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warm weather deer

DJK Frank 16

Senior Member
Supporting Member
9,358
133
Hardin County
Do it all myself. From the rooter to the tooter. I enjoy it. This time of year it is horn hunting only as I don't like cutting in this weather.

Same here, It's just another step of the process for me now. Part of the reason I didn't get out this weekend, because I just don't like not being able to let them hang for a day or two. My cousin and I have a pretty good system down nowadays, cooler of beer, sharp knives, and a radio and it's done in no time!

I'm not anti-butcher by any means though, when it comes to beef and hog, they get sent to the processor.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,079
223
Ohio
I butcher my own. Like beener I usually only buck hunt while it's warm. I've tried several different processors over the years and the results are always the same... Lots of fat in the meat and a gamey taste. I like to trim all the fat from the meat and feel that I get a phenomenal end product. To me, even at only 50 bucks I'd rather do the work myself. That money is wasted if the product is garbage.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
I will try my hand at it again one of these days. Just dropped the doe off at the meat processor and they do a nice job. They will cut it anyway you want for the same price, $70 buck or doe. They are butchers that work at a local meat shop and then do this on the side for deer season at their house. They tag the deer with your name and ODNR number then process them one at a time so everyone gets their deer back. Everything then gets wrapped good in freezer paper, labeled and you get a box of frozen meat within a couple days usually.

I was talking to a buddy that does his own and has the grinders, place to hang them to cure, all the right knives, tables etc so when it gets colder I'm gonna try one with him. The issue before was I was trying to do it by myself with crappy knives and no place to do it really. Hung the deer up in the barn over a tarp, skinned it and quartered it and put that in big plastic totes then took the tote in the house and started cutting on the kitchen counter. Everything went in ziplock bags and I had no grinder. Probably took me 8 hours for the first deer and maybe 6 or 7 for the second one. No help other than maybe a youtube video or two. Took the third deer to a back yard processor and felt like I got screwed out of a bunch of meat, place was a mess, they took forever, cost too much...

Found this new place and have taken every one there since.
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
If I had a good reputable processer nearby I'd go there. I kept hearing about one place in particular and took my first deer there. Got screwed. Cut steaks right through the bone, paper thin. Half of our e backstraps was gone and part of the other was left on a shoulder roast. Started doing my own after that. I got a grinder last year and tried my hand at sausage, but it wasn't very good. Figured out what I did wrong and will try again after season.
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
I can't imagine not cutting up my own deer. It was one of the first ways I got involved in hunting, by running the grinder. Just always been a family affair, even though I'm the only one that hunts now.
 

ohioclassic

Junior Member
2
22
I was planning on doing my own processing for for the first time this year. Warm temperatures caused me to take it to the processor.

At 90 plus extra for sausage and smokies and 30 to keep the cape good for a shoulder mount, I'm considering moving closer to a 60 dollar processor.
 
1,560
0
I can't imagine not cutting up my own deer. It was one of the first ways I got involved in hunting, by running the grinder. Just always been a family affair, even though I'm the only one that hunts now.

Same here, son wife and I all pitch in. We turn some music on and get busy, it is a family tradition that we enjoy. I find it more rewarding if we take care of it from kill to grill. As far as my cape goes, the only ones i would want caping my trophy besides myself would be my son Jarrod or my taxidermist.
 

Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Same here, son wife and I all pitch in. We turn some music on and get busy, it is a family tradition that we enjoy. I find it more rewarding if we take care of it from kill to grill. As far as my cape goes, the only ones i would want caping my trophy besides myself would be my son Jarrod or my taxidermist.

I usually end up caping out a handful of deer a year from people I never or barely knew. I always tell them they don't owe me anything but if they feel obliged, a 12pk will cover it