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Thread: How much trouble to process your own deer

  1. #1
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    Default How much trouble to process your own deer

    I am sure some here process their own deer

    Seems like processors are dropping like flies around here or they get full and do not take any deer for times plus 1 I refuse to use . One near my house will not take deer on Sunday’s or Mondays which kind of sux , Sunday is a day I can hunt more than any other day most weeks

    Talking with couple buddies and thought crossed our mind to start processing our own.

    None of us shoot a lot of deer, I may shoot 2 a year at best (about all wife and I will consume )

    Basically I get my tenderloins/backstraps whole, cube steak and rest as burger.

    I do have an electric meat grinder I use for making summer sausage

    I have quartered a few over the years and removed backstraps

    Couple questions

    1-do you need to/or is it better to let them hang (this would require some type of cooler which we have talked about

    2-Any other specialized tools that you need?? I assume a steak cuber but I think they make those as an attachment to grinding machines

    3-how long does it take to process a deer. Knew a few guys years ago that one had a walk in cooler at his house, they would get together on Sunday afternoons and process deer but 2 of them worked in meat departments in grocery stores while in college

    Any other tips appreciated, we are just looking into this for next year possibly

  2. #2
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  3. #3
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    It is certainly easier if you have help. Several hours to get set up, cut meat, package and clean up by yourself. If you get some friends over to watch football and cut deer it makes it much more tolerable. I use a grinder, hand crank cuber and a sausage stuffer. I cut steaks, roasts, make burger, sausage, cube steak and corned deer.
    Last edited by CreekGeek; 11-28-2020 at 10:15 PM.

  4. #4
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    The 3 pieces of equipment you need are a cooler, a grinder, and a vacuum sealer. I clean up the back straps and inside loins. Those get vacuum sealed for later with minimal labor. Then , I work up the shoulder and hams for your hamburger or whatever cuts you wanna make. It's really not difficult. I can hand grind a quartered up 80 pound doe in 20 minutes. Bigger deer take a little longer obviously, but if you only shoot 1 or 2 deer, you dont HAVE TO have an electric grinder.
    "Hunt today to kill tomorrow." - Ron Jolly

  5. #5
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    Cabelas has a meat slicer, gringer, dehidrator, and vaccum sealer for $199 i think.

  6. #6
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    I've been doing my own for many years. I hate to take a deer to a processor and and have "buy" the meat back which in all probability isn't "your" deer anyway. ! use an old upright drink box for my cooler. I knocked out the guts and installed a hanging bar with hooks. Started out with the hand cranked grinder/cuber but it was too slow and tiresome. Bought a 3/4 hp LEM grinder and bought the motor for my cuber. Takes a about 2 hours(at my pace) to process one into the freezer. I cut out ALL the white skin from the meat during processing. I usually hang mine in the box at about 39 deg for 3-4 days before I cut it up. I've also found that 6" Rapala fillet knives are the best for cutting and deboning the meat. I process 7-8 deer a season. So my saving amount to $600 or more by not using processors. I make cube, ground, jerky, summer sausage and regular sausage.

  7. #7
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    Rodney can tell you all you need to know

  8. #8
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    As far as how long, it depends on what your set up is. Do you have to haul off guts from where you skin, do you have a dedicated refrigerator to hang meat, good space to actually cut up and process the meat, etc. all of that will dictate how long. If you have to haul everything out and then clean and put up, it will add a few more hours.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by tprice View Post
    I am sure some here process their own deer


    Couple questions

    1-do you need to/or is it better to let them hang (this would require some type of cooler which we have talked about

    2-Any other specialized tools that you need?? I assume a steak cuber but I think they make those as an attachment to grinding machines

    3-how long does it take to process a deer. Knew a few guys years ago that one had a walk in cooler at his house, they would get together on Sunday afternoons and process deer but 2 of them worked in meat departments in grocery stores while in college

    Any other tips appreciated, we are just looking into this for next year possibly
    1- set meat in any cooler over ice and turn meat in morning and evening for 7 days (don’t let it touch water)
    2- depends how creative you want to get. It would be worth looking up recipes for non ground meat. Shoulders cooked in Dutch oven kettle make great pulled meat. Certain ham cuts make great steaks etc.
    you can cube your meat with hand cuber mallet. I use a fillet knife or similar when breaking down off quarter
    3- does not take long at all after you do it a few times. The last doe I killed I had back straps cut and wrapped and rest ground in probably an hour and a half tops.
    The last little buck I killed I didn’t grind any but had shoulders broken down, straps and ham cuts individually wrapped in less than an hour.

