Newbie deer processing thread

[campergeek]

Please forgive me for silly questions. This year will be only my second deer-hunting, and hopefully my first for bagging a deer. To date, my only experience "after the kill" is helping a friend drag his 180-lb. buck out of the woods. As I consider the upcoming season, I have the following thoughts:

If I get a nice buck, I may have the head mounted.

I'd kind of like to keep the hide and maybe try my hand at tanning it myself.

I really don't want to butcher the deer myself. Maybe in the future, but not this year.

So... after the deer is killed, gutted, dragged out and checked in, what is the appropriate sequence of events. Can I request for the meat processor to save me the hide and to skin out the head appropriately for mounting? Or do I first go to the taxidermist and then take the skinned carcass to the meat processor?

I'm just trying to plan ahead... and think optimistically.

 

[keano44]

If you are planning to mount the head of the animal, normally you would want to be sure to leave the taxidermist enough of the hide "with the head". This usually means cutting it off behind the shoulders when doing a shoulder mount. This may not leave enough hide to tan, depending on if you want to make something in particular, or just practice tanning it yourself. I don't recall right offhand, but there are tanning companies where you can ship your hide to, after skinning and salting it down, and for a low price (IMO) get it back all tanned for you.
Personally, I would not try to do both with the same animal. If it is worth mounting, have it mounted. If you get a nice big doe, carefully skin her out (straight cuts), take as much meat, fat, etc. off the hide as you can, without making holes in it; salt it down by rubbing about three or four boxes of table salt into the inside of the hide; roll it up with the hair on the outside, and put it in the freezer in a large ziploc or trashbag, until you find a place who would tan it for you, or you decide to do it yourself.

 

[Smoke Rizen]

Thats about all the advice you need. If you deside to skin your self remember to leave enough skin everywhere,all the eye lashes,all the lips,the nostrils,and the ears. Also take lots of pictures before so whoever mounts it will know what the head and neck were shaped like. Myself, I just boil the scull and make European type mounts.and save the money for the next hunting trip. Best of luck in the coming seasons! S.R.

 

[dakotasin]

if you want to do the mount thing, be sure to be careful when you are opening the cavity for gutting. keano says behind the shoulder, and that's solid advice. so, that means do not make your opening cut beyond that line, either. cut as little as possible. you can make as much mess as you like behind that line.

before the hunt... call the taxidermist you like and ask him what he wants/needs to do a shoulder mount (commonly referred to as 'mounting the head').

if you decide to forego the mounting process, just take your deer, hide and all, to the locker (processor). you can ask for your hide back, most will give it to you. some will charge a few dollars extra (they take all the hides and load them on pallets and sell them by the pallet load).

you can skin it yourself if you want, but some lockers will charge extra if you skin it out beforehand. some don't care. if you skin it out and leave it hang, you will lose a layer of meat because it will dry out pretty fast - but it isn't that much.

 

[mustanger98]

This slaughterhouse here- they charge extra if they have to skin, gut, etc. If you skin it and gut it, it's cheaper.

In Georgia, legally, one must leave the head on the deer until it is turned over to the packers.

Not all headmounts are created equal. You can wind up paying big $$$ for a unsatisfactory mount and it'll show up around the eyes and mouth. A really good mount though will be a work of art.

 

[NRA4LIFE]

If you've never completely caped an animal for mounting, I would not attempt it on the first deer you get and want mounted. Skinning the head including around the eyes and lips is tricky to do a real good job. I practiced first on animals that I had no intention of mounting. The taxidermist will usually do it for a small additional fee. Tell you're butcher that you want the head mounted and they'll usually leave the whole hide on with the head and then you can take that to the taxidermist. They may charge you extra as well as a lot of those places that do mass quantities of deer do not skin them by hand, but with a winch.

 

[Bwana John]

I think you should butcher it yourself, instead of trying to cape it yourself well enough your first time to have a good mount. You will be more proud of the BBQs than you will be of your first cape job. If it's truly a trophy, have a pro do it.

 

[mete]

The most important thing is to dress out the deer immediately !!Don't delay that for anything. Failure to do it gives you that wonderfull "strong gamey flavor" the flavor of spoiled meat.

 

[Kharn]

How much does it cost to have the hide tanned?

Kharn

 

[WhiteKnight]

This place has it for $27. I'm not sure if that's a high or a low price.

 

[sumpnz]

Dang, 4 deer for a jacket. That would probably take me 6-10 years to collect in this state. At $27 per hide for tanning, that's $108 plus the cost of getting the jacket made ($126) for a total of $224 plus whatever shipping costs to get the hides to them and the final product back to you. And with up to an 11 month turn-around just on the tanning. Well worth it I'm sure, but damn.

If I get a deer this year I'll probably have a bunch of gloves or something made from the hide rather than storing it away in hopes of getting enough deer to make a jacket in the next few years. I'll save that for when I move somewhere that I can expect to be able to shoot 2+ deer every year, rather than the 1 deer every few years here.

 

[cracked butt]

Just get a good book or video on field dressing- what you do in the first few minutes after you find your deer down will effect the quality of the meat more than anything else.

If its a big deer that you want to shoulder mount, don't split the ribcage when dressing it, just reach your arm up the body cavity and cut the windpipe and esophagus as far up as you can reach, and the whole mess will roll right out. If you have a place to hang it, hang it as soon as possible and rinse the body cavity out with cold water. You will need help hanging it unless you are incredibly strong- or else prop the carcass out and rinse it out.

Take it to a taxidermist and pay him to cape it out, if the deer is a real trophy, its worth spending the $$'s to have a pro do the work rather than going cheap and ruining it right off the bat.

 

[schromf]

On the butchering side, I am not a fan of venision hamburger too dry for me. I get the backstrap the roast and steaks out, the rest I have made into salami. I really like that, and it is a special treat if its done right. The best I have had done is a dry salami like an Italian type, and I consider that my personal stash.

 

[dakotasin]

have your locker mix the venison w/ beef tallow if deer burger is too dry.

first time i had deer burger i thought it was too dry. then i had the locker mix it w/ beef tallow, and we go thru pounds and pounds of that stuff now. in fact, can't remember the last time we bought hamburger.

 

[Bwana John]

I mix my ground venisom with ground pork 4:1 so the burgers stick together on the grill.

 

[schromf]

I haven't tried the tallow trick, I'll keep it in mind. The pork sausage, beef fat, and eggs tricks I've tried them all. UHhhh. If you haven't tried the the salami route you don't know what your missing.

Another reason I don't fiddle with vension hamburger is when I get an elk, I get lots of burger meat out of that and I like it a lot more. Actually my wife wouldn't mind if I never brought home a deer, she likes elk a lot more.

Me my favorite is antelope, Mmmm thats the best.

 

[Kharn]

Hmm, that site says they do not keep the hair on the hide, which is what I'd like (so I can sew 3 hides together to make a throw/blanket). I'll have to talk to my friend's butcher to find out who he recommends.

Kharn