Butcher

[GilpinGuy]

I was enjoying some tasty elk hamburger helper with the kids last night when I bit into something hard. I spit it out and it was a shard of copper - obv from a bullet.

The thing is that I shot this bull through the neck, the bullet passed straight through, and I didn't even take any neck meat to the butcher.

I always wondered if I you get your actual animal back after processing. Now I know and it kinda pisses me off. But maybe I was just being naive. I'll be learning how to do it myself now. Always wanted to know how anyway.

[blm28]

Where did yoy have it processed?

[Robb]

Where did you have it processed?

I would like to know also. I've talked to the people at Steve's Meats in Arvada and they have assured me I get my animal back, but who can really say for sure?
I also should learn to butcher my own, I'm sad to say I don't know how.

[blm28]

I take mine to Steve's also. I used to butcher my own all the time. I have found where some animals have old wounds that have healed. I don't recall finding any old bullets in animals, but it would not suprise me if I ran across one.

[davsel]

Butchering your own is fairly simple, but very time consuming. Took me six hours to debone and trim a large Muley last week.
Just work to separate the muscles from each other and from the bones. Trim off all the fat and as much silver skin as you can.
Once the muscle is trimmed up, either bag it whole for a roast or steaks, slice it thin for jerky, cube it for stew, or if it is from the neck, ribs, or lower legs, bag it for grinding. Then separate the next muscle.
I use a fish fillet knife - easy to sharpen often, and can easily use it to separate the silver skin just like removing the fish skin from a fillet.

You get quicker with practice, but it still takes a lot of time to minimize waste and maximize yield.
It's one job that adding workers to will speed the process - two butchers = half the time.


My father taught me when I was young. He went to a processor once when he was invited on a hunt and the guys he was with always used a processor and did not have the time or skills to do it themselves. He said they weighed his deer and then put it onto a pile of other deer. They assured him he would be getting his deer back, but he didn't believe them. I've heard of other processors who will assure you that the steaks and roasts will be from your animal, but the ground and sausage all goes into a community batch with everyone else's - they weigh out what you should get, but it's not all from yours.

I'm certain there are youtube videos available for instruction. It ain't that hard.

[GilpinGuy]

I went to Steve's in Arvada.

I really don't mean to bash the place here. Maybe I just got a few pounds from the elk before me that was left in the grinder? I kinda doubt it though. Like davsel wrote, I bet they just grind everyone's burger up and dole it out according to your weight.

[Robb]

Well, I'm sorry to hear that Steve's Meats was involved. I like the place. All the more reason to start learning how to butcher your own animal.

[CO Hugh]

Every few years the newspaper/magazines run articles making sure to emphasize you get your back. It is hard to say for sure. Our butcher comes to the house and about 2.5 hrs per animal. Then you know not mixed.

[Robb]

Our butcher comes to the house and about 2.5 hrs per animal. Then you know not mixed.

You should inquire and see if your butcher is looking for more customers. If so, post up his contact info. There may be more than a few here who may be interested in giving him some additional business if he wants to take it on.

[CO Hugh]

Our butcher comes to the house and about 2.5 hrs per animal. Then you know not mixed.

You should inquire and see if your butcher is looking for more customers. If so, post up his contact info. There may be more than a few here who may be interested in giving him some additional business if he wants to take it on.


I could check with him, as to how far he is willing to go. He is licensed and lives down south Centennial I think.

[Rucker61]

The guys I hunt with do our own butchering. Usually it's just 5-8 pronghorn for sausage, but this year we had four elk instead. I missed the steaks and roasts cutting, as I was out of town, but we spent all day Saturday grinding spicing and stuffing sausage together (5 guys), then about six hours on Sunday for cooking the ring bologna, summer sausage and pepperoni.

[blm28]

I could check with him, as to how far he is willing to go. He is licensed and lives down south Centennial I think. I might be interested in using his service. What are his rates?

[thvigil11]

I once pulled 2 old slugs out of an Elk Cow I took down. Cut out the meat around each slug, it looked like a little bit of a funky healing anyway. So I wouldn't be surprised if the copper came from your animal, although I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't getting your same animal back from the butcher. (Don't know Steve's, just saying shit happens) I've always butchered my own, but there is a guy in Springer, NM who does great work. Wife got a cow given to her by a friends dad who guides at a local ranch. He had already dropped it off at the guy in Springer, so I had to pay processing fee's if I wanted the meat. Kinda pissed me off. "Here's some free meat, so pay this guy a couple hundred bucks" but in the end, it was nice to get some cheap elk meat.

Of course the guide did take the tenderloin out for himself. [Mad] Oh well, still I only payed about $1.50/LB for good meat.

[CO Hugh]

I might be interested in using his service. What are his rates?

I think its about $250.00 a bull and $200 for a cow. All wrapped at home and ground. The meat will last great for about 2 years without freezer burn.

You have to make your own sausage and jerky.

I will try to get his info up over the weekend.

