Butcher - Ron Brown - Mission Meat Shop

[ElectricDyck]

When you judge butchers you have to consider their experience is cattle based and they butcher appropriately. I butcher at home and de bone and trim all fat off my game..this would cost a fortune at the butcher as its very tie consuming, especially if your anal like me and trim all the sliver skin and sinew off of roasts and steaks..

The first time out of two that I took my game to a local butcher I received "chops" back, they consisted of a cut backbone, a partial rib, with meat in between bones consisting of backstrap, tenderloin, and some rib meat..probably would be awesome in a beef cut but in a deer steak it is quite the opposite..

I think the butchers can all do what we desire when it comes to game cutting but we need to be educated and request what we want and be ready to pay accordingly or do ourselves..

My BIL's and my self spent 72 man hours butchering 2 moose into steaks, roast, ground and a fair bit of sausage making...its a fiar bit of time but every package we un rap is ready to cook and eat..if you do the math per about 45 dollars per hour thats $3240 plus the fat, spices casings, the wrappings and overhead it probably costs about $3800 for a butcher to do that kind of job...not many people are willing to pay a butcher that kind of dough...you get what you pay for.

[hoochie]

we took 3 deer to a butcher this year, and picked them up on the day we were leaving town. as we were driving home ( 5or 6hrs from the butcher shop) I got to thinking about how much meat we had in return. I started asking myself "how much does bone weigh?".. "how much did we get from the previous years' from a deer".. "does it add up?"

I still don't have an answer to that question " how much of the hanging weight is going to be lost?"
we asked specifically to have on entire deer all ground, except the roasts. not sure it was all there.

[Gateholio]

I wrote this on CGN recently. I think it's appropriate here,too...


I think it's a good idea to share information about butchers. ANd make sure the butchers know they are getting reviewed. I do all of our own personal meat but every year we get a bunch of lambs done to sell, and we take them in to a butcher. We went through a few of them before deciding on one we really like, and is very professional.

That being said- and this is totally off topic from BartleDan, but a general observation about butcher/hunter relations- I think many hunters set themselves up for disappointment.

They take whole animals in with the skin on and wonder why it costs so much and they don 't actually get that much meat.They take in quarters that have a crust on them and wonder why they get billed for that too. They take in quarters with heavy bones in them and get mad that they get billed for that, too. They don't look at the price of things then get shocked by a big bill. They drop off a carcass and have no idea how much it weighs then complain that the butcher stole their meat because they dropped off what they think was a 400 lb mule deer but only got 100lb of meat. They want sausage but don't really want to pay for it. They think butchers should work for almost free.

If you want to maximize your butcher experience, take him boned out meat or as close to it as possible (unless you want something with bone in). Take in clean meat with no hide on it. Remove any bloodshot or damaged meat. Get it weighed when you drop it off, and confirm the terms= What percentage will you get back? What is the cost per pound and how is it calculated? How much is sausage? Any extra fees? Make sure how you want it cut is recorded and get a copy or at least take a pic with your phone.

If you don't like his terms take it somewhere else or do it yourself.

I've been at a number of butchers when game was dropped off and it has varied from perfectly cared for meat to horror show carcasses. I've heard some guys talk about how it is a "point of pride to drop off their moose whole to the butcher" I just shake my head at how idiotic that is. For one, your meat doesn't cool as quickly as possible. Secondly, by not doing any of the work yourself, you have set yourself up for a huge bill. Every step you take before dropping it off, reduces your cost.

Hunters that want good meat and good dealings with butchers need to take responsibility for themselves, starting with good shot placement then good meat care.

[Bugle M In]

I wrote this on CGN recently. I think it's appropriate here,too...


I think it's a good idea to share information about butchers. ANd make sure the butchers know they are getting reviewed. I do all of our own personal meat but every year we get a bunch of lambs done to sell, and we take them in to a butcher. We went through a few of them before deciding on one we really like, and is very professional.

That being said- and this is totally off topic from BartleDan, but a general observation about butcher/hunter relations- I think many hunters set themselves up for disappointment.

They take whole animals in with the skin on and wonder why it costs so much and they don 't actually get that much meat.They take in quarters that have a crust on them and wonder why they get billed for that too. They take in quarters with heavy bones in them and get mad that they get billed for that, too. They don't look at the price of things then get shocked by a big bill. They drop off a carcass and have no idea how much it weighs then complain that the butcher stole their meat because they dropped off what they think was a 400 lb mule deer but only got 100lb of meat. They want sausage but don't really want to pay for it. They think butchers should work for almost free.

If you want to maximize your butcher experience, take him boned out meat or as close to it as possible (unless you want something with bone in). Take in clean meat with no hide on it. Remove any bloodshot or damaged meat. Get it weighed when you drop it off, and confirm the terms= What percentage will you get back? What is the cost per pound and how is it calculated? How much is sausage? Any extra fees? Make sure how you want it cut is recorded and get a copy or at least take a pic with your phone.

If you don't like his terms take it somewhere else or do it yourself.

I've been at a number of butchers when game was dropped off and it has varied from perfectly cared for meat to horror show carcasses. I've heard some guys talk about how it is a "point of pride to drop off their moose whole to the butcher" I just shake my head at how idiotic that is. For one, your meat doesn't cool as quickly as possible. Secondly, by not doing any of the work yourself, you have set yourself up for a huge bill. Every step you take before dropping it off, reduces your cost.

Hunters that want good meat and good dealings with butchers need to take responsibility for themselves, starting with good shot placement then good meat care.

What he said.....

[J_T]

I agree with Gatehouse as well. As hunters, we are in part, responsible for the experience.

Steelco must be asleep. IBTL.

[mcmullmar]

Butchering yourself is not that hard. Just intimidating the first time.

[Machinist]

I took our Moose to Ron , in September and he did an excellent job, not only that his cut and wrap price of 65 cents is pretty good for the Lowermainland , He was very helpful and courtious , came in early on the mornong I wanted to pick it up so it was convenient for me , I will deal with him again next year for sure.

[Steeleco]

I agree with Gatehouse as well. As hunters, we are in part, responsible for the experience.

Steelco must be asleep. IBTL.

No at work smart guy. I agree with Gatehouse. Too many guys want or get the list right before their hunt, when I did use a cutter, I almost interviewed them LONG before I went hunting. Some I never went back too after the first meet.

We put all kinds of planning into the hunt, but often NONE into what shall we do if we get something?

[Wentrot]

I have never used a butcher and after reading some of the stories don't think I ever will
Besides,buchering yourself just adds to the full experience.

[Big Lew]

Gatehouse said it in a nut shell!
I've personally seen the various situations he's describing and heard the negative comments
about butchers ripping them off. I've taken a couple of deer and 2 moose into butchers that
I was either referred to, or after discussing what I wanted done, was confident in their professionalism.
I brought in the animals (except my 1st moose which wasn't skinned) thoroughly cleaned,
including around the bullet wound, and was completely satisfied with the amount of meat
packaged and the job they did. As for the first moose, I brought it in after phoning the butcher
(he had a professional shop at his home) and explained my predicament to which he replied,
get it in here right now. It was well after his normal hours yet he was ready, and with the help
of some others we all quickly skinned it out, finished cleaning it, quartered it, and had it in his
cooler by 10:00pm. He didn't even charge me for that extra service, although I gave him a big
tip. I've butchered all my other animals myself. If you have the room, charts if you're unsure,
a few sharp appropriate tools, and a large grinder, it's quite easy to do.