BEWARE Ennis Meats in langley

[fourbyfourtoy]

Took my moose in to Ennis meats. Lady at the front was abrupt and did not listen to how I wanted my moose cut. Butcher refused to way in my moose when I brought it in with the excuse of being too busy. Nevertheless she did right down on the order that I wanted short ribs. When I went to pickup my moose there was no ribs. When I inquired about the ribs I was first told they were slimy and got thrown out. Then the story changed to the ribs got cut into minced meat. I brought the moose in near perfect condition. The butcher accused me of wiping down the ribs with vinegar which I never did. The ribs were almost 3 feet long by 2 and a half feet wide and almost and inch thick. They either took my ribs and had them for dinner or sold them to their buddies. Either way I have no ribs. When I questioned the butcher he started yelling at me and told me to get out of his store. They also charged me an extra 30$ for basic processing. 493 lbs and its supposed to be .75 a lb DO NOT GO TO ENNIS MEATS!

[604ksmith]

That sucks, sorry to hear!

At least your entire Moose didn't go to waste, you'll still have some damn good meals to look forward to.

[takla1]

ive used Ennis for yrs and yrs and never had any problem.I know they look closely at game meat for signs of contamination{road dirt/dust} and for signs of spoilage ,maggot infestation ect as they don't like to bring in anything that can contaminate their farm raised beef and pork.
One yr I brought in 2 moose that we got early mid sept and it was warm so we sprinkled peeper on the quarters after cleaning and hanging in cheese cloth to keep the blo-flys at bay and they thought the peeper was dirt!Had to straighten them out but not a problem in subsequent yrs.

takla

[fourbyfourtoy]

My friend and I spent 6 hours trimming away blood shot and picking hairs. The ribs were in immaculate condition when I brought them in.

[Wentrot]

My friend and I spent 6 hours trimming away blood shot and picking hairs. The ribs were in immaculate condition when I brought them in.

6 hours to trim blood shot? Jeebus.

[monasheemountainman]

I hate when the people at a business act like they are doing you a favour by allowing you through their doors. I had a terrible phone conversation with some dickhead from Korth yesterday. (I know I know Korth is a great company to deal with, but this employee was not, he was an asshole and I should have got his name) When a business is "too busy" they should remember that is a good thing, and customers coming in the door keep them in business so they should be treated 100% professionally. I know customers aren't always right, but the service you got sounds aweful.

[fourbyfourtoy]

6 hours to trim blood shot? Jeebus.

Most of the time was spent picking hairs. They have signs posted in Ennis meats saying that the condition you bring your meat in is the way you get it back. We thought we did our due diligence by very throughly cleaning all debris from the meat.

[scoutlt1]

Years ago I took my game to Weymouth meats in Matsqui.
He did a great job and I never had a complaint. I did read some reviews back then that weren't so favorable however.
After a while I decided to do the butchering myself. I found I started taking way better care of the animal from when I'm ready to take the shot, skinning, de-boning, etc..
There is a ton of satisfaction knowing that you are the only one responsible for everything from the time the animal dies to when it's on your plate.
Do yourself a favor. Find the space and learn how to do the work yourself!
Trust me....you will never look back!!!

[takla1]

You can reduce the amount of hair that can acculate on the exposed wet meat areas by skinning out the quarters properly.Its good to wait for the meat to firm overnight before skinning if weather permitable as well .I know not always an option if warm and blo=flys are present.
Ennis used to cut and wrap my pigs every winter as well as smoke and usually sent out pepperoni to penquin meats in WR.AS I said ive given them plenty of business over the yrs .One yrs Britco packers bernt my sides of bacon by dipping them in too hot of tank water and when I brought them in for cut and wrap they noticed and went to bat for me with Britco...they ended up getting me 12 free sides of bacon free from them.
Ive used a few different butchers in the valley here and all have been pretty good.
These days I butcher myself ,then I can only complain about myself

takla

[fourbyfourtoy]

Butchered my buck and my friends buck by ourselves. Only takes a few hours. We agreed to take the moose to a butcher so it would have adequate time to hang. And so we would have nice looking steaks.But no I will never bring another animal in to any butcher ever again.

[tigrr]

I butcher everything I shoot. Once our group got a bill for $900 for the task of cutting and wrapping a moose with 300 lbs of sausages made. That included the whole pig used for the sausages and some into the burger. Didn't ask first.. Never had someone else butcher for me again.

