Big fat butchering
 

My buddy came over at 7:30 this morning and we headed over to our other buddy's barn where Big Fat Buck was hanging. We brought it over to my house and hung it up and started butchering it at about 8:30, we had to peel it first and then wash a lot of poo out of it that I did not see the night I first hung it.

We finished tonight at about 9:30. It was my second time butchering a deer and I was learning on the fly. I was really pretty surprised at how much silverskin and tendons they have. A lot.

The pile of scrap (dog food) was almost as much meat as we vacuum sealed. A big pile of bones and a fairly good hide with a couple of nicks on the belly.

Lots of sinew for bowmaking.

And the deer weighed about 160 field dressed.

160 dressed, WOW, that is a fat boy. :thumb:

That was a really nice buck

He was a fatty. That was a long day of cutting, sleep in.

"I like shooting guns, but I don't hunt. Congratulations, you just shot a chore."
- comedian Kurt Metzger

Wow, long day. Sounds like it was worth it, though. Nice buck!

Oh dear!

I was surprised at how big he was and such scanty antlers. I'm going to check his teeth today and see how old he was.

I read somewhere that deer only grow their antlers after they've taken care of their nutritional needs for the winter. Mast years will yield larger racks and lean years will yield smaller ones. This year we had a late frost that killed a lot of buds, therefore hardly any wild apples, 50% loss in commercial apples in many orchards, barely any acorns or other nuts (walnut, beech, hickory, etc.) The fall was long and warm so there was a lot of vegetation, but overall I'd guess it will be a tough winter for the deer.

Bow season started a month early and there were more Doe permits given out this year. I think DEC wants to increase the harvest to reduce the number of deer that will die of starvation and or disease.

I still have 4 more permits but I don't think I've got four more days of butchering in me. The most intense part is the thousands of tiny decisions you have to make when cutting. At this stage for me it is not automatic, like chopping up a carrot would be. I can do that in my sleep. But with the deer I have so many questions in my head it is mentally tiring. I need to watch a real butcher work and pick up some tips.

You've used that line before when you've had a skinful - admit it.

I suppose you were working too hard to stop and take pics.
I'm no gorehound, but I would be interested in seeing the procedure.

What will you use the meat for (mostly)? Eating, yes, but in what form?
Steaks, sausages? Do you get deer ribs/ chops?
I've had venison before but most commonly as pate or in sausages. We're not in deer country here really.

I had to go through a DEC check point at the NY/PA border on the way home from work. Today was opening day in PA so I'm assuming they were making sure people weren't transporting untagged NY deer into PA? Unbelievably beautiful DEC Agent... maybe it was a Hollywood scam.

Does a buck taste different than a doe? Hormones and all that? Just wondering.

If you had 3 or 4 more to cut up, would you be concerned with the other stuff like sinew and bones?

If you decided to make just hamburger, stew meat, jerky strips, etc... you could get through the carcass a lot less time. Dad and I made nothing but Speidie cubes one time and got through it pretty fast. I understand the desire to do it "right" though.

Leaving as much as possible in bigger chunks (like roasts and chops) would lessen the opportunity for bacterial contamination before freezing or otherwise storing the meat. But a 13-hour day is daunting.

What are Speidie cubes?

It's a local shish-kabob variation. The meat can vary a lot in size and shape because it's marinated and grilled on a skewer.