I'm getting mighty close to quitting doing it myself. My time is worth more than the $70 it takes to have the processor do it from start to finish, vacuum sealed and all that. I'm meticulous; it just takes me too dang long. I spend from 2-10pm quartering, butchering, etc etc yesterday. I'd rather spend that time hunting or enjoying family, or, heck, maybe even working.

I'll keep making my own jerky and sausage and what not, of course.

Yeah, if you pay for sausage though, it costs more than double that $70.

No joke. That's why I'll keep making my own sausage and jerky, etc. They can do the butcher work though.

I'm actually tagged out in TX this year, so this is looking forward to next year or hunting in OK.

I'm with you. I have mine basic processed these days. That way I can go ahead and get it in nice vacuum packed packages in the freezer, enjoy the rest of the weekend, and make whatever I want out of it on my own schedule. My weekend hours carry a premium price.

My issue with processors (although they rarely admit it), is that I want my deer.
A lot of them pool the meat all into the same batch. Everyone that I have asked finally admitted it.
I do not want someone's stinky old deer that they found the next day after gut shooting it. I want mine.
That is why I quit going to processors. And getting big old buck backstraps back when I shot a young doe. Nope, not for me. And getting only a few backstraps steaks when there should be a handful. Again, not for me.
I have had questionable dealings with almost every processor that I have dealt with except one and he is out of business (he got old). So my bad experiences make me a bit biased.

Hillcountry sporting goods in Llano is awesome. Clay does awesome taxidermy work to. My nephew works there so I know first hand the meat you drop off is the meat you pick up.

I understand that. I think I've been fortunate to have a good processor here.

I started doing my own processing years ago. I actually like the time it takes to break it all down because I get time with my dad. We both work on it and it is a great time had between us. I will miss that time when it comes.

no telling how many deer my dad, mom and I processed over my first ~40 years of hunting (4+ people's tags filled, so quite a few), including various types of sausage. The last few years of my dad's life, he took one of my nephew's deer to a processor since I wasn't around to help out with all the work. He called me and told me we were done processing our own, it was just too cheap to have done and it would allow more time for other things including family time. I haven't processed one since and that's been about 12 years ago. My son and son-in-law have made recent comments about wanting to learn how to do their own, so that may be in the cards at some point in time for their education. Of course, dad sold all his processing stuff (grinders, stuffers, seasoning (dang I wish I had some of those old recipes!!!), etc.) ... so that will be a chore to rebuild the equipment & recipes.

yes, it was a lot of work but time spent with those you love is priceless ... I have found a few really good processor's that I trust and know that I will only get my own venison back when I pick it up, not a question in my mind.

I didn't mind doing mine. I left the bones at the camp and came home with boneless meat. I no longer hunt them.

Nice website.

Seriously, this is 2014. It's not hard, people, and if it is, then pay a HS kid $50-75 and get 'er done.

It's not that I don't like doing it - I actually do like it - or that I cannot do it. If I happen to have the time, I'll be happy to do it myself. But, the time saved by spending a few dollars at the processor is money well spent in my book, assuming you have a good processor. Presumably with more practice I'd get faster, but there are better things I can do with my time.

Plus, I don't have a great way at the moment to store a deer for a few days to age before I butcher it, other than storing it in the processor's cold storage. I don't like the "quarter it and throw it on melting, watery ice" mentality.

If it takes you from 2-10 to break down a deer then your doing something wrong. In that time I think I could take more than one deer from live and kicking to stuffed in links on the grill.

We typically gut skin quarter and debone our deer as we kill then and freeze them then thaw and grind and make sausage etc at the end of the season.

Like someone else said it is a family tradition for us get together with dad and brother and get after it. As life goes on I get to see my dad and brother less and less, id rather work with them than play by myself.

I've known people who gave up the tenderloin and never gutted their deer. That's just not my cup of tea.

Yeah, I don't understand that either. I have a friend who does it. Makes zero sense to me.

That very well may be the case.

In that time, there was an hour break for dinner, and a thirty minute break to go drop off a carcass... but that's still a long time.

