Deer processing

[Hedgelj]

OR it is alright to be alright. Not everyone is built to be at the top. Butchering animals at your house seems pretty low cost for overhead. Like mowing lawns, pretty low overhead to get started. Play around or able to make a career out of either. These jobs should not be looked down on and are both needed. Neither come with student debt either!

Low cost to start out hah!

Basic stuff for a straight simple cut.
- hoist (electric or hand)
- multiple gambrels
- cooler for hanging (I priced out a handmade 8x8x8 with a coolbot at $7-10K) and that was over an established concrete slab
- meat saw
- knives
- butcher paper or vacuum bags
- sealer (inexpensive food saver style or expensive but MUCH more durable chamber vac)
- grinder i would suggest at least 1 hp
- meat trays
- gloves
- aprons
- freezer(s?)
- cutting boards


As you offer more items
- mixer
- vertical stuffer
- buffalo chopper?
- smoker
- bandsaw?
- chemicals/ seasonings
- casings
- slicer
- commercial freezer

What are you going to do with all those skins, and bones and trim?

Do you have a source for beef or pork trim/ fat?

Set up an LLC to help shield liability from idiots?


Not to pee in anyone's cheerios but that's just off the top of my head.

 

[Redneckfucker]

I’ve thought about doing this myself as I have usually done all my own processing for the past years and have all the things to do it. May cost up front to get some other things to get started but it’s a pretty easy process. I used to help a guy that did it out of a barn and I enjoyed a lot of it. I didn’t do it for the money it was for the camaraderie and all the stories. Like a deer camp everyday during the season

 

[Quantum673]

I do not kill deer so therefore do not know anything about this meat cutting stuff you speak of.

since Covid the prices for a processor have skyrocketed around here. $125 for a basic cut. Add $1 a pound for ground meat. Add another fee for fat added. Then specialty stuff like summer sausage or jerky. Before Covid it was $90 plus any specialty stuff. I never had fat added so not sure what they charged previously. The cheapskate in me said enough was enough. Bought a grinder and stuffer for my wife’s Kitchen Aid. We grind our entire deer except the inner loin and back strap. Need to add a vacuum sealer and will soon. Started messing around with summer sausage and jerky a few years ago. No way I could do it for a living but I do enjoy the process.

 

[giles]

Low cost to start out hah!

Basic stuff for a straight simple cut.
- hoist (electric or hand)
- multiple gambrels
- cooler for hanging (I priced out a handmade 8x8x8 with a coolbot at $7-10K) and that was over an established concrete slab
- meat saw
- knives
- butcher paper or vacuum bags
- sealer (inexpensive food saver style or expensive but MUCH more durable chamber vac)
- grinder i would suggest at least 1 hp
- meat trays
- gloves
- aprons
- freezer(s?)
- cutting boards


As you offer more items
- mixer
- vertical stuffer
- buffalo chopper?
- smoker
- bandsaw?
- chemicals/ seasonings
- casings
- slicer
- commercial freezer

What are you going to do with all those skins, and bones and trim?

Do you have a source for beef or pork trim/ fat?

Set up an LLC to help shield liability from idiots?


Not to pee in anyone's cheerios but that's just off the top of my head.

I'm talking about a couple of kids doing 3-4 a week. We have everything needed to handle that. Entry level stuff here. Not trying to start a store front with a stock yard.

 

[Buckmaster]

Basic cut here is now $150. I’ve been doing my own for over 25 years now. I pay myself so I can buy/upgrade equipment as the years go by.

 

[Redneckfucker]

I'm talking about a couple of kids doing 3-4 a week. We have everything needed to handle that. Entry level stuff here. Not trying to start a store front with a stock yard.

This is what I’m talking about.

 

[Hedgelj]

I'm talking about a couple of kids doing 3-4 a week. We have everything needed to handle that. Entry level stuff here. Not trying to start a store front with a stock yard.

Okay let's go through my list for the basics

Hoist or another way to skin them out.

Gambrels to hang them from intake to processing.

If you take them fresh or more than you can do in a day how are you gonna keep them cool?

Meat saw
Knives
cutting boards
vacuum sealed and bags or butcher paper
grinder
gloves
aprons
cutting boards

A Way to deal with all the waste

Look back at Jagermeisters post... do you want your kid to try to put out a quality product when they'll be given anything from a nicely taken care of double lung through a gut shot barely field dressed and drug through 8 miles of swamp.

 

[giles]

Okay let's go through my list for the basics

Hoist or another way to skin them out.

Gambrels to hang them from intake to processing.

If you take them fresh or more than you can do in a day how are you gonna keep them cool?

Meat saw
Knives
cutting boards
vacuum sealed and bags or butcher paper
grinder
gloves
aprons
cutting boards

A Way to deal with all the waste

Look back at Jagermeisters post... do you want your kid to try to put out a quality product when they'll be given anything from a nicely taken care of double lung through a gut shot barely field dressed and drug through 8 miles of swamp.

