Self butchering your deer.

[SpurHunter]

Great article about why some choose this route.

http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs...-rest-butchering-your-own-deer?src=SOC&dom=fb

 

[churly]

Good read. My favorite part these days, is having my girls help where they can. Its been cool to allow them to see the deer go from Daddys truck to their mouths. They really enjoy anything made out of vinison. It cracks me up. They wont eat peas or turnip greens, but if I tell them an unidentifiable piece of meat is "deer meat" they fight over it.

I feel like doing your own butchering is the only way to go!

 

[SpurHunter]

Glad to see you converted Justin, there is really great satisfaction in pulling out a pack of meat, knowing you know what it went through, and what it DIDNT go through before feedin it to your family.

 

[kcsteve]

Look into buying a good meat grinder. A friend of mine was a deer processor and he made the best summer sausage. He would bring summer sausage to work and we would fight over it. Some of his clients would have the whole deer made into summer sausage, except for the tenderloin.

 

[Buoy-Master]

I think the 3 of us have good ones by now. Lol.
I've been doing my own for 4 years now and love doing it. Make the cuts I want and stack it up in the freezer. I don't ground right away though. I package chunks in 1 and 2 pound foodsaver bags and grind as I need them. So much fresher that way. From summer sausage to Italian sausage..jerky and most recently, canned! Tried canned last year and had to make my own this year. It's a winner around here.

 

[Buoy-Master]

Oh...and I just had deer heart with some mushroom gravy and noodles. Yumm!

 

[calveryc]

A good electric grinder and a good tenderizer are a must. My wife and I can process a decent sized deer in about 3 hours. That's from the truck to the freezer including grinding and tenderizing. It's a very satisfying feeling.