Butchering course

Game hunting and large prey. Deer stalking, hunting with hounds. Boar, pigs etc., large prey, culling, hunting large feral animals.

Butchering course

Post by dnardy » 03 Jul 2021, 8:43 am

Hi all,
I'm 36 and live near Albury Wodonga and I've been shooting rabbits, foxes and pigs on and off for ever but might have finally got myself onto a good deer property.

I want to get into harvesting my own meat but have never cut up a large animal before. I'm going to help some mates cut up a steer next week but also keen to get other pepoles advice.

Is there anyone in the Albury Wodonga or Wagga area that would be willing for me to help cut up an animal? I'd be happy to pay for your time, and have my own set of knives.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 04 Jul 2021, 4:49 pm

Watch this , this US Hispanic guy is the best .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA25R9DK31A
Watch this for inside the carcass :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze7KhVG5Di0
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l47LecY2HB8

Watch all this guys Videos Michael Cross , it's the best way to break down the carcass with minimal gear .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMKziF0pNvw
Search youtube there is plenty of other videos on breaking down the basic cuts further , into the different steaks , roasts etc.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by dnardy » 06 Jul 2021, 4:20 pm

Thanks for the reply!
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Re: Butchering course

Post by davef » 25 Nov 2021, 10:51 am

A great resource on youtube is Scott Rea a pommy butcher Detailed videos on breaking deer down and some ripper recipies also
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_t4O ... tVGd639Z0Q
also for the processing of the animal I use this method below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2bo23n16tI
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 14 Jun 2022, 4:51 pm

Download a free program called Bandicam and you can copy y---tube videos in Mp4 format in the settings , Free version is 10 minutes long videos . You can just split up a longer video into two separate recordings .
That way you can use them offline and even out in the field on a laptop . Use a VPN connection to do it .
Download Opera Browser and select the VPN in the options and it connects automatically to VPN networks .
Slower but they will think you are in Poland or Netherlands or some place else . If you get any popup messages from anyone just ignore them and switch to another VPN location it stuffs them up . Don't be greedy and just copy what you need .
Last edited by JohnV on 14 Jun 2022, 4:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 14 Jun 2022, 4:54 pm

davef wrote:A great resource on youtube is Scott Rea a pommy butcher Detailed videos on breaking deer down and some ripper recipies also
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_t4O ... tVGd639Z0Q
also for the processing of the animal I use this method below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2bo23n16tI

Yeah Scott Rea is very good . His lamb breakdown video really showed me how bad my technique was .
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Re: Butchering course

Post by Border_Bloke » 23 Jun 2022, 10:18 am

Hi dnardy,
I'm in the area and if you really get stuck or want some help then send me a PM.I have both both NSW and Vic hunting licenses and hunt on public land in both states.

How I butcher something depends on how big the animal is, how much time I have, and whether I can drive it out or if I have to carry it out. One thing that really annoys me is seeing people kill a Sambar and then just take the backstraps and nothing else - throwing away 80 kg of meat.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 26 Jun 2022, 5:33 am

There is many problems for hunters taking out meat . One is if you decide to take all the meat home that's the end of the shooting trip for many who travel a long way .
Also getting the meat home without it spoiling is sometimes impossible without a cool room trailer . Victorians don't have to travel as far to shoot a deer as some people in other states do . If I shoot a deer 600 ks from home there is no way I can get that meat home unspoiled . So every shooters circumstances may be different and the people who just took the back straps might not have been in a position to take more than they could use up quickly in camp .
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Re: Butchering course

Post by wrenchman » 27 Jun 2022, 10:43 am

i like to freeze 2 liter bottles of water and put them in big coolers and if you dont open the cooler it will last days and if i shoot a deer i break it down and put it in the cooler back straps front shoulders and rear hams and when i am heading home i get some ice and pour it in the cooler.
i have done this when i am hunting in southern states were temps can get warm if you dont take as much as possible here in the u.s it is very frowned on and in some areas against the law
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Re: Butchering course

Post by Border_Bloke » 27 Jun 2022, 4:01 pm

If it's cool enough outside and you can get the carcass to camp you can hang with a sheet over it. Otherwise if the missus still has the fridge and esky full then yeah, that's usually the end of the trip.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by bladeracer » 27 Jun 2022, 6:02 pm

JohnV wrote:There is many problems for hunters taking out meat . One is if you decide to take all the meat home that's the end of the shooting trip for many who travel a long way .
Also getting the meat home without it spoiling is sometimes impossible without a cool room trailer . Victorians don't have to travel as far to shoot a deer as some people in other states do . If I shoot a deer 600 ks from home there is no way I can get that meat home unspoiled . So every shooters circumstances may be different and the people who just took the back straps might not have been in a position to take more than they could use up quickly in camp .


I really hate seeing wasted deer meat in the bush, but the reality is, at least it's no longer walking around destroying our bush, and it's a feed for cats, dogs and foxes that is saving them from killing our natives for a day or two. I'm not a trophy hunter either but at least the people that are are out there shooting deer. There's no down side to shooting deer.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 28 Jun 2022, 8:50 am

bladeracer wrote:
JohnV wrote:There is many problems for hunters taking out meat . One is if you decide to take all the meat home that's the end of the shooting trip for many who travel a long way .
Also getting the meat home without it spoiling is sometimes impossible without a cool room trailer . Victorians don't have to travel as far to shoot a deer as some people in other states do . If I shoot a deer 600 ks from home there is no way I can get that meat home unspoiled . So every shooters circumstances may be different and the people who just took the back straps might not have been in a position to take more than they could use up quickly in camp .


