Taking a Deer to the Butcher
I'm new to hunting, and before I harvest any animals I want to know the steps I need to take to butcher the animals. I want to take any deer I harvest to a butcher to be made into jerky, sausage and pepperoni. But I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do. Whether I take the deer home and age and cut out the meat myself and then just take the meat to the butcher? Or just take the deer to the butcher and they'll do the aging etc. Also can anyone recommend a butcher in southern Alberta? Thanks!
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I've tried some of my hunting partner's stuff that he had processed at Mountain Sausage in Lethbridge and it was very good. Back Country Butchers in Cowley is also very good.
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Try the Chopping Block in Glenwood, they have a hook on a pulley block, skin it right there, slides right into the cooler, try their breakfast maple sausage, yum yum
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De-bone it yurself,as the butcher will probably weigh it and charge you the weight,bone and all.
Especially if your wanting what you suggest. You should consider learning to cut it up yourself. Deer are small enough that it's quite manageable to do it yourself. To make the task easier,wal-mart sell ( at least used to have ) a hard cover book called something like '' feild dressing and cutting'' big game. It has pictures to guide you through the process. For jerky you should also consider doing it yourself. It's fairly inexpensive to get the meat ground at the butcher , buy a $20 jerky gun and some of the many brands of dry jerky cures out there, and have at er'. YOu can use a dehydrator or the oven. Pretty simple. |
I took 2 to Back Country Butchering in Cowley last year, cost about a hundred bucks each for sausage, pizza meat, cheese smokeys etc. All great stuff. Easy to debone it yourself, you don't have to really know what your doing, just cut the meat off the bone. I can't remember for sure but I think the butcher needs to see your tag.
It's well worth the hundred bucks to me, all the family loves it. We had mule deer pepperoni pizza tonight. And the backstraps and tenerloins are great on the bbq. We made about 10 pounds of jerky to. The kids eat it for and after school snack most days. |
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Most big game does not need to be aged very long if at all imo. Again especially if your going the sausage route. Game typically has little to no exterior fat and just dries out to fast. Leaving a "jerky" type crust over the lean meat which just has to be cut off and thrown away later. Lots of wasted meat and labour for nothing. Your deer tag will have most of the information needed for the butcher to process your game. However, some take more information to be on the safe side, and it would not hurt to take in your certificate as well. With the new computer generated tags you will have to take in your license. Good luck!:wave: |
Does anyone have any information about the Chopping Block in Glenwood?
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The Chopping Block
I have used the chopping block for two of my deer last year and I know a couple of other fellows that have used them. Its a father-son operation, pretty small place (mind you Glenwood is a pretty small village!) They did a fine job on my two deer. $.49/pound hanging weight for the basic processing. Drop it off and go back and pick it up cut/wrapped/frozen. If I remember correctly one of my deer was $54.00 last year One fellow had some pepperoni and jerky made by them, but it was overdone-very dry. If you are looking for the basic stuff done-use them-otherwise try Mountain Sausage for the speciality stuff. I like the Mtn Sausage jerky and pepperoni. If you have any interest, it does not take much to cut and wrap your own. I learned from reading stuff here on this forum and other sites on the net. The library has some books as well. My first attempt at butchering was not pretty, but I believe that I will become better with more practice. If it is cool enough, I will be processing more of my deer at home. Hope that helps! |
Chopping Block 403-626-3842
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So how do you take a deer to a butcher? I'm assuming they want it gutted, skinned, head and lower legs removed? Wrapped in what? How soon after harvesting? Never used one before.
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As far as deboning the meat yourself, these videos are quite informative.
http://www.outdooredge.com/gameprocessingdvds.html |
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butcher
mostly taken in gutted, skinned, lower legs removed, evidence of sex etc. I have when situation dictated taken them in unskinned and most will charge you a skinning fee.
backcountry in Cowley is the best around. |
go to mountain sausage, they do fine work have a speedy turn around and unlike back country I believe that you actually get back what you brought them!!!
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If the carcass is skinned, as long as it is CLEAN, most butcher shops will accept them wrapped or unwrapped, aged or not, fresh or frozen. Just be sure to call ahead and and get the details from your shop of choice, they are all different. Remember, as mentioned above, to bring in all appropriate license/tag information. |
Do it yourself!!!!! There are lots of books that will give you step by step instuctions on how to do the whole process on your own. All you need is a sharp knife and a table, and you can debone and wrap (personally I vacuum seal) a deer in about an hour. A grinder will cost you between $25 for an old arm-strong, to about $100 for an electric grinder from Canadian Tire. Easy easy easy, and you will save bag-fulls of money!
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