Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Sign up

Deer processing

There are 3-4 good processors within a 30min drive of us, but i only use the 1 as it has always been the go-to since I was a kid for our farm animals and they are the cleanest and produce the best product. I would put Bellevue Meats against anyone in the state.

That said, I prefer to do my own when temps and time allow (99% of time or im not shooting it), but will take deboned meat for snack sticks & summer sausage to BM. Getting the boys involved is great, but no way would I want or want them to deal with touching someone else's for $, for the reasons stated above. You'd have to be very selective on your clients to limit the amount of turn-offs included in the transaction. I want my sons to stop hunting because they choose to, not because of dealing with other A-Hole hunters while trying to earn a $.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OhioWhiteTails, the Lackster, OO2 and 4 others
For the last many years we have butchered our own. Overall this is the only way to go for me, that way we know what we are putting in our freezer is 100% ours and 100% ready to go when it is thaw and cook time. That said, the last couple years we ran into time crunch issues with getting everything done and ready to head back to Michigan. Looking around our area, Albany Ohio, there is one that is highly recommended that is local and (at the times we needed) one in Jackson that also had 24 hour turn around you could pay extra for. The local one in Albany often posted that they were stopping taking deer because they didn't have enough space and/or if you had a deer done you had to have a minimum $$ of smoked meats done with your deer. Looking around for other places they seem non-existent though. Definitely seems to be a need for processors even towards Athens area.

The one near Jackson with the 24 hour turn around was a good option on the (2) occasions we used them (and Jenna's ex-boyfriends 2-does he had done a couple years ago). They did a good job on Allen's deer, no real complaints at all. Jenna's deer she killed this year they messed up her order. We asked for backstraps to be whole - in 2 large packages. When we picked it up I had to transfer everything into a cooler so I had hands on right there in the driveway. Ended up with 7 little packs of "tenderloin" that were supposedly her backstraps cut into steaks, inner-loins/tenders were not packaged at all. All 7 end to end wouldn't have equaled one backstrap on a 3 1/2 year old buck guaranteed. I don't doubt most of the BS could have ended up in grind as we did get more ground burger than I am used to but damn, messing up on whole vs. tiny 'butterflied chops' really disappointed us both. When I brought it up with the owner about the mess-up he right away got defensive and started telling me to take my deer to other places when I was only pointing out the screw up. He insisted those 7 packages were 2 full backstraps and that I didn't know what I was talking about. I told him I really liked the product they gave us in the past and appreciated that screw ups happen but at the same time I knew he was blowing smoke up my ass. I believe one of his helpers knew something wasn't right with what the owner was saying and went and got a bag of whole backstraps from a doe he had harvested the day before and insisted Jenna take them. I guess I wouldn't have brought up the issue but damn, she spent $225 on that deer to have it butchered 24 hours and 4 uncooked summer sausages. Had I just decided to do it myself and sacrifice a day of hunting she wouldn't have spent a dime. That is on me.

Here in Michigan we often see roadside signs that are guys that open up their barns/garages to butcher deer during season. Those places are usually just a regular cut butcher. That seems like a decent way to go that would fit @giles idea of a side line business but I have no idea the legalities of doing something like that in Ohio with the CWD issues, testing and all. To simply butcher and grind burger would be a good place to start for a fall business for a young kid trying to make a name for themselves. Who knows, perhaps it would turn into working for an actual butcher shop to learn all the other things required and eventually open his own butcher shop that deals with hogs, cattle and maybe even deer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: the Lackster, 5Cent and giles
Made 11 lbs of jerky today. Used High Mountain original seasoning for marinading and did half in the oven at 200 degrees for 1.5 hours with door cracked and the other half was done in my offset over hickory at 200 degrees for same length of time. Both turned out delicious, imo. The smoker jerky is a little drier and darker but very flavorful. The oven maintains the redder color and is more chewier but also very flavorful. Going to vacuum pack it in 1 pound bags. They last few batches I sprinkled red pepper flakes on pieces before baking/smoking per suggestion from @Fullbore. My goodness it was good and nice suggestion 👍🏻

