arrowsender
New Member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2019
- Messages
- 15
Not sure where you are located but this saddle hunting community is so supported I'm sure there are people here who would be willing to help you out and actually show you.
What grinder are you using?I grind about 70% of every deer. We haven’t bought ground beef in 6 years now. A good grinder is worth the investment. The nice thing about grinding is that your cuts don’t have to be pretty!
I want to butcher my own deer so I can take more does and have plenty of venison and not worry about paying a butcher. I have no friends who hunt let alone butcher or show me how. I’ve watched YouTube videos and it doesn’t look too tough, I have some questions though:
1. I can’t find a GREAT DIY video for newbs. Any suggestions?
2. Do I have to have an expensive meat grinder or will the $100 one I saw in the bass pro add get me by? Should I buy once cry once? Or is it ok to use cheap equipment if I’m only doing a handful of deer per year?
3. Do I have to have a vacuum seal or can meat last over a year in nothing but a zip lock?
4. Can I just skip meat grinding and only butcher steaks? I don’t want to waste a lot of meat bc it’s not fair to the animal. But can I substitute the excess cubes as little cubes for frying or something or do you have to use that type of meat for the grinder?
Sorry for all the questions. I’m just trying to figure out if I can teach myself to butcher on a budget without wasting meat.
Shoot a small deer and cut it yourself. It's intimidating if you've never done it before but the best way past that is to just do it.
wow,i didnt think you could do that. I was lucky to have a friend that showed me everything from gutting to butchering to sausage making. We do it every year and it all is part of hunting for me.That is exactly what I told my buddy who has hunted his whole life and never even gutted a deer. He brings it to the Processor with guts in.... Only way to really learn is to get them hands bloody.
wow,i didnt think you could do that. I was lucky to have a friend that showed me everything from gutting to butchering to sausage making. We do it every year and it all is part of hunting for me.
Awesome!Here’s a cool follow-up, one year after this original post I have officially butchered my first deer.
It was not perfect but it was an awesome experience and I had a great time.
Thanks so much to everyone who PMd me and responded to this thread with advice and resources.
To anyone who is thinking about making the jump I say do it. Over time it’s more cost effective but for me the benefit is it truly enhances the experience. Now I have a new appreciation for shot placement, my cooking preferences get to be complimented by my own cuts and butchering style, it is a full circle journey that is really rewarding...
scout - train - hunt - kill - butcher - cook - eat... be fulfilled and repeat.
hoping it's OK to tack this on since it looks like the OP's questions are answered, any recommendations on knives? I started looking (after watching bearded butcher videos) at the 6 inch victorinox boning knives on amazon, its the flexible vs stiff that i'm wondering about. leaning towards a semi stiff or stiff blade because i have some fishing fillet knives should i need a flexible blade. anyone have suggestion? i just want something that cuts well and holds a decent edge. cheaper is better but ill spend a little more to buy once cry once. i could use a skinning knife reccomendation as well.
EDIT: disregard, i missed the whole dang cooking forum section this is in. i've got some reading to do, these questions have been answered already.