[M.Dean]

I think as soon as the guy said he's to busy to weight your meat in front of you, I would have turned around and went somewhere else! And talking to the guys that make all our sausage in town, I'm sure he said there "Can Not" be any domestic meat in the cutting and sausage room when there doing wild meat. And they give you a exact time to pick it up so they can clean the room and get ready to do domestic animals for the week. And the rib's were to slimy??? I've been cutting our own meat for about 40 years, and I've never seen "Slimy Ribs"? I seen dried out ribs, rib's all blown to hell, bruised ribs, and ribs so covered in hair they went to the dog, but never slimy ribs??? I think the guy "Buffaloed You"!!!

[mark]

Years ago I took my game to Weymouth meats in Matsqui.
He did a great job and I never had a complaint. I did read some reviews back then that weren't so favorable however.
After a while I decided to do the butchering myself. I found I started taking way better care of the animal from when I'm ready to take the shot, skinning, de-boning, etc..
There is a ton of satisfaction knowing that you are the only one responsible for everything from the time the animal dies to when it's on your plate.
Do yourself a favor. Find the space and learn how to do the work yourself!
Trust me....you will never look back!!!

x2, learn to do it your self, its easy, rewarding and free! you dont need a big space or facility, simply debone in the bush, the rest can be done on a kitchen counter with a knife.

[eaglesnester]

U always get what U want when U process it yourself. It is not rocket science

[steveo]

Never heard or even read about slimy ribs, if anything a guy might perceive the armpits as slimy if they don't get enough air flow. Never heard using vinegar would have a negative result on an animal either. Sounds like you have crossed the bridge of butchering with your deer so you are well on your way but it is too bad a hunter can't get consistent and honest service from a butcher. A farmer gets paid from hanging weight at the butchers so what is the butcher going to tell him, he has no time to weigh his beef, makes no sense how he treated you.

[finngun]

x2, learn to do it your self, its easy, rewarding and free! you dont need a big space or facility, simply debone in the bush, the rest can be done on a kitchen counter with a knife.

we did buchering,,wrapping in the camp....we were told..it is illegal..ha?

[Ketchika]

we did buchering,,wrapping in the camp....we were told..it is illegal..ha?
missed the in camp part

[elkhunterette]

we did buchering,,wrapping in the camp....we were told..it is illegal..ha?

I think this is true, how will the CO know what kind of animal it is or what sex it is. We smoked some trout in camp one time and the CO was really upset with us, for all the same reasons.

[Gateholio]

I butcher everything I shoot. Once our group got a bill for $900 for the task of cutting and wrapping a moose with 300 lbs of sausages made. That included the whole pig used for the sausages and some into the burger. Didn't ask first.. Never had someone else butcher for me again.

$900 for The butcher providing a whole pig plus butchering a whole moose and 300lbs of sausage doesn't seem unreasonable to me. That's a lot of meat and a lot of work. What do you think a fair price would have been?

[markathome]

I agree with Gatehouse - 900.00 for a moose + pig + processing 300lbs of sausage seems cheap. The pig alone sells for 7$ a pound hanging weight in my neighborhood (that's a hippy pig - no drugs and fed organics). Last time I butchered a moose it was a all day affair and took two of us. Let's pretend we value our labour at 50$ (cheap). That's 900.00 in labour not including supplies and overhead. Granted a pro would be at least twice as fast me and my buddy.

[GotaGun]

Have used ennis meats before and this year.
And we have cleaned/washed meat with vinegar and water.
We have never had a problem with them.
I found the staff friendly and helpful.

[fourbyfourtoy]

Not wanting to go off topic but that's a good point. Is it legal to debone in the bush? I dont think so... how does the CO know it's not meat from a doe if you just got a bunch of deer meat in the back of your truck. I guess that's where compulsory reporting and inspections come in. Not sure how many hunters go through with that though. Even if you cut the head off but brought it with you. The CO could see it as you just took the buck head out of the freezer before you went and shot a doe.

And ya slimy ribs??? Is that a way of saying thanks for the ribs sucker... I'm thinking of filing a small claim against them. What do you guys think wild moose ribs would go for per pound? IF it were obtainable.

[180grainer]

Not wanting to go off topic but that's a good point. Is it legal to debone in the bush? I dont think so... how does the CO know it's not meat from a doe if you just got a bunch of deer meat in the back of your truck. I guess that's where compulsory reporting and inspections come in. Not sure how many hunters go through with that though. Even if you cut the head off but brought it with you. The CO could see it as you just took the buck head out of the freezer before you went and shot a doe.

