That wasn't the point of my post. Its great that you cut up your own deer. But the reasons you do it are your reasons, just like the reasons for others taking theirs to the processor are their own reasons. You jumped on Brett because he didn't do it himself, he had his reasons not to and it shouldn't matter to you what he did.
I do my own when possible. In Nebraska this year, I couldn't. So that cost me $80, then $30 for cape, then $30 more to add beef suet for taste(wife). This was for backstraps and ground only. Ripoff in my opinion....but I have not tried to cape and leave that to the pros. I bet I could learn quick enough... When I shot my two does in September, I did them myself. Knives - $10 Vacuum Sealer - Gift Vacuum bags $10 Grinder - Buddies Burger bags and hog ties/crimping tool - $30 Ground pork to add- $25 Ended up with 50 lbs of ground to make my own sausage, 6 roasts for my own jerky, back straps, and some extra stew chunks. Takes more time but worth the money to do my own.
You're all right in my book. And that's all I need and about three hours a roll of butcher paper a sharpie and zip lock bags. I take the rest down to the local Mexican food joint and use their grinder. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
I also value my time at more than eight dollars an hour however I would not be to proud to take a job at that wage rate if it was necessary. Pride comes before a fall bra. As for the two separate actions, there are more than two. I will not list them all but it starts with the truck keys and ends with a fork. I call it Bow Hunting. There is nothing more important for this block of time personally.
$160, sounds like a lot but I get it cut into steaks, keep the tenderloins and back strap, rest into jalapeno sausage and vacuum packed.
Dan, I think we should be friends, I can show you how to like more and you can teach me to be a Grizzled Veteran. What say you? Yes or No?
I too would work for $8/hr if necessary. It isn't though, so I'm not going to... On out of state trips I have frequently cut up the animal myself because I couldn't wait around for a butcher to finish it as I had a tight time table. When I'm around home, I have better ways to spend my time. Just me. Why do you use the same term middle school suburban white kids use to refer to each other? It's kind of creepy on an adult message board, lol.
Sometimes it is not what you say, it is how you say it. I am going to enjoy myself in the woods this afternoon. No hard feelings SpotNStalk. Have a good one.
I paid in the beginning because I was clueless, then tried some of my own...which was a hassle and time consuming...now we have done so many and have a process that works. Now, if two of us are at cabin - it is easy to have this thing skinned, cut, wrapped in freezer in less than an hour. Now that is all basic cuts, left whole (which last longer anyway and allow you to choose how to cut when preparing) and some ground. Many times I don't even grind until we are ready to use some, just unthaw and run through grinder. Dropping an elk this year and having to handle all that meat myself on the side of a mountain...I learned a lot, and one thing is that cutting up a deer takes no time at all. My buddies worked at local butchers during deer season when we were younger...NOT COOL, what happens to your deer when it's in a long line with 50-100 other deer...I will never go that route even with endless funds. I now enjoy processing my own and sure like promising my non-hunting friends how I handled the meat they are about to eat... ...in the end it's like picking a bow - do whatever works for you!
Do you guys seriously cut off every bit of the silver skin, even on the meat for the grinder? I've tried to do that but with so many different muscles, especially those for grinding, it is so time intensive and virtually impossible. I've since trimmed up some of it but a lot still gets ground up and truthfully I cannot tell the difference. Even roasts, unless you completely separate and skin each individual muscle group there is a fair mount of silver skin remaining. Steaks from the processor have silver skin and never had bad experience cooking them up. The processor I use is a large cattle processor here and shuts half their line down to take in deer every year, it's not as if they're hacks who are trying to turn deer out at lightning speeds. Usually takes about 5 days to 2 weeks(possibly 3 near firearm seasons). They're just too expensive at $79/119/129 for fawn/doe/buck, but they do a good job. Fat on the other hand is always cut off and discarded.
When I do mine, I do try and take off as much of the silver skin as I can. I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes once it's ground, but it's just what we have always done. Adds time to the process for sure. I try to get all the fat off too.
The top was good but the lower half got a bit stereotypical. Bra as defined by SPOTnSTALK.. A term used in short form to represent the extended word brother. Commonly used in a community held together by a common bond or shared interests. Thanks for your observations.
Understood, ..bluntness is a potential flaw. Word structure is important but perception is difficult to ascertain. Get a Big Buck Today and have a safe hunt! I am going to have to friend you now..hopefully you will accept.
I couldn't agree with you more. Besides the above, I rather enjoy processing deer, and IMO, the entire process is good knowledge to possess. My son is learning how to process, so the extra helping hands are a bonus. My wife pitches in and helps grind, and she runs the vacuum packer. Many hands make short work of a deer!
Steaks I cut every bit of visible silver and fat off. That means I separate each muscle as I cut them off the bone. Once you do it a few times you learn to recognize which pieces you will get decent steaks off of and which just need to go into the burger trimmings. On the trimmings for burger I do try to get any of the thick sinew/silver off but the thinner stuff I grind up. Most of the time it gets caught behind the grinding plate anyways. My buddy says I'm pretty anal about doing it this way but then again he never complains when I'm the one providing venison for a cook out or hunting trip LOL.
I haven't paid to have a deer processed in many many years, probably at least 12 years. I don't have a ton of $$$ into equipment either. I have a $40 grinder I got from WalMart. Other than that a couple of knives and I wrap everything in cellophane first to keep them from getting freezer burnt and then put in high quality freezer grade ziplock bags. I can keep steaks and other cuts clean and free of freezer burn for a good 12 months this way. I did every year take meat that is already cut up and cubed into tennis ball sized chunks to a local butcher in Albany who made all sorts of good stuff with it. I had him do a lot of different things but I preferred his cheddar hot dogs, knockwurst, and garlic salami. He did a lot of other stuff as well but those were our favorites. He charged between $3.50-$4.50 a lb for the finished product after processing and shrink wrapping. He mixed things heavily though, if you brought him 50lbs you were getting 100lbs of finished product and that's the weight you were paying based on. Hopefully I can find someone in the Chicagoland area that does similar stuff moving forward as we loved that type of stuff.
