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Suggestions for Deer processing equipment

Tom W

Tom W

New Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2018
Messages
23
Location
MA
The slaughterhouse I take my deer to is no longer processing wild game so I’m going to start butchering it myself so I’m looking for suggestions/tips on what types of knives I should have and other basic equipment to get the job done and any good tips . Thanks


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Well ill tell you for a field knife for gutting skinning and cutting into quarters invest in a havalon. Its my go to plus they sell a variety of types of knives. You can also invest in a set of outdoor edge knives they work well without breaking the bank. They sell a case with all the knives you will need!!
 
My favorite tool is a 5 or 6 inch boning knife. Keep it sharp.
Kentucky Afield has a DVD on their website that shows a fantastic way of processing meat. It is the method I use.
Also, I have used a couple different grinders and have been disappointed with them. If you're going to get serious with processing your own meat you'll probably have to spend some money on a serious grinder. What I do is take a cooler deboned meat to a local butcher. He has a 5 HP motor on his grinder. He makes any kind of sausage I can ask for. Cheap too!
 
Outdoor edge has a 2 knife pack that is a fillet type knife and a heavier weight blade knife with sharpener. That's what I have and have never needed anything else. I would also get 2 large cutting boards and a vacuum sealer. Than your done. I usually bone my deer and put block ice or jugs frozen into a cooler. I than put cookie baking sheets over the ice. I bone everything out and put it in the cooler. If the weather is hot I can work on cuts and grinding for the better part of a week if I want to with the meat staying nice and cold. I normally take the ash route out though and have my grinding done at the general store. It's easier than you might think. Especially if you have someone that can help on the first one.
 
In the field:

I do all my field dressing and/or boning meat out in the field with a Havalon. They're amazingly light and God's gift to the backpacker and mobile hunting community in my opinion.

At home:

1) A good boning knife. I researched options a few years ago and ended up with two; both Victorinox. One curved blade and one straight. If I could have only one it would probably be the swept but both work great for breaking apart deer, hogs, etc.

2) Grinder. I started with a hand grinder, then a 1/4 hp and have been using a Cabelas 3/4hp for several years. They all work but the bigger grinder makes the process much faster. I haven't used the newer Cabelas carnivore series but the older Cabelas grinder has been excellent.

3) Vacuum sealer. No brainer here.

4) Meat tubs/cutting boards. These items, while not mandatory, I would still consider basic equipment that makes life easier.

The extras:

1) Sausage stuffer. You can use most grinders with attachments but a stand alone stuffer makes the process easier. I usually just make bulk sausage but when you have time, bratwurst or hot dogs can be fun.

2) Dehydrator. Again, not critical that you own one of these but venison jerky is amazing so this is something to consider.

I've processed a lot of big game from hogs to elk. If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me and I'll give you my phone number. Butchering your own game has many benefits and no cons.
 
Since we do quite a few deer each year in my barn for our church's wild game dinner, they purchased a second hand stainless steel 8' table for us to use. That is sure handy to have with 3 of us cutting deer up! Real easy to keep clean. Ditto on the meat tubs and boning knives as mentioned above.
We wrap in "saran" wrap first, then butcher paper and tape. This works for us.

For my own deer I upgraded from my manual grinder to a Cabela's grinder and those tube bags. Those bags keep ground meat good for years.
 
vabwhntr said:
I bought one at Costco couple years ago. Never had any issues. I love it.
Click to expand...
What brand was yours? I got a food source and have been very happy with it. I also only use the food source bags as well. There actually pretty cheap per box on Amazon.
 
I’ll have to check prices on amazon for bags. I am old school and always forget about that place.
 
Vthntr said:
Outdoor edge has a 2 knife pack that is a fillet type knife and a heavier weight blade knife with sharpener. That's what I have and have never needed anything else. I would also get 2 large cutting boards and a vacuum sealer. Than your done. I usually bone my deer and put block ice or jugs frozen into a cooler. I than put cookie baking sheets over the ice. I bone everything out and put it in the cooler. If the weather is hot I can work on cuts and grinding for the better part of a week if I want to with the meat staying nice and cold. I normally take the ash route out though and have my grinding done at the general store. It's easier than you might think. Especially if you have someone that can help on the first one.
Click to expand...

This this was the set of knives I got minus the capping knife. What I like about them is the sharpen up quick, the handles are very comfortable and the boning knife flexes a bit. I had a friend tell me the butcher who taught him said what your looking for is something comfortable in your hand that holds an edge but more importantly takes an edge quickly. These fit the bill for me.

https://www.cabelas.com/product/hun...lite-game-processing-kit/2350500.uts?slotId=1
 
I like to use my buck knife "zipper" for gutting and making the initial cuts for skinning. The gut hook makes it easy and doest cut into the meat. I also like using a 6" filet knife for breaking down the deer. Its cheap and works well.
 
Outdoor edge swingblade is all I’ve been using for years. I debone in the field. I may use a dexter russell fillet knife at home cleaning up the meat more if I don’t want to dig in my pack to get my swing blade.

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I’ll probably get a havalon once I start backpacking out west.

I never had any luck with vacuum sealers. Seem to only get 1 or 2 years out of them before the break. It’s mostly been the heat strip that goes out. It will form a kink in the metal strip ( maybe from over heating) and will leave a pin hole in the seal where the vacuum eventually leaks out. I’ve settled on the cabelas commercial series because it has a lifetime warranty. I just keep my box and swap it out every time the heat strip fails.
 
I use a k ice from @madknives on Instagram who is an old buddy. Its heavier but sharp as hell looks great. Once home like a couple people have said I use outdoor edge knives. I was given a set of e with a sharpener. Never needed anything else. Actually I used my madknives knife on the last one.

I use a kitchen aid stand mixer with grinder attachment for my ground. Its ok. Not great and I would much prefer something else. But since we had the stand mixer already this was the cheap way into grinding.

For storage I have been using a food saver vacuum sealer. I'd like to learn how to use butcher paper though. I've a couple times where I've double sealed the bags because I don't have complete faith in the food saver.

There's a you tube video from growingdeertv about processing too that's pretty good.
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