Deer processors - honesty?

[aray]

I'm a bit reluctant to bring this up, but now I've heard this twice.

As many of you know this is my first year hunting, and everything is new to me. When I got my first deer, I didn't even know where to take it for processing and like everything else I had to ask for advice. Many of you were kind enough to suggest places for me to take the deer.

However, another hunter who has been a mentor to me had a problem with one of the processors. He took in two deer that had been weighted after field dressing. One of them was 22 pounds heavier than the other deer. When he picked up the meat, there was only one pound difference, not 22.

Is that right? 22 pounds difference becomes one? Are there legitimate explanations for this other than fraud?

When he told me that story it bothered me but I hate to falsely accuse anyone of something bad especially since I'm such a novice, and this didn't happen to me personally. However days ago I heard a second story about this exact same processor, ref:

P.S. I talked to someone that dropped of a big doe at <withheld>. He processes deer himself and knew what kind of backstrap he would get out of the deer. Well the backstap he got was for a way smaller deer. So he asked "What did you do with my backstrap?" So again someone got shorted on meat and this is just the parts where we know something wrong is going on.

Are these just two isolated incidents, or have others experienced problems? Both of the problems I cited are at the same processor, however I'm reluctant to mention the name because it didn't happen to me. However I know my friend and mentor and he has no reason to be anything but truthful.

Besides if a processor were shorting hunters on the meat, what would he do with the extras? If I understand the laws, he can't sell game meat except back to the hunter. Is that right? How then would shorting hunters benefit him?

Now I know some of you will probably say I should be doing this myself, however at the moment I'm not prepared to take on that job, so for this year at least I'll still need to depend upon commercial processors.

Thoughts?

 

[namrelio]

I am no expert, but with what, and where a deer was shot, can make a difference on the amount of meat you get back.

 

[MeatGrinder]

There are a lot of variables here. The butcher is going to trim away damaged or soiled areas, and he probably going to be fast as opposed to trying to minimize waste.

If you don't have concrete knowledge, I would advise to avoid thinking negatively here.

I learned to process my own and have never looked back. The quality of the cutting is far superior because I care about getting what I and my wife want, not is being speedy and efficient.

 

[remrug]

If you ever get yourself to this point.......you will never look back.

People tell me all the time how much my venison tastes much better then the way they have had it before.Processors dont have the time to remove all the fat and silver skin and that makes a huge difference how venison tastes.

 

[SRD]

Lot's of variables from what kind of cuts he wanted to a box getting mixed up/mislabeled with someone else's (one local processor took in 169 opening day).Another possibility,I've seen this,is the butcher combined the 2 since they were for the same person.

 

[roady]

There are a lot of variables here. The butcher is going to trim away damaged or soiled areas, and he probably going to be fast as opposed to trying to minimize waste.

If you don't have concrete knowledge, I would advise to avoid thinking negatively here.

I learned to process my own and have never looked back. The quality of the cutting is far superior because I care about getting what I and my wife want, not is being speedy and efficient.

MeatGrinder,

Can you share some of your experience on how you process your deer. I like the OP do a little deer hunting with my daughter and when we are lucky enough to bag a deer we usually go the processor route. I am not sure how to do it correctly and probably dont have everything needed to do it myself yet but would be willing to learn and try out one day.

 

[SRD]

MeatGrinder,

Can you share some of your experience on how you process your deer. I like the OP do a little deer hunting with my daughter and when we are lucky enough to bag a deer we usually go the processor route. I am not sure how to do it correctly and probably dont have everything needed to do it myself yet but would be willing to learn and try out one day.

This pic might help.What we do is quarter and place in freezer briefly to help stiffen and cut with sawzall.

