Who Processes Their Own Game

[Redside]

Do my own. As with others, upgrading the grinder was the best decision I've made in the past few years. I have a 3/4hp (or so) LEM, I can't feed it fast enough. Don't pay full price, get on their mailing list and wait for a sale. Typically the black Friday sale is the best, not sure if they're still running it. They have sales all the time, typically can find 20% off.

We do a lot of roast in the crock pot so when I break down and animal it doesn't take as long as I'm leaving it in big chunks of meat. I just tried making jerky this year for the first time this spring from my 2019 mule deer. I just used that Hi-Mountain stuff, worked great! This past weekend I used their summer sausage mix, worked equally as well. Neither were as time consuming as I thought they'd be. I've also been following the front shoulder cooking thread on here and will try some of those recipes so I'm not really cutting those up either. Saves a ton of time butchering.

I've worried about heat in the past, but this year I shot my bull on an 80 degree day, was the hottest I've shot an elk at. Just kept it in the shade and breeze that first day. Hung it overnight and it was getting down to freezing. Put it in the coolers the next morning on ice, took 2-3 days(evenings after work) to cut it up. It's perfectly fine. In the past I took it to a processor because I was worried about heat, but dang its expensive.

 

[Cammy]

Growing up we did ours on the kitchen table and thought everyone did. Back in the 80's my brother came to South Georgia (where I was stationed at the time) around Thanksgiving and shot a deer. Brought it back to the house and my ex-wife asked where we were going to have it processed. I told her we were going to do it on the kitchen table. "NOT ON MY TABLE YOU'RE NOT!" went outside to help my brother skin the deer and he asked what we were going to do. "We are going to butcher it on MY kitchen table" was the reply. Not the reason I am divorced but would have been a great story if it was. LOL!

Like Redside I too upgraded my grinder to a 1/2 horse LEM Big Bite grinder this year. Added a foot switch to the order and couldn't be more impressed with how fast the grinder will chew through the meat. Runs quieter than my old LEM and does a much better job at cutting the meat without adding heat. My meat was partially frozen and the grinder walked trough it like nothing. The head of the unit, which is stainless steel vs cast, was cooled in the fridge before grinding but actually got cooler and stayed cooler than my previous unit.

100% recommend the LEM Big Bite grinder. Don't know how I lived without the foot switch all these years.

 

[Boarmaster]

I have always done my own processing even back when all I had was a hand grinder. I upgraded years ago to a nice LEM Big Bite and a stuffer. I do ground, sausage , roasts , chops and steaks. Next upgrade is a bigger stuffer. I vacpak about everything but I am going to start bagging ground and bulk sausage when I get a bigger stuffer. I buy my seasoning and supply from a company called Butcher Packer.

 

[Tradewind]

We do it all. Started with a kitchen aid grinder attachment on my wife’s mixer and are slowly purchasing equipment to make it easier. Now we have 2 grinders, a meat mixer and a stuffer along with a good scale, a stainless table, sealers and food grade tubs to put meat in. We also have an electric hoist and a trolley system to easily hang, skin and quarter deer. If it is cool enough at night I can control the temperature in my garage to be able to hang for a few days to age as well.

what do you use for a sealer? and what do you recommend?

 

[Gellar]

what do you use for a sealer? and what do you recommend?

I just have a cheap one. I’d like to get a better one myself.

 

[Tradewind]

I just have a cheap one. I’d like to get a better one myself.

is it one of the Cabelas series? I am going to buy one here this week and am looking for suggestions.
thx

 

[6mm Remington]

Weather permitting (staying cool enough) I enjoy processing my own game.



I had another bucket just like this one. 30 pounds each from my deer I mixed with pork butts for fat. Made sausage out of each bucket. Italian and Country Blend. Oh my did it turn out great! Made 16 pounds of meat I sliced thin into jerky. It was almost 3 full gallon ziplock bags of it when finished. Backstraps and Tenderloin were made into steaks. This is off a mule deer buck I got this year.

 

[MtnRambler]

While it can be exhausting, I enjoy processing my own. I agree that a high-quality grinder makes the job even more enjoyable.

 

[Flasch89]

Good afternoon,

I was hoping to get a general sense of how many people are doing their own game processing.

