Best Big Game butcher Calgary Area
 

Looking for opinions and recommendations on the best place in the Calgary area for deer sausage and pepperoni.

Thanks in advance

Rocky's
 

Rocky's Sausage Haus.

He's a beauty of a guy, and his stuff is off-the-charts good.
Look no further.
Also has a 24hr line during hunting season.

I second Rocky. Great guy to deal with.

Ryan's Meats makes awesome pepperettes. you can buy sausages from most of the butchers to test their recipes.

Rocky
 

If you've been going to Ryan's do your game what it deserves and go to Rocky. And yes I've been to Ryan's and others.

After last year I'll never use Ryans Meats again.

Another vote for Rocky's.

Anyone have a products list for Rocky's?
I'm interested to know what a person can get made from them?
I looked on their website and they have sausages listed for sale; can you get your wild game made into those?
Do they do bone in steaks or just boneless?
What are their prices like?

I did send them an email with the same questions, was just interested if anyone on here has the information.

Rocky
 

Find an hour and stop by there to meet him. He's awesome. You'll leave happy and educated. He can make you anything you want (literally). Guys bring him recipes all the time if they don't want one of the million things he can make on his own.

His # - 403.470.2968

Thanks guys. Appreciate the suggestions! Tagged out on my Mule Deer tonight so i think I’ll give Rocky a try!

Not looking to start a war but why the hate for Ryan’s? I’ve been using him, granted it hasn’t been for sausage, and they’ve done well for me.

Due to all these rave reviews I took my bull elk into Rocky. Will let you know the results. It was a 5 pt bull that dropped in its tracks, had plenty of body fat and appeared in excellent condition.


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I used to live a block away from Rocky's. Took my first deer there late on a Sunday night three years ago, and he did a great job. I think it was under $175, cause I only got a few pounds of sausage. He always has great sausages and meat for sale too.

I've also had a poor experience with Ryan's. I've used them a total of two seasons. The first time was great. No complaints. Cut and wrap was exactly what it should be.

The second time I brought a deer there I had a bit of hair on the meat from the field dress. I didn't have the amenities between the field and the butcher shop to rinse off the deer (I would think most people wouldn't). Instead of Ryan's taking the minimal amount of time required to rinse off my deer before processing they processed the deer with all the hair on the meat. The results were hair all over my roasts, steaks, and mixed evenly throughout my ground meat.

I will not be going back as a result of this and would strongly caution others against bringing an animal there that hasn't been rinsed of any little bit of hair.

There is no excuse for bringing in filthy meat to a butcher other than being lazy you got what you deserved

Typically cut up my own animals, haven't used a butcher in about 5 or 6 years but due to circumstances had to take this elk into a butcher. Based on good reviews on here I took my elk to Rocky, here is my experience.

Rocky was great, phoned him late afternoon on opening day and he was able to get to his shop by 9:45. I met him there and liked how available he is.

Quick turnaround on the butchering, had the animal back within 10 days (cut and wrap job only).

When I went to pick it up, was disappointed that there were no roasts, all went to trim. Thought we had discussed a couple of the best roasts, but maybe we didn't. Likely my fault for not making sure, and maybe I just assumed there would be roasts? Ha

The guy helping me pick up my stuff gave me a box of steaks, a box of burger I got him to grind (30lbs) and a box of trim. The butcher thought that was all, I was sure there should be more. He looked and looked, phoned a couple of different people and finally after about 15 minutes found my other box of trim. Was a little surprised it wasn't all together??

I get home and unload it into the freezer. Open up the burger and for 30lbs, it is in 12 packages, so just under 3lb per pack. I had discussed with rocky that I wanted 1-1.25lb packages of burger, disappointed over that. Called Rocky and he completely understood my frustration, agreed to meet me back there and fix the burger. Still disappointed I would have to drive back there.

Rocky charges a premium from other shops I see in the area (charges $1.13/lb) and I would have expected premium service. Maybe this is normal for butchering services as I have not used them a ton in the past, but a little disappointed and unsure if I would go back.

DR


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Don't hate them. I just did not like the sausage and salami that they did for me. Way too salty.

Very pleased with a big batch of Polish sausage thatRocky made out of a very tasty but tough moose.

if at Rocky's get the swiss and bacon smokies, italian sausage is awesome.

Is there

my experience with ryans meat was also a terrible one, they came highly recommend so i thought i would give them a try. i brought in a full mature cow elk for cut and wrap plus 1 batch of sausage. it took around 2 weeks to get back, not a big deal. when i picked up the meat i got 3 little boxes, i asked where the rest of it was. I was told the the freezer was packed and as soon as others came to get there meat they would find it and call me, after a month of dealing with these guys we came to the conclusion that my meat was gone. never did he offer to refund me any of the money he charge or did he even cough up an apology. I always cut up my own deer but like to leave the bigger animals like elk and moose to the professionals. i might try rockys or cut right meats this year for our moose.

Here ya go Kyle if you haven't seen anything yet. This is my second deer I have taken to him. Does a great job and is a really nice guy.

Thank you. I did get a hold of him and he emailed me a copy. I appreciate your effort on this.

never had an issue with ryans.

Due to this thread I used Rocky and I’m glad I took him my bull elk. One week turn around time, excellent service, delicious smokies and sausage


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I used to use Rocky, not any more.

Last year we had two bad experiences.

First off he "lost" 40lbs of my elk that I brought in for sausage. He made it up by processing another batch for free (I had to provide extra meat) but there is only so much meat on an elk, so what was the value of that 40lbs... Based on my expenses to hunt the elk about $800.

Second a buddy of mine brought his WT deer in for sausage, and when he got them back, they tasted "off" and there were several dark red pieces of meat in the sausage which were obviously elk meat, so either someone was mixing meat in the back, or they aren't cleaning their equipment.

When I first started going there it was fantastic, There are a few guys working the back last year that I would only describe as shady.

Its a bit of a drive from Calgary (90mins south) but Bear butchering is amazing. I took a bull elk there earlier this year, everything I had made (jerky, Pepperoni, sausage) were great. I have given some to people who say they don't like wild meat and they all loved it too.

So what is the average price RANGE a guy should be expecting to pay for an average size deer to be cut up up into sausage and/or pep and everything else just cut and wrapped? Just looking for ballpark prices of what your experiences have been.

I would say $250 - $400, and it all depends on what you get from it. Products like jerky or dry sausage are more expensive than fresh sausage is for example.

I find it hard to believe nobody mentioned GourMart in Bowness. I have used them for more than 20 years without a single disappointment for burger, sausage and pepperonis. We bone out our game and take the clean meat for his processing but he Darryl will also cut up a skinned carcass if that is what a customer wants. They do ONLY game processing through the hunting season.

x2 on Gourmart
 

Darryl is a great guy. Garlic sausage is excellent as well as his smokies and bratwurst. Not as big of a fan for his jerky or pepperoni style but that's just me. Keep in mind though, all smoked stuff is just bulk packaged so you have to do that at home. He tells you that on the website so its clear.