# Do it yourself big game processing



## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

How many of you process your own big game? How long does it take to cut all the meat up and pack it for the freezer? How do you package it? How do you know what parts are best for steaks/roasts/burger? Do you age your animal before processing it?


----------



## threshershark (Sep 7, 2007)

*Re: DIY big game processing*

Hey Chaser: I do the processing myself, but don't claim to be an expert or have any particularly effective methods. Someone once told me that you "just cut off anything you don't want to eat."

Keep it simple. Backstraps etc. are easy, just cut them off, and they will make excellent eating no matter how you prepare them. The hind quarters will have lots of large pieces of meat with few tendons, so roasts and flank steaks are easy to cut from them.

Personally I really like jerky, so I take the smaller strips of meat and anything that won't make a stand-alone cut of meat and set it aside to make jerky out of. Same thing if you want to make sausage or burger out of part of it.

Packaging: Right now I use a FoodSaver vacuum packer, and this has worked really well. In the past, I would just use freezer bags and make sure to get as much air out of them as possible before sealing them.

Time: If the animal is already skinned, a deer can be processed in a few hours, especially if you have 2 people. Elk usually take at least a half day.


----------



## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

I do mine myself. I have not had any formal training in the art of butchering, just a bit of hands on experience. I like to seperate the major muscle groups. This helps to decrease the amount of tendon and silver skin in the cuts. Also, I do not cut into steaks before freezing. I like to package everythng in larger roasts. If I want steaks, I will cut them from the roasts when I thaw. The larger roasts seem to ward off freezer burn better than smaller cuts.


----------



## OKEE (Jan 3, 2008)

Every year that i cut up a deer I wonder if it was worth the money saved doing it myself. Its alot of work . I won't try a elk .


----------



## REPETER (Oct 3, 2007)

The first year I went hunting, my bro-in-law shot a nice 4x which we had processed. Around $100 and a couple weeks later, we got back some "neatly" wrapped bone in steaks, a couple roasts and some jerky. Every time we ate this venison, it came out very gamey. It didn't matter how we cooked it, it always seemed to leave a THICK film on the pallet. However the jerky was very tastey. One problem with this is that they give you back venison based on the weight of the deer. This is no guarentee that it is even part of your own deer, in fact, it probably is not yours. Now imagine...someone gut shots their deer, leaves it in the hot sun all day, and for around $100+ it ends up on your table. Now tell me, is it worth it?

Since that first bitter experience, we have always butchered our own (self taught.) And get better with each animal. My wife was the only successful hunter last year and we prepared her deer in a couple hours, it is by far the best venison that I have tasted to date! The jerky recipies that I use are the high country ones you can buy in most supermarkets, and they are as tastey as any others that I've tried, plus very easy to do. If you care for that animal from start to finish, you know what you are eating. If we have bigger animals/more animals, we usually get together with brothers/sisters/nieces/nephews/friends/granparents, and have a butcher party/bbq. They are the best parties of the year! Nothing like fresh sliced steaks.

We usually cook the liver up with some onions while still on the mountain, it's best if soaked in some salt water for a couple hours before preparing. And don't forget my favorite part-heart! This too should be soaked in salt water, then I slice it into fajita style strips and slow cook it in a crock pot/dutch oven like a roast with some broth-by far the most tender succulent meat.


----------



## Treehugnhuntr (Sep 7, 2007)

NHS said:


> I do mine myself. I have not had any formal training in the art of butchering, just a bit of hands on experience. I like to seperate the major muscle groups. This helps to decrease the amount of tendon and silver skin in the cuts. Also, I do not cut into steaks before freezing. I like to package everythng in larger roasts. If I want steaks, I will cut them from the roasts when I thaw. The larger roasts seem to ward off freezer burn better than smaller cuts.


I do the same thing as brother NHS.

Aging- If possible on older moose and elk, I like to age them a Looooooong time. We aged a bull elk for 23 days last year and made a big difference. On the flip side, we took a bull moose to a butcher because it was hot outside and we didn't have the room They refused to hang it more than a few days before they cut it up. Everything but the burger was like hardtack. Antelope I don't age, it's tender as is, I may give a buck a few days, but it breaks down very fast. Deer, I guess, I usually only keep straps and maybe one roast and jerk the rest, mostly because I usually have a ton of meat already and deer is towards the bottom of the list, but I do enjoy it. Raccoons and skunk sashimi is beautiful, especially if eaten still war,. Just cut it off in thin strips and garnish with juniper berries, water cress and crick water. Don't forget the toilet paper.

If you shoot an animal when it's too hot to hang it in your garage etc. Go ahead and cut it into roasts (or steaks I guess) and age it in the refrigerator In ziplock or vacuum bags.

There are 2 types of aging, slow and cold or short and warm(er). The refrigerator method falls under the slow and cold, it takes more time for the enzymes to do their thing when it's colder. If you get too warm then you get bacteria, which causes the off smells of rotting meat.


----------

