How to Process Deer Meat at Home
After spending months scouting and planning, your deer is finally on the ground. Now what? You could drop it off at a meat processor, but doing the butchering yourself is faster. You'll also know that the deer you eat didn't get mixed up with someone else's animal at the processor.
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Things You'll Need
- Gambrel or similar device
- Sharp knives
- Knife sharpener
- Plastic wrap
- Butcher paper
- Permanent marker
Instructions
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Find a place to hang your deer head down. A stout tree limb works well, unless you have sensitive neighbors. In that case, a beam in the garage is a good place. If you use the garage, put a sheet of plastic under the deer to keep blood from staining the floor. Use the gambrel or similar device to hang the deer. With one of the sharp knives, cut through the skin between the tendon and bone below the knee on both legs and insert the ends of the gambrel.
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Skin the deer. Start by cutting the skin around the knees, avoiding the tendon that's holding the deer on the gambrel. Make cuts on the inside of the legs toward the pelvis. Peel the skin off until there's a few inches hanging off the back of the deer. Fold the skin over a golf ball or small rock, tie a rope around it and tie the other end to the back of your vehicle. Drive away from the deer, and the skin will peel off like a sock.
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Start getting the meat. Remove the meat at the shoulder. There is a membrane between the muscles. Use the membrane as a guide when removing sections of meat. Cut down to the bone and remove the meat.
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Remove the backstraps. This is the most tender part of the deer. Cut along the spine and peel away the tissue that covers it. Use short knife strokes and your fingers along the spine and top of the ribs to pull off the backstraps.
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Get the round and meat from the back legs. Locate the membrane between muscles and cut down to the bone. Peel the meat from around the hip joint and pelvic bone. Also remove the meat to the knee. This gives you the top round, bottom round and eye of round.
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Place all of the cuts on a table for final cutting. Trim the fat and tissue away from the muscle so you're left with lean meat. The shoulder is best used for stew meat, burger, sausage and jerky. The backstraps can be cooked whole like a pork tenderloin or sliced into chops, roasts or sandwich steaks. The round meat can be used for roasts, steaks, burger or sausage.
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Trim the rest of the meat from the carcass. This meat is best suited for sausage and burger.
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Wrap all of your cuts with the plastic wrap and then the butcher paper. This is the best way to prevent freezer burn, unless you have a vacuum sealer. Use the permanent marker to label each package with the cut and date.
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Dispose of the carcass. Use a saw to cut it into smaller pieces and return it to the woods to feed coyotes and foxes, or use it to feed your dogs.
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Tips & Warnings
Have multiple knives or the knife sharpener handy. Butchering a deer will dull a knife quickly.
