Big fat butchering

My buddy came over at 7:30 this morning and we headed over to our other buddy's barn where Big Fat Buck was hanging. We brought it over to my house and hung it up and started butchering it at about 8:30, we had to peel it first and then wash a lot of poo out of it that I did not see the night I first hung it.

We finished tonight at about 9:30. It was my second time butchering a deer and I was learning on the fly. I was really pretty surprised at how much silverskin and tendons they have. A lot.

The pile of scrap (dog food) was almost as much meat as we vacuum sealed. A big pile of bones and a fairly good hide with a couple of nicks on the belly.

Lots of sinew for bowmaking.

And the deer weighed about 160 field dressed.

160 dressed, WOW, that is a fat boy. :thumb:

That was a really nice buck

He was a fatty. That was a long day of cutting, sleep in.

"I like shooting guns, but I don't hunt. Congratulations, you just shot a chore."
- comedian Kurt Metzger

Wow, long day. Sounds like it was worth it, though. Nice buck!

Oh dear!

I was surprised at how big he was and such scanty antlers. I'm going to check his teeth today and see how old he was.

I read somewhere that deer only grow their antlers after they've taken care of their nutritional needs for the winter. Mast years will yield larger racks and lean years will yield smaller ones. This year we had a late frost that killed a lot of buds, therefore hardly any wild apples, 50% loss in commercial apples in many orchards, barely any acorns or other nuts (walnut, beech, hickory, etc.) The fall was long and warm so there was a lot of vegetation, but overall I'd guess it will be a tough winter for the deer.

Bow season started a month early and there were more Doe permits given out this year. I think DEC wants to increase the harvest to reduce the number of deer that will die of starvation and or disease.

I still have 4 more permits but I don't think I've got four more days of butchering in me. The most intense part is the thousands of tiny decisions you have to make when cutting. At this stage for me it is not automatic, like chopping up a carrot would be. I can do that in my sleep. But with the deer I have so many questions in my head it is mentally tiring. I need to watch a real butcher work and pick up some tips.

footfootfoot;840463 wrote:

... and then wash a lot of poo out of it that I did not see the night I first hung it.

You've used that line before when you've had a skinful - admit it.

I suppose you were working too hard to stop and take pics.
I'm no gorehound, but I would be interested in seeing the procedure.

What will you use the meat for (mostly)? Eating, yes, but in what form?
Steaks, sausages? Do you get deer ribs/ chops?
I've had venison before but most commonly as pate or in sausages. We're not in deer country here really.

I had to go through a DEC check point at the NY/PA border on the way home from work. Today was opening day in PA so I'm assuming they were making sure people weren't transporting untagged NY deer into PA? Unbelievably beautiful DEC Agent... maybe it was a Hollywood scam.

Does a buck taste different than a doe? Hormones and all that? Just wondering.

footfootfoot;840510 wrote:

I still have 4 more permits but I don't think I've got four more days of butchering in me. The most intense part is the thousands of tiny decisions you have to make when cutting. At this stage for me it is not automatic, like chopping up a carrot would be. I can do that in my sleep. But with the deer I have so many questions in my head it is mentally tiring. I need to watch a real butcher work and pick up some tips.

If you had 3 or 4 more to cut up, would you be concerned with the other stuff like sinew and bones?

If you decided to make just hamburger, stew meat, jerky strips, etc... you could get through the carcass a lot less time. Dad and I made nothing but Speidie cubes one time and got through it pretty fast. I understand the desire to do it "right" though.

Leaving as much as possible in bigger chunks (like roasts and chops) would lessen the opportunity for bacterial contamination before freezing or otherwise storing the meat. But a 13-hour day is daunting.

What are Speidie cubes?

It's a local shish-kabob variation. The meat can vary a lot in size and shape because it's marinated and grilled on a skewer.

Thanks Griff, I haven't run into it before.

orthodoc;840564 wrote:

Does a buck taste different than a doe? Hormones and all that? Just wondering.

I wonder too. I've been told no difference. We''ll see.

xoxoxoBruce;840593 wrote:

If you had 3 or 4 more to cut up, would you be concerned with the other stuff like sinew and bones?

No. Not unless they were simply gotten.