IMG_1809.jpeg

IMG_1811.jpeg
IMG_1812.jpeg
IMG_1814.jpeg
IMG_1818.jpeg
IMG_1819.jpeg
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: brock ratcliff, Gern186, Mike and 18 others
I just broke ground in my new facility today. My business has grown outside my means down here. I have been cutting in a small shop on the side for nearly 10 years now and fi ally pulled the trigger to go full time with it. I'm looking forward to this venture and the opportunity to really grow. If all goes well we will have the new facility up and running by the 24-25 deer season and we will be custom exempt processing beef and pork following deer season.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Gern186, Bankfish, "J" and 9 others
giles said:
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.
Click to expand...
Giles, it's most definitely an issue in the south. Thanksgiving week there was hardly a place to take a deer in Georgia. My phone rang non stop the entire week.
in my opinion, the butcher trade as a whole is loosing steam and it shows with the lack of processors and the weight times for slaughter. These older guys have made their money and retiring, but there is no new blood to pass the torch to. I have even had other big name processors around me encouraging and helping me through the start up process just to take some of the deer season load off of them. It's not uncommon for coolers down my way to turn out 2,000-4,000 deer each season. Down here as long as you obtain a wild life storage permit from the DNR, and your county/city gives you a conditional permit, you are good to process deer. Nobody inspects or regulates deer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Gern186, Bankfish, Mickey Merrie and 5 others
Always thought you could build a walk-in cooler (in a big pole barn ;) ) by building it in a corner, frame the walls using treated 2 X 6's, insulate and put an insulated ceiling with hoist, then put in a couple window air conditioners for the cooling part. Cement floor with drain and walls coated with that plastic sheeting so you can spray off with a hose.
 
  • Like
Reactions: giles, hickslawns and Dustinb80
Any processor I have been to in Georgia and Pennsylvania has been great. For me, processors are professionals.... Could I do it, yes. But man, I have never had a bad experience at a processor in Georgia or PA. It's like an oil change. I can do it, but it takes me much longer and is an inconvenience. I have had piss poor luck in Ohio being successful hunting... I have only taken one deer to a processor and I will not go to them again. It just wasn't tasty and there was a misunderstanding about what I wanted. I have sampled other Ohio processors products from friends and it is awesome.... Mostly products of the Amish. After talking with a neighbor last night, if I am successful this weekend, we are going to cut it up. I work with a butcher and he won't do deer just because he wouldn't be able to keep up. Personally having it as a business would keep me from hunting so that would suck. I like Giles idea of some teenage boys doing it as side gig, couple 3-4/week for some gas money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jackalope, giles, hickslawns and 1 other person
finelyshedded said:
Made 11 lbs of jerky today. Used High Mountain original seasoning for marinading and did half in the oven at 200 degrees for 1.5 hours with door cracked and the other half was done in my offset over hickory at 200 degrees for same length of time. Both turned out delicious, imo. The smoker jerky is a little drier and darker but very flavorful. The oven maintains the redder color and is more chewier but also very flavorful. Going to vacuum pack it in 1 pound bags. They last few batches I sprinkled red pepper flakes on pieces before baking/smoking per suggestion from @Fullbore. My goodness it was good and nice suggestion 👍🏻

View attachment 188983
View attachment 188984View attachment 188985View attachment 188986View attachment 188987View attachment 188988
Click to expand...
Got my addy?
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: the Lackster, Big_Holla and finelyshedded
We had a "butcher" here in town recently close shop and sell the business equipment after a couple of years in business. He posted about it on Facebook saying how it was always his lifelong dream and passion to be a butcher and it just wasn't working. I just shook my head reading it and thought to myself "If you can't make it as a butcher these days you're all kinds of fucked up".

He had a butcher shop in town with glass cases full of meat and you could get coffee and stuff there too. He was a butcher alright, but one of those downtown fancy smancey glass storefronts come get your $90 tomahawk steak from a guy in a pristine white apron butchers.

If being a butcher was his passion all he needed to do was get a building in the county and put up a sign that said "processor". He would be slammed with so much business he'd be sick of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: finelyshedded, bigten05, Tipmoose and 4 others
You must log in or register to reply here.