Deer Harvest and Prep

[rwc1969]

I'm no pro marksman, hunter, butcher, tracker or the like. Everything I learned about hunting deer came from me hunting deer. These are just my thoughts on the subject.

Proper deer harvest and prep begins at the target range and doesn't end until the food is on the table. It starts with making a good clean shot.

But, a couple things to remember when you shoot a deer. First of all make sure you know what's beyond your target, you don't want to get all excited and shoot someone.

Secondly, watch the direction it runs and listen for where it runs when you can no longer see it. This will help you track it later. It also pays to know where the deer naturally travel as they will usually stick to the trails after being shot, usually.

Third, unless you are 100% sure you made a heart or double lung shot then wait at least 1/2 hour before tracking, I usually wait 1 hour regardless unless I see or hear the deer fall down and die. A severely injured deer can run for miles throughout the entire day or night if pushed, you don't want that. If you wait they will usually go 100-200 yards and lay down to die. If you think you gut shot the deer or made a liver shot then you'd best wait until the next day to start tracking. I could go into a long discussion on how to track a deer succesfully, because there's much more to it, but will leave it at that for now. I had taken some vid and pics of the field dressing and tracking parts, but they didn't turn out because it was dark.

Once you find it, get it gutted out as soon as possible and if it was a gut shot use a rag, snow, leaves, or grass to wipe out the gut contents from the meat as best you can immediately. If you have access, wash the deer out with water or snow and dry it off well. I only put water in the cavity and only if it's gut shot. Water will make the meat spoil. There's more to succesful gutting of deer too, but I'll stop there. The main thing to remember is it must be free of feces, urine, guts and moisture.

Once your deer is gutted you need to hang it and open it up to cool and dry, or process it immediately. This is a yearling doe I shot with my CVA Accura muzzleloader.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

As you can see I propped open the chest and legs with sticks and hung it in a shady area where it could stay dry and cool. As long as the temps stay below 50 F the deer can hang for at least a week with no ill effects. Leave the skin on if you're going to hang it. It will protect the meat from drying out and keep bugs off.

[doug1980]

We always hung ours upside down. Not sure if it really matters though.

[rwc1969]

Before I hang the deer I take the liver, kidneys, heart and inner loins and pack them up separately. I keep gallon sized ziplocs on hand in the field for just this purpose. The same goes for these parts, if they have gut contents on them, wash and wipe them dry before packing up. These parts are all best eaten fresh within 5 days of harvest. They will easily keep 5 days in the refrigerator or on ice or packed in snow, but it's best not to freeze these parts.

As soon as I get back, or the next day, I fry up the heart and inner loins with a bit of onion and butter. Yummy! I guess you could use EVOO, but what the heck, it's deer season.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Once you've skinned, quartered, and trimmed your deer it should look something like this.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

And you should have some meat like this. The dark stuff will be trimmed away later. The leg on the lower right had blood pooled up inside due to the bullet not exiting. But, it will clean up just fine.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

And some parts like this that can be used to make all kinds of useful stuff.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I know YCC's gonna freak when he sees this skin so, I tried a new "easier" method for skinning and it didn't work as well as I'd hoped. I won't be using that method again. I'll leave it at that.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Here's part one of a four part series of vids I made showing the entire process up to this point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K64xixLYuH8

The next thing I do is bone out the quarters. I bone some and leave the bone in on some usually for roasts and stew. Here is what's left after boning.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I boned out all but one shoulder which gave me a bunch of boneless stew meat, roasts and steaks along with a bone in shoulder roast and shank for stew. Here it is all packed up...

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Once I'm finished I reward myself by eating the liver. I like to lightly bread it in flour, sage, garlic powder, pepper and a bit of salt.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

and fry it in Canola oil or what have you making sure to keep the pices separate to start.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Once it starts getting brown I just stir it gently until done.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

and eat it while it's good and hot!

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I don't usually get to see this, but if I retrieve my bullet I look at it to see how well it held together and expanded. This one did OK I suppose.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

For deer hunting you want a bullet that expands, but stays together. This gives you the some impact and wound channel, but also allows the bullet to usually pass clean through giving a good blood trail, usually. You want the bullet to pass clean through without damaging much meat, but it dosn't always happen that way.

Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

That's it for now. If you want more in depth detail on skinning, quartering, and trimming the deer check out the vids I linked to above.

[rwc1969]

We always hung ours upside down. Not sure if it really matters though.

It probably doesn't, but we hang ours head up so the blood can run out. I normally skin mine upside down though and find it much easier with less meat to try and wriggle off the skin as you go. Typically the skin pulls right off once you get it started leaving all the meat on the deer. I tried a new method here and it didn't work as well.

[crashdive123]

Thanks Rwc - looking forward to the rest of your vids.

[panch0]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. I always sent my deer to the butcher to get processed. I think I will try to do it myself next time and save a bunch of money. I need to do some more research.

[Sourdough]

rwc.........Nice Post, well done.

[Alaskan Survivalist]

I almost missed this post, glad I didn't. It looks delicious! Great post.

[your_comforting_company]

It's not uncommon for that thin layer of muscle to stay attached in some places on the hide. It's what some folks call the "fly twitch" muscles.
It looks to me like you have done a really good job with every piece of this. skinning is very clean, you've wasted so little meat, I don't even think one could say any was wasted, and you've saved bones and such. Did you save the sinew off the backstrap?

Well Done RWC! Well done!

[your_comforting_company]

Personally, I don't eat the livers because deer here eat a lot of acorns and other tannic/astringent nuts. I have seen quite a few deer that had liver spots, and that makes me a little cautious. Heart is a little chewy, but delicious!

