Do It Yourself Deer Processing

Processing a deer yourself will save you money, rather than letting a butcher do the job. Once you get some experience butchering a deer yourself, you can make the cuts exactly as desired, which will lead to better venison and self satisfaction from doing it yourself. If the weather is cool enough, let the deer hang for several days. The venison is much easier to cut when it has cooled a bit. After processing several deer, you will become comfortable with the process and should have no problems packaging a deer in a couple of hours.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Skinning and boning knives Sharpening stones and steel Meat saw Freezer wrapping paper Freezer tape Black marker Plastic bags Large cutting board

1. After the animal has been field dressed, hang the deer from a tree or post, by the neck if possible. Skin the deer and prepare for butchering.

2. Start by removing the backstraps on both sides of the spine. Start the cutting at the base of the neck, next to the vertebrae, all the way down to the beginning of the pelvis. Cut at a right angle to the original cut, from neck to pelvis, and remove the strap intact. Repeat on the other side. Remove the tenderloins from inside the deer. The two loins are located on the bottom of the spine, directly above the intestinal cavity. Work carefully and remove both loins. Package the loins and backstrap in plastic bags, then wrap them in freezer paper and label with the marker.

3. Remove both shoulders from the deer. The shoulders will remove easily with the knife. Pull the shoulder out from the carcass and cut where the shoulder muscle meets the rib cage. Continue cutting close to the ribs while pulling the shoulder outwards until the shoulder is removed. Repeat on the other side. Use the meat saw and remove the shank from the shoulder. The shank is the lower leg below the elbow joint. Cut 2 to 3 inches above the joint and saw through the bone until the shank is removed. Repeat for the other shoulder. Package both shanks together and each shoulder separately.

4. Remove each ham from the deer by cutting alongside the pelvis until you reach the leg joint. Remove the head of the bone from the socket by cutting inside the joint severing the ligament. Continue cutting, roughly following the contours of the pelvis until the ham is separated. Repeat on other side. As in Step 3, remove the shanks and package them together. The ham can then be cut into several smaller hams, or packaged whole.

5. The ribs can removed if desired by sawing them free where the rib meets the spine. Remove the rack of ribs from each side and package.

6. One or two roasts can be made from the neck. Sever the neck where it meets the body and saw the neck into two roasts. The neck meat can also be boned out and packaged for stew meat or a boneless roast. Wrap and package these neck roasts.

7. There is still a lot of stew meat that can be trimmed from the deer carcass. These trimmings can also be used for sausage.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep knives sharp throughout butchering by using stones and steel. Label the meat packages with the name of cut and date of butchering. Hams and shoulders can also be boned out before packaging.
• Use caution when working with knives.

Resources

• How to skin a deer with a vehicle

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