[skullcrusher]

How do you handle the processing of your harvested large game, usually?

[Benning Boy]

I put on some Sam Cooke, light some candles, pour a bubble bath, and, well.....

[RL357Mag]

Originally Posted by Benning Boy

I put on some Sam Cooke, light some candles, pour a bubble bath, and, well.....

I think he means deer, not sheep....

[tookalisten]

I process my own; probably because that is how my Dad raised me to do it. My daughter is an avid deer hunter and I have always been proud of the way she does not mind "getting her hands dirty" in the dressing of game. I think it taught her that there is a lot more to the hunt than just squeezing the trigger.

Also, I am a bit peculiar and I like to know how the meat was handled, processed, and packaged before I eat it. I went with a friend to pick up some deer meat that he had processed once and it was stored in a large cooler with a LOT of other packs. I wondered if he really got the deer he killed or if it could have been all mixed in with others that perhaps had not been taken quickly and gotten to the processor in a timely manner.

[stalkingbear]

I was raised on a active farm so I learned to butcher hogs at a VERY early age. That translated into butchering my own deer from the start, and since then see no reason to change. I'm extremely particular in meat processing. By the time I get done, nothing is left saved except for 100% pure lean. Naturally when grinding meat to make deerburger I'll go to local grocery and get free beef fat to mix it in at a ratio of 3/4 lean to 1/4 beef fat.

[ripcord]

my partner and i do our own. antilope goes to jerky and sausage,, deer goes into burger, sausage , jerky and elk goes to roasts, steaks and burger.

[R-BOLT]

We do our own also. Make 2000+ strips of deer jerky an year. Butcher and grind our wild hogs, then let the local butcher make us braughts from there. Years ago I designed and built a overhead hoist to go into a pick up receiver hitch for cleaning deer/hogs. Let a local gun shop owner and build a few to sell in his store. Now you can order them thru Cabelas. I missed the boat on that one!! I don't know if someone saw one and went from there or came up with there own, we were about five years ahead of them.

[Shotgun Shooter]

My uncle and cousin help me do it. I'm no pro at processing big game. Small game is no problem.

S.S.

[skullcrusher]

I just realized that I did not offer my own process. I butcher my own deer. Most gets ground up and mixed with pork fat for making brats and summer sausage. The summer sausage is a family recipe and I smoke it myself in one of my smokers. I would not do it any other way.

A couple of seasons ago, I got 2 big does on the same day. That was dang near too much work for one guy.

Of course, the sirloin and tenderloin do not get put in the grinder.

[c3shooter]

First deer for me was when I was 11. I had helped my dad's hunt club put up stand markers, so I was got to go with Dad and the guys on opening day. Got a small doe, (legal in those days for youthful hunters) We were staying over that night at the clubhouse (old farmhouse). We dressed out the deer, cut the entire deer into steaks, breaded them, fried them up for dinner. Yes, the entire deer. That night I was invited to sit in on the card game and have a beer for having provided dinner.

Of course, today if you give an 11 yr old a shotgun, a beer, and let him play poker everyone in the clubhouse would be going to jail!