 

[ChrisD]

It's a bit frustrating when you drop a deer off, and pick up a shoebox full of meat. I think, like posted above, when there are lots of deer being cut, and several cutters working and running the grinder, the packages may get mixed up. I went back to cutting my own deer for those reasons. The last one I had done, I got raked over the coals on price. Another one I told the cutter what I wanted done, basically steaks, anything that would be ground to be packaged for stew meat instead, and straps cut thin. Got back roasts and grinds, and thick cut straps. Less than a paper grocery bag of meat. Those were enough to make me rethink doing them myself again.

 

[Neot]

I tried asking around before I took a deer to a processor to see if it was one where you'd get someone else's deer or your own back. I was happy with the place I went to but also went there early in the season as well when they weren't too busy. I think when I dropped it off there were two other does and a buck, but this was the 2nd week of archery season. It was dropped off at 830 pm on a Friday and received a call it was ready at 1130am the next morning. I used Back 40 Deer Processing in Harwood and would use them again.

 

[Speed3]

We used to use a local processor for years and were happy until we decided time to process our own. I never realized how much more meat I could get doing it myself and there is zero silver skin. If you have the time and place to butcher your own, its worth it.

 

[Sticky]

Not all processors are equal.. some are great, some not so much.. I found one that I have used for a long time (like 30 years) and still take my deer to him even after he moved over to the shore and I have an hour drive to get there. It is worth it for me, especially when I was married with young girls, figured if they didn't see me cutting it up (and yes, I have cut a lot of deer myself over the years) it would be easier to convince them that deer meat is good. They both grew up loving it and still always want some from the deer I harvest.

I have tried several over the earlier years and I will only take my deer to one.. period, because he does a good job. The comments are probably correct regarding yield, there are a lot of factors in trimming away waste, like how many times it was shot, what was it shot with and where was it shot... they will generally trim off any bloodshot, damaged meat and with a gun kill, this can sometimes be significant if it gets shot in a meaty area like the shoulder or hind quarters... lol

Some don't trim meat off the ribcage, or even mess with the ribs. Some saw meat and bone, personally I want my deer cut with a knife and nothing else, all boned out, no bones cut.

One shot, broadside just behind the shoulder through the ribs and out the other ribcage will cause little meat loss.

 

[roady]

Not all processors are equal.. some are great, some not so much.. I found one that I have used for a long time (like 30 years) and still take my deer to him even after he moved over to the shore and I have an hour drive to get there. It is worth it for me, especially when I was married with young girls, figured if they didn't see me cutting it up (and yes, I have cut a lot of deer myself over the years) it would be easier to convince them that deer meat is good. They both grew up loving it and still always want some from the deer I harvest.

I have tried several over the earlier years and I will only take my deer to one.. period, because he does a good job. The comments are probably correct regarding yield, there are a lot of factors in trimming away waste, like how many times it was shot, what was it shot with and where was it shot... they will generally trim off any bloodshot, damaged meat and with a gun kill, this can sometimes be significant if it gets shot in a meaty area like the shoulder or hind quarters... lol

Some don't trim meat off the ribcage, or even mess with the ribs. Some saw meat and bone, personally I want my deer cut with a knife and nothing else, all boned out, no bones cut.

One shot, broadside just behind the shoulder through the ribs and out the other ribcage will cause little meat loss.

Sticky,

Please share who you are using. I am already on the shore so hopefully a little closer to me.

 

[Sticky]

Sticky,

Please share who you are using. I am already on the shore so hopefully a little closer to me.

I use Richard's Deer Shop, on Crouse Mill Road in Ridgely. He cuts well, has ample capacity for cold and frozen storage and does a lot of very good processed meats as well.

 

[Derwood]

If you have a backyard, there is no reason to take your deer to a processor, in my opinion. I look at butchering as an extension of hunting. Sure, you could have someone do it for you; you could even have a farmer grow a cow for you instead of hunting a whitetail. I only took my first deer to a butcher and immediately regretted it after seeing the huge building full of stinking deer where my precious bambi was going to hang for who knows how long. I lived in an apartment then and started butchering my deer in my hunting area, rather than taking it to one of those facilities ever again. I now have a back yard and really enjoy the process. I get to cut it up exactly how I like. I don't have a big family, for instance, so I seal up single steaks and sausages in vacuum packs.