I could not care about how I cut meat off the bone and get done really quickly. But trying to follow the natural divisions between the muscles and trying not to waste any/much takes me a bit longer apparently.

Do you all pay close attention to how you cut meat off the bones, or do you just slice and get it off anyway possible? With the front shoulders, which I usually grind, I'm more apt to cut quickly. With the rear quarters, when I want a roast or jerky meat, etc, I get really meticulous, maybe overly so.

Sometimes the front legs just get the fat trimmed off and big pieces of sinew and chunked for the grinder. The res of the deer is muscles out trimmed and cut for steaks roast grinding etc. We trim it all and thoroughly.

You can freeze some of it now and trim it later.

yep, we did our due diligence to get as much meat as possible. Backstraps & tenderloins came out whole, hind quarters separated into roasts, shoulders/ribs/neck and trimmings went into the grinding pile (on to freezer until enough to make a grinding run). All the non-grinding type meat was separated out, sinew removed and butcher paper packaged ready for the freezer (or to cook). Start to finish (minus grinding) about 2-3 hours (3-4 if multiple deer) but that was with 3 of us (dad, mom, me). My dad was highly allergic to the hair/dander from deer, so I got all the gutting, skinning and quartering as dad & mom were laying out the kitchen table with knives, whet-rocks, cut boards, etc. I would take in a quarter at a time and they would start work, last quarter I started helping with all the trimming and dividing. Once we got enough grinding meat together, dad and I would do a batch of sausage of various types or hamburger. It was a family affair! Dad and I loved experimenting with various spices and mixtures for sausage and he finally nailed a summer sausage recipe that was the best I have ever had bar none ... Dad passed in '04 and mom in '12 ... I could do it today by myself, but I am to a point in my life that I cherish my free time and would much rather spend the time doing other things. I am sure one of these days when my son and/or son-in-law are around with enough free time, I will dive in to show them how to do basic processing, at least so they will know should the need ever arise.

thanks all

My family has been butchering our own deer for the past 4-5 years, I have noticed the quality and taste has improved immensely. Maybe we haven't used quality processors in the past, but I was never that impressed with venison we got back from most. Not to mention wondering if you get all your meat back. Some places would give us a paper grocery sack full others 2-3. Most always felt jilted when I went to pick it up.
For us we break each muscle down and remove all the sinew and silver skin. We spend 3-4 hours per deer, with 3-4 people including grinding hamburger. We're not in rush to get it done though and just keep plugging along till we're done.
Yes its a pain but we eat 5-6 deer a year and I want the highest quality table fare we can provide. All our friends and friends of our kids love it and have never turned their nose up to a free meal. I'll send a bag of jerky to school with the kids and they come home asking for another to take the next day. If we don't have time to process our own we don't shoot anything till we are ready to commit the time to process it.

8 hours for processing means you might be getting a little to meticulous on the deer. Generally takes about two and half hours to get one ready for the freezer completely and then longer for jerky and sausage.

Thanks. It would probably also help if I watched a processor do it once or twice, but who knows.

I still do it the way my Grandpa taught me. I enjoy it and consider processing part of the overall hunting experience. Can't even begin to count how many Dad and I processed together. Nothing like a good stiff drink and knocking out a couple while catching up on life. Dads gone now, and many times I bone them out in the evening in the camp house while watching a good ole John Wayne movie on the DVD (well VCR actually but hate to admire it cause people make fun of me). Helps that I have a walk in, so I can quarter them and finish up later as I have time. But, 8 hours seems pretty long unless you're making sausage too.

Especially when the tenderloins can easily be removed after the backstrap is removed, even without gutting.
The tenderloins are just under the spine between the ribs and the pelvis. They can be removed by holding the insides away and reaching in to get them out. With a little bit of effort you can get the entire tenderloin.



We had a guy that would dump the carcass with the tenderloins still in it. I started going and taking the tenderloins out before he would haul off the carcass. I did this on pigs that he and others would dump too. This was great for me, their laziness was to my benefit.