Just processed my first deer this season!

[TooTaxed]

mbt2001, you are so right! Hunting is fun...but once you pull the trigger it becomes work!

 

[devildog4329]

My ol' man taught me to butter fly cut the tenderloins, roll in flour, then into the crok pot with a couple cans of mushroom gravy. Serve with Mashed potatoes and man thats some good eatin.

 

[~z]

Welcome to the club! I’m sure you will continue to find this a rewarding process. We typically save strap, tenders, and some hind quarter for steaks. We additionally cure some whole hind quarters for ham and make about 100# of jerky. The remainder (necks, rib scraps, front shoulders, and all the small muscles) goes to the grinder for sausage. We make summer sausage, pan, and link sausage (with jalapenos and cheese of course), boudin, and liver sausage. This year we ended up making 1660# of sausage. It was a pretty good year.
~z

 

[X-Rap]

We do like Z.
I don't use a saw on anything bones are the enemy of frozen meat. We make cuts into roast sized pieces and then grill whole or slice and maranade then grill. I also like 1/2-3/4" pieces fried in butter.
Wrap tight in plastic wrap and again in freezer wrap and it will save for a long time.

 

[TE999]

This thread is making me hungry...

 

[sumpnz]

My ol' man taught me to butter fly cut the tenderloins, roll in flour, then into the crok pot with a couple cans of mushroom gravy. Serve with Mashed potatoes and man thats some good eatin.

Nevermind that I can't stand mushrooms, that will overcook the tenerloins. Best I've found so far is to chunk the meat into 1-2" cubes. The cook some bacon in a pan to render the fat. Sautee some onion and garlic in the fat and then remove. Add tenderloin to the pan and cook to rare. Serve with or without the onion/garlic, salt and pepper to taste.

 

[Magwa45]

I would like to do the butchering myself. Right now I don't have the space or the time with the little ones running around. Congrats to you, that is really the hunter's life!

 

[jeepmor]

I've done both. Finding a good meat shop that makes what you like is a real price worth paying in my opinion, particulary in jerky and sausage. I still prefer a day of butchering a deer into steaks over gutting and packing that rascal out that extra 75 yards down that 45 degree slope he went. Blast that gravity.

 

[sumpnz]

For just a single deer it's not that bad for time or space requirements. Once you've done it a time or two a few hours and a surface the size of a normal dining room table is about all you need. Get SWMBO to watch the crumb snatchers or get a babysitter for half a day and you're good to go. Best if you have a friend that's done it before who can come over to help that first time or two.

 

[LeontheProfessional]

I did not even know there were places to take game meat to be processed untill this year when one of the guys I was hunting with was talking about it.