"How much for butchering?" and other questions...

[Moparmike]

I am a complete newbie to hunting, and if I am able to get into it this year, I would like to know how much butchering is usually on whitetail.

Also, besides the entrails, is there anything else I should take out from the carcass? (Dont laugh...) I only have the "hunters ed" guide for this stuff, and want to make sure that I do it right. (Stop snickering...) I need to go get me a KABAR for this (along with other purposes. After all, its a KABAR.)

Any other tips to the newbie hunter?

I am assuming that 8mm S&B soft point will do nicely on whitetail?

 

[Coltdriver]

There is a butcher shop in Arvada, Colorado that will prepare your game for about 85 cents a pound if you bring it in skinned and quartered. Its about a buck a pound if you bring it in intact but gutted. They don't do whole (non gutted) animals as far as I know.

 

[Art Eatman]

First off, do you have anybody to hunt with, that's got some experience?

Anyhow, in field-dressing, get the deer's belly skin carefully cut open, and the sac which holds the "innards". DON'T get careless and cut into the innards.

Work toward the back end first, from the diaphragm on back. Skinning out rhe ???? requires a fairly sharp knife. While you may be able to just rip the pelvic bone open with a knife (be very careful not to rip yourself), you may have to tap the back of your knife blade with a rock. Then, you can readily lift out the urethra and colon without cutting into them.

After a chest shot, there's a lot of blood above the diaphragm. When you open this up, a gallon or so comes out.

Cut all the way up the chest and up the neck. You can then lift out the entire innards and cut the throat out of the neck, all as one package.

Spread the deer out, belly down, and let it drain while you clean your hands and knife with the water from the canteen you so thoughtfully brought along.

You probably oughta have a fair amount of Charmin non-skid along, for nose-blowing and hand-wiping and suchlike. It's good for marking trails or where you found your deer, if you have to go get help and come back.

Nuff fer now,

Art

 

[JShirley]

Here in Ga, a whole deer starts about $35. Additional for ground, cubed, and sausage.

 

[Atticus]

Around here it varies from about $50 (The Amish) to $125 (if you want trail bologna, pepperoni, i.e. the works.

One note about field dressing- if you do get lucky and get one that you want to have mounted - DO NOT cut all the way up the neck, or your Taxidermist will stuff you. Just reach (with your knife in hand) as far up the inside the neck as you can, and sever the windpipe. Do a google search on "field dressing deer". You'll get numerous hits, and many of them will feature good photo's and/or illustrations.

 

[dakotasin]

the locker i use runs $50 on up to around $200, depending on what you want... if you just want the basics, which is loin, tenderloin, roasts, and hamburger (w/ or w/o beef tallow - no difference), that runs $50 (and that means you bring in a deer that is gutted, but otherwise intact - and lockers around here charge you extra if you bring them in skinned because of the extra trimming they have to do to cut out the dried up stuff).

for gutting... everything inside the deer needs to be on the outside by the time you are done. if you just remember that, then when you start wondering 'what next' you won't get too caught up in the little things...

i essentially dress the way art describes... it is far easier to show you than tell you... usually runs around 5-10 minutes for me to field dress a chest or neck-shot deer... will probably take you around 35-40 minutes for your first one (depending on how cold you are), and you will get progressively faster w/ every deer while you refine your technique.

 

[Sparky]

down here in the former Confederacy, the guys who process our deer charge about $35 to skin ,dress and process. They cut it up anyway you like. They charge $10additional to "cape" a head you want mounted. They also make the best smoked venison sausage I've ever tasted for a nominal additional charge. Be careful though. There are some guys down here who weigh your deer and you will get that much meat , but it won't necessarily be the deer you brought in. I'd ask & be sure you're going to get the animal that you harvested. Forgot to add the processor I use is a dedicated deer only processor,but prices generally average in the $35-$55 price range around Alabama.

 

[Carlos Cabeza]

but it won't necessarily be the deer you brought in. I'd ask & be sure you're going to get the animal that you harvested

This is SOP for most butcher shops. They do so many they'll usually give you a percentage of deer weight when brought in. Hunting is a very rewarding experience and cleaning your kill is part of that experience. The first time for me was the fun is over ................... But I had some help and read a book about cleaning med./big game and now I don't have any aversion to the act. Don't let it discourage you, each time will be a unique and different experience you will look forward to.

 

[pytron]

I am a hunting newbie. I've helped gut four deer, skinned three, and butchered one. We made the last one (a tiny black tail) into hamburger, all 40 pounds of it

It is definitely easiest to learn by watching. Even a video would be helpful, I think.

As far as butchering, since we were turning the little guy into hamburger, we just cut pieces off and stuck them in a cooler. Later, we ground it up in the Kitchen-Aid mixer with meat grinding attachment. During the grinding we added about 4 pounds of beef fat that came free from a local grocery store. That helps it stick together. Then we wrapped in plastic wrap and then covered in aluminum foil. Let the meat freeze seperately (don't stack) for a day or two before stacking. Labeling is also good Try to get as much air out as possible to help stave off freezer burn. If I were doing it alone, I would probably just take it to a butcher, but with one or two other helpers, it goes pretty quickly.

