Info on quartering/field care/butchering etc.

R

rockclimber

Guest
Hey everyone.
I'm looking for good information regarding field dressing large game, quartering, de-boning, butchering etc.

I've read information on the gutless method and watched a bunch of SOMEWHAT helpful videos.

Is anyone aware of a good book with detailed photos and/or a good dvd with step-by-step instructions? I've read and watched free stuff on the net but haven't found any that are top notch. I'm looking for good resources to purchase if needed. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
RC
 
Thanks for the link. I'll check it out.

No problems in particular. Just trying to get everything in line for next season. I'm from back east so the field care was; gut it and drag it a very short way to where i could pick it up with the tractor (easy!). I've never butchered a deer...i've always taken them to a game processor.

Yes i suppose i need to just jump right in...but i doubt DFG would appreciate me shooting one now to practice on.

I figure if i have to quarter it i may as well butcher it. Do you just start hacking off random chunks of meat from the quarters and wrapping them? Or do you know how to cut off the particular "cuts" of meat?

thanks!
RC
 
RC, I cut and wrap quite a bit each year and honestly there's no wrong way...well yea there is but you'll know if you're doing it lol...anyways don't worry about doing it wrong. You can cut the meat up any way you want like to. With deer, I usually go with butterfly steaks on the T-loins, roasts and steaks with both hind quarters, roast and cubed steak with front shoulders, cubed steak with anything left that is good meat including most of the neck (not a lot of silver or fat), and then anything else left I cut into small chunks for stews.

IMO the key to getting a lot of good sized steaks is seperating the muscle groups in the hind quarters and focusing on roasts with the smaller groups and steaks with the larger.

Good luck!!

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb37/Feleno/zFix.jpg[/IMG] ~Z~
 
LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-11 AT 07:04PM (MST)[p]

depending on the game, I skin one side then pop off the front and back quarters. The front is not attached, just muscle and membrane. The hind quarter has the muscle attached to the pelvis so you need to cut that loose with the knife tip. Then I take rib meat and back strap.
Flip over, skin the other side and repeat.
Tenderloins are under the backbone, right at the last "full" rib. They are setting on the gut sack so a small hole in the sack will deflate it. Reach up under the backbone and cut the ends loose, then pull it out.

On Elk, I bag the quarters and loose meat, toss it in two 120 qt. coolers with ice and head home. The meat is in the cooler for maybe a week then I start cutting it up.

Once home, I pull a quarter out, separate every muscle, following the membrane seams and end up with bone and a pile of individual muscles. I then trim off the fat and outer skin. If I want steaks I fillet them off that outer skin but mostly I burger the whole thing.

For Antelope, I remove the meat from the bone right where he died, but don't separate every muscle at that point. The loose meat goes in coolers like the Elk did and when I get home I separate the muscles, trim the fat and burger it all up.
 
The problem with the gutless way is you don't get the inner loins and those are the best cuts from the whole elk or deer! If they are in a spot I can get a rig to I will gut them and then load up and take home where I have the backhoe to make easier work of it, but if they're way out (which is generally the case), I try to make quick work of gutting and then quartering the animal up. Its super nice when you have an extra hand to assist at that time, but def possible to do by yourself if you have a decent amount of rope to help you finagle the animal around! I def have to stress making sure you get the inner loins, which requires gutting, but def worth the extra trouble, not to mention when you go the gutless way its easy to slip while quartering or skinning for the quartering (especially when your doing it with a flashlight) and its not so nice when you have some guts that get on your fresh meat...Not to mention the smell is not so cool! All that being said, just dig in and you will get better each time you do it, and its a pretty cool feeling when you go from tracking the animal down while in pursuit to wrapping that last steak! Have fun with it!
 