If I were you, I'd get the basic gear needed to butcher a deer now, and start watching all the videos you can on it. It's not hard to do. Butchery is a real trade and one that you can learn on your own. After all, we are all descendants of home butchers, right?

Get one good semi-flex filet knife ($10), a good electric knife sharpener ($30), a vacum sealer ($80), and some rope ($1). That's all you need to process your own. Maybe you already have some or all of that stuff.

As you can see, that initial investment is less than the cost of having someone butcher one deer for you.

The next step would be to get a meat grinder ($150), but you can wait on that.

Here is the single best resource for learning to butcher game, Scott Rea. This guy is the man. He works on the small deer that exist in England, but the anatomy is all the same. He uses a saw. That doesn't really apply for us since the advice is to not consume any of the spinal tissue of deer in the mid-Atlantic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn0f5QtSLsI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoawhsmKIEY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSXTtsU8xI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBXouv8DI9Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSXTtsU8xI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKscFghXQwI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4mOy3QwB50

 

[danb]

I have taken many deer to both Austins and Sam's Deer (before they closed). I have taken dozens of deer, never had a problem. I have also heard very good things about KS Cuts in MoCo from people who shoot two dozen deer a year (yes, two dozen).

I sometimes weigh the meat when it comes back and the ratio of dressed deer to meat is usually about 35%. So, for an 80lbs doe I get about 30lbs back (+/- 5%). A 125lbs buck I got about 50lbs back. *

22lbs seems very high to me, but 1) hunters tend to exaggerate. "That deer was huge, so big it should have been in Pope and Young. The biggest deer ever!" Or, maybe the deer was not as big as they remember**. 2) there are a lot of variables - where they shot it, how long the meat was in the field, etc. If they tore up both shoulders with a massive slug, I can see this significantly reducing the yield.

* Mostly bowhunting, which almost never tears up good meat.
** As a rule, dragging a deer uphill adds 50lb to the story, at least.

I guess I should add: might not be a question of honesty either. Some processors are genuinely very busy. Maybe someone got distracted and mislabeled some meat or put it in the wrong pile.

 

[Sportstud4891]

OP,

If you could have somebody show you how to do it one time, you will most likely never take it to a processor again. I did it years ago and offered the guy some meat in return. All the comments have been correct, processors are about quickness and efficiency and generally leave a lot of the fat which contains the "gamey" flavor. Some get the different deer mixed up so you really have to go to one you trust.

Generally I gut the deer, drag it to where I can hang it, skin it, quarter it, pull the backstrap and inner loins, and then take the neck. Takes me about an hour to do this by hand (all youtube vids btw). I put all of that into a cooler and put a couple bags of ice on top. This allows for me to finish processing when I have time. The meat will keep for a week easily as long as you keep draining the nasty water and adding ice back in. Anyways, I don't mess with the ribs at all. The front shoulders you can almost pull off by hand (there is no joint only connective tissue). The hind quarters there is a ball and socket joint where the leg meets the pelvis. I have found it is easier to get to from the inside but essentially you need to cut the outer ligament that holds the joint in place, twist the leg slightly and then cut the ligament on the inside of the joint, then slice the meat away from the carcass as close to the bone as possible.

I grind up the front shoulders and neck doing my best to remove all fat and the majority of the silver skin. The hindquarters is the easiest place to pull roasts if you want them. Do that by sliding your fingers in between where the muscle overlaps and you will see how it comes apart. Then carefully use your knife to cut the roast away from the leg. If you screw any of it up, its no big deal as you can always use more ground deer.

 

[sxs]

I've never had questions about Hitchcock on New Cut Road (also an excellent taxidermist!) or Conrad Listman on Earleigh Heights road in Severna Park. But I know both of those guys and they're good guys.

