Butchering party. How many do their own?

This was the first year that I have ever had a butcher cut up any of my game for me. With work wanting me at work and my brothers hunt coming up I just didn't have the time to get to it this year. I only took the front and hind quarters and it was still 80#'s of hanging weight. I just refuze to take an entire deer in and pay hanging weight for a bunch of stuff that will not even be used.

Had to cut up most of an elk by myself once. That was one long day and half the night. (???)

thats cool hawk!

we used to cut are own deer as a kid, then the older i got, i would just take them to the butcher.

About 4-5 yrs ago i started cutting up my deer myself, and left the elk to the butcher still. Last year my father-in-law bought this big meat cutting band saw with meat grinder attachment. it is AWSOME! we made 1 whole deer into breakfast sausage and another into burger ( minus the straps and lion of course).

This year ,if i killed a bull, my whole goal was to cut up the whole elk myself- well my wife included- but with that meat cutting band saw/grinder/ meat mixer it makes it much faster. UNFORTUNATLY, an older guy i know SPECIFICALLY asked me for a big ol' neck roast( bone in). i didn't know hoe to cut a neck roast ,so i just took it to the butcher again. i thought it was cool that for the first time i could take an entire bull elk to the locker--WRONG!!! a $375.00 bill later, and to find out you simply just cut the neck of for a roast, i was bummed i didn't get to do it myself.
I've decided, unless i just simply cannot make the time to do it, i will not pay a locker to cut my game again. they always do a good job, but i enjoy it and think i can do as good or better. AND SAVE MONEY!

I need to learn how to do it one of these days. Always said I'll do it with my next deer before trying it on an elk. Plus, I need to get a big enough table and some help the first time.

That said, I love the guy I bring my animals to. He's in his '80s and loves to talk. Cuts the animal up exactly how you want it. His prices have been climbing over the last couple of years, though. It used to be $50 max for an elk, last year he went up to $75 and this year $100. He said he figures I got a lot more meat than the four biggest deer he's cut up this year and he only charges $25 for a deer. Keep in mind the deer down here are small whitetails.

Man Abert, it costs around $100 up here just for a deer. Yes, they are bigger than the whitetail you have down there NORMALLY...but it's till way too much to justify IMO.

Of course, I'm lucky. My buddy Shaun, the big guy in the pics, knows exactly what he's doing and loves doing it (Check out all the knives he has on him in the photo of him kneeling next to the hanging buck). He makes the cuts and my brother and I do the trimming, cutting steaks and jerky meat, etc. My wife was out there too running the vacuum sealer and taking pics. I guess I should mention her too, ay?!....LOL

It's nice having friends. Neither my brother or buddy got to go hunting this year due to full time schooling but my brother was out with me in the field bucking brush, driving deer, packing gear, etc without questioning it once. In fact, there were a couple days when I didn't feel like hitting the hills yet my brother made sure I got up and got out there. Shaun dropped everything the moment he heard we were heading to town with a buck and helped unload it, hang it, and cape it out. Without those two my hunting seasons would be a LOT LESS ENJOYABLE!

i always do my own. the only exception will be when i get lucky enough to have a bison tag.

My wife and I cut up the 3 deer we killed last fall and just finished the elk. She loves doing it. My stepson insists on helping with the elk and leaves with lots of meat each year. Two old folks just can't eat 300 to 400 pounds of meat by themselves so we have to get help from the neighbors too! lol
Mark

We always do our own also, believe we tried the butcher only 1 time and that was on an elk. Nice pics Hawk.

We always have done our own Deer, Elk, Moose, and Antelope every year. Can't beat your own cuts! D-boned, all the grissle cut off and nothing but the best cuts for steaks and grind our own burger. We do ours a little different than you guys it looks like though.. but.. it looked like a lot of fun!! We have a tradition that after we are done cutting up whatever animal we have, we go out to the farm and feed the coyotes the bones and go out to dinner at a local Thai resturant. Good times!

My grandad cut my hunting teeth in the last centurey, as I progressed from small game,fish and foul he tought me every cut as I harvested it. Over the years I've collected everything I need to process anything. I love being able to cut steaks,chops and roasts the thickness and wieght I want. Nice looking buck you got there :thumb

We always do our own deer and elk. The only time we have not was when I stabed myself. I wasn't much help to my dad to cut so he took the elk to the butcher and we were not pleased. It is so nice to thaw out a package and be able to cook it imediatly instead of haveing to trim it then.

To me it is part of the tradition of the hunt. Plus it saves a ton of money.

i do not have time to cut ours up . take it in to the butchers and have it back in 2 to 2 1/2 hours for the elk . they have real good rates also , $45 for antelope , @75 for deer and $125 for elk .

We do our own for the fact that I get what I want out of it and turn the rest into burger.Butcher party this weekend at my place.Weve got 3 elk and 5 deer hanging in the cooler now to do. :thumb

we do all of our own meat including beef.

can give some great tips on boning out an animal the size of a deer or hog in less than 15 minutes ,no gutting required. you can get the cuts you want right then or soak it in ice water or freeze it and wait till later.