Too often successful deer hunters never consider caring for a deer carcass till that triumphant moment they stand over it. Frequently, planning a deer hunt centers entirely on the hunt’s mechanics with little planning or thought given to processing a successful conclusion.
A deer becomes venison the moment a hunter’s bullet or arrow downs it. At that time, said hunter is legally and ethically responsible for getting the meat to somebody’s table. There is no other justification for taking its life. If sustenance is not a priority for the carcass, there is no justification in prioritizing the act just for a “trophy” - whatever the latter might mean to the hunter.
Venison properly cared for, potentially is as good as (or better than) the best cuts of beef. I have references from previous skeptics to prove it. They ate venison at my table. I enlightened them only after they complimented the cook so profusely they could not reverse themselves when they discovered what the main course had been. Cross my heart, Scout’s Honor - all of them thought they had eaten beef.
If the kill is trophy class and a mount is desirable, certain steps should be taken to keep the cape intact. For example, when field dressing it, open the body cavity only to the sternum. Being extremely careful not to let blood contaminate the head’s cape, remove the entrails immediately to preserve quality of the meat. The latter is extremely important to begin the process of getting the body heat out of the venison carcass and preserve its table qualities.
Then, skin the head from the shoulders to the base of the skull without splitting the hide. If in a remote area, carefully flesh the hide from the skull to keep the hair from slipping. Rub salt into the flesh side to insure that it arrives in good condition at the taxidermist. The antlers are sawn from the skull intact. The latter process is far more complicated than there is room here to outline.
However, this is usually not a problem in Missouri, or similar locale, compared to hunting out of a remote camp high in the Rockies. In this situation, it is more practical to skin the head to the base of the skull, sever and take it promptly to a taxidermist. Or, temporarily place it in a plastic trash bag in a freezer. The taxidermist is infinitely more qualified to perform the delicate skinning process around the eyes, ears, nose, etc.
If the kill is not a desirable mount, simply open the carcass from the anal vent to a point under the chin.
This is not the place for a full description on field dressing deer. If not familiar with the process, discuss it with someone who is. Or, take the time to check a book out covering the subject. When a hunter downs a deer, his next responsibility is with a knife. He/she should know how to use it.
Not field dressing a deer promptly is the main reason many negative comments taint descriptions of venison’s table-fare qualities. Internal body heat spoils meat quicker than ambient or solar heat. That fact is not any different for beef, or any other animal carcass, than it is for quality venison.
Leaving the hide on for transportation to the butchering location helps prevent the meat from getting soiled. It also keeps it from drying out on contact with air. However, in warmer climes, above 40-degrees, with high humidity, the hide should be removed before the carcass stiffens.
If the carcass is not taken directly to a processing plant: skin it, then hang it in a shady spot in camp. The hide should be removed as soon as possible. If it is still to be transported, muslin bags especially crafted to fit over the entire carcass or something similar should be employed to protect the meat from flies and debris contacted when transporting it for processing. If hung at home, a walkout basement is ideal or a shaded shed. Newspapers placed under the hanging carcass catch drippings.
Covering it with cloth muslin bags protects it from flies. I also liberally sprinkle black pepper through out the body cavity and any where there is persistant moisture. Flies will not feed through the pepper. It easily washes off.
Venison so cared for, is usually safe for several days in camp even if the ambient temperature climbs into the 60s. However, protect the carcass from direct sunlight. The key is to give the meat every opportunity to cool out thoroughly. It will darken some and that should be expected.
If the ambient temperature climbs into the seventies, the carcass must be skinned promptly regardless and get it to a meat locker promptly. If the temperature remains in the 30s or 40s, sit back and enjoy your camping trip.
Now comes the next decision: process it or cut it up yourself?
Self butchering is not for everybody. The first time I decided to do it, the family thought I had gone over the edge.
There are advantages and disadvantages going to a processor.
For instance, say you carefully skin your deer making sure there is no hair on the meat. Then you deliver it to the processor. The hide is not removed from the next deer brought in. It is hung in the cooler hair side up against your nice clean carcass. Yuk!
This latter decided me to start down the self butchering route. Raking handfuls of hair off meat before dropping it in the skillet did not appeal to my palate. Commercial processors are not entirely at fault here. The majority are overwhelmed during deer season and do well to stay up with the flow of carcasses submitted to them. They simply don’t have the time or space to accomodate complicated butchering instructions with the rush of venison that inundates many of these facilities during the nation’s fall deer season openers.
Commercial processors can grind a deer into ground venison in as little as fifteen minutes - hair and all. I normally take about three hours to clean, trim fat and damaged meat, and then break it into steaks, roasts, chops, etc. It took much longer than that my first time. I am faster now than in the beginning. A commercial locker cannot afford that much time to trim and clean meat properly for every carcass submitted for processing.
I bone all cuts, except the ribs, thoroughly trimming every reasonable vestige of bloodshot meat and fat from the various cuts. I butterfly boned chops as well as the round steaks if from a smaller deer. It is easy to distinguish and separate the different roasts from the hind quarter sections with a minimum of knife work.
Sharp knives are a prerequisite for this task. Not ALMOST sharp - they need to be sharp! Sharp enough to do this job with ease. And they will need resharpening, or at least whetting, before the end of the job. Check the knife sharpening post in “Cliff’s Outdoor Notes” on this site for help preparing tools for this task.
Venison fat has a strong flavor and aroma when cooking. This almost singularly contributes to all the negative comments about venison’s culinary qualities. When fat is trimmed from the meat, we find the resulting venison usually equal to what we expect from prime beef. If the weather is cool enough or a walk-in cooler is available to hang the meat in to age properly, the quality of venison gracing our table quite literally is competitive with so-called prime beef cuts. Since venison fat is not normally marbled into its muscle texture, it is usually simple to trim the bulk of it off. Strong flavor in the fat comes from tannic acid stored there from acorn mast. Deer feed heavily on it in the fall to accumulate enough fat to carry them through the winter. Trimming this off removes the chemical’s objectionable odor and flavor.
We freeze the discarded fat to later render down and mix with crunchy peanut butter and sunflower seeds for our winter bird feeders - especially the pileated woodpeckers. If you don’t want a strong odor drifting through the house when performing this community service for your local bird population, use your camp stove to do the chore outside.
After boning the hind quarter, it is a simple matter to separate the round steak’s butt portion and carve steaks to the thickness desired. If the animal was small, we butterfly the round steaks. The other “rump” roasts separate just as readily. Fixed with quartered onions, spuds, whole carrots, a quartered Jonathan or Gala apple and a can each of French onion and mushroom soup accompanied by favorite herbs (sage, cilantro, onion salt, ground pepper, provencale, etc.) and you’ll wonder why any one in their right mind would grind such delectable dining into “burgers!”
Finally, we trim fat from all the scraps, cut them to bite size portions and wrap for stew meat rather than grinding. (This is a personal preference).
We thoroughly wash the meat a quarter at a time before bringing a section to the butcher table. (We use 30-40 gallon plastic containers to soak whole quarters of meat in to remove blood and help wash hair from the surface before the butchering process. As we process each quarter into various cuts, we wrap and label them before tackling the next quarter.
Cleanliness and an orderly progression in completing the task makes the chore easier to complete by taking it one step at a time.