It's possible to get the inside loins if doing the gutless method, even easy after a few critters are under your belt . . . As for the original question, gather as much info a possible before getting a critter in the ground and then go to work. The only real way to learn is to actually do it . . . After that first critter, you will know what to do and what not to do . . . I did this method in front of a G&F officer this year and he had nothing but good things to say about the chore, even helped me hold a leg here and there. No need to mess with guts . . . But, whatever works for you!
 
Thanks for the info guys. The more i read the more it KINDA makes sense. So from each quarter you separate the individual muscles and then slice the individual muscles into steaks, roasts, etc?

Yes, i'm aware of the tenderloins inside the rib cage. Even if i have to gut after i've done gutless, there is no way i'm leaving the loins.

As everyone says i'm sure it will get easier each time. I'd just like to minimize my mistakes the first time.

thanks
RC
 
My trade has always been butchering until lately. Best advice is partner up with a guy like me and you never have to mess with it because guys like me can't stand to watch someone else. It's too slow and painful! haha. Hang in there you'll get the hang of it with some repitition
 
I separate each individual muscle because there are fat pockets between them. It also allows me to remove the membranes, tendons, etc before I cut it up.
If you hang the quarters, they will skin over and if you want to cut steaks, you can use a fillet knife to fillet the "casing" off the muscle, then cut steaks from that clean muscle. No casing, no membrane, nothing but a clean steak.

I started separating each muscle decades ago on Deer as it made a huge difference in how they taste. I do it for everything now, even though I burger 100% of the critter.

There are no real "mistakes" to be made. You'll be fine.
 
Someone on here posted a link to a youtube video of a butcher doing a speed method for deboning a deer. If you search the youtube videos for cut deer 8 minutes i believe you will find it. Of course you wont be doing it as fast but the method is pretty good and you can see how he seperates some of the muscles.
 
Cabelas has some great dvd's. I picked one up for 9.99. I can't remember the name- it is something like deer processing 101, if you want to know I will dig it up. It had the best ratings. Anyway, it takes you from the field to the freezer. Very instructional and educational.

"Half of being smart, is knowing what you're dumb about."
 
Codylee - you DO get the tenderloins with the gutless method. you just have to go in and grab them. Not too hard at all. I prefer the gutless method to any now. Killed one elk last year and helped on two others. One we gutted, and the guy took home. Mine and another guy we did the gutless method. We got all the meat including the inside tenderloins on both.
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned.. if you are boning a critter out, at least in Wyoming, you must leave sign of sex, if it is buck/bull only. When boning out it is tricky to leave sign of sex attached and keep things clean. Just a reminder, it is easy to forget when you're in the "moment".
 
Thanks for the dvd recommendations. I checked cabelas online and didn't see any....maybe i missed them. The linked vid looks good.....

How do you go about leaving sign of sex? When quartered? When de-boned?

thanks again
lots of useful info
RC
 
It can be tricky to leave evidence of sex "naturally attached", but it's relatively easy. Leave a portion of the scrotum attahced to the inside of the back quarter. If boning out, just leave this attached to the meat.
 
>Thanks for the info guys.
>The more i read the
>more it KINDA makes sense.
> So from each quarter
>you separate the individual muscles
>and then slice the individual
>muscles into steaks, roasts, etc?
>
>
>Yes, i'm aware of the tenderloins
>inside the rib cage.
>Even if i have to
>gut after i've done gutless,
>there is no way i'm
>leaving the loins.
>
>As everyone says i'm sure it
>will get easier each time.
> I'd just like to
>minimize my mistakes the first
>time.
>
>thanks
>RC

RC, an animal is an animal is an animal for the most part as long as it has four legs!! Might wanna go kill something else and give it a whirl before you come clear out west...?? Not that hard but you seem concerned so I just gotta throw out that recommendation...

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb37/Feleno/zFix.jpg[/IMG] ~Z~
 
Thanks for the links.

I was looking in the "after the shot" category on cabela's website and didn't see any. I hadn't thought to look in the DVD section......duh.

Thanks again everyone.
RC
 

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