    Imo it is worth processing your own because you get your own deer and imo you become much more connected with the deer and more well versed in understanding cuts of meat

  10. #10
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    Every thought why local cow processors shut down for deer season? They are raping the deer hunters.

  11. #11
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    I decided not to reply to this, figured you’d get lots of advice. Seems like you have...

    We have a great setup, way more than you’ll need. But for your starter purposes:
    - Buy a drink cooler off CL or FB or somewhere. Let it hang 3-10 days at 40-45 degrees.
    - Buy a 3/4hp or better grinder. Don’t expect to do anything other than a few a year with a small grinder. Buy Cabelas 2 lb bags; grind once with a rough grind and then grind again with a medium grind straight into the bag. I’ve never had one freezer burn. They sell tape dispensers to close these but they suck. I get zip ties and close them off, cutting off the extra.
    I use pelleted fat from my butcher at a 80/20 mix. Cones in Ridge Spring has good fat but I’ve gotten it elsewhere and it has a waxy coating on it. You’ll notice this in your hamburger. Don’t grind large chunks of fat or straight fat. It’ll bind up quick. There are better $1-2k new grinders out there but if you can find a used Hobart #12 from a grocery store closing or GovDeals, buy it.
    - I processed my own for 10 years before I bought a vacuum sealer. I ate the tenderloins ASAP and made jerky from the backstraps. You don’t have to have one now.
    - I have the biggest dehydrator Cabelas makes, works well. You’ll do better with a foot control pedal for the grinder. LEM sells one for $50, Home Depot sells one for $12...
    - Figure everything else out before you mess with a cuber or sealer. Get a large white cutting board and a good boning and filet knife (I use a Rada and their sharpener with the 2 washers). Cut out as much junk and silver skin you can. If your grinder starts not cutting well, it’s probably the knife behind the plate.

    Good luck, you’ll appreciate your hard work.
    Last edited by SaltMuck; 11-29-2020 at 07:39 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by ecu1984 View Post
    Go Tigers!

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by BrandonWagner View Post

    Thanks.



    Also thanks for all the pointers here, there is a company here in town that sell drink and walk in coolers Need to stop in a talk to them one day


    May give it a whirl over Christmas break on a doe

    I know biggest time consuming thing I have when making summer sausage is clean up time on equipment

  13. #13
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    If you don’t go vacuum seal, I’ve seen game wrapped in 1 layer of tin foil then a layer of butcher paper last over a year without freezer burn

  14. #14
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    Before I had a hanging cooler I used a 120 quart cooler. Just leave the drain plug open so as ice melts and blood drains from meat it runs out of cooler and meat isn't sitting in bloody water.
    You are just starting with it and not sure if it is something you are going to stay with no need in spending bunch of money on a hanging cooler.

    I second the opinion on deboning with an electric knife.

  15. #15
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    I cleaned/processed deer for about 12 years for the public. Bare minimum, you'll need...

    1. A good cooler as stated above. Do not let your meat lay in the water. Although I have processed deer/elk that had been in ice for a week, it makes it easier to process and the meat just looks better if it's not submerged in icy water.

    2. Electric sawzall. (it just makes cleaning and processing easier)

    3. Cuber and grinder.

    4. I personally do not think vacuum sealers are a must. We always used freezer bags and got as much air out as possible by hand. Never had any problems with freezer burn.

    5. I always used a thin paring knife to clean/skin with. I could always handle them better than the big gut hook knives they try to sell you on the outdoor channel.

    6. A good gut hook. (not the knife with the hook, just a gut hook)

    7. Catfish skinners. (it helps a lot with skinning the legs back before you hang it up to clean)

    8. A good thin meat knife for the actual processing.

    We had a grinder about 1/4 the size of a pickup truck bed, so that made pretty quick work of the grinding but all in all, I could have one processed in about 30 minutes for a standard cut. (cube, burger, backstraps whole and tenderloin whole) Honestly, it's pretty much learn as you go. Some folks like to take the time to trim all of the meat from the ribs and pick every bone clean as a whistle, but truthfully, no processor does that. I actually cut the ribs off while I was cleaning the deer b/c it saved on space in the cooler. You'll learn little tricks to get more meat you can cube. There's little grain lines in the back hams that you want to follow so your cube steak won't be tough. Don't just start deboning the back hams like a mad butcher b/c you'll end up with bad stuff in your cube steak. When you take all of the skin off of the back hams, you'll see discoloration and the grain lines I'm talking about. Follow those with a sharp knife and peel it back as you go.

