cut up your own elk?

alright heres an issue i have right now. with the price of bringing your elk to a butcher im not able to afford it. so how many of you cut up your own elk. is it that hard. cause the only way im gettin a elk tag is if i can cut it up myself. thanks. now im off to bed cause its 2: 10 and 24 seconds AM.lol night

p.s. now its 2: 11 and 15 seconds AM zzz
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MuleyMadness
Myself and family have only taken 1 big game animal to the butcher and it was an Elk. But we cut up 99% ourselves. We are very 'picky' and do a good job. Is it work?? You bet it is, but in the end it's worth it.

Takes some time for sure, but we have done our own elk. I'm personally just not to pleased with the quick chop method of butchers and all the bone/fat etc. still on the meat.
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Heads or Tails
I agree with the Madness on this one. I don't usually take one to a cutter unless I know them or know how they cut.

It is work and I have spent many countless hours with a kinked neck cutting or wrapping, but in the long run it was to my benefit.
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lifetime hunter
just think of it as a deer... on steroids! :)) lol
but If I can do it you can too! I went and got one of those food-saver things so I don't have to spend alot of time on wrapping them.
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Default Avatar
yeah cutting a whole elk up even a bull can be a job, but here's what i do buy a couple cases of beer and invite my buddies over and it gets done alot faster that way :))
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HighLander
As everyone else has said it is work, but well worth it...I do all my own.
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270
~come on YOU CAN DO IT~ if you need help let me know... of course payment would be in the form of...yeap you guessed it... elk meat! j/k :) but then that would be less you have to cut & wrap :)
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a_bow_nut
When it comes time to cut up one of these big ol animals that is when you will find out who your friends are. :)

If you can't find anybody to help you cut it up you can always donate the meat that you can't get cut up to somebody that could use it. That's what I've done in the past when I couldn't get all the meat processed in a timely fashion.

That way you can go hunting and get yourself a bunch of tasty meat and help somebody else out to. :thumb
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DeadI
I would do it yourself. I do. It is time consuming but the cuts of meet are alot better, and you know that it has been taken care of the way you want.
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StickFlicker
I'm like MM and have only ever taken one animal to the meat cutters, and it was my first elk. I've cut-up everything else I've ever taken including quite a few elk.

It IS a lot of work, and pretty time consuming especially if you haven't done a lot of it. Be prepared for it to take an entire day or maybe a little more if you are by yourself and trim everything up carefully like I do. You have to have somewhere to keep the meat cool as you cut it up. So depending on the temperatures where you live, you might need several large ice chests. In Phoenix, it's still near 100 degrees during archery elk season, so it's very important to have it all kept cool over the long hours it will take to butcher.

There's a DVD out there on cutting up game meat, if you've never done it before. Check for a copy on Amazon or somewhere.
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youngbuck91
My dad and I cut up our elk and deer. It's pretty easy. We take off the hide. then take off the two back legs and two front legs, then cut steaks off of them. any good scrap meat left there we put in a tub. that tub goes to the butcher for ground meat. (or you can ground it yourself) The back traps get cut into steaks too. The neck could be made into a roast.

LOL, we tried once making elk ribs (for the heck of it), it wasn't that bad, but not a lot of meat.
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Default Avatar
i cut all my meat its the only way to go from the bush to the fridge all by me and my buds now thats puttin dinner on the table i got a buddys dad to teach me 10 years ago
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waynedevore
I bone all my critters before I pack them out. The meat is put on coolers and when I get home I carefully package meal size portions in plastic bags with twist ties. Then on colds Winter days I take out whatever amount of packages I might need for grinding for my own home made smoked sausage or my own smoked jerky. I end up grinding all but whatever steaks I need. This is a great way to use deer elk and antelope. You can make a lot of delicious high quality stuff.
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MuleyCrazed
I have always butchered all the game I have shot. I don't trust the butcher shops to give me back the same animal I brought in. I've heard a few horror stories about people not getting the same meat back that they took in. It may take time to do it yourself but that's the only way to go. Plus it's cheaper!
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southwind
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http://www.hunt101.com/img/444465.JPG" alt="" />

By virtue of the DIY hunts I do I have already quartered or completley deboned the meat anyway so it is easy to go ahead and fully process the animal.

