Breaking Down Deer - Some Basics
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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.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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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.
marzig20
Much easier when you don’t know them. I’ve known a few farmer/butchers, but not many. Definitely isn’t for everyone. I do get some funny reactions when I tell people what I do for work. My mom definitely didn’t picture her daughter being a butcher and working on a kill floor lol. -
marzig20
Much easier when you don’t know them. I’ve known a few farmer/butchers, but not many. Definitely isn’t for everyone. I do get some funny reactions when I tell people what I do for work. My mom definitely didn’t picture her daughter being a butcher and working on a kill floor lol. -
marzig20
Much easier when you don’t know them. I’ve known a few farmer/butchers, but not many. Definitely isn’t for everyone. I do get some funny reactions when I tell people what I do for work. My mom definitely didn’t picture her daughter being a butcher and working on a kill floor lol.Deepwoodsbutcher Very interesting career, sounds like you have worked many different aspects of the job.
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Deepwoodsbutcher Very interesting career, sounds like you have worked many different aspects of the job.
Deepwoodsbutcher well when I knew the chain I was working for was close to going out of business I knew I had to find something else. As a hobby I had tinkered around with working on my own 1911 pistols. So I finally got the nerve up to go into Rock River Arms and ask for job. The owner looked over a couple of my pistols while my knees were shaking. He said I guess I can try you on a trial basis.
He ended up hiring me on full time. Later on he was telling me to grind a relief angle on a sear and not to remove anymore then .030 of an inch. He looked at me and said you have no idea what I’m talking about do you. I said no but if you want me to I’m pretty sure I can cut you a 12 ounce rib eye. It was an experience to go from pounds and ounces to thousands of an inch tolerances.
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Deepwoodsbutcher well when I knew the chain I was working for was close to going out of business I knew I had to find something else. As a hobby I had tinkered around with working on my own 1911 pistols. So I finally got the nerve up to go into Rock River Arms and ask for job. The owner looked over a couple of my pistols while my knees were shaking. He said I guess I can try you on a trial basis.
He ended up hiring me on full time. Later on he was telling me to grind a relief angle on a sear and not to remove anymore then .030 of an inch. He looked at me and said you have no idea what I’m talking about do you. I said no but if you want me to I’m pretty sure I can cut you a 12 ounce rib eye. It was an experience to go from pounds and ounces to thousands of an inch tolerances.
marzig20 Quite a change. Sounds like you’ve done your share of interesting work.
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marzig20 Quite a change. Sounds like you’ve done your share of interesting work.
Deepwoodsbutcher that was some great information. Thanks for sharing
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Big Ohio doe = 35-40lbs meat. med-Lg buck = 55-60lbs. give or take
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smokinbubba thank you! I think that’s right on the money. I got my neighbor calmed down especially after he told me the doe was 110 pounds.
Went through the 8 lbs. of trim he gave me today. I had to throw out about 12 ounces. The first 4 lb. bag was pretty decent. Some large shoulder and round muscles but the glands were left in. The second 4lb. bag was a different story. Some round and other descent trim. Then I pulled out a piece that had to have been shoulder, that’s where he said he hit it with his arrow. The first thing I noticed was some fur and muscle damage. Flipped it over and there was part of the the wind pipe or throat. I honestly wouldn’t eat any of the ground meat they gave him.
Gonna grind and stuff tomorrow Then smoke the next day. I didn’t realize how close it is to Thanksgiving.
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marzig20 Quite a change. Sounds like you’ve done your share of interesting work.
Deepwoodsbutcher said in Breaking Down Deer - Some Basics:
marzig20 Quite a change. Sounds like you’ve done your share of interesting work.
No complaints, it’s been a good ride. Just wish I was a little younger!
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smokinbubba thank you! I think that’s right on the money. I got my neighbor calmed down especially after he told me the doe was 110 pounds.
Went through the 8 lbs. of trim he gave me today. I had to throw out about 12 ounces. The first 4 lb. bag was pretty decent. Some large shoulder and round muscles but the glands were left in. The second 4lb. bag was a different story. Some round and other descent trim. Then I pulled out a piece that had to have been shoulder, that’s where he said he hit it with his arrow. The first thing I noticed was some fur and muscle damage. Flipped it over and there was part of the the wind pipe or throat. I honestly wouldn’t eat any of the ground meat they gave him.
Gonna grind and stuff tomorrow Then smoke the next day. I didn’t realize how close it is to Thanksgiving.
marzig20 Thanksgiving is coming up fast, going to visit a brother out of state so I don’ t have much prep work to do this year. Does seem strange though not having to prepare.
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Deepwoodsbutcher well when I knew the chain I was working for was close to going out of business I knew I had to find something else. As a hobby I had tinkered around with working on my own 1911 pistols. So I finally got the nerve up to go into Rock River Arms and ask for job. The owner looked over a couple of my pistols while my knees were shaking. He said I guess I can try you on a trial basis.
He ended up hiring me on full time. Later on he was telling me to grind a relief angle on a sear and not to remove anymore then .030 of an inch. He looked at me and said you have no idea what I’m talking about do you. I said no but if you want me to I’m pretty sure I can cut you a 12 ounce rib eye. It was an experience to go from pounds and ounces to thousands of an inch tolerances.
marzig20
Your pistol-smithing job/hobby is something I have been very interested in as well as precision machinery in general. I think working for a company like Rock River would be fascinating.
I have never done much more than install spring kits in Browning HP/ 1911 pistols and hand polish and prep a few guns for others to blue.
When I was in my 30’s I built a custom bolt action on a large ring Mauser action and inlet and finished the stock for it. The part I had to hire out was installing and chambering the barrel and welding a turned down bolt handle to the bolt. I still have the rifle and shoot paper with it. It’s been a few years since I have seriously hunted with it. -
marzig20 Absolutely, turkey and ham on menu.
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processhead it was very interesting. I did quite a bit of machining but I’m certainly not a machinist. I can do a few things on a Bridgeport vertical manual mill. Most of the 1911s I built, and they still build, are oriented mostly toward precision pistol shooters. One handed at 50 and 25 yards. Our target pistols guarantee an accuracy of a 1 -1/2" seven shot group at 50 yards. That doesn’t sound like much to rifle shooters but is extremely hard to achieve in a semi auto pistol.
Chuck hired me because he liked my trigger jobs. Bullseye shooters are the most “rectum oriented”, sorry but the forum censored the other word I used, people you could ever imagine. They’re all looking for any advantage they can find.
If you’ve done polishing work for blueing you know how hard that is to do, it’s truly an art. Especially the flats. The hardest thing to do in polishing, filing and grinding is to keep a flat plane flat. Most people don’t notice flaws but anybody willing to spend $2,000 to $6,000 on a pistol will.
I can assemble an AR-15 in 45 minutes. But a precision 1911 takes days if not longer, depending on the build order. I did inspection in shipping and packing for the ARs for several years because Chuck knew my attention to detail and trusted me. Oh, and AR does not stand for automatic rifle, it is the name Armalite Rifle for the company that invented the M-16.
Every year we would go out to the CMP and NRA national matches at Camp Perry in Ohio. We did a lot of smithing and sales on vendors row. Camp Perry was a base where German and Italian POWS were held until the end of the war. Venders row was actually the mess halls that the POWs ate their meals. We slept in our building and used one of the two adjoining heads to bathe etc. Chuck would bring up whole boneless rib eyes and strips for us to cook and eat in the evenings. Guess who was tasked to cut them up.
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Big Ohio doe = 35-40lbs meat. med-Lg buck = 55-60lbs. give or take
smokinbubba I don’t think people realize the actual weight after processing. Are you going out next week?
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