How long does it take you to butcher deer?

[tim]

I used to do some myself but felt I was wasting too much. Now I drop it off at the butcher and get back to hunting. No complaints on what I get back or the price.

[RiverBottoms]

It depends on how picky you are. If you truly want to get ALL the RED meat without any WASTED, it would take forever.

I'm very skeptical about guys who claim to butcher deer very fast without any waste...

I call B.S.

Deboned in 8 minutes with 50 dollars in equipment. A 34.00 knife and a 13 dollar meat hook. You won't see much waste at all. Those shoulder blades are as clean as my plate after a sirloin tip dinner.

https://youtu.be/xijmge8_NJw

Deboning is the quick and easy part. Trimming everything to pure quality red meat is what takes the most time. Doing that properly with the least amount of waste possible is very time consuming. I have watched guys toss out a lot of good meat just because they don't want to take the time to trim it properly. I believe in utilizing the most meat possible. That's why processors give so much less meat back than if you do it yourself. Most of it ends up in the scrap dumpster. Some grind it all and you end up with crappy looking burger. I like my burger to be pure red with no connecting tissue mixed in. That's the advantage of doing it yourself.

Agreed. It always takes me longer than I think / want it too, but my wife and kids won't eat venison anymore if I keep giving them stuff full of silver skin and membrane. I bet it takes me 5-6 hours per deer without grinding any, and 80% of that time is spent trimming. I've never taken one in, but have considered it in a pinch before.

[ThePreBanMan]

I do a lot of trimming right before cooking. Usually, after it's partially defrosted. I find it's a lot easier to work on the meat while it's partially frozen.

[aschlader09]

It takes time if you want the best result. I grew up processing deer with my Dad. We have a meticulous process passed down for generations. We typically do between 5-10 per year. Skin and quarter immediately and then dry age using spare fridge or cold weather. Age 1 to 2 weeks at just above freezing temp to tenderize, open the grain, and dry out a little. 4-6 hours to cut and trim completely and package excluding the grinding. Once I have several deer in the freezer I will take another day with my family to grind all scrap meat, then mix, and stuff sausage, sticks, etc. Then another day to cook/smoke/dehydrate sausages, sticks, jerky etc. and package those. My priority is always quality. I’ve tried doing less trimming and I’ve tried not aging or aging less and all resulted in lower quality meat. It’s really worth taking your time through the entire process in my opinion.

[aschlader09]

I have to add that this also depends on how you process the deer. Some guys steak out only backstraps and then trim and grind everything else. This would take substantially less time than breaking the animal down for steaks, roasts, cubes, strips, bone-in cuts and grind. I’ve also seen guys throw out a lot of parts that I wouldn’t. Are you taking the shanks, the neck roast, the brisket, etc. It all depends how meticulous you are and what you’re trying to get out of it. With some deer I even break down the bones into small sections to expose the marrow and make a homemade bone broth to use in soups, stews and roasts. This process alone takes an entire day. So depending on the deer I may work on it for part of 4 or 5 different days to take it from harvest to completely processed, packaged, and ready for immediate consumption or cooking and then consumption.

[Kraftd]

I do like others have mentioned and skin and quarter then into the spare fridge to be done over the next couple of days usually. When I've done a whole one start to finish (skinned to cleaned up) 3-4 hours is pretty feasible. Could probably do less if that was the goal.

I grind very little meat and do a-lot of bone in roasts and braises. This saves A TON of time, and IMO offers some much more fun and tasty options than ground. I can have a neck cleaned off the bone, chunked into four big roasts (on a mature buck) and wrapped and in the freezer in 15 minutes or less with ounces of waste (don't usually do bone in neck roasts). For ground I try and get much of the silverskin out, but I think you'd be surprised how little the flavor and texture is impacted by leaving a some in if you have a good strong grinder. For ground I usually do small batches throughout the year from roasts or whole frozen shoulders for sausage or burgers and trim right before as needed. I err on the side of less trimming to minimize waste.

I grew with my grandfather and dad grinding a lot of meat and getting every piece of silver skin out. I have really not noticed any difference and my dad has dialed way back on being so meticulous.

[Thesouthpaw]

I can skin and de-bone in roughly 45 minutes if I have everything ready to go.
Other than that, it depends on the deer. If I am grinding a lot of it, it takes a lot longer than if I am cutting roasts out of it. I have found that packaging ground meat is what takes the longest for me. I can remember doing eight deer in one day after gun season(I only killed one of them), with just one other buddy. That took us quite a while. I really enjoy cutting and processing meat, so I have gotten a lot of practice doing it for myself and others. I honestly process between 15-20 by myself each year.

[Wlog]

After going through this thread it sounds like I’m roughly in the same ballpark time wise as everyone else. My wife usually helps out too which is nice. She packages while I cut and trim.

[lyndon57]

I take my time. Its nice if there is a badger or packer game on.
Because thats usually how long it takes for me to butcher & clean up.

[Moose]

Took me 1.5 hrs to skin and quarter a semi frozen doe this morning. It took me 3.5 hours to debone and cut backstraps into steaks. Tommorow i will grind and stuff. I did it alone.

[Itchy Bones]

It takes me a long time but it’s getting quicker since I started doing it this way. Leave the silver skin on and cook those cuts accordingly, long and slow, silver skin breaks down into a gelatin and it’s delicious. All four shanks and the ball roasts. The only silver skin I really trim off is from the back straps. If you try to make your cuts something that they’re not you’re really missing out on gooooood eating. Everything else that isn’t pure protein I just grind w whatever is in it except the glands. Yuck pull those out.

[Trout]

Butchering is one of the parts of deer hunting I really enjoy taking my time on. Cold beer, good music on the radio, reshatpening my knives more than I need to, and taking my sweet time making every cut. If it takes all day, it was a good day.

[Marshbuster89]

Takes me about 2 hrs from start to finish(packaging and cleaning up)

I have been doing it since I’ve been 8 tho and save everything except rib meat.

[moog5050]

Total time - 2 to 3 hours. Only 30-45 min to skin and debone. Rest is cleaning up meat and vacuum sealing. Often I will debone one day and then clean meat up and seal on another day. I really try my best to ensure no fat, silver skin or hair in the final product!

[tundra@1]

I learned from a fellow hunter who is a butcher...... One tip I will give you. yes get all the fat off, but as far as the silver skin, leave that on, as it helps protect the meat, while it is in the freezer. When you take a section out, partially defrost, and then take the silver skin off before cooking.....................

To save time, do not cut all your steaks at one time. For instance simple cut a back strap lets say in 3 sections. When you take a section out to cook, make your butterfly cuts than, again when is partially froze,alot easier.....................