I’m a relatively new hunter but am a chef by trade. I think I take it for granted that I can comfortably process game and create products at home with relative ease. I really enjoy the entire process, in fact, processing my animals is one of my favorite parts of the cycle.

How many others are doing everything on their own? How many are dropping it off somewhere? Pros and cons?

I definitely process my own. It has been a learning curve for sure but after 15 years of practice I feel like I've gotten pretty efficient. Pros? Its free and you get the cuts you want. Cons? I'd say time. I am the only one who does the gutting and gilling in my home so when I shoot something it typically takes me about a week to process. I have 2 young kids at home so my time is limited to after their bedtime. I still wouldn't take it to a processer no matter what though. Don't want to try and afford the costs there.

 

[Northwoods]

Do my own. Butchering and cooking has become my favorite part of the hunting process.

 

[Four22]

I do my own when I’m at home. That way I know what I get back is mine.

I tend to make a lot of jerky so I cut them different than a commercial butcher does.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Growing up we mostly did our own. It was fun doing it with my dad and some friends on occasion. Now its all by myself since my dad is 2000 miles away and its not that fun by myself. My good friend is a butcher so I have no issues taking meat to him and he hooks me up usually. If I did not have a butcher as a friend I'd probably do it myself still as I have had bad experiences in the past with butchers.

 

[2ski]

I bought the stuff to do it myself a few years ago after I took an elk in to get processed and it cost me around $300. And it was February on a damage hunt so they didn't have much coming in. To add to it, I get the meat back and he tells me that it was pretty gut shot up, but they got it cleaned up. No it was not gut shot up. He says, oh he must be thinking about a deer someone brought in that was pretty shot up. In February? I decided to buy a decent grinder and a good vacuum sealer for what 2 elk with that guy would cost. This year I took my antelope in to get processed because I didn't have time to do it and learn that first time. Different processor. A buddy and I cut up his whitetail last weekend and it doesn't feel so daunting. I now feel I could get one cut up pretty easily in a few hours and save the grinding for later. It may not be pretty but I could get it done.

 

[2ski]

I'll add to the Black Friday for LEM. I bought my stuff a few years ago. Then I checked LEM's site out of curiosity. I could've saved A LOT of money doing that.

I saw Costco had a LEM chamber Vac for $699 in the last few weeks. That was tempting.

 

[MO Betta]

I've always processed my own. My father had me help field dress and process game before I ever made my own kills. I find it very enjoyable.

 

[Eric.MN]

Always have processed all the game my family have harvested. From the initial butchering to making simple ground burger, jerky, brats, sausage, summer sausage an venison bacon. Yea it takes time but I really enjoy the whole process with my family. I also enjoy giving away some of what I created to others knowing it was all me and not a butcher shop created product.

 

[Sagebrushhunt]

I was forced to start doing it myself two years ago. The only local place in my town quit doing it. Initially I was terrible at it, but after watching a lot of you tube and helping butcher 7 elk, I have learned a lot about the different meat cuts and I am glad I do it myself now.

 

[Wildabeest]

My dad was a grocery store butcher, so we did all of our own when I was growing up. But I’ve used processors since getting back into hunting a couple of years ago. I’d planned to do it myself, but since we got our deer out whole and had multiple deer down at the same time both years, it was just easier.

This year it was a real pain trying to find someone in the Bozeman / Livingston area that would even take them. They seemed to be really backed up. So between that and stroking a $500 check yesterday for 3 deer (plus 1,000 mile round trip drive to pick it up), I’m doing my own going forward. This thread has been very helpful - thanks to all who have posted!

 

[270.Rose]

We ground up a total of 255lbs today, and made burger, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, Polish sausage links, and garlic sausage links. My husband grew up hunting and processing it all at home, I did not have any experience at all with wild game until we got married and 2020 was my first year hunting myself and contributing to the freezer. It was incredibly satisfying and I am looking forward to doing it all again next year.

 

[wgiles]

I started processing all of my deer meat several years ago. Prior to that I processed some and also sent some out for processing. It is quite a bit of work, but I know where everything came from and where everything went. My biggest problem is that the weather here is so variable that I often can't let the carcass hang for as long as I would like. I have thought about building a cooler, but can't justify the time, space or cost.