What did you do with the Deer you killed?

sureshots

New member
Most everyone that Hunted Deer this season had at least some degree of success. What did you do with your Kill? I kept some and gave most of it to others. Do you have an unusual receipt you would share with others?
 
Well - I got three deer; all does

I got an entire one made into extra hot sausage.
I got one cut into jerky meat, steaks and ground.
The third was made into smoked cooked sauage with pepper jack cheese and more ground.

I eat the sausage weekly.
I send aome presmoked cooked to relatives as gifts.
I use the ground and mix it 50/50 to make meat balls for our sauce every Sunday. Grill or put steaks in crock pot.
 
My kids and I filled the deep freeze almost to the very top with deer and turkey.

The only times we buy beef is when certain family members come to visit.
 
I had the first one processed for myself.

I had the second one processed for a friend.

I quartered the third one for a friend who wanted whole hams/shoulders to roast.
 
I shared some of this year's deer with a couple of co-workers. As far as processing, I had it all ground with the exception of the backstraps and a couple of roasts. So far, have made some chili and jerky out of the roast.

I'm also having a Euro mount made out of the head.
 
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Besides the one that got fed to the cougar and the tiger ( link to that post, http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=325761 ) we process our own. Some jerky, little ground and a bunch for frying. Most of it is gone already.

Still shooting hogs, got one Tuesday evening. Process them ourselves too. Some sausage, good bit of fried and some gets the long slow cook..... Actually fed the crew at work fried pork on Thursday morning from the Tuesday night hog.

Had a bottle of fresh pure Maple Syrup from Vermont to dip it in......!!!!
 
We took three this year...all processed and put in the freezer in various forums: Ground, steaks, roasts, cubed, jerky strips, and whole rear quarters for the smoker.

We did give some steaks to my dad; he doesn't hunt anymore, but still loves the meat. :)
 
After skinning, it went to the butcher. (I quit butchering my own after the first few). It came back to me vacuum sealed in the form of steaks, roasts, sausage and burger. Then this year, as in years past, some goes to hunting buddies at camp, some to close non-hunting friends, the rest into our freezer. My wife and I both prefer to eat venison while it lasts!

Why do you ask?:D
 
bagged my first deer ever this year, (first big game animal too) and am proud to say i did all the work start to finish. Was a small spike buck. help from the internet has been fantastic from gutting to butchering ect. from videos to picture write ups it helped tremendously. infact i dont think i would have ever gotten into hunting (dont really know anyone that hunts) w/o the internet. as for the butchering no one ever taught me/never seen it in person but i did a really good job, especially for the first time b/c of all the help online...

anyhow w/ the meat this is what i did

front legs = ground meat (and through the tongue in too =)
neck meat/rib meat/flank = ground meat

rear legs i cut into the different muscle groups to be used as roasts and or steaked up when needed

the muscle that runs along the spine on the inside i ate the day i bagged it/and for the following few days. backstrap?

the loins that run along the outside of the animal along the spine i cut out and butterfly-steaked them.

i gave away a couple ground meat packages to some friends and since i bagged the thing early november, i've eaten some roasts/steaks and ground meat dish's from it. there is still plenty left frozen in the fridge.

though a lot of work from everything from driving 2 hours+ away a bunch of times to hunt, waking up at 3am, gas/tolls, dragging the animal out/butchering/freezing ect ect ....i can't wait to do it again (hopefully) next year!
 
1st deer i got. bow killed, took all the meat exept backstraps, and had it all made into polish and terriyaki pepper sticks, was a larg doe, second deer, rifle killed, i gave to a coworker. Both whitetails. Normaly i make mostly burger out of them if needed but i got a big cow elk during archery season so that took care of the steaks, stewmeat, roasts and burger.
 
We're working our way through an elk and a deer. The elk was processed in Colorado but I took the deer on my place and do those myself.

I've had either elk or deer almost everyday in one form or another. I got a new smoker so we've been having fun with that; we made a batch of summer sausage and just got a kit to make pepperoni snack sticks.

Today, for example, I browned a fist full of ground venison in a skillet along with some small chunked potato, then broke three eggs over it and dressed it up with some salsa. That's a brunch that will carry you until supper. I didn't make it to supper, though, and made a platter of cut summer sausage on club crackers with a slice of cheese melted on top. After that I could have skipped dinner, but later in the evening some left over spaghetti sounded good... spaghetti with the meatiest meat sauce in the world, made with ground venison of course.