I already own everything but the meat saw. We bone everything out.

The purpose of this thread was to see if this was a localized problem or across the board. I don't intend to start butchering deer for profit. It just kinda went that direction as I see a need for someone to step up.

 

[jagermeister]

I already own everything but the meat saw. We bone everything out.

The purpose of this thread was to see if this was a localized problem or across the board. I don't intend to start butchering deer for profit. It just kinda went that direction as I see a need for someone to step up.

I believe it is indeed a problem across the board and there’s certainly a demand for more deer processors. The questions then become how efficient do you want to be with it and what volume are you willing to handle? You absolutely could start small with basic equipment and work your way up to purchasing nicer, more capable equipment. In fact I think it would be smart to take this approach. That way you have a chance to decide whether or not dealing with customer shortcomings and frustrations is worth it before becoming too invested.

 

[bigten05]

A friend of mine quit processing a few years ago from lack of help him and his family did it for probably 15 years. Started out doing 30 deer a year and by the time he was done he was prolly doing 300 or more at 100 bucks for just a standard cut. Plus specialty stuff and capeing shoulder mounts. He made good money for 4 months of work but worked his ass off.

 

[giles]

So then what? If a 2 year waiting list is the new normal, what would a person pay to have it done way quicker?

 

[Mickey Merrie]

Invent Wagu Venison and get rich!

 

["J"]

Place I use and @Ohiosam occasionally uses has been in business close to 15 years. Family (Mennonite) business. All the kids are involved as well as other family members. When I picked up my doe, he had just broke 600 for the season. Not a record for them but not far from it.

 

[bigten05]

Rabers meats in butler was at like 1450 during gun week. They were freezing them and if you took one in gun week they were telling people it wouldn't be ready til after the new year.

 

[giles]

Rabers meats in butler was at like 1450 during gun week. They were freezing them and if you took one in gun week they were telling people it wouldn't be ready til after the new year.

Wow! I'd say another would be welcomed in that area too. Lol

 

[Jamie]

I really do like butchering my own deer, mostly because nobody else could ever do it to suit me, lol. I would happily teach anyone how to do it, but there is no way in hell that I would do it for money.

 

[Bankfish]

Local butcher here in butler co quit doing deer 3-4 yrs ago, so we have done ours lately. This year, just because i'm too busy, I took my buck to a new processor about 20min from me. $160 standard cut for a 190# deer. Jerky was $20a lb. dry weight. He said it usually takes 3# of red meat for a lb of jerky. I think summer sausage was $7.
But yeah, it's a dieing art. But I realize it's alot of work. Something I wouldn't want to do everyday. I don't mind paying a little local business for a job well done either.

 

[ThatBuckeyeGuy]

Who wants to grow up being a butcher? Is this a mindset problem? This is a job that is needed and it has my mind turning as to why no one wants to do it.

My dad did it for years on the side since he's a butcher . It always paid for Christmas and all the inflated winter bills . He wouldnt touch a deer today if you offered him a grand to do it. I love everything about deer , he could care less never was a hunter and hated butchering them but did it for the extra income. As a non hunter I can't blame him one bit . He quit because of the hunters. Gun season was the worst but had similar issues all season. Heads half shot off. Deer with broadheads still inside (a large percentage) I remember him screaming several times getting stuck by one, hunters bringing in a buck and explaining the whole story about chasing it all season every detail when he's busy trying to cut other deer and then another hunter storming in 20 minutes later in a rage wanting to fight swearing it was his deer and he shot it first and having people fight in front of him over it , people bringing in gut shot deer that were never cleaned out after the hunter drove around showing it off for 5 hours first , people not cutting the Asssholes out and being full of turds . Then have the nerve to throw a fit when they come to pick it up saying they should have way more meat and swear at him up and down when he had to cut away half the bad meat and all of this while being one of the cheapest cleanest places to get your deer done. As much as I love hunting I don't blame the small business cutters one single bit for not wanting to mess with it anymore . Since covid cattle and pigs are way more profitable and they don't have to deal with us "hunters". I'm very respectful to the people that process my deer because I know the pains involved after spending hours helping my dad when I was younger. If it's not a big time operation where they're doing several deer a year it's just not worth the hassle these days or dealing with the hunters . Just my two cents to put some different light on the subject

 

[giles]

Man, deer hunters suck in multiple threads right now.

 

[ThatBuckeyeGuy]

Man, deer hunters suck in multiple threads right now.

Unfortunately the bad ones paint the picture for the majority of us. I try my best to be as respectful and to the T as I can as a hunter towards others but I'm sure I've ruffled feathers over the years . Point being any activity the bad apples paint the picture. But back on point I think having your kids do a couple a week would be a great experience and side money for them