Best Deer Butchering Book?

[smallgame]

I see all kinds of books for butchering a deer, but would like some recommendations. I normally just drop them off at the local butcher and have them do the work. I would like to try it however.

[jason]

I was told the following book is good. Amazon.com: AFTER YOUR DEER IS DOWN THE CARE AND HANDLING OF BIG GAME: Joe and Rue, Leonard Lee Fischl: Books

That being said, my friend said try to find a video. He did not recommend any video though.

[greensteelforge]

Best thing to do is find a commercial meat-cutting instruction manual. For the most part, hoofed animals are pretty much the same. The most important thing is to know what you want to use the meat for, whether it be roasts, steaks, stew, ground, and in what proportion. Most older cook-books have a basic guide, and wild-game books will usually cover deer specifically. As for dropping the deer off at the butcher, unless you live somewhere where the shop isn't handling many deer, I wouldn't advise it. I worked in a butcher shop doing clean-up in high-school, and no matter what they say, you aren't getting your meat back, but the appropriate weight, and cuts. It simply isn't practical or profitable to keep everything separate, especially ground meat. I can't control how other hunters handle their game (especially the guys who have to keep the deer in the back of the truck for a week to show it off). I saw deer come in that hadn't been gutted, were left in the field for a few days and were actually green in places. Unless you know the butcher personally, and trust him, I'd think twice. Not much health risk in it, as these places are licensed, but this is likely how venison earns it's reputation for "gamey" flavor.

[dinosaur]

Greensteel is probably right as usual. I don't really have a recommendation. I learned from my Dad. I've improved on his technique but not the basics. I'm faster but no better. I raised a doe up on a sling last year and gutted her using a gamezipper, dropping all of the guts into a five gallon bucket. My buddy, who took the doe was amazed but not as amazed as I was. Of course I never let on.

The fact is that gutting and caping are pretty much something you learn as you go. Butchering is something you can learn from a book. Get an old cookbook like Joy Of Cooking by Rombauer & Becker. It'll teach you everything you need to know about cuts.

[CZ550hunter]

I cant really add much past what the past two posters have said beyond giving you a link to a book i personaly found useful when your starting out.

This has some general information as well as a lot of pictures of the whole process which was much easier for me than trying to picture what a page of just text is telling me to do.

edit: apparently i can only post links after i have posted a certain number of posts tot he website so the name of the book is "gut it, cut it, cook it: the deer hunters guide to processing and preparing venison" You can find it on amazon for about $20

[dhoyle]

If you can't find the books mentioned try to find one called The Meat We Eat and cut your deer like a lamb. This was my text book while I was an apprentice meatcutter in the 70's

[Dougdad]

Sorry I can't help with a book, I learned from granddad, he was a prof. meat cutter. But the comment of all hoofed animals are about the same is true, and it is not hard to do your own. My wife and I can do one by ourselves in about 4 hours from skinning to freezer. We have found that it is best for us to do all stew meat and burger, so we just bone it out and cut it up into bite size chunks for stew meat or grind it into hamberg. The best part is YOU control the cut, the fat content, the trimming ect.