Breaking Down Deer - Some Basics
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Back when I was having back problems, I was going to an old osteopathic doc that still did spinal manipulation. He told me what he needed to do to help me. I said, oh you need to loosen the connection between my sirloin pin bone and my spine. He just sat there for awhile shaking his head and then looked up and said I think your right but I don’t know how to even respond to that.
Anatomy is the same in all mammals, even us. Once you learn how to break down a carcass you can break down any species.
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Just posting some pictures of recent deer butchering.
The deer was shot 36 hours ago and field dressed at that time. The carcass hung overnight in 28 degree outdoor temperatures and was just starting to freeze in some of the smaller parts.
The following morning (24 hours ago) I skinned it, cut out the back straps and quartered it before carrying it home and putting it in the refrigerator.
At this point, all the quarters and trim on this doe that fit in a single heaping full meat lug. As a point of comparison, the buck I shot earlier filled up 2 and 1/2 meat lugs.
This morning I broke down the hind quarters as pictured. There are many methods for doing this. Some guys will even bone out the entire deer while it is still hanging.
I am not really set up for that and do better with more conventional methods that allow me to work as much as I want and then take a break for a while.
Everyone has a process they like. This one work pretty good for me. YMMV.
Here is picture with the pelvis, femur, and shank bone removed from the hindquarter.
Next is a picture of the main muscle groups separated from the hindquarter.
Next is a picture of the muscle groups with some of the silverskin, larger tendons, and most of the fat trimmed.
This is normally where I stop with hind quarter roasts. The shank meat on the far left goes in with the sausage trimmings meat.
The hind quarter roasts are wrapped and frozen, ready for use as pastrami meat, or whole muscle jerky projects.Next up are whole back straps as trimmed off the hanging deer carcass. Also pictured below are the inner or “Hanging tenders” tenderloins. Probably the most delicious and tender part of a deer. They are delicate an dry out quickly. Best removed immediately while field dressing. These got removed the following morning and are already beginning to darken on the exposed side.
Not too much to do here. Trim off some silver skin and then I slice into chunks about the right size for cooking or grilling for two people. I use a fillet knife to get most of the outer silverskin off. I like to leave primals in the largest size possible and do all final slicing prior to cooking. My theory is that uncut meat just freezes and store better.
Next they get vacuum sealed, dated and labeled.
Front should deboning: I left the bone in the shanks for some osso buco . The rest gets boned out, fat and blood shot trimmed away and reserved for sausage or other grinding.
One of the shoulder blades took a direct hit from my arrow (2-blade Rage mechanicals tip). The arrow passed through the should blade bone, caught the top of the onside lung, took out the offside lung, and passed through the off-side rib cage. I am always checking the wound channels on deer I take, but won’t be posting pictures in the interest of decorum.
processhead Holy Cow!! This is my kind of post. Too bad I don’t hunt
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Well done Paul! Very similar to the way I do it. Last week, I cubed everything but loins into 4x3" chunks and zip locked till I got home to my #12. Ended up with 51lbs ground off the buck. Plenty for bambi dogs. My new pressure canner comes Monday and my next one will be all in jars.
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What you didn’t cover was how you use the legs to use them in some sort of Blair Witch project like my daughter does. She likes to make a pile of rocks and lay the legs next to them for the neighbors to see. I kid you not, she wanted me to bring home the legs for her to see. I let this sit for a few days…
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I like your daughters creative thinking.
When I process at home, I have to be careful where I leave the leftover parts and pieces. My dog has a habit of sampling various parts and scattering them around the yard. -
The first deer I helped process was for my brother in law. He had three very young sons that were intrigued and intently watching the whole process. When the first leg came off the oldest boy proudly picked it up like a trophy and went outside and marched around with it. Second leg came off and his middle son grabbed it and did the same. Youngest son just shook his head no when offered either of the two remaining legs. However when the head came off he was barely able to pick it up but he grabbed it by both ears and ran out to his brothers. My brother in law said oh great, now the whole neighborhood is going to think I’m raising a bunch of savages over here. All three boys grew up to be avid and ethical hunters.
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processhead do you know what the approximate boneless yield as a percentage would be on a white tail doe? My neighbor brought over 8 pounds of trim that we’re going to make summer sausage out of next week. He had already taken it to a locker before I told him I could’ve butchered it for him. He seems to think he got ripped off because it was all in one box. He had to run so we couldn’t talk very long so I don’t know the dressed carcass weight or what the total weight of product he picked up. I’m estimating that best case scenario depending on muscle damage that a 120 pound doe will yield around 60 pounds. This would easily fit in one heavy duty box like their boxed beef comes in.
Looking at the trim through the vacuum bags I can see a lot of silver skin and bone guard that’s going to need further trimming. I won’t know until it thaws and I can get into it. Do you remove the silver skin when it’s going to be ground?
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processhead do you know what the approximate boneless yield as a percentage would be on a white tail doe? My neighbor brought over 8 pounds of trim that we’re going to make summer sausage out of next week. He had already taken it to a locker before I told him I could’ve butchered it for him. He seems to think he got ripped off because it was all in one box. He had to run so we couldn’t talk very long so I don’t know the dressed carcass weight or what the total weight of product he picked up. I’m estimating that best case scenario depending on muscle damage that a 120 pound doe will yield around 60 pounds. This would easily fit in one heavy duty box like their boxed beef comes in.
Looking at the trim through the vacuum bags I can see a lot of silver skin and bone guard that’s going to need further trimming. I won’t know until it thaws and I can get into it. Do you remove the silver skin when it’s going to be ground?
marzig20 I always tried to remove mine as best I could when I used to be able to & as most all here, did all my butchering, grinding, etc. myself as could not afford the shop I found after the first go round or so, & could not create the nice, perfect, bone in cuts like the butcher with my set-up I also discovered. However, in trying to remove as much silver skin as possible, I did not do it at the expense of the meat, so there was still a good bit in there for the ground product, which was everything for the most part, but the back strap.
