Forum Hunters?

[Goober 1,555]

I was blessed to get a yearling Elk cow late Wednesday afternoon. It was in a herd of mature cows.  We’d been hunting for two days over about 7000 acres without seeing them and then all the sudden they popped out of a draw. They headed straight across our path. i didn’t dismount immediately and ran out in front of the vehicle. So my inaction resulted in alarming them when they might have otherwise ignored us. Without thinking too much about it, I chose one that wasn’t in front of another animal, sighted up my rifle without using my bipod and pulled. I saw one drop immediately, but i couldn’t tell if that was the one in my sights.

Now I’ll admit to having a little buck fever; it was late and i was tired and antsy. elk are huge animals too I’d never hunted them before. I thot i aimed well at a mature cow but after all i necked that yearling right behind the base of the skull.  my friends told me how they agonized about watching me do all those things, but for me it was a blur!
Despite the many mistakes I know i made during that setup, fortune smiled on me. I got a clean fast kill and didn’t ruin a bit of meat.

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by Goober

[Goober 1,555]

My sweetie is helping me butcher this Elk.

we cut and wrapped the inner and back loins and got the shoulders nearly done. we’ll do the hindquarters this morning. 

I’m trying to raise my butchering skills, so for each shoulder, i cut 2 Flat Iron steaks, a chuck roast and a few packs of stew meat—plus some scraps for ground meat. In this pic, the two Flat Irons are at the bottom left.

 

my friends usually grind all the shoulder meat but I already have plenty of ground from the two deer i got. Plus this being a yearling i expected the cuts to be tender—looking forward to stew. 
 

 

[LedFTed 1,127]

How many people here, butcher their own meat? kills.

[sled_22 845]

I butcher all my own venison. Package steaks, grind the scraps, even make summer sausage and brats. Ground beef is bought from realities that raise Steers and I buy most of the beef steaks I cook. I’d need a lot more time to start butchering my own beef haha. 

[WonderMonkey 719]

4 hours ago, LedFTed said:

How many people here, butcher their own meat? kills.

 

I butcher, but don't process anything like sausage, jerky, etc.  I have someone else do that.

[Wheeler 2,525]

6 hours ago, LedFTed said:

How many people here, butcher their own meat? kills.

I have twice. I take it to the butcher over last few years. However the plan is to do my own. Issue is work/time/temperature. Sometimes I get home on a Sunday nite with my animal, temps are too mild to hang it for a week & I have to go to work for a week on the Tuesday. So easier to drop it off, pay the $150 & have it all vacuum sealed up. I want to get a grinder, & smoker for next year!

[WonderMonkey 719]

2 hours ago, Wheeler said:

I have twice. I take it to the butcher over last few years. However the plan is to do my own. Issue is work/time/temperature. Sometimes I get home on a Sunday nite with my animal, temps are too mild to hang it for a week & I have to go to work for a week on the Tuesday. So easier to drop it off, pay the $150 & have it all vacuum sealed up. I want to get a grinder, & smoker for next year!

 

I cooler age mine.  I can't hang mine for long for the same reasons as yourself.  I read about cooler aging about three years ago and started to do that.  I field dress immediately then hang it at camp.  As soon as the temperature gets non-ideal, I butcher it and put it in a large cooler I have.  I keep ice on it for about two weeks then get what I want processes.

 

However .... paying $150 to get it all done is also hard to resist!

[Goober 1,555]

heres a hindquarter in a 120qt cooler. Hindquarters have a gland in a wad of fat that must be removed, so open up by first removing the leg. Everything on the hind opens up by following the muscle seams—i start on the thigh. You need a knife to cut the flesh from the bone.

I am trying to learn cuts. In second pic There’s a top round, bottom? round, Eye of round is not shown. TriTip. half moon looking roasts and footballs are sirloin roasts? Bottom pic is sirloin—i cut a baloney sized slice and ate it raw. Delicious.

[PROV 1,441]

I try to get my venison cut up within 3 days of harvest. I find the taste and tenderness are far better. Due to the different enzymes in the meat it ages way faster than beef. I use my electric fillet knife to cut steaks. A lot easier than a regular knife when the meat is not stiff.

[Fishfiles 20,145]

Made a nice score at the flea market , a deer hanging rack out of stainless with a pulley for $20