Now I will take portions of my meat to different processors because I like their breakfast or brat sausages and even have jerky made by some that have huge smoke rooms I don't have access to.

I would rather do it myself just because I know the care I take and I also know I get my animal. A lot of processors are so busy you get an animal but most the time it probably was not yours.

Top pic is an elk after quartering and before I boned it out the next day to pack out.

2nd pic is of an antelope which I like to skin and quarter as soon as possible to let cool and dry.
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silvertip-co
Lotsa families cut their own elk, I just dotn care to do it as I am left handed. Not good at butchering. I'd rather getthe elk out of the woods and haul it in quarters or whatever to a pro to be cut up. It aint that expensive.
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Default Avatar
i just do not have the time to do one myself , or i would . but i found a good butcher that cuts up any size elk for $90 and any size deer for $50 . dropped off two deer and one elk with them last year and they had them done in four hours .
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StickFlicker
In our area, deer and smaller animals are usually a flat fee, but elk is by the pound. I believe this per pound charge is based upon the weight of the carcass you bring into the shop. You could save quite a bit by eliminating as much of the waste and bones as you can before you bring it into the shop.
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Default Avatar
This was our frst Elk. =D>

WE drug the back half ( with skin on ) off the mountain to our truck , :>/ and decided that we were not going to drag another darn peace . So the front half i deboned and took it off the mountain in a pack. Cody carried the head , everything else i had on my pack frame. Way easier !! :thumb We did butcher it our selves. It was easier than I though. But I have butchered 5 deer .

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Muzzle%20loaders/Codysfirst.jpg" alt="" />

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/rgkempton/Muzzle%20loaders/TiredOldMan.jpg" alt="" />
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waynedevore
If your hunting in the back country without pack animals, the only way to do it is to bone the meat before you back pack it out. Still a Elk is at least 3 trips for 1 guy. -#-
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Default Avatar
my family butchers all there own game usually we all get together and have a lot of fun with it. a cuople of us will skin and bone out the animal and the others clean cut and wrap the meat with srap and unwanted cuts going to hamburger or sausage. Id suggest buying a food saver they work great and if you make your own burger mix it with ground beef to raise the fat content to your taste.
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ABert
Anything my dad and I get we quarter up (or more) and put in ice boxes. Then drive back down to Mississippi (where I live) and deliver to my butcher. No more than $50 for an elk, but the deer we bring back gets deboned and brought to another butcher for sausage (minus the backstrap). I've used this butcher for a few years now and he cuts the meat however you want. We do end up wrapping it ourselves, but for $50 who can complain?
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Jeff
I have only taken one animal to the butcher (Springville meat) they did a great job and were only $60 for a deer, turn around time was a bit long though. I usually do my own even though I hate it.
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Default Avatar
I'd say save your money so you can have your elk cut up by a proffessional, it's well worth it. I used to cut up my own and it was making me not want to shoot any more elk. ](*,) Here where i'm from, it costs me about $150 to have one cut wrapped and froze solid. That's the least expensive part of a successful elk hunting trip! =D>
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Default Avatar
We have always cut our own, for the simple fact of we know what we are getting in return. I have heard alot of stories that the butchers will take alot of other meat and you may not get yours. Between me and my dad and brother we can cut a elk up in about an hour and all our women will wash it and package it as we cut. Not much goes to waste and to me it makes eating it alot better in the long run.
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proutdoors
I'm with skull crazy on this one. I am too busy during hunting season to do my own processing, and find it worth every penny to take it to the local butcher. I get 3 or 4 mature bulls worth of meat each fall 'donated' to me from clients, so to do it myself would take time away from being on the mountain. I have found a butcher I trust to get me my own venison back w/o other people's meat. I rely on this meat as food for the next year, I consider the cost to have it done right a wothwhile investment.

PRO
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Default Avatar
Thanks proutdoors, sound like you are like me, we end up with our clients meat on occasion.
Although wildantlerman has a great point, i just don't have time inbetween my hunts to take care of meat. I know my butcher has taken a roast or two, but to me it's kinda like a "tip" too him and it's well worth it too me!!
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