this is really disconcerting. i am sure there are respectable processors out there but all these stories are scary. i never put too much thought into the "getting someones meat that you don't know wth they did with it before you got it".

i just hope the one in strawn is good...

I was a butcher since birth. IMHO they all process all deer at the same time not one at a time. That is why I process mine myself.

Seen it everywhere, the evidence speaks for it self.

Anyway, if you want sausage it cost nearly the same to process as the cost of pork/beef sausage in the store. I could never justify the cost and it all taste the same.

Last time I used a processor I had 80 lbs of smoked pork sausage links made. It was aweful! Absolutely no way that was my meat. I've been eating it all of my life & know what it's supposed to taste like. No doubt I got someone else's meat that didn't take care of it properly. Not to mention it was expensive nasty sausage.....that was it for me.

I had used the same processor in Plano for a long time. Only had a couple of minor issue's before last year. Last year was a mess. Brought 2 bucks in skinned and backstraps removed. Ordered Summer Sausage, Links, Chili cuts and spicy breakfast sausage.

They called said my order was ready, went to pick it up and it was only part of my order for $262.00? I said is that for all of it & they said no. So I got them to calculate my balance and it was going to be about $500. So after him & I adding it up 3 more times we settled on what we thought was right and wrote it down.

Oh boy the fun starts! They call me for the rest of my order is in, I go in talk to the same guy who remembers me and I show him our price agreed upon. Well he starts re adding and tries to charge me an extra $60 + dollars.

Well after a few choice words out of my mouth he went back to the agreed upon price. They are really nice people but they use butcher paper and the product is nothing special. I certainly will not use them anymore!!

based on economics, i would have to agree here. reading people say they do one at a time, it just seems that at some point the processor cannot sustain this because he is not making money. a serial process like that will cost him his business in today's cutthroat world. we all want a deal but we want top quality work

I dropped one off at a processor two weeks ago.... if the job goes as usual, it will be my last trip to one!. I took a doe to one in Strawn last year... not a huge doe. I got back 4 2lb ground meat, 1lb of jerky, a softball sized roast and 6 packs with 3 pieces of butterflyd back strap.

The best part of going to Strawn twice was eating at Marys!

Well I opened my first wrap of cutlets tonight to cook for dinner. It was practically hamburger meat formed into a steak that you had to use both hands to pick up. It kept falling apart. Makes me sick. I had nowhere to hunt this year but OK and this is what I got on return. Damn

I think I should make a trip back up there and get my money back.

Bad deal man. If you chose to start doing your own get a good electric grinder with all the attachments to do the sausage and jerky etc. There is a place called Mineola Meat Packing where you can go and buy natural casings for the sausage. If you start with the right equipment you will be amazed at how easy it is. It can be done cheaper but expect to spend $3-400 on good equipment that will last you for years.

I process all my own deer and have for years now. Only thing I get done is summer sausage by someone else. I have grinders and saws. If anyone needs a good saw let me know as I have two Butcher Boy saws if you want to get into doing your own.

Just do not trust processors and they make a killing off hunters. No pun intended.

I only use Kuby's. I garantee you will always get your meat, and your order will be right. I've seen their operation from the inside. They are absolutely honest, ethical, and professional.

It scares me to hear about some of these small town/small time processors. But if you use someone reputable, you don't have these problems.

Btw, Kuby's has been doing about 8-10 animals a year for me for years. Axis and other exotics, whitetail, and hogs.

I have watched my mom and dad do it this way for 36 years, we've never had a bad experience. It really isn't all that much trouble.

why don't you do your own sausage?

For you guys that only use processors I have a question for you. How much meat do you think you should get back? In pounds that is. I'm very curious since I have always done my own cutting & grinding and know how much I get off every deer.

It should be about the same weight. The drop off weight includes bone but that is closely off set by adding pork or beef to your sausage. So if you get 1/2 cut and 1/2 sausage the bone will be cut out but 1/2 of the sausage weight will be casing, spice, pork, water. That would be close to 1/3 of he total weight. So it about evens out when deboned.

Yes but curious what some of the guys who say they didn't get back enough meat think they should get back. Again in pounds.

I deboned and trimmed a doe last year and probably only came away with about 25#s minus the backstraps. I take my deer to Kuby's because i really like there sausage and find that it gets ate way quicker this way.

The only processing I have done for me is smoked sausage. I have the local high school do it for me. I just can't make it tastier than they can.

i never checked but i would say about 40% of a gutted deer maybe 35%

Im glad im not a deer processor because nobody is ever happy.

Not singling a person out but everybody does nothing but ?itch

No. Actually I have never used them. It was years ago that I used the one in Halletsville.I do not remember the name. It was a friend of a taxidermist. But since they charged more for shipping meat for my customers, I made a switch to Rust in New Braunsfels. I still have trust in either one that that I will get what I ordered and it be my meat that I brought in. Its just a price difference for me and my customers. The quality on most items was about the same.

The 1st thing my processor does is weigh it. IMO - the reason he does this is to give you a good idea of how much meat to expect so that you can more accurately request your order.

The flip side - it leads me to believe they process in bulk. Never gotten any bad met back from them so I will continue to use them.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again. BLUFF DALE DEER PROCESSING. You get YOUR deer back and it is done right. They look at each kill and even smell the meat. I've even seen them cook a small cut of meat off an animal, and taste test it. They won't accept it if it seems the least bit 'Edgy'. I can certainly understand someone wanting to process their own deer, it's part of the hunting experience, and saves you some money. Heck I've processed mine for years. Not anymore, $90 shrink wrapped and custom cut, I'm in!

That's what I'm thinking. Earlier this week I saw one of the local meat processors here in Gonzales. He told me that he will only process deer meat if you bring it in already boned out so that his customers have a really good idea of how much meat they are going to get back. He also told me that it doesn't help much at all when a customer brings back blood shot meat and blown out guts all over the meat. A lot of the meat is wasted from that when they process it.

Personally I have seen people bring in some deer that were pretty disgusting and dirty and not cleaned properly so I have often wondered exactly how much difference that really makes. Just saying.

I always clean mine before putting it into the ice chest and nothing goes in there that has gut material on it, leaves, grass, dirt, or anything else and I get pack what I expect to get back.

Sounds like he wants people to break the law.

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