FYI, I was once a meat cutter....worked my way through college doing that. However, my former and current wives don't like seeing the deer in it's skin....so I have used processors for a number of years. Also, used some guys on the Eastern Shore. Listman's and the Eastern Shore processors used cold walk-in boxes, and on the Shore that was a particularly good deal since our weather isn't always that cold and I didn't want to run home just to process my deer. It is different when you hunt near your home or just a day at a time here or there as I did many years ago when I had little or no paid vacation and couldn't easily afford processing fees.

 

[ohen cepel]

I do my own. Takes some time but isn't that hard at all. No saws involved, just a knife, cutting board, vac sealer, and a freezer.

I don't want to mess with driving it somewhere is part of my reason. If it takes me an hour to load it up and get it there I could already have it quartered and in the fridge cooling (which makes for better tasting meat).

The last thing I want is to get some of someone else's old/tough deer back which they gut shot, and then set around talking about for hours before getting it to the processor. Could be 1/2 spoiled before it gets there. My way I own it and know the process from start to finish. Mine is in the fridge in an hour or less most times and then I start working it up to put in the freezer.

Again, it's not that hard to do. Also, hunting costs me enough as it is if I were to pay $200 (pulling a # from the air) to process a deer I would never "break even" on it.

 

[lazarus]

M&G in Westminster seem to do good work. I like the mount they did for my buck (skull cap mount with a metal head) from their in-house taxidermist. I got 54lbs back from about a 140lbs field dressed weight deer. Well packaged and seems to be well cut, but I've only had a couple of pounds of the ground and one of the roasts so far. Only issue I have is they are almost an hour from patuxent where I have been hunting and a little over 30 minutes from my house, but at $75 for processing and the recent work they seem to do I'll probably keep going to them.

If I can convince my wife, I'll probably process some of my own.

 

[RebelYell]

If you have a backyard, there is no reason to take your deer to a processor, in my opinion. I look at butchering as an extension of hunting. Sure, you could have someone do it for you; you could even have a farmer grow a cow for you instead of hunting a whitetail. I only took my first deer to a butcher and immediately regretted it after seeing the huge building full of stinking deer where my precious bambi was going to hang for who knows how long. I lived in an apartment then and started butchering my deer in my hunting area, rather than taking it to one of those facilities ever again. I now have a back yard and really enjoy the process. I get to cut it up exactly how I like. I don't have a big family, for instance, so I seal up single steaks and sausages in vacuum packs.

If I were you, I'd get the basic gear needed to butcher a deer now, and start watching all the videos you can on it. It's not hard to do. Butchery is a real trade and one that you can learn on your own. After all, we are all descendants of home butchers, right?

Get one good semi-flex filet knife ($10), a good electric knife sharpener ($30), a vacum sealer ($80), and some rope ($1). That's all you need to process your own. Maybe you already have some or all of that stuff.

As you can see, that initial investment is less than the cost of having someone butcher one deer for you.

The next step would be to get a meat grinder ($150), but you can wait on that.

Here is the single best resource for learning to butcher game, Scott Rea. This guy is the man. He works on the small deer that exist in England, but the anatomy is all the same. He uses a saw. That doesn't really apply for us since the advice is to not consume any of the spinal tissue of deer in the mid-Atlantic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn0f5QtSLsI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoawhsmKIEY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSXTtsU8xI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBXouv8DI9Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkSXTtsU8xI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKscFghXQwI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4mOy3QwB50

Great source. Scott Rea is awesome. He can get into some more advanced stuff for a first timer, but does a great job explaining the process.

To the OP, and anyone else interested in DIY butchering, try it! The first time won't be pretty, and you may get frustrated. But each time thereafter you'll get a little better and a little more confident. It really is rewarding to be able to do it all yourself, from the time you pull the trigger/release the arrow, to the time you serve a meal. Not to mention the comfort knowing that the deer you shot is the deer you're eating.