from field to freezer

[NC_DAVE]

Hello all this going to be my first year deer hunting, yes I have meant to try for the last five years just never made. This year I am determined to go. I do know you are supposed to field dress the deer right after the kill. But after this I am not so sure, I have searched and not really found any diffenitve answer.

Some say to cut it up into place it into ziploc bags let it in freezer and then take to a butcher.

Some say only take some of the meat to the butchers?

Any help suggestions or insight would be appericated.

[Watrdawg]

This is my routine that I have come up with over the years. Works pretty well for me and I have never lost any meat.

As soon as I make a kill I gut the deer. This is to start the cooling process as quick as possible. I make a pit stop at the closest place i can get bag ice. I then stuff the cavity with 2 bags of ice, keeping the ice in the bag of course. This will help to cool down the deer on the ride home. Once I'm home I hang and skin the deer. I then quarter it. I have a huge 150qt cooler that I place 4-5 bags of ice in the bottom. I lay the quarters on the ice and then let it all cool down for a day or two. After that the quarters go to my processor. Make sure you keep the meat dry while on top of the bagged ice.

The reason I keep the meat on the bone to cool for a couple of days is that while it cools the meat contracts and since it is on the bone as it does contract this creates micro tears in the muscle fiber. Makes for much more tender cuts of meat. If you cut it off the bone right away when the meat completely cools down and contracts you have tougher cuts of meat.

[Ironman8]

I've been hunting for about 20 years now with my dad, who's been hunting for somewhere around 30 years. We've made all the mistakes and found easier/better ways to do things over the years. I only tell you that so you know the experience behind how I/we do things...however, it is just "a" way, and can be done other ways. More than one way to skin a cat...er deer. :p

Ok, so I'm not sure how your area is set up, but we have our "camp" and then our hunting sites that we typically get to via ATV. I'm also not sure about the laws on field dressing a deer where you hunt. So, take what I say and just try to apply it to your circumstances, since they may not be the same. Also, it would be best to go with someone who has experience so that they can show you the ropes, especially the butchering process, and for safety reasons.

In the Field
Typically, we do not field dress a deer. After shooting it, confirming the kill, and tagging it, we will take it back to camp, hang it, and start on the full skinning, quartering, and butchering. *NOTE* This process doesn't NEED to be done immediately. There are times that we will shoot a deer at 7am and not get to the skinning/quartering process until 10am or so. And this is in a more mild environment (Texas) than you're in, and without a field dressing (gutting). Don't think that if you don't get the meat on ice within 1hr that it will go bad. It never has for me or those who I hunt with who have more experience than I do.

Butchering Process
There are a couple of popular ways to skin a deer. The one we choose is to hang from the neck vs hanging from the hind legs.

Here's a quick rundown of the skinning process:
1) Hang deer
2) Cut skin around neck (think circumference) as high as you can (typically just below rope)
3) Cut skin about 2" above each joint in limb (circumference again...any meat below this point has too many tendons to worry about)
4) Cut through bone and discard lower legs (a hacksaw works great)
5) Cut skin either on chest area or spine working your way down the full length of the deer
6) Pull skin off deer (you may have to cut additional skin, or the membrane between the skin and meat as you work your way down)

Parts of deer that I would recommend keeping:
-Each quarter
-Backstrap
-Neck meat
-Tenderloins
-Don't bother with ribs, its not like your typical ribs at the bbq joint

**The butchering process of these parts are really hard to describe through text, so there may be a youtube video out there that will give you an idea, but this is where someone with experience can show you best. If you have any specific questions, I'll try to help.

As the meat is taken off, it should be rinsed with water (to get some of the blood and hair off...although there shouldn't be much hair due to the skinning process) and then put on ice. I try to make sure that the meat has ice on each side so that it cools completely and stays at a consistent temp. It is possible to have meat contacting other meat instead of ice and go bad, so just try to make sure the ice is spread evenly AROUND the meat.

To the Freezer
From here, we keep the meat on ice for the next 3-4 days, constantly draining the water (1-2 times per day) and adding new ice when needed. This "bleeds" out the blood and alot of the "game" taste that some people complain about with wild game. You'd be surprised how well this works.

Once the meat is bled out, its best to at least de-bone all pieces (and then process afterward), but if you can't then package and freeze properly and save for later when you can de-bone and process the meat.

Butchers: We don't use em. First and foremost, if you bring in 50 lbs of meat, you'll get 50 lbs back...but not necessarily YOUR meat. They have so much meat that they handle that its impossible for them to keep up with who's meat is who's. All the hard work you did with making sure the hair was removed and bleeding out the meat for 4 days and keeping the meat on ice and at a good cold temp, ect. would be wasted if you get meat from some bubba's deer that he strapped to the hood of his truck for the 5 hour ride home and let the meat partially rot. Secondly, I just don't typically pay for something that I can do myself.

