Butchers... dumb question time

[Okotokian]

OK, so this is my first year of big game hunting... got the gun, sighted it in, got the tags, doing some scouting now... So say I get lucky enough to bag something, then what? I gut it (can't be THAT much harder than a duck LOL).... then?

What do you have to do to prepare a deer to take to a butcher? Not knowing how to skin or cut one up, I'd like to do as little as possible (at least to start).

Also, any suggestions as to where to take it in Calgary or south (I'm in Okotoks, as the name implies). And what might it cost, ballpark? I'm totally in the dark.

[TheClash]

have never used them, but longview makes great jerky and very close to you...

[honda450]

Okie its easier then you think. Lots of videos out there on the net, and you will save alot of money. The more you do it the easier it gets. You still can have sausage and pepproni made up as well. I think the going price is about 45- 50 cents a pound delivered weight. And then there might be a bone disposal fee and then any sausage or pepperoni is on top of that. This is ball park as I never take one in.

[Redfrog]

Yep it's so easy even a caveman can do it.:lol: :lol:

You really should do as much as you can yourself. I can't help you with a butcher, but I may be able to with dressing it. all I can say about a butcher is check for receiving times. If you get home at 10 at night, will they accept night drop off. Some do have 24 hour service for drop off.

As far as field dressing, it is not much different than a duck.:D

I use the gutless method a lot, especially for large animals. But in the beginning try this.

Make sure it is dead. Take your watch off. Attach your tag to the hock. Do not get too friendly with the glands on the inside of the hind legs. some guys cut the leg off, some try to cut the gland out. I ignore them. I done more than a few deer with never an issue. I also never cut the throat to bleed it out. That practice is for domestic animals that are stunned then "killed" and hung up. The heart continues to beat and pump blood, so the process helps to drain the animal. A deer shot with a high powered rifle is dead. The heart is stopped, and it has bled as much as it is going to until you open the chest cavity.

Get busy field dressing, that will get more blood out of it.

I use latex gloves. It makes me feel like I'm a surgeon. Great confidence builder.:D

With the deer lying on the ground, on its back, tie ahind leg out of the way. Cut around the anus and pull it out far enough to tie it off. I try to cut the connective tissue whee the gut goes through the pelvis without gutting the gut.

If I'm not doing a mount, I cut the hide from the back of the underside of the jawbone to the front of the pelvis. I usually don't cut the hide between the hind legs till I skin the deer. It just helps to keep it cleaner. Cutting the hide with the grain of the hair will help lessent he hair on the meat.

Then I open the throat and cut the windpipe at the top end. Split the chest cavity. This can be done with a saw, like a wyoming saw [love mine] or even a knife if you go left or right of center where the ribs attach to the sternum. The little button cartilage can be cut with a knife.

Open the chest up and cut the diaphragm from arounf the chest. It is a liner that seperates the chest cavity for the stomach cavity.

You should now be able to pull on the windpipe, and with a little bit of surgical skill, the windpipe and lungs will come out. trim the connective tissue and the heart will be free, keep pulling and trimming and the stomach and digestive tract will pull out. At the end of the digestive tract is the anus, tied off with a string to keep the crap out of your meat.
It will pull through the pelvis.

Take what ever guts and liver you want to eat. I like to wipe the body cavity or wash and dry it if that is possible.

I like ribs but if you don't at least wipe the blood off now, they are less than appetizing.

I prop the cavity open and either hang the deer or get it on some brush to cool if there are no trees around.

If I have to leave the carcass for any length of time, to gat a vehicle or horse or over night, I always cover with large evergreen branches to kep the birds off. Four legged beasts have rarely ben an issue for me, but birds ahave done some serious damage to a carcass.
Some guys skin immediately and use game bags or old sheets to wrap. Sometimes I do the same and sometimes I leave the hide on till I butcher. They skin very easily when warm and slightly harder when cold.
Butcher will charge plenty to skin. Again it is easy to do.

Field dressing takes a lot less time than it took me to type this.:D Don't be afraid to try it yourself. I isn't like DIY dentistry or automatic transmissions, or even dating. You have to really screw up to wreck it.

Get it cleaned and cooled, those are the tow most serious factors to lousy meat.

[Mad_Mikee]

Redfrog - thats a pretty good description. Sounds pretty much like what I do as well.

I'm just new to using gloves while field dressing. Got tired of having stinky hands while eating my McDonalds fries on the way home.

The gloves come in handy for cleaning grouse as well. Once the gloves go on, my alter-ego "Dr. Grouse" comes out.

No complaints from my patients yet.

:)

[Redfrog]

"No complaints from my patients yet." :lol: :lol:

I use gloves all the time now. I really like them for those stinkin' ducks, and coyotes.:D

[Scott N]

I'm another one that likes to use the surgical gloves. They help keep your hands from smelling too bad and also help keep you from catching certain bugs that could be in your animal.