I really hate seeing wasted deer meat in the bush, but the reality is, at least it's no longer walking around destroying our bush, and it's a feed for cats, dogs and foxes that is saving them from killing our natives for a day or two. I'm not a trophy hunter either but at least the people that are are out there shooting deer. There's no down side to shooting deer.

Very true .
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Re: Butchering course

Post by delinquent pleb » 28 Jun 2022, 3:07 pm

So in terms of butchering deer that you shoot.What do you need equipment wise?
Is it easy enough to remove choice cuts in the field or is it better to bring it home and butcher it in slow time?

Genuinely interested as I am keen to get into Deer hunting in the next year or two and a mate of mine is wants to start harvesting the deer that getting on to his property.

thanks in advance.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 30 Jun 2022, 8:41 am

You need a Gambrel hoist something like this https://image.sportsmansguide.com/adimg ... 671_ts.jpg There is many variations of deer hoists but the block and tackle style is very portable .
Skinning knife like a Victorinox lamb skinner and a wide curved boning knife should suffice . There is many knives that you could use. A boning hook is a handy extra to have but not essential .
Gut the deer in the field and cut the head off if it's not a trophy rack . Cut it in two if there is two guys to carry out . If you carry any trophy rack do not carry it with the rack pointing upwards on your back it's dangerous . Point the rack downwards and put some highvis material on it .
Use the gambrel hoist back in camp or wherever to skin it and break down while it's hanging NZ style .
Lay the skin out fur down and lay the cuts on that while your working .
How you operate has a lot to do with how far you have to travel to get home or how far the shot deer is from any cool room or freezer you may have at your disposal . This is how to do it in the field with just a knife . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubxppdxfx0w
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Re: Butchering course

Post by bladeracer » 30 Jun 2022, 3:10 pm

JohnV wrote:You need a Gambrel hoist something like this https://image.sportsmansguide.com/adimg ... 671_ts.jpg There is many variations of deer hoists but the block and tackle style is very portable .
Skinning knife like a Victorinox lamb skinner and a wide curved boning knife should suffice . There is many knives that you could use. A boning hook is a handy extra to have but not essential .
Gut the deer in the field and cut the head off if it's not a trophy rack . Cut it in two if there is two guys to carry out . If you carry any trophy rack do not carry it with the rack pointing upwards on your back it's dangerous . Point the rack downwards and put some highvis material on it .
Use the gambrel hoist back in camp or wherever to skin it and break down while it's hanging NZ style .
Lay the skin out fur down and lay the cuts on that while your working .
How you operate has a lot to do with how far you have to travel to get home or how far the shot deer is from any cool room or freezer you may have at your disposal . This is how to do it in the field with just a knife . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubxppdxfx0w


This is not a realistic option in the areas I've been walking, there is zero possibility of dragging a whole carcass out and the bush is too dense to work in. Really no need to gut the animal unless you want some of the internal organs. Take everything off one side, then roll it over and grab everything off the other side.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 30 Jun 2022, 5:11 pm

Peoples circumstances vary so what's needed for one might not suite another . If you have to carry meat out a long way then your method is practical to reduce the burden . However it sounded like the poster was going to take deer on a property that might be far easier to get the carcass out to hang some place which makes it easier to do and more hygienic .
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Re: Butchering course

Post by delinquent pleb » 30 Jun 2022, 7:48 pm

JohnV wrote:Peoples circumstances vary so what's needed for one might not suite another . If you have to carry meat out a long way then your method is practical to reduce the burden . However it sounded like the poster was going to take deer on a property that might be far easier to get the carcass out to hang some place which makes it easier to do and more hygienic .


Thanks very much. very grateful for the advice on process and tools. I'll be doing a bit of watching and talking to people that I know through my local target shooting club as well (I am very much a target shooter dipping my toe into hunting/harvesting).

Very grateful for the advice

cheers
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Re: Butchering course

Post by bladeracer » 30 Jun 2022, 10:08 pm

JohnV wrote:Peoples circumstances vary so what's needed for one might not suite another . If you have to carry meat out a long way then your method is practical to reduce the burden . However it sounded like the poster was going to take deer on a property that might be far easier to get the carcass out to hang some place which makes it easier to do and more hygienic .


Absolutely, work with the environment you have, not what you wish you had :-)
Some of the farms I've visited have deer either on them or in the bush abutting, that might make it easier to get a vehicle within a few hundred meters perhaps, if it hasn't been too wet.

The video you posted is great, but the odds of dropping a deer right below a perfect tree branch like that are pretty steep I reckon.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 01 Jul 2022, 4:27 pm

bladeracer wrote:
JohnV wrote:Peoples circumstances vary so what's needed for one might not suite another . If you have to carry meat out a long way then your method is practical to reduce the burden . However it sounded like the poster was going to take deer on a property that might be far easier to get the carcass out to hang some place which makes it easier to do and more hygienic .


Absolutely, work with the environment you have, not what you wish you had :-)
Some of the farms I've visited have deer either on them or in the bush abutting, that might make it easier to get a vehicle within a few hundred meters perhaps, if it hasn't been too wet.

The video you posted is great, but the odds of dropping a deer right below a perfect tree branch like that are pretty steep I reckon.

The video was mainly to show how to bone out the deer with just a knife in the hanging position not necessarily from a tree or anywhere else .
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Re: Butchering course

Post by Oldbloke » 02 Jul 2022, 3:49 pm

If like me 95% you hunt on your own you are really forced to hunt near tracks etc. Walk 7 k into the bush, HTF do you get the meat out without spoiling? Plