rely on hunting

[Loyalist Dave]

I sure would like to... the kids like the meat better than store beef, but the wife isn't used to the flavor. We are working on reducing the venison currently in the freezer to make room for this year's harvest. :grin:

Another thing that I do is work out with the local beef ranchers deals on 1/4 or 1/2 sides of beef. You can get great deals on hormone free beef if you buy in bulk, AND if you work out a good deal you can defer the cost and the volume by letting co-workers with freezers in on the deal. Support your local rancher now so he's there when you need him in the future.

LD

 

[Sean Gadhar]

My wife wants us to move to someplace where we can garden two crops a year, & enough land to raise a little stock.

I want grand kids to do the weeding 1st :grin:

 

[stinkyfeet]

They get 90-120 on averge around here for a general processing fee. I can process my own in about 3 hours and it cost me the price of freezer paper. Plus my kids think its cool.

 

[Flint311]

Getting close to 90 a deer here too. Processing myself allows me to do cuts/roasts that the family will want and use. Can always take a roast and cut to steaks later too.

 

[BrownBear]

Wow!

Didn't know how much I've been saving cutting ours all these years....

Clearly that's ammo for discussions with my wife about a new gun! :hatsoff:

 

[Curt]

Flint311 When you see what comes to the check stations around here not gutted,unskinned and shot full of holes and find out it was killed 2or3 days ago,its no wonder the butcher shops charge high prices or quit butcherin all together.

Alot of the hunters or shooters I should say around here will take the deer to the taxidermist and all they want back is a mount,they don't want the meat course I wouldn't eat it either after it ridin aroud in ther truck for 3 days in 70 degree wheather. JMHO Curt no wonder PITA hates us.

 

[Eric Krewson]

A couple of years ago it was $40 for any sized deer, cut, ground and vacuum sealed. Now it may be $40 for a yearling but an adult deer is about $70. It appears they charge about $1 a pound for the finished product, this is for skinning and cutting up.

I have cut my own in the past, have an electric grinder and just picked up a Cabela's meat tenderizer and a commercial vacuum sealer on trade. At today's deer processing prices I will probably open the Krewson family butcher shop once more.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Uzeta. When I hunted with cf's, I got an elk just about every year. We always had meat in the freezer, and an elk would last me about 6 months, 'cause my wife wouldn't eat much. I would also try for a deer every year, but not as successful at that. Sure do miss those days, now I eat berfalo as often as I can. It's expensive, but I lost my taste for beef years ago. I used to butcher my own also, but it got to be too much of a chore(wife complained a lot)so I found a guy in Denver that butchered out of his garage. He used to accuse me of bringing in a side of beef because I cleaned it up so good. I'd take it down off the rack and hose it down in the driveway, and use a stiff brush to get off all the dirt and grass and such.

 

[BrownBear]

...because I cleaned it up so good.

That's the key to good meat, whether you're handing it off or cutting it yourself.

My wife grew up on wild meat, so there's no complaining when it comes through the door. With the two of us at work (me cutting and her portioning and packing) we have it down to about 1 1/2 hours per deer.

Lotta practice. When our kids were living at home and hungry, we'd take full advantage of the 7 deer limit of those days. Six of us would climb on a friend's large charter boat and make a week of it, using the boat as a floating "cabin" for comfort and to get away from lotsa deer hanging in camp in serious bear country. I'm here to tell you that 49 deer (7 hunters x 7 deer each) will fill three full-size pickups cab-high. :shocked2:

PETA would have gone nuts at the sight, but they wouldn't get invited to dinner. Locals were proud and even a little jealous to see a caravan of pickups going down the road stacked high with deer. Ah, the good old days.

 

[Grumpa]

For some years, I always had my deer butchered at the same shop, up north where a buddy has a farm. Always got 40# of meat back, regardless the deer. This past season, I took my doe to a local guy who butchers one deer at a time and promises: "You get your own deer back". I got 44# of meat, along with a chart you could use to guestimate what your deer weighed "live", based on the weight of the meat.

 

[Vaino]

On a large doe, I get about 30 lbs of backstrap and hind quarter meat.....all trimmed and deboned. In addition, usually about another 10-12lbs of sausage meat from the front quarters and edible trimmings.

