another butchering question

[okiedog]

I wanted to throw out another question about home butchering. For everyone that does their own, do you have a dedicated area you do the skinning, butchering, packing, etc., or do you hang it up in the garage/shed then clean off the kitchen table? Pics are always welcome:)

[stevebeilgard]

what little i've done, i've hung the animal in my shop and cut it out there on a card table with a cutting board. overall, i'm just too lazy and take it to a shop to be cut/wrapped.

[wtnhunt]

For the past 6 years we have hung our deer in the garage to skin them and quarter them. I pack them in a cooler right there, then we do the remainder of the work at the kitchen sink kitchen counters.

Hoping to have a dedicated area in the basement with a good sized sink and a stainless table when we are all done building this new house.

[gzilla45]

I skin and quarter the deer out while they are still hanging on the meat pole and then bring them inside to my "workstation". We have a big island in the kitchen that works great as a cutting station. I put down 2 huge cutting boards and have a couple of meat bins that I throw everything into. I do all the cutting first and then come back and package everything after.

[The_Kat]

I always do my dirty work in my grandpa's barn or in my uncle George's shop.

[hutchies]

I'll try to get pics. I got up in the rafters in the gargage and put in some braces. I wrapped a chain around that and attached my game gambrel/hoist. It is about 3 feet from my workbench. My workbench is about 12 feet long and on the end by the hoist I clear it off and have a piece of countertop that I screw down to the bench. Freezer is on the other side of the door about 8 feet away. I cut and place them in a cooler for a few days on ice to let them bleed out. Then I take them out cut, grind, vacuum seal, and straight to the freezer.

Edited October 14, 2009 by hutchies

[Hoosierbuck]

Here is a list of all the highly specialized equipment I use to fully butcher our deer, and where I got it:

1) 8-Rectangular Rubber Maid tubs with lids from Wal-Mart

2) A knife for skinning-whatever is hanging off my belt at the time

3) A filet knife (great for removing silverskin)

4) Cutting board-I got a big one from Sam's Club

5) A stainless steel work table from Sam's Club (replaced the plywood on sawhorses covered with plastic sheeting, which worked fine.)

6) Gambrels and pulleys wiith marine cleats attached to the wall for holding the rope while I work-got the stuff at Cabela's and Wal-Mart.

7) A big roll of butcher paper from Sam's Club, and a paper holder a friend gave me from her work, they were throwing it away.

8) A big carton of saran wrap from Sam's Club

9) A roll of masking tape

10) a shapie marker

11) a hacksaw

12) a grinder off e-bay-paid $80 and got one that Cabelas's sells for $169.

13) Plastic sheeting to cover the garage floor underneath the hanging deer, with tape to hold it in place.

14) a thermometer mounted to the wall in the garage from Wal-Mart.

Pretty basic set-up, but it works very well for us. Here is a pic, which is not that great, but it does show my table in the background, and my highly sophisticated work area.

HB

Edited October 14, 2009 by Hoosierbuck

[fly]

My dad has 2 out buildings. One is not used for anything so we do the work in it. It is not heated, so I bring in a propane heater if it is real cold. We have some work tables and a system in place for processing. I did my first one a couple weeks ago by myself and had it skinned, de-boned (including a few roasts), and the rest ground into burger in 2 hours time. Cleaning the grinder is the biggest pain! Did that in the house and it took me an additional 20 minutes.

[Dakota]

Here's a pic from 2008. We didn't have a rafter to hang it from and were 400 miles or so from home so I butchered it on my uncle's tailgate.

Desperate times call for desperate measures! Usually, though, we do hoist them from the rafters with a gambrel/hoist.

Dakota

[Orion_70]

For years I would do the whole cleaining, quartering, etc then I watched this video from Kentucky DNR on how this guy processed deer:http://www.newjerseyhunter.com/video/deerfield.wmv Since then I've used this method for deboning the deer while still hanging. It's much easier, faster, better, .....I wouldn't process one any other way now.

Check out the video it's worth it

[RangerClay]

I hang my deer in the garage. I then have a set-up in the kitchen where it is warmer. I take my time and cut up the deer one piece at a time. I bring one piece in at a time so the rest of the deer stays cold until I am ready for it. Warm/room temp. meat is a pain to cut up.

I cut my deer in the following order.

1. Front leg

2. Front leg

3. Inside tenderloins

4. Backstraps

5. Remove the hind end and split it in half. I then do each hind quarter.

6. Package steaks and roasts.

7. Grind scrap meat

8. Package ground meat

[MCH]

I debone everything right after skinning and quartering. Then much to my wife's dismay, I use our kitchen table to do the cutting up.

[Gator]

Skin/quarter outside. place in cooler for a couple of days on ice, and then clear off the kitchen table and do my dirty work there. That's the nice thing about livin alone, noone to fuss at me but me

[backwoods07]

We have a shed dedicated solely to butchering deer. We call it "The Killhouse." This pic is from the first week we bought it. We've updated a TON with new countertops, deer hanger in the rafters, etc.

[redkneck]

At the camp we have a shed dedicated for cleaning deer. Concrete, rack with winch, hole to wash the blood down etc, and a cooler for storage. At home I got a post oak, lol. It only takes a few minutes to get it cleaned up, shoulders, backstraps, hindquarters, etc in a cooler. I don't want to spend 20 minutes cleaning a deer, and then 20 minutes washing off my carport. I'll take the pieces inside, one at a time and debone and cut on the kitchen counter. It's not the best, but I generally only kill one or two at the house, the rest at the camp.

[RangerClay]

Then much to my wife's dismay, I use our kitchen table to do the cutting up.

LOL! Me too!!

[Bowtech_archer07]

Dad and I have our own storage area in our shop that we skin the deer in and quarter them, then we clean up our shop and set up a table and cover it with a sheet then plastic table covering. Then we have cutting boards that essentially are 2 3'X2' scraps of 3/4 pressboard covered with formica. Then we have at it, bringing the deer in from the storage area and cutting it up in our heated shop. It's nice in the winter when it's colder than cold out and we have a nice warm place to cut up deer.

[Jeramie]

I do mine in the barn which should be getting re-vamped this year. The actual cutting takes place in the kitched on the counter.

[sluggunner]

It is really a simple process...

once you get the hang of it. Like anything else it just takes a little practice. I cut all of the meat off the deer hanging in the garage and then take it into the kitchen to slice it up or grind it & wrap it.

[Michiganbowhunter_SQ2]

We do everything in the garage or outside. We used to hang the deer from the basketball hoop, but we got a couple of hoist and gambrel systems last Christmas, so I am going to cut a hole in the drywall in the ceiling of the garage and run a couple of 4x4's across the rafters to hang them from. Then I'll just cover them like a scuttle hole while we aren't using them.