-Pytron

 

[saddlebum]

hey mike, carry your 10mm with you and if you get one up close pop him with that. btw the kabar isn't the best design for a hunting knife but it'll work.saddlebum p.s. if you really want a kabar pm me

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

http://www.angelfire.com/bc/canuck2/gutting.html

here ya go...

 

[nygunguy]

Here in NY

I just paid $127 for a good sized doe at Grizzly's in Hunt, NY. I got 25 pounds of Italian sausage links and the ground mixed with a bit of beef. The front shoulders were mad into roasts (2). The hind quarters were cut into steaks. The backstraps I get cut into quarters or thirds depending on size.

Hints:

1) Don't forget to take or mention the inside tenderloins. You find them inside the carcass along the spine. They are the best part of the deer - my humble opinion. Most rookies don't know about them and the butchers sometimes forget to give them back .

2) Mix lean (specify lean) beef with the ground. It tends to hold burgers together better than plain venison. Make sure they don't use beef fat. Don't use pork - it tastes funny. Again my opinion.

3) Make sure the butcher bones the meat. Also ask around about the quality. There's nothing worse than getting hair and bonedust back with your meat.

4) Don't be afraid to change butchers.

5) The doe (above) was at the butcher 45 minutes after I let the arrow go. I didn't do my A1 field dressing job on this one but... Make sure you get the deer cleaned out well if you''re not real close to the butcher and don't let it hang too long - again my opinion.

Good Luck !

 

[ARGarrison]

Try
Http://www.huntingnut.com/faq/fielddress/fielddress.html
for a quick how to fielddress a deer.

Most butcher shops around here will only grind everything, that way they only have to clean the grinder to switch back to beef, pork or lamb. At least the ones I've talked to.

We have a deer processing place, they only do deer. They charge $50 flat rate for one deer then the price goes up from there, if you want sausage and the like.

But we have enough farmers around that butcher their own stock, so I do it myself with their equipment. They ussaully help and you could always get a buddy to help also.

 

[JShirley]

"DO NOT cut all the way up the neck, or your Taxidermist will stuff you. Just reach (with your knife in hand) as far up the inside the neck as you can, and sever the windpipe. Do a google search on "field dressing deer". "

Yeah- found this out the hard way. You'll be charged extra for a hide if you cut all the way up the neck.

 

[gun pimp]

In Laurens, where we hunt, the processors charge $40 to do everything. All we do is harvest the deer and take it to them. There is an extra charge for sausage, but cubed, ground and all the rest is included. I always get my backstrap whole and put it in the smoker.

 

[MeekandMild]

Most states have a cooperative extension service from their local agricultural college, run by an agricultural expert known as a county agent. One can get information about processing deer from one's county agent.

Here is a sample of the sort of basic info one can find online: http://www.aces.edu/dept/extcomm/newspaper/venison.html

The brochures and other information one can get face-to-face are much more detailed.

 

[Mr. Chitlin]

Our local processor charges $50 for any type of cut, and an exrtra $10 if he has to skin it. Since it is on the way home from our property, I just drop 'em off field dressed. They cut the antlers off while I wait, and I go back in a week or so and pick it up.

 

[Redlg155]

Don't be afraid to ask to see how and where they butcher the deer. If they won't show you, then I'd find someone else.

The one that I use for sausage tags each carcass and a corresponding plastic bin so that your animal is the actual one that you get back. He is also more than happy to take you through a tour of the place.

As for tenderloins, I always cook mine that evening. I've been doing that for years and it's become part of a tradition for my family. Nothing is better than enjoying the fruits of the days labor.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[Jaywalker]

Let me expand a bit on Art's comments.

First, the deer's rectum is attached, and you have to unattach it some way. One way is to cut through, or possibly pry open the pelvis. (Hard) The other is to ream/cut around it from the outside. (Easier, but messy, if you're not careful.) Remember not to let urine or feces fall on what will later be meat you eat. I carry rubber bands to tie off the penis and short cord lengths to tie off the ???? after extraction. As Art said, the other main attachment point is the windpipe, and you can reach up into the body cavity far enough to sever this, once you have opened the chest.

Second, opening the chest is simple, if you remember to do it right. Remember that the breastbone is attached to the ribs on each side. Cut through this attachment (either side), rather than through the breastbone itself. Most of the deer we harvest is only a year or two old (yes, even the six- or eight-pointers), and this cartilaginous is soft enough to cut through pretty easily.

I note that the term Art and I both tried to use, a_n_u_s, doesn't make it through the board's filter, and instead becomes question marks.

Edited to say that I have one important conversation with the butcher I choose. I say to him, "Look - see that there's no bullet hole anywhere near the backstrap? There really shouldn't be any reason for my deer to come back to me with a note saying, 'Backstrap bloodshot - discarded.'" This is a choice cut, and sometimes the butchers decide they need it more than we do. I had that happen once, but not since I began having my conversation with them.

Jaywalker