And good job on the pictorial. Looks like you got it figured out!

[RunsWithDeer]

Nice job with the information and pics. I deer hunt too and process my own. If you do a lot of hunting, I recommend a vacuum sealer, helps prevent freezer burn.

[wareagle69]

an important time of year for this post.
once agin i realise how fortunate i am to live where i do, the amount of deer here and knowledge is amazing.
one thing i just learned that maybe everyone else already knows except me, i asked why you hang it for 3 or 4 days, what is ageing and it was explained to me that it is strecthing the muscles to aloow it to be more tender.
great into rwc thanks

[Rick]

I have to tell you, I have seen a lot of really good tutorials but this one really spoke to me for some reason. You did a great job and provided a ton of information. Gave you some rep. Deer is one animal I've never hunted but sure want to. It's something that's on the list for next year.

On the vid, I'm no expert but if you tape a small piece of foam over the microphone it will stop some of the wind pops you get. Actually, any piece of thin material should work. When you see singers recording you'll notice a small round mesh in front of the mic. That's there to keep T's and P's from wind popping the mic.

Really great job!!!!!

[Batch]

When I read a faster method all I could picture was golf ball skinning. You said you tried a rock and a rope. What did you pull it with and what failed?

Another good series. Good job!

[kyratshooter]

It looks like you got excellent preformance from that slug.

What brand, caliber and weight was it?

[rwc1969]

Frank, unless you have a very reputable butcher the results you get will be greatly improved. Butchers around here have a tendency to not give you your deer back, they mix them all up, or they short you. But, there are some reputable ones that do a fine job and don't short change you, but you pay for it. Upwards of 90+ dollars the last time I checked which was a few years back. I've heard places charging 110 to process and that to me is way too much money for something I can do in 3 or 4 hours myself. 25 bucks an hour, I'm there!

[rwc1969]

Thanks SD and AS, it is tasty and tender too.

YCC, I did save the silverskin on the backstraps, but a cat ran away with my longest piece, There was some meat wasting skinning by the neck area, 1/2 lb. or so and some near the rump from the poor shot I made. I probably lost 3 pounds total if that.

I won't eat liver if it has spots or is rough around the edges, but this was was A-ok. I soaked it in saltwater which milded it up a bit too.

RunsWithDeer, that's a good tip. I tried something new this year by wrapping the meat in cling wrap plastic to get all the air out, and then wrapping again in freezer paper. We'll see how that goes. It's supposed to work well, but dealing with that cling wrap is a nightmare, it's so clingy. LOL!

Thanks WE, I don't normally hang my deer, because technically for beef or any other critter to age it must be held between 30 some and 40 some degrees, very precise temps to age properly. I prefer to process immediately, but hanging doesn't hurt, it just allows some exposed meat to dry and makes the skin harder to get off. Belonging to a hunting forum or two I know this is debatable though. Sheesh!

Thanks for the tip on the mic Rick. I knew there was a trick for that, but didn't know what the trick was. Now I know.

Batch, that was the technique, golf ball. But, I used a rock, as my cousin does this, and couldn't get the rope to stop slipping. I was pulling by hand as I had no real strong area to mount the deer to or drive a vehicle other than what you see. The problem I had was starting the skin from the neck with it hanging by the rope. It was hard to get in there to sever the skin and not cut into the meat or the rope. I'm just used to skinning them upside down is all really. But, hanging them neck up did make quartering and trimming neck meat much easier. So, I guess it's a give and take in that department.

KyRatShooter, I use Sabertooth .50 cal in 270 gr. with 100 grains of Shockey's gold powder and Remington Kleenbore primers.

They are full caliber tight fitting with a plastic skirt/ gas check at the bottom only, not a sabot. Essentially a knock off of the CVA brand bullets. But, they fit tighter than the CVA's, and actually meet the rifling. However, both are extremely accurate, but I think the controlled expansion is better on the Sabertooths, from the stories I've heard and bullets retrieved. The CVA's flatten out like a pancake.

[Batch]

Down here you pay $65 for typical sized deer up to 125lb. Then the price goes up. They charge a dollar a pound for sausage casing. Though they include some for free IIRC.

You have to gut and skin the deer or hog yourself. I don't know if you get your deer back all the time or not.

I know I had a couple of buddies take their first gator to a processor. It was just over 6' and they were told he would process it for the hide. They came back later to get their gator and the guy opened the walk in freezer door and grabbed a bag of meat. They both clearly saw their gator lying in the freezer exactly where it was put earlier.

Nothing like trading a 6' meat gator and getting someone else's swampy tasting old gator.

[your_comforting_company]

As you can tell from my skinning and quartering post, I put absolutely no faith in the butchers around here. Notice I didn't say "processors"...

[rwc1969]

Last time I had one done I paid 70 and that didn't include sausage casing, fat, or anything else, just a standard skin, cut, grind and pack. If you want fat added to the burger it's like 3 bucks a pound and if you want sausage they charge like 4.99 for each pound you request.

Sometimes though, time doesn't permit me to do it myself properly, so I'm forced to take them in. I have one place I trust, but they are expensive.

And on that note, the last time I took a deer to them I got it back in like 3 weeks, a month later they called me and told me my deer was ready, WTF!?! "I already got my deer a month back", I said, "I think???" They said ok sorry and hung up. So, now I'm not so sure I trust that place anymore either. Did they only give me part of my deer back or someone else's deer? The weight seemed right.