What do you do with the meat?

[wetcoastwillie]

Hi guys,

I'm going out hunting for my first time this fall (well I was out lots as a kid with my Dad and Uncle... but that was 20+ years ago), hopeing to fill the freezer (deer and/or moose) and was just wondering what the majority does with the meat. What precentage do you make into sausage or jerky? what precentage goes to roastsand steaks? anyone make ground venicin? what else do you do with the meat? is there perticular cuts that are good for one thing but not so good for another? how many of you do all the butchering yourself, how many pay a meat shop? are there any good websites related to butchering game?

I hope that's not to many questions at once

I know you all have your opinions... Im interested to hear them all!

Thanks

[tmarschall]

I only have experience with whitetails... but lots of it.... maybe I have butchered a hundred or more. I do most of the butchering myself, but leave some of the processing to professionals. The backstrap I use for jerky and filet steaks. I keep the shoulders whole sometimes and take them in to get BBQ'd. The hindquarters have a few options. Sometimes I freeze them whole, then take them to the butcher to saw them into steaks, makes a very clean cut. Other times I will disect out the largest muscles in the hindquarter and then cube that meat for stews. The reast of the meat I use for burger, sausage (much like your smokies) or whatever you want made from it. Dried smoked sausage is a favorite down in these parts. Hold-over from the pioneer days before refrigeration was invented.

[Steeleco]

Well I tend to have the chuck's ground and or made into sausage, the normal cuts like steaks and roasts I have wrapped, with most of the other trimmings ground for burger.

Do you have a butcher picked out yet?? You should know where your going before you get lucky, and even have a back up plan incase your first choise is full. I cut my own bears these days but deer will happen once I get up enough nerve. I'm told it's not that hard but it's always the first one that scares me!!!!

If you do a search here in HBC you'll find the butcher subject has come up a few times, have a read, it will help you decide where to go and most importantly where NOT to go. Good luck. And remember shooting an animal is the EASY part!!!!!

[Brambles]

I like steaks and ground, occasionally I will make a couple of large batches of sausages, or roasts. I cut my own meat so I pretty much do what I want.
This year anything that couldn't be turned into steaks was ground.

Brambles

[brotherjack]

I do all my own; no butcher shop involved. Pretty easy really. I cut anything that's remotely tender enough to chew into roasts and steaks, and I grind everything else for burger, jerky, saussage, or whatever. (if you give the deboned pieces a pinch, you can usually tell if it's too tough or not).

The friend who taught me to cut up an animal said this: "It comes as one big deer shaped piece of meat. As long as you manage to cut it into smaller pieces you'll enjoy eating, you've done a good enough job of it."

[willyqbc]

on all deer/moose/bear we cut our own and cut out the tenderloins, loin chops, sirloins, rounds(top,bottom and eye) and even a small front shoulder chop. the rest with the exception of the ribs is burger to be used for sausage, jerky and even burgers occasionally!!


Chris