the kitchen, cleaned any hair we saw off, and then wrapped it in plastic. Woods to freezer in about 2 hours.

We have friends that have a butcher quality meat grinder for deerburger, and we know someone that makes sausage as well. We have been thinking about making some jerky.
 
I'm pretty sure my wife would flip her lid if I dragged a deer in the house and heaved it on the table.
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Good call, my wife did and I've never been allowed to cut my own since:(

Here in Northern California we're paying about $1.00 a pound. The area I hunt has mostly blacktail so figure about $70 per deer, not including gutting or skinning.
 
Lemmee see .....

Freezer Paper ......................................... $6

Saran Wrap ............................................ $5

Freezer Tape .......................................... $2

73% lean ground beef*, 50 lbs @ $1.99 .... $100

Summer sausage cure and seasoning .......... $4

Jerky cure/seasoning ............................... $4

Sausage casings (12)................................$6

Knowing I can turn 4 dead deer into a full freezer: Priceless.



*mixed w/ ground venison 4/1 for "burger", 50/50 for summer sausage
 
I take mine whole to the processor, shoot 'em, load them in the truck and back up to the shed. They charge a base of $75.00 for roasts, burger, cube steak or stew. Cooked or prepared products are a little more. With work, kids and family obligations just hunting is a luxury plus I don't have the facilities right now to butcher a deer at home.
 
I'm pretty sure my wife would flip her lid if I dragged a deer in the house and heaved it on the table.
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Good call, my wife did and I've never been allowed to cut my own since .... :(
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Yer doin' it Wrong! Skin, wash, and quarter it outside. If she objects to bringing in large peices of meat, then you married .......... one of those ........ people* ..... sucks to be you......


I made sure my then girlfriend was OK by bringing her to my Grandparents' for deer season...... she fit right in, so I kept her..... that was 1989, and she's still with me. :)

*(vegetarians, I think they call them)
 
I used the tailgate on my F-150, perfect height. Depending on weather, quarter and put into coolers with ice for a day, then deboning. Backstraps and tenderloin go into vaccu-seal packages. Rest gets ground plain, no beef or sausage etc., and packed in 1.5 lb vaccu packs and put into freezer. Depending on what I want to make I will mix it then. Jerky add spices and cure only, summer sausage about 2-4 pounds hot pork sausage added for 20-25 pounds ground deer. Hanburgers 50/50 with sausage makes a wonderful burger. Only part that is done inside is the vaccu-packing. Wife likes to shoot them so she doesn't complain.

If you are paying to have it done, I would say you are getting a decent price on it.
 
I'm pretty sure my wife would flip her lid if I dragged a deer in the house and heaved it on the table.
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If a deer is skinned and quartered, it is very manageable on a kitchen counter or table. Bring one quarter at a time into the house, your wife will hardly notice.

Bone the hinds for steaks and roasts, the fronts for burger, and the backstraps for steaks. Done in 2 hours!

Buy a small meat grinder, you will use it every hunting season. I like to buy bacon ends for my burger binder. I use them at 9:1 for 90% lean burger, and the bacon gives the lean deer meat some nice moisture.

For wraping, I use plain old freezer paper and the plastic "vegtable bags" that supermarkets have out for the fresh produce. I talk to my local stores' produce manager and buy a roll off the store every couple years. It is very cheap and saves the frustration of using plastic wrap for the vapor liner.

Try butchering your own. You will know 100% of the meat is yours, and you can be as clean and sanitary as you like. After the initial investment, it also save lots and lots of money!

P.S. Wild game processed at home ALWAYS tastes better, too!
 
Who doesn't field dress their deer? It's not hard and only takes a few minutes.
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You'd be surprised... lot's of guys I run into don't want to get blood all over their Gucci-flauge! :D
 
You will know 100% of the meat is yours,
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THIS!^

Having seen some of the gutshot, flyblown carcasses that get dropped on the asphalt in front of the (now out of business) local butcher shop ..... never again!
 
I will probably end up doing my own butchering in a couple of years, as that's the one aspect of hunting that I haven't learned yet. However, with my current work schedule, and a 6-month old baby, I hardly have time to hunt, let alone learn how to butcher.
 
My dad's wife always skins them for us while we take our post hunt/drag nap. I would do a little research and start doing it yourself, it's not very hard or time consuming and it makes the meat taste that much better.

p.s. I've found that pork butts with plenty of fat make a nice additive for your venison burger. I thought the bacon (both cured and non-cured) gave it a wierd flavor
 
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