Suggestions for what to do with the meat:
-Steaks out of the backstrap and quarters (this won't be like your typical steak from a steakhouse...more like a thin, pan fried steak)
-Hamburger meat or sausage out of the quarters and/or neck meat (this is very lean meat and not what you would make burgers out of)
-Leave the tenderloins as is, or cut into slices or chunks and pan fry...delish!

Anyway, hope that all helps. Let me know if you have any questions.

[nineteenkilo]

I'll add a couple of tidbits from the woods of Alabamastan.

1. We trap a bit so we have an electric winch/hoist for skinning quickly and hold the carcass over a tub.
2. We never EVER gut a deer. Hang by rear feet right above the joint and skin to asshole. Little further down and then use loppers (like for pruning) to crack the pelvis on either side. Straight down the back from there to get the straps/loins. Once they are out, the knife goes through the cracks we made in the pelvis leaving both rear quarters hanging while the rest of the front end lands in the tub.
3. We keep hind quarters and straps. The rest isn't worth digging through as it probably has a least one shattered shoulder (I don't like chasing wounded deer) and the ribs are (as mentioned) nearly worthless.
4. Debone the quarters and do the icewater treatment. Yes, he's right. It works just fine. I only do it for a day or so though.

Finally, a recipe that everyone around here seems to go for. Cut up any/all the meat into roughly 1 inch by 1 inch cubes and marinade in Dale's for an hour or so. Wrap each piece in a small cut of bacon and chunk on the grill. It WILL make you slap yo' mama.

Finally, I only use a processor if it's time for my annual summer sausage run. We have a local guy that makes the finest summer sausage with jalapeno cheese I've ever eaten. Usually we process one entire nanny in this fashion once a year.

EDIT**** I can't see any reason to field dress in NC unless there is a real danger of meat spoiling. Very unlikely around here.

[Watrdawg]

I use Dale's also. Another great marinade similar to Dale's is Allegro. It comes in a couple of different variety's also.

[Ironman8]

Just wanted to add a couple of things that 19kilo brought up...

I didn't say it outright, but we don't ever gut the deer either. We do take the front quarters (unless they're mangled by the bullet) but when we're done taking all the meat, its just the carcass including the thoracic cavity, guts, spine and neck. There is a membrane and thin muscle that holds the guts in...we do our best to keep this intact and not puncture it...trust me, you don't want to.

Also, field dressing is really (typically) nothing more than gutting the deer in the field. Some might take off lower limbs or actually skin it, but we don't do any of the above in the field unless we have to manually haul the deer back to camp or some other extraneous circumstance. With the ATVs, we haven't had to do this in a long time...

[NC_DAVE]

Thanks for all the feed back I am really shooting from the hips with this.

[rod44]

Here is my 2 cents worth after 50 years of shooting deer. I am in WI where there is easy access to registration stations and home.

I field dress the deer and get it registered right away.

Get it home and hang it head up and skin it from the neck down. I use a rope and pully system with a fence strecher. Start the neck, tie a rope to the skin, let the deer down to the floor and tie the other end of the rope, as short as possible, to something at floor level. Then, pull up the deer and the skin comes off on the way up.

Let it hang overnight and debone, cut to your cuts and freeze it. Does not need to be aged to be tender and the taste is very mild. Don't even try to age it unless you have a large cooler. Alot of people don't like venison because it is gamey. If you shot a prime angus steer in the woods, field dressed it, dragged it through the leaves and let it hang for a week with it's skin on - it would taste gamey too.

Sorry about the poor pict. From my 50 cent garage sale camera in my hunting pack.

We did one this fall on a hunting trip to Cody, WY. Shot it that morning and cut it up early afternoon. Just talked to the guy and he said the meat is great.

I also bone them out hanging. Less mess and quick. If I have someone helping with the wrapping, I can do one in about 30-40 minutes.

http://i384.photobucket.com/albums/oo281/Rodhorses/PHTO0004.jpg

[jwfuhrman]

Since Indiana's Whitetail season is in cold weather, we usually gut our deer in the field, then hang it in the barn for a day or too after we wash the carcass out. Luckily I can walk out my back down, walk a mile and a half(on my own farm), so if I get a kill, its walk back up to the house, get the 4wheeler and then get my kill back to the barn.

After that, its skin it and cut it up. We leave tenderloins whole, the legs get made in to burger, and the hams are left bone in and cured.

[jmnielsen]

I also field dress it immediately after I shoot it. It's usually cold here for deer season, so i normally let it hang for a day it two after I rinse it out, then I will skin it and debone it. Everything but the back straps gets ground up into hamburger, and most of that is turned in to jerky. I don't let it sit for more than 2 days without taking care of it though.