No problem putting away two deer most years, and now I consider myself to have been in training for a deer and an elk. The present trend indicates that I’m up to the challenge. :D

Bon appétit!
 
L,Derry - You get a butcher to vacumm seal your meat????

Mine does a great job with processing and packaging, but I have never heard of one around here that vacumm seals the packages - Would think it would be too time consuming and expensive for them to be productive.
 
I have 2, 21cu ft upright freezers that stay full every year with deer, hog and whatever else I shoot. I normally shoot 5 deer every year, but this year, my rotation back across the pond cut my hunting short so only processed three, all doe. Left the big bucks alone this year. I will generally shoot one yearling ( talk about tender), and the rest a mix of medium doe and bucks. In the years of hunting on my own place I have only had one processed due to a time constraint. I looked at the box the meat was in and instantly knew I got ripped off quantity wise.
I generally bone the whole deer out while hanging and put in my dedicated fridge for aging. By boning it out I can get two good sized deer in there at once and get all the meat leaving nothing. A lot of folks scrap the brisket and rib meat as well as leg muscles, but you have no idea how much you are wasting. That meat along with the neck meat is dedicated to burger. because of the versatility of ground meat, that is how most of it gets done. I use a huge SS tray and fill it with ground no less than 3/4 inch level and use a plastic 32 oz drink cup to cut the burgers out with and pack them packs of 2 and 4 per pack. A few stew meat packs and some steaks. Back strap is for the grill only! After over 50 deer it has becomes a system and takes no time, with no waste and no mess. When I first started out the kitchen looked like the Manson affair. Now, not one drop of blood in the house. Table set up outside next to the deer and all is done right there. Wife is happy. Next year, I might do a video of my system.

As far cooking goes, I don't do anything much different than with beef. Venison spaghetti is one of our favorites using all fresh ingredients, tomatoes, garlic, mushrooms and onions. Venison crock pot roasts or stew meat is another favorite done traditional style with veggies etc. Liver is done using my wifes tried and true liver and onion receipt. Kidneys diced are added to the liver and onions and add a fantastic flavor. Heart, I usually slice thin and fry it with eggs for breakfast. Some times it gets diced and added to spaghetti. Our Hill Country Venison is a great tasting meat and I don't try and add to much other junk to destroy and detract from the taste. Years ago, I did some 50/50 burgers using pork and did not like it so it is pure venison now, cut with 10% by wt., beef suet. NOT FAT, Beef Suet. It is the hard fat that comes from around the kidneys and loin in the animal. I get it from the UK in boxes. Wife is English. Each box will do 5 pounds of meat. Good luck finding it these days in the states. It binds the burger and makes it as juicy as beef without altering the taste. I started out years ago thinking venison was a magical meat and I had to use one of those fancy receipts from a "GAME COOK BOOK", but that is utterly not true. I also do a fair amount of jerkey using my own marinade.

If you like seasonings, and don't already use these, I highly recommend McCormick " seasoning grinders" as they come in about any concoction you can think of. For venison burgers and steaks, my favorite, non-grinder, is the McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning which also comes in a spicy mild hot version. For venison spaghetti I use the McCormick "Italian Herb Seasoning" It seems to have everything in the right proportions for me. I do not work for McCormicks and don't sell their products. It is just a great product.

Edit: One last thing. For those of you who choose not to use all parts of the deer, consider taking some time to make your four legged friend some dog food out of it. I dedicated all my scrap and brisket/neck/leg meat from two deer this year for our dog. I course grind it, put in large pot, add enough water proportional to the amount of natural rice you are going to add, 1-2 pounds of baby carrots and cook. You might have to experiment with the water amount so that it does not come out really soupy, all absorbed by rice. Let it cool, get a ton of 1 qt double ziploc bags and package it. I package each meal for JD with 3/4-1 pound serving. Man he just loves it and it is good for him to boot! I put up a lot of bags for him in November as treat meals.
Ken
 
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I generally have most of the deer groundup into burger. I keep the back straps and have some tenderloins made up (chop steaks). About half the deer meat eventually gets given away. Wife doesn't like to cook it.
 
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texfar

Sounds great, thanks for the details, very helpful. You gave me A couple of new Ideals that I'm sure going to try.
 
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