I did for the first time last season. Cut out the back straps then had them grind the whole thing and add 5% fat too it. Turned out great. Anyone else do this? I have been doing my own for years.
The few times I took deer to a locker, they cut it up like beef sawing through bone and all and just ruin it. My brother in law takes most of his to a locker and has it made into sausage, etc and gets by okay. I can debone and grind it fairly fast if I want it all ground, would prefer to deal with it myself even when I'm pressed for time.
I do for convenience because I don't have a good location, or one that stays cool enough, to do it. It costs me anywhere from $60-$80 depending on the weight of the deer. Steak, burger, roasts, and sausage is standard in that package. Smaller game is a different story and eventually I would like to process my own deer if I had the right equipment and location to do it.
The one I did last season turned out amazing. They run it through a couple times and with the added fat it tastes amazing. I may just do it with the same shop next season with a deer or 2.
I think I paid like $90 for mine but I got back over 100lbs of ground meat. That's a deal in my book!
I would try it in the right circumstances, heaven knows it would be a lot more convenient for me and would allow me to take an extra deer or tw...uhm...five.
Yea Im thinking the same thing. Would be sweet to fill my deep freezer every year! Saves all the money from buying beef.
Nobody touches my venison but me. I process my own and take pride in it. I personally consider the process an important part of the hunting experience and very satisfying.
Same here till I dropped one off and got it back all nice and packaged now I feel I should do at least 1 deer a year at the processor
We process it ourselves. We got burnt once a long time ago taking it in. It was expensive and we had boned it out ourselves. We just wanted them to make some pepper sticks and breakfast sausage. You couldn't eat any of it. It was horrid !!!!!!! Normally the outfit was suppose to be very good. That year they had a lot of unhappy people... not just us. Never again !! Tim
It depends how I am feeling or where I am hunting. One spot in Pa we have a friend that is a processor that lives very close by and he does them for free for our group. He also does excellent work. In Ohio I drop them off, especially early season, because I often hunt several days and it is too warm to leave a deer in the truck for 2-3 days. My other Pa public land spot is about 45 minutes from home. If I take a deer there I sometimes cut it myself, or if my back is bothering me we have a small local butcher I have used for 20 years that I trust to do good work.
Depends where I am. 90% of the time yes. Does anytime before gun season at my processor in KY are $55. I gut it, pull out the back straps and tenderloins, and let them cut the rest into ground meat and steaks... The amount of time from start to finish for me to do the rest myself I'd basically be paying myself minimum wage to do a task I don't enjoy at all... Bump that.
I've always had mine processed. I have never hunted with people that do it themselves to learn and quite honestly, don't have a good area to do it. I have a few lockers here locally that do a fantastic job.
I drop mine off for convenience factor. Has always worked out good for me. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I usually do mine myself. The ones that i give to friends go to the butcher, they pick up and pay. He makes some pretty cool stuff, deer bacon, deer ham, pastrami, snack sticks, etc. I'll usually pay the difference on those to get a few treats out of it. V
Have done the deboning/butchering myself on every deer for around 20+ years now. It can be a tiring pain on a worknight, though! Like others, I take the "scrapes" in for sausage and ground. I have done the grinding myself in the past and just never ended up with the same quality of product I get from the butcher.
