Michigan Sportsman Forum banner

Missing Deer Meat From Processor

6K views 43 replies 24 participants last post by  Martin Looker 
#1 ·
#2 ·
What a sad waste. I feel bad for the involved successful hunters and the deer wasted.
 
#3 ·
Not surprised. My dad and older brothers had 1 processed when we first got into hunting. The returned meat was yuck. After that we started processing all deer ourselves.

I think a bigger problem that seldom if ever gets addressed is processors that skim on meat processing. Either whole deer processing where they keep some prime cuts, or sausage makers that "tax" the batch.

I took 57# of clean, lean, processed venison to a well known processor to have sausage made one time. With pork mixed in, it should have started at around 75# of meat. I got 27# of finished sausage back. Dude kicked me out of his place when I questioned the discrepancy. By coincidence, the tool's other side business was catering. Still p!ssed.
 
#4 ·
I have worked for processors in the past. i can tell you that skimming simply doesnt happen from my experience. The reason is because of the number people thay drop a deer off for processing then never return and pay for it. This was the biggest issue processors I know had to deal with. It was nothing for them to have an extra 25-30 deer on hand in a season and they were giving venison away to friends and family and typically couldnt get rid of all the extra venison.

What happens is a guy goes up to camp with buddies for rifle season. He shoots a small deer and brings it home to a processor. After he has shown his family and taken pictures he realizes the expense of processing. He thinks about it and realizes his wife wont cook it and he doesnt even really care for venison himself and wonders why he would pay for it. He never returns for pickup. It happens more than you would think.
 
#7 ·
I drive 60 miles one way to have my deer and bear processed at a place I trust. I've done it myself, and have found the drive and the price worth the difference. YMMV.
 
#9 ·
I shot a beauty back in '99. We normally processed our own, but the temps were high that year, so we took it to a local processor. I think he left it outside for a few days. When we got it back and would thaw a package, it literally stunk.

We couldn't eat it.

On top of that, he didn't debone it like I had asked, but simply ran it through the saw. I think he used a chainsaw....There were bone chips throughout the meat.

We continued to process them for years. We heard that the local butcher was processing deer out of his home. We took one there. He does a fantastic job. We probably haven't processed a deer since 2005 or thereabouts. I dread the day that he retires!
 
#14 ·
That's too broad a brush. Soderman's in Gladstone/Perkins/Rapid River is a good one I use without hesitation.
 
#20 ·
Personally, i feel like if you dont butcher it you dont deserve it anyway. Might as well buy it at the store

My Grandpa hunted until the year he died in his mid 80’s.taught me how to hunt and he always enjoyed hunting and was able to get at least one deer every year. Even towards the end when he couldn’t walk far and we had to drive him out to the blind. He still loved to hunt and loved to eat every piece of venison he made hit the dirt. But he wasn’t able to process his own deer the last few years due to health issues. He’s not around anymore but I would have dared you to tell him he didn’t deserve the meat because he couldn’t process it. Not all situations are the same and that’s something to keep in mind.
 
#22 ·
Growing up we always took ours to a local commercial butcher in greenville michigan. Always made sense when it was my step-dad and two old brothers dropping deer. Too much work for my step-dad to cut up 3+ deer, work 40+ hours a week, and the lack of tools to do it with.

when my two older brothers went off to college it was just my step-dad and myself hunting. Some years we had 2, and others years it was 1 if we were lucky. (just how it goes). By this time that processor had slowly started raising their prices to the point my parents bought the appropriate equipment needed to process our own. So my step-dad and i learned how to cut them up in our garage/basement. We included my mom into this whole process as well. We got a good system down now.

However, since i have moved out, gotten married, and live 20 minutes away we have slowly gotten away from processing our own. We don't do anything special (sausage or jerky). With two little kiddos i just have everything made into burger (minus the premo cuts).

Sometimes it's just easier to drop it off and have someone else you trust handle it from there. I would do it at my house, but i have a michigan basement, and i don't have a garage, oh and i live in town. I am sure the local strays and some of my anti-hunting/anti-gun neighbors would LOVE to see me butchering a deer in my backyard lol
 
#33 ·
This has been a mostly great informative thread. "Thanks" to all sharing, it's a good 'watch-lister'.

Growing up we always took ours to a local commercial butcher in greenville michigan. Always made sense when it was my step-dad and two old brothers dropping deer. Too much work for my step-dad to cut up 3+ deer, work 40+ hours a week, and the lack of tools to do it with.

when my two older brothers went off to college it was just my step-dad and myself hunting. Some years we had 2, and others years it was 1 if we were lucky. (just how it goes). By this time that processor had slowly started raising their prices to the point my parents bought the appropriate equipment needed to process our own. So my step-dad and i learned how to cut them up in our garage/basement. We included my mom into this whole process as well. We got a good system down now.

However, since i have moved out, gotten married, and live 20 minutes away we have slowly gotten away from processing our own. We don't do anything special (sausage or jerky). With two little kiddos i just have everything made into burger (minus the premo cuts).

Sometimes it's just easier to drop it off and have someone else you trust handle it from there. I would do it at my house, but i have a michigan basement, and i don't have a garage, oh and i live in town. I am sure the local strays and some of my anti-hunting/anti-gun neighbors would LOVE to see me butchering a deer in my backyard lol
:D

Very apprehensive before field dressing one once on a busy suburban road in broad daylight. It was fun even with all the traffic, heard no complaints.

