Processing gear or Support your local processor?

Thanks Brad, I appreciate the concern, but my skin's pretty thick.

Jimbob has normally brought good perspective in the threads we've been in.

As for that, I don't own a grinder, and with work, wife, and kids, I don't have the time to experiment to get a mix "right". Easier to pay and let someone who knows what they are doing get it right the first time. Call me less of a man/hunter/whatever... I know what works in my life right now. That's also why I am not reloading. I've got the interest, and the money, but time is always that critical quantity, and my employer is relentless in demanding more of it. For the precious time I do get with my kids, I'd rather take them fishing, hunting, or shooting than gather around a table with a grinder, bowl, and spoon.

And Husqvarna, the reasons mentioned is the reason why most of us add some kind of fat to the ground meat. Venison is a lot of things: lean, free range, organic and non-GMO (in some cases/places), yummy, but one of the things it is NOT, is very good by itself for ground meat used in burgers, chili, etc. Because its so lean, it just doesn't have the fat to render to help it cook, burning, sticking, and in general, not working out well.
 
Globe, I always have help from the family with butchering/sausage making- a combination of "many hands make light work", "The Little Red Hen Story", and my oft-repeated "I won't always be around to do this for you, so you need to learn to do this for yourself...."

..... for us, the butchering and sausage/jerky making is as much a part of the experience as the hunting .......

I guess it boils down to developing and practicing skills, for me ...... skills are earned ..... so I value them above most everything else.
 
I have neither the skills, the equipment, the inclination, nor a wife understanding enough to butcher a deer myself.

I do have a great local processor, however. $65/deer, carved any way you want (add $2/lb for sausage). Hung for 2 weeks & vacuum packed.
 
I have been cutting up deer off and on since I have been hunting. I really stuck to it once I started hunting out of state. I remember one year in WV it was in the 70's during rifle season. At the end of the 2nd day I was dragging one to a dirt road and there was a hunter standing by his truck waiting for his buddy to come down. We talked and he said "I got a nice eight the FIRST day in the morning, want to see it?" We walked towards his truck with a cap and I thought he had the rack in the back. The whole deer (Gutted) was in the back. I would not have fed that to my dog. I bet that meat got given away to relatives. If you think you ever want to expand your hunting range or hunt in the early seasons, you better learn how to cut up a deer. It is not a steer, it is just an oversized rabbit.
 
Processor for me ... we have a full processing room at the club but it isnt worth it with all the pre cleaning and then cleaning up afterwards of the meat saws, grinders etc ... it isnt bad if 2 or 3 guys all do it same time then ya have help with it.
$50~70 here for basic processing .. (no jerky, meat sticks etc) .... i dont have to gut it and can drop it off a 830 on a sunday night and not have to work till midnight doing it myself.
It comes back in paper on freezer trays... I just label and vacuum seal before freezing.. Worth the cost to me.
 
I have a couple knives to debone and slice it. A grinder for chili meat. Butcher paper to wrap it in. That's all it takes. I only do 1 deer at a time. Could make sausage with the grinder but don't.
 
That is true about the sausage and grinder. One year we made sausage "Patties". You really do not need to stuff sausage.
 
Bulk sausage is where its at. I will at times stuff some polish and summer sausage, but mostly for breakfast sausage and other fresh sausage, bulk pack works fer me!
 
I've been seriously lazy when it comes to dealing with grinding the left over odd bits of the deer. Anything that doesn't look like a steak after cutting it up goes into the grinder. Just as lazy I mix the ground venison 50/50 with extra hot Italian sausage. The venison tames the hot sausage and the fat in the sausage holds the venison together. In the end I get a somewhat lean and mild sausage that I can't get enough of...

Tony
 
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