Have always butchered all the game animals and always ensured that the meat was "sweet".

Many years ago, I took some very nicely trimmed meat to a sausage maker, he weighed it and gave me a ticket for 20 lbs. I asked him why my name wasn't on the ticket....his response..."you don't expect your sausage to be made from your meat, do you?"

Previously while waiting, I had observed approx 20 deer carcasses lying on the floor waiting to be processed and a very strong odor of urine and rotten meat was emanating from these carcasses.

When I found out that this meat was going to be mixed w/ my meat, I promptly walked out w/ my meat.

Even when MLer elk hunting in Colorado in warmer weather, the meat was properly cooled and cared for and never had "bad" elk meat. A big factor in this was that the elk were immediately skinned out, put in cheese cloth bags to keep the flies from laying eggs and then hung in the shade. The nights were cold and this kept the meat in good shape.

The "gamey" taste some associate w/ wild game perhaps is caused from a lousy gut job {busting the bladder or cuting the stomach open} and not keeping the meat cool.....Fred

 

[Sean Gadhar]

Alot of the hunters or shooters I should say around here will take the deer to the taxidermist and all they want back is a mount,they don't want the meat

Here in Colorado we call that a felony! I think :hmm: it is the only single violation that will cost you your right to hunt (on the 1st strike). I don't think you can hunt again for 3 years. And that is After the fine & jail time.

 

[jackpine54]

As it should be! :td:

We hunt at home and also in Northern Missouri every year.
When we started going south the farmers in MO all told us, we don't care what you do with the deer, just kill 'em and drag to the ditch. They can't believe we spend every evening butchering when we could be drinking beer in town.
I eat a lot of canned venison that used to live in Missouri!

 

[Spikebuck]

Wow!

Didn't know how much I've been saving cutting ours all these years....

Clearly that's ammo for discussions with my wife about a new gun! :hatsoff:

Since everything costs a lot more in Alaska, you need to go for two guns based on what you saved!!! :wink: :grin:

 

[BrownBear]

Dang is she didn't take the inside on the turn and beat me to the finish line this time. She pointed at the new rods and reels hanging out the back of our boat and said we need to think about paying them off with more king salmon first.

Okay!!!!! :thumbsup:

 

[kruzer1]

Last time I took a deer to be processed (about 7 years ago) I got a bill for $250... Granted it wasprobably close to a 300 lb Muley but still at that point I decided to do my own.

One year I was licensed and took 10 deer. Gave a lot away to friends and needy families... But that got to be a lot of work processing that many deer!

 

[nchawkeye]

I cannot imagine paying someone else to clean my game...I grew up in the country and we butchered 20 pigs a year as well as all the game we killed...

We kill 35-50 deer a year on our farms...They are all cleaned and on ice within 2-3 hours of being killed...That's the "secret" to good meat...

If you butchered a cow and rode it around for several hours showing it to your friends, it wouldn't be worth eating either...

 

[Curt]

Totally agree with nchawkeye here ,its a way of life not a hobby. people need to learn how to provide for themselves and count less on grosery stores .we need to plant more gardens and be less dependent on others.Curt

 

[Vaino]

Most people in the USA live in cities and don't have the land for gardens and many states have "skimpy" bag limits....so, unlkess they intend to starve, the super market is the only alternative.

Another reason many "city folk" don't hunt, fish and garden, is that these activities are "foreign to them".....being born and raised in the city isn't conducive to the above past times.



When young my Dad lived on a farm and was told by his mother and her advice also has been heeded by me...."you'll never be a farmer, you're bent the wrong way." I include gardening in her advice.

My wife and I have plenty of land for a garden but have never planted one.....would rather partake of other leisure past times. We do eat plenty of veggies during the summer....courtesy of our neighbors who do have large gardens. When each veggie comes in season, they give us their surpluses and refuse to take any money. Our "mooching" is repaid when they're invited for a few suppers....so,in effect, we've got the "best of both worlds". Some of the gardening neighbors have also rec'd large discounts on the LRs they've purchased from me.

So...to each his/her own....Fred

 

[Curt]

Fred I would have to say you got it figgered out .Don't have to work hard just work smart. Curt