Butcher your own if you hunt? Do you guys make your own hunting equipment? i doubt it, so why must you cut your own deer? My butcher is legit and has been cutting deer for me for 25 years. He is way better than Ill ever be at it.
Ive seen how many take care of there deer before processing. That could explain the loss of meat.
I was thinking, 'this good thread could easily devolve into another bow vs gun... thread'.

For some people it's a sense of pride that that they do things on their own.With the money spent on tags already,some cant afford to spend another $100 on proccesing.Just defeats the purpose for me.
Very cool. That's great for you. Before I read that post, was ready to ask if you kill deer with your bare hands or took the sissy way using a rock or sticks. ;)

Blanket statements denigrating all who don't do it your way... not as cool.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BulldogOutlander
#23 ·
Butcher your own if you hunt? Do you guys make your own hunting equipment? i doubt it, so why must you cut your own deer? My butcher is legit and has been cutting deer for me for 25 years. He is way better than Ill ever be at it.
Ive seen how many take care of there deer before processing. That could explain the loss of meat.
 
#24 ·
Processing deer was a "Family Event" when I was a kid. My Grandparents, my Great-Aunt, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings all went to Grandma & Grandpa's basement where she had the meat saw, butcher block, knives, grinder, sharpeners. One deer at a time, we all had our role to play based on age/experience. Some years it was dusk/dawn on a Saturday, but I remember it like yesterday. Then it became a two-man show, just Dad and I for years. I can close my eyes and skin/butcher one in my head. But, I'm the last of the family that probably knows how and with my kid's not hunters, it'll die with me.

Having said that, I'd take one to a processor before doing it by myself.
 
#31 ·
Processing deer was a "Family Event" when I was a kid. My Grandparents, my Great-Aunt, uncles, cousins, parents, siblings all went to Grandma & Grandpa's basement where she had the meat saw, butcher block, knives, grinder, sharpeners. One deer at a time, we all had our role to play based on age/experience. Some years it was dusk/dawn on a Saturday, but I remember it like yesterday. Then it became a two-man show, just Dad and I for years. I can close my eyes and skin/butcher one in my head. But, I'm the last of the family that probably knows how and with my kid's not hunters, it'll die with me.

Having said that, I'd take one to a processor before doing it by myself.
This is how I was raised as well. Now I have all the equipment to butcher, grind and make jerky and snack sticks/sausage. It's something we enjoy doing in the winter months after end of season. It has also made the kids be more selective on what they shoot and when they shoot an animal. If it's Friday night and warm out they are less likely to shot a doe because we then would have to cut it up right away and that's not how they want to spend their weekend :) Teaches good life lesson's between needs, wants and desires!
 
#27 ·
Well finding out your processor puts your burger meat in a community batch should be a game changer for anyone .Unless they tell you otherwise this most likely is the case ...........
Not true with the 3 processors that I have taken deer to over the past 40 years.

L & O
 
#34 ·
My comment was tongue in cheek.i do believe if your able you should. Ive rarely heard of people being happy. Its either hair, bone chips, skanky meat, or i really thought i shoulda had more. Rarely is someone happy. As said above i would much rather handle and clean my own. But i realize not everybody has the drive or ability to.
 
#35 ·
I’ve been taking my to franks outside of Richmond since 1980 and never had one complaint.Youfor sure get your deer.They do one at a time package then go to next one.In 40years I never had to trim any meat or anything just cook lt.As far as defeating purpose of getting free meat .I bet with all the money everyone spends on hunting every year you could buy a lot of prime beef.I hunt because I love it not to save money on my food bill
 
#37 ·
My dad quit hunting before I went afield at 12, had to learn most everything on my own as a young lad. Some years later, as a young adult, I had my first crack at cutting one up. My buddy with all the equipment had an old shack, not heated. Naturally the day we cut it up was around freezing temps and my only impression, all these years later, was that it totally sucked and my fingers were frozen solid by the end.

Could I overcome my past bias, buy equipment and learn to do it myself? Of course. I have the pole barn and the financial means. Do I have any desire to do so? Not in the least. Life's very hectic nowadays and I'd rather spend my limited time on other things. I'm darn happy to support local companies who specialize in such services, these folks need to make seasonal money just like I do.

It's never once dawned on me that I'm missing out on a completed hunt or that I'm less of a hunter for my choices. I applaud those that process, in fact probably admire them for taking care of their game start to finish. For many it's likely a cultural gig. If your a third generation processor that's the world you were brought into, it's in your DNA to process those deer. At this stage of my life it's just not in the cards, maybe someday in retirement as the world slows down.
 
#39 ·
Since CWD came along I can’t in good conscience take my deer to a processor. I make the time to do it myself.

Believe me, I recognize that some folks can’t do their own due to health reasons or other physical limitations and I would never belittle their use of a processor.

I’ll admit there is a part of me that sees the elevated connection to your food that comes from butchering your own animal. But at the end of the day the important thing is that processors keep a lot of people hunting deer and that is what we need right now.
 
#42 ·
most of the time i can't wait to gut it because my hands are so dang cold i can't wait to get them warm again lol.

Happened one opening weekend about 6 years ago. We had a bunch of snow and it was colder than cold. I usually only hunt horns on opening day, but i had a doe come out about 45 minutes before shooting light was gone. Didn't even hesitate. Picked up my rifle, waited for my shot, and dropped her like a ton of bricks. I haven't jumped out of my blind that fast since i shot my first one at 15 lol. I had to cut her open, stick my hands in her gut just to warm my hands up enough to finish/begin the job!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top