    I've never used an electric knife. I'm sure they'll work fine, but I never personally saw a need in them.

    Good luck with it. It's pretty simple once you've done a few. There's also little tips and tricks that will speed up the cleaning process. Make a cut on each side of the white hair on the belly starting at each back leg with your gut hook. Start at the back legs and cut all the way to the front legs. (stay just inside the brown hair where the white hair stops on the belly). Once this is done, any able bodied male can have all of the skin off with one good pull. When all of the hide is off, cut through the neck bone but leave the esophagus in tact. Start under the neck with the sawzall and cut up through the rib cage. (once you feel it stop cutting the bone, stop cutting) Stick your gut hook in the cavity and slowly cut the belly skin down until it meets the cut you made with the saw. Then, the head and guts will fall into the gut bucket. Once you do about 100 or so, you'll be able to do it in about 15 minutes.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Drakey View Post

    4. I personally do not think vacuum sealers are a must. We always used freezer bags and got as much air out as possible by hand. Never had any problems with freezer burn.
    Water submersion method with freezer bags should be as effective as vacuum sealer. But it's time consuming and more cumbersome.
    "Hunt today to kill tomorrow." - Ron Jolly

  17. #17
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    It's not hard at all especially after you've got a good routine down. Aging the meat for 1-2 weeks is the key IMO, I have an old fridge in the garage that I use to hang and age my deboned deer in during the season. I used the cooler method propped up with the drain plug open for years and that worked just fine as well. I don't put any fat in my burger and for sausage I just grind up a whole (never frozen) boneless pork shoulder from costco and mix that into my sausage which I shoot for a 70/30 mix of venison/pork. I have a sausage stuffer attachment for making my Hot Italian links and also have a cuber, you don't have to spend an arm and a leg on a grinder. I wish I had spent a few more bucks and gone stainless on mine as cleanup would be a little quicker, I have to hand dry all of my components since everything's aluminum. It takes me an hour or two and a few cold beers to do all of the grinding, sausage making, cube steak, vac sealing...there's really nothing to it. ETA-for sausage and burger you'll want to cut the meat up into 1-2" cubes and let them sit in the freezer for an hour or so before running them through the grinder.
    Last edited by ecwooduck; 11-30-2020 at 10:19 AM.
    "some men are mere hunters, others are turkey hunters"-Archibald Rutledge

  18. #18
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    You have already gotten a ton of good advice. Me and a Buddy started doing our own 6-8 years ago and haven't looked back since. We end up with a superior product that's been handled properly and is packaged exactly how we like it. We usually do 8-10 per year, broken up into two sessions. (We have found that 3-4deer at a time is the magic number for the two of us to handle at one time.)

    The majority gets turned into Bulk burger with about 7% beef fat
    We usually do some "Extra fat" burger with about 15% beef fat (for making juicy hamburgers)
    Cube steak
    We have also made several different types of sausage over the years with good results.

    Its not difficult at all, and after a few times, you will figure out what works best for you, and what doesnt. Today we can do 3-4 deer in 3-4hrs max from hanging in a cooler to packaged and ready to freeze with everything cleaned up..... and we take our time, drink a few beers, and talk shit the whole time.

    Go for it! You wont regret it

  19. #19
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    Great advice, wish I would have asked this last year.

    Like everyone said you'll get into a rhythm.

    I borrowed a grinder the last 2 years and bought my own this year. Still learning and doing 3 deer this week. Already deboned and I just kept tenderloins and ground everything else up. The next deer I will do the same but will cube some. I used a walk in cooler for the first 5-6 days this time, deboned and put in the ice bags and set on ice in cooler. I pull out as I need, cut, grind, grind fat, mix and finish grind then vac seal in 2lb packs. I did 20% beef fat this time and in 5lb batches for easy math. It still good and lean.

    I did 48 lbs yesterday in about 3 hours ground, mixed, ground and vac sealed. Kids were in the garage with me and some beers.
    Last edited by TJ_11; 11-30-2020 at 01:14 PM.

  20. #20
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    I’m trying to visualize the skinning gutting method mentioned above. I struggle skinning around the front legs and chest area. I really suck at removing the silver skin and slime from the meat.

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