Griff;840606 wrote:

If you decided to make just hamburger, stew meat, jerky strips, etc... you could get through the carcass a lot less time. Dad and I made nothing but Speidie cubes one time and got through it pretty fast. I understand the desire to do it "right" though.

Definitely burger and sausage for any additional deer. and stew meat. Speidie cubes, I hadn't thought of, but That's a great idea.

orthodoc;840607 wrote:

Leaving as much as possible in bigger chunks (like roasts and chops) would lessen the opportunity for bacterial contamination before freezing or otherwise storing the meat. But a 13-hour day is daunting.
What are Speidie cubes?

Roasts, yes, less work, fewer bacteria. (Two bacteria walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We don't serve bacteria here." The bacteria reply, "It's OK, we're staph." I'll be here all week folks, try the venison kebabs.)

footfootfoot;840613 wrote:

Roasts, yes, less work, fewer bacteria. (Two bacteria walk into a bar and the bartender says, "We don't serve bacteria here." The bacteria reply, "It's OK, we're staph." I'll be here all week folks, try the venison kebabs.)

Two things:
1. You said fewer (not less)!! You have no idea how hot that makes you.
2. I'm stealing that joke. :p:

:blush: Who knew reading the thesaurus would pay off so well?

orthodoc;840612 wrote:

Thanks Griff, I haven't run into it before.

My favorite:

http://www.spiedieandribpit.com/

Some recipes:

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/99999999/NEWS01/399990043/The-best-collection-Spiedie-recipes

Griff,
When you butcher how much scrap do you end up with? I had most of a five gallon pail. A lot of silverskin and fascia. I wondered if I was being too fussy. I gave it to a friend with a couple of big dogs but I wonder now if it could have been finely ground for sausage? Also how much meat do you scrape off the bones? I've seen some youtube types who show clean bones like they've been gone over with dermestid beetles.

I tasted some yummy leg meat tournedos tonight marinated in olive oil and Old Bay and some Balsamic vinegar. lightly cooked to 140 very tender, no stinky boy game taste. Bucks are not Billy goats.

footfootfoot;840807 wrote:

I tasted some yummy leg meat tournedos tonight marinated in olive oil and Old Bay and some Balsamic vinegar. lightly cooked to 140 very tender, no stinky boy game taste. Bucks are not Billy goats.

Nice to know! (Yeah, I'll be out there bagging my buck tomorrow ... but a girl can dream, can't she?) The tournedos sound like they were to die for. Love the olive oil and balsamic.

Even my son the picky eater loves them.

Dear Deer...

I wanted to do a clone thread, Big Fat Butch Ring, but I wanted an image and I was too afraid to google search that phrase. :headshake

footfootfoot;840807 wrote:

Griff,
When you butcher how much scrap do you end up with? I had most of a five gallon pail. A lot of silverskin and fascia. I wondered if I was being too fussy. I gave it to a friend with a couple of big dogs but I wonder now if it could have been finely ground for sausage? Also how much meat do you scrape off the bones? I've seen some youtube types who show clean bones like they've been gone over with dermestid beetles.

I tasted some yummy leg meat tournedos tonight marinated in olive oil and Old Bay and some Balsamic vinegar. lightly cooked to 140 very tender, no stinky boy game taste. Bucks are not Billy goats.

I haven't done a lot of big carcass butchering, but for marinating meat you can use more of that stuff than you'd want showing up in a steak. We had a professional butcher neighbor who did basement butchering when I was a kid. I wish I'd have paid more attention...

ZenGum;840841 wrote:

I wanted to do a clone thread, Big Fat Butch Ring, but I wanted an image and I was too afraid to google search that phrase. :headshake

Coward.:p:
First it says, "Did you mean: Big Fat Bitch Ring"
But hitting the "images" button give an amazing variety of pictures.

xoxoxoBruce;840911 wrote:

Coward.:p:
First it says, "Did you mean: Big Fat Bitch Ring"
But hitting the "images" button give an amazing variety of pictures.

My eyes! My eyes! How will I ever get those images out of my head???:eek:

amazing variety- I'll have to remember that.

Butch Dixon. Yum.

meh.

Scraped my deer hide today.