And ya slimy ribs??? Is that a way of saying thanks for the ribs sucker... I'm thinking of filing a small claim against them. What do you guys think wild moose ribs would go for per pound? IF it were obtainable.
Deboning doesn't mean having to remove evidence of sex or species. That's all the regs generally ask for unless there's something specific like a tooth, antlers, or skull.

[Downwind]

Not wanting to go off topic but that's a good point. Is it legal to debone in the bush? I dont think so... how does the CO know it's not meat from a doe if you just got a bunch of deer meat in the back of your truck. I guess that's where compulsory reporting and inspections come in. Not sure how many hunters go through with that though. Even if you cut the head off but brought it with you. The CO could see it as you just took the buck head out of the freezer before you went and shot a doe.

And ya slimy ribs??? Is that a way of saying thanks for the ribs sucker... I'm thinking of filing a small claim against them. What do you guys think wild moose ribs would go for per pound? IF it were obtainable.

It is legal to debone in the bush. You might want to go through the regs again Also there is not a compulsory inspection, except in certain instances. To make sure you're legal you just leave a nut attached and a piece of fur. And I can promise you the guy didn't give a rats ass about your ribs. If you had tenderloins and back straps hanging there your thought would be to take the ribs? You may have not had the best of experiences but accusing this guy stealing ribs of all things? Come on.

[300H&H]

Years ago I took my game to Weymouth meats in Matsqui.
He did a great job and I never had a complaint. I did read some reviews back then that weren't so favorable however.
After a while I decided to do the butchering myself. I found I started taking way better care of the animal from when I'm ready to take the shot, skinning, de-boning, etc..
There is a ton of satisfaction knowing that you are the only one responsible for everything from the time the animal dies to when it's on your plate.
Do yourself a favor. Find the space and learn how to do the work yourself!
Trust me....you will never look back!!!


That sounds like some sound advice.

[ruger#1]

Took my moose in to Ennis meats. Lady at the front was abrupt and did not listen to how I wanted my moose cut. Butcher refused to way in my moose when I brought it in with the excuse of being too busy. Nevertheless she did right down on the order that I wanted short ribs. When I went to pickup my moose there was no ribs. When I inquired about the ribs I was first told they were slimy and got thrown out. Then the story changed to the ribs got cut into minced meat. I brought the moose in near perfect condition. The butcher accused me of wiping down the ribs with vinegar which I never did. The ribs were almost 3 feet long by 2 and a half feet wide and almost and inch thick. Considering that they sell farmed game in minced meat for 10$ a lb they made a pretty penny off my ribs.They either took my ribs and had them for dinner or sold them to their buddies. Either way they stole my ribs. When I questioned the butcher he started yelling at me and told me to get out of his store. They also charged me an extra 30$ for basic processing. 493 lbs and its supposed to be .75 a lb DO NOT GO TO ENNIS MEATS! That is why I butcher my own meat. Cuts out the Bullshit.

[Mikey Rafiki]

At the very least just take in the quarters. So much extra bone weight and cost with ribs and backstraps attached to the spine plus you get some eats right away. I've taken in quarters myself when pressed for time or dealing with a hot early season elk.

Luckily I now have a walk in cooler in my shop to prevent any of that. Also set up a commercial band saw, grinder, stuffer, vacuum packer and smoker to complete the ideal setup.

[Blainer]

And ya slimy ribs??? Is that a way of saying thanks for the ribs sucker... I'm thinking of filing a small claim against them. What do you guys think wild moose ribs would go for per pound? IF it were obtainable.very small amount of meat on the ribs and value would not warrant a court case. Bold accusation that they sold or ate. I would venture to say any meat was part of your hamburger inventory. Possibly the $30 was gst?

[ryanb]

The last time I used Ennis meats was about 8 or 9 years ago. Had them make some jerky and sausage. It was so salty I had to throw it in the garbage. I don't know if the lid on the salt shaker fell off or what but it was god awful gag inducing. It's what turned me off butchers and the reason I do it all myself now.

Honestly I think most butchers don't charge enough and they end up rushing and doing a poor job.

[Gateholio]

If I had to take a guess, I'd say that they messed up the order for short ribs and ground it by accident. The slimy ribs comment was probably made because it triggered her memory that someone else brought in slimy ribs. I emphasize it was just a guess, as I've had no dealings with Ennis. Although what was already mentioned make sense...why steal ribs? I shot a massive bodied 52" moose and the rib meat made dinner for 6 of us, once. Hardly a huge amount of meat, and it's not a choice cut.

[BCHunterTV]

I brought a deer to them that had not a hair or dirt on it...got meat back with lots a hair and dirt. Ennis response...you get it back the way you brought it in...:?