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marzig20 I always tried to remove mine as best I could when I used to be able to & as most all here, did all my butchering, grinding, etc. myself as could not afford the shop I found after the first go round or so, & could not create the nice, perfect, bone in cuts like the butcher with my set-up I also discovered. However, in trying to remove as much silver skin as possible, I did not do it at the expense of the meat, so there was still a good bit in there for the ground product, which was everything for the most part, but the back strap.
calldoctoday I still try to get as much silverskin off but am not as picky on trim pieces either.
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marzig20 I think your yield estimate of 50% is very close for an adult doe. Could be less if there was inedible meat or smaller deer.
Most people have unrealistic expectations on the amount of boned, trimmed and packaged meat they will get from a deer.I try to trim the exposed silver skin on loins and bigger roasts. For trim that is getting ground I won’t do much trimming other than excess fat and tendons.
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processhead that’s what I’ve been trying to tell him. Seems like from the way talks he has mostly gotten bucks in the past. He got this one in archery season and I think had a choice of either. He’s out now trying for a buck in Illinois shotgun season. Told him we’ll cut his next one up.
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If you’re getting more then 30 pounds of clean boneless meat off of an average whitetail doe, your doing well. I think a 50% yeild is on the high end (almost unrealistic) of what to expect. Take into account that most fat and silverskin is removed and all shot damage and contamination is trimmed out. Most commercial processors won’t bone out the ribs at all because of possible contamination. You can never be sure how things were handled in the field. The same applies to the flank meat. These areas are easily contaminated by digesta and external debris and if dirty will be trimmed off and discarded. A professional butcher is always concerned with the quality of an end product and proper food safety. Even processing your own deer 40% of hanging weight (head, guts, hide and legs removed) is a much more realistic goal. Also bear in mind the longer it hangs, the more weight/ moisture it looses. Commercially, you can expect your deer to hang about 7 days without the hide on and thus effects the weight. Education is important so you know what to expect. If you can’t trust your butcher to do a good job, find a new one. Neither of you will be happy working together without mutual respect/ trust.
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Deepwoodsbutcher He’s a new neighbor and haven’t known him that long. Very nice person and is always willing to help everyone. He’s also a bit of a braggart and told me last year he would get a deer for sure and didn’t but that’s hunting. One of my concerns was how well did he handle it in the field. I assume if it’s a reliable locker they did everything that you mentioned.
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I did this young buck for my brother. The deer did not hang before boning. Shot placement was pretty good and only lost some meat on one shoulder. At about the size of the average doe, very well trimmed with no silverskin left on, this young buck yielded 33.5 pounds. Just as a good idea of what to look for. After it ages for a few days, it will purge some moisture and will weigh less.
PS. I have processed thousands of deer professionaly here in Michigan and this is just what I have experienced. -
I did this young buck for my brother. The deer did not hang before boning. Shot placement was pretty good and only lost some meat on one shoulder. At about the size of the average doe, very well trimmed with no silverskin left on, this young buck yielded 33.5 pounds. Just as a good idea of what to look for. After it ages for a few days, it will purge some moisture and will weigh less.
PS. I have processed thousands of deer professionaly here in Michigan and this is just what I have experienced.Deepwoodsbutcher When I was a meat cutter I worked with a few guys that would save their vacation time to take during deer season. They worked at a locker helping out processing deer. It seems to me they got paid in cash and some sort of piece work or bonus agreement. They made out really well but had to work a lot of hours.
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Deepwoodsbutcher When I was a meat cutter I worked with a few guys that would save their vacation time to take during deer season. They worked at a locker helping out processing deer. It seems to me they got paid in cash and some sort of piece work or bonus agreement. They made out really well but had to work a lot of hours.
marzig20 I’ve done this for several years. Working for 2 shops during the busy deer season 7 days a week. The money is good. Some shops will pay skinners piece rate. A few years back, pay was $10 a deer for skinning and I’ve seen some guys that can skin a deer in 2 minutes flat. That’s definitely good money.
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marzig20 I’ve done this for several years. Working for 2 shops during the busy deer season 7 days a week. The money is good. Some shops will pay skinners piece rate. A few years back, pay was $10 a deer for skinning and I’ve seen some guys that can skin a deer in 2 minutes flat. That’s definitely good money.
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Deepwoodsbutcher looks like you’ve had a very interesting career. Someone would tell me oh your a butcher. I would say no I’m a meat cutter. A butcher in my opinion is someone that can do everything from start to finish.
marzig20 Yes its been a trip. I started out working for a deer processor friend wrapping and grinding. Got a full-time job as a cleanup person at a large supermarket and worked up to meat cutter. I found I really had a passion for the work and wanted to know more. Took an apprenticeship at a USDA butcher facility and took off from there as a production butcher. I absolutely love what I’ve been able to learn throughout my career from slaughter to further processing and everything in between. Processing deer is definitely my favorite thing to do though, probably because that’s where it all started for me.
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Deepwoodsbutcher Years ago I was talking with my father who was a farmer in Nebraska when he was younger about buying some land down in Missouri and setting up a small custom processing plant. To do deer processing and processing of hogs and cattle for their owners. He just nodded and said well I’m sure your capable of some of that. Then I said well I would be able to raise a couple of hogs and a steer for our own meat. He said are you kidding if you had any livestock you’d name them and turn them into pets and wouldn’t be able to put any of them them down. He was right and a very wise man.
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