Another place to check is butchers at meat markets, like tony's or old timers from the supermarket. This guy used to work at King's and now they work at Tony's.

[blm28]

Thanks

[encorehunter]

I took a hog to the butcher once, and it came back short on meat. When I called, they found the other 40 lbs of meat. I haven't been to a butcher since. After cutting up about dozen deer, another dozen pronghorn, 7 elk and one bison, it goes pretty quick. It is fairly easy to do. I ended up getting processing equipment for Christmas a few years ago. I vacuum sealed a lot of meat at first, but I prefer ziplock bags because they are cheaper and the meat doesnt last long enough to need the vacuum bags.
I like my Green River butcher knife for cutting the carcass, then fillet knives for the rest of the work. I have a power meat saw, but I normally just use knives and debone everthing and cut the steaks and roasts. I prefer to freeze meat before grinding it to help break down the cellular structure. I dont know if it helps, but it breaks up the work load. For grinding, a power grinder is worth every penny. I have tried the hand grinders, and they are ok for small work. I have a Cabelas 1hp and love it. It makes grinding much easier and faster. Cleanup is simple. It has a sausage stuffer with it, but I havent tried it yet. Burger gets put into the cabelas burger and sausage bags. I like to mix it with a little bit of the bacon ends and pieces from Safeway.
I make jerky by either slicing the meat on an inexpensive power meat slicer or a jerky shooter. The slicer is a little easier, as the jerky shooter can wear out the forearms pretty quick. I started a batch of spices for my jerky mix about 10 years ago and just keep adding to it. It started with a pound of salt, 4 oz black pepper, 5 oz of Tonys Creole seasoning, a teaspoon of cayanne pepper and a few other ingredients. Everytime it gets low, I just add more stuff to it. It has taken on a life of its own. Ive been asked for the recipe, but even I dont know it now.

[Hummer]

I was enjoying some tasty elk hamburger helper with the kids last night when I bit into something hard. I spit it out and it was a shard of copper - obv from a bullet.

The thing is that I shot this bull through the neck, the bullet passed straight through, and I didn't even take any neck meat to the butcher.

I always wondered if I you get your actual animal back after processing. Now I know and it kinda pisses me off. But maybe I was just being naive. I'll be learning how to do it myself now. Always wanted to know how anyway.


Hard to say about your elk but I wouldn't be too quick to point the finger at the butcher. Bullets can travel through a body cavity in unexpected ways. The bull I shot this year had an entry wound in the forward part of the left shoulder. I didn't notice an exit wound (though I might have overlooked one when I field dressed it in the dark). When we butchered I found the Nosler Partition (most likely mine) in the right rear leg just above the knee. A little unusual but not impossible as the elk was quartered toward me.

We've always butchered my big game at home, about 75 animals so far, and I have never used a processor. But, I did tour a local game processing operation this year and saw they had a good method for keeping customer tags with the carcasses. It was an impressive effort, with at least 12 people at different stations in the butcher room from moving carcasses from the cooler, to initial cuts, deboning, detail cuts, blending and grinding sausage, and packaging. Of course you never know what happens when you leave....

What impressed me most was their cleaning protocols didn't seem frequent or thorough enough during the work day. Most surfaces went the whole day without cleaning until an after-hours cleaning crew came in. Also, they probably aren't very careful to use all the good meat and steak cuts, so more goes to waste or to grind. For those reasons, I wouldn't ever take my animal there for processing. Seeing this gave me confidence that we're doing things right butchering at home. Our kitchen is far more sanitary, and we're constantly washing hands, knives, bowls, and cutting boards. If you want quality meat, butchering game at home is the way to go.

[Zombie Steve]

Shafer's in Billings will straight up tell you that the main cuts / steaks will be from your animal, but burger, sausage, etc will be mixed.

[barney fife]

Bought the 1hp Cabela's grinder a couple years ago, that thing is a beast! This year I coughed up the 50 clams for the foot pedal switch (should have done it years ago), it turned the grinding into a one man job. Oh, I also started using the sausage tube attachment and meat bags a couple years ago; I love those things, very clean. Been cutting up animals since I was a kid, my dad used to make us grind everything by hand, I swore I'd never do that to my kids. Had a few knife nicks through the years although it didn't get us out of cutting, "tape it up and get back here"! Never any really bad cut though. Except this year! I was in a hurry to make a Church meeting and had one hind quarter left; hit my left pinky and ended up in the ER. Whenever I brief greenies on cutting I always tell them, "do not cut toward yourself"! Next I'll have to add, "keep your other hand out of the way, if you're in a hurry".
Here is the cheesy video I shot on my phone of the girls whacking those 2 cows: http://youtu.be/-hAjQ6oHed8
I don't know if the elk even heard the shots, there was about a 20 mph crosswind. The video is weak cause of the phone, audio is the best part. I'm so proud of my girls!

[CO Hugh]

The butchers info is Chuck at Three 03.799.6845.He said if its too far he may charge more. I think he is in Centennial.