The cost to butcher will vary depending on what you want done, but I've found that a deer usually runs from $200 - $250 for jerky, a couple of different types of sausage, and a few roasts / steaks.

Some butchers will skin the deer for you for a fee. If I'm not mistaken, Ryan's Meats in NE Calgary will do this for you. Try to remember to keep as much hair as possible off your animal when you field dress it and if you decide to skin it yourself. Hair is a bugger to get off your meat once it is there.

And like Redfrog mentioned, check with a few different butchers when they will accept wild game, some only take it in at certain times / days.

[honda450]

Most places will not accept an animal with hide on, check before hand. Skin when warm if possible. Leave evidence of species and sex until it is delivered.

[The Elkster]

Another hint when gutting and skinning....try to make any cuts from the inside out and you will minimize the amount of hair you cut and the meat will stay cleaner (hair free) and you won't knick the meat as much also. Use you fingers to lift the skin away from the meat and insert the knife underneath and cut outwards.

A dull knife means excessive force will be needed to make cuts and the chances of sticking yourself go up greatly. Use a sharp knife and it wouldn't hurt to keep a sharpener with you to touch up the blade part way through.

Good luck!

[AbAngler]

If there is snow around, I fill up the body cavity as soon as the guts are out. Helps it cool and as it melts, it helps rinse eveything out.

The butcher in Irricana charges $20 to skin. Worth it IMO.

[Okotokian]

I'll gut as advised here, thanks... but I think I'd really like to not have to skin and cut it up if I don't have to at least for this year, so will look for butchers that can accomodate that I guess, knowing I'll have to pay a bit more. As it is, with gun and ammo and licence and all the other costs, I figure the cost of my meat is going to come out to about $50 a pound LOL :lol: I'm definitely not doing this for subsistence LOL

[Dakota369]

Okotokian;
I would strongly suggest that you skin it yourself as it is really very simple as long as you can hang your carcass up in your garage. I have also found that if I am not skinning in the field "warm" then I make a cut down the inside of each leg (front legs and back) while I am gutting, from the "knee" into the pelvic area and chest as this makes it considerably easier when skinning it later after it has cooled. And don't forget to leave evidence of sex, and species (the tail on deer) .......as far as I know most butchers will not take animals that cannot be identified.

Good Luck!!

[honda450]

Good luck there Okie, just enjoy yourself thats what its all about.

[Warrior]

I would suggest not filling it with snow if at all possible. As the water/snow will speed up the bacteria growth (BAD)lol If it is cool enough for there to be snow on the ground then it should (the animal) cool out just fine if you can get it hung and the hide off ASAP.

[bowchaser]

I would suggest not filling it with snow if at all possible. As the water/snow will speed up the bacteria growth (BAD)lol If it is cool enough for there to be snow on the ground then it should (the animal) cool out just fine if you can get it hung and the hide off ASAP.
agreed, also no pressure washers or car washes, etc. Don't drag it in a creek to clean out the cavity. Bacteria in the water can transfer to your animal. Wipe down with a damp cloth to get any hair off but you don't want a lot of water on or especially forced into the meat...look on the internet for dressing techniques. A lot of guys just cut up to the ribcage, poke through the diaphragm and slice the windpipe in the throat, no need to saw open the ribcage and cut up to the jaw. Cut a couple holes in the windpipe for your fingers and pull, most of it will come together and cut away tissue etc as you're pulling. Do this on a downhill and gravity is your friend...

[TreeGuy]

Hey Oko! I also highly recomend that you do your own skinning. It's a great learning experience (so long as it isn't FROZEN, then it's just aweful:D ), and it gives you the opportunity to make sure that your meat will be clean and hair free. Also, at $0.99/lb cut and wrapped that I have already paid for this year in Calgary, I like to trim as much fat off as possible, as well as anything else that will just end up as waste usually and adds to the weight/price. Once I have finished my skinning/prep work, I will wrap the carcass in thin poly and tape it for the trip to the butchers in the back of the truck. HINT: the better butchers are busy enough right now that they can and will refuse dirty carcasses. My guy told me about two hunters who rolled into his shop without a phone ahead. They had 2 bull moose on a trailer that were a mess and unskinned. They were turned away.:lol: Gotta remember that these guys have to follow some very strict health/cleanliness guidelines, it helps to be aware of and respect that. Good luck man!:wave:

Tree

[Dakota369]

Oko;
A neat trick shown me by a butcher for hair removal is to go over the carcass once skinned and anywhere you see hair scrape it off with a sharp knife at a 90 degree angle to the meat. It works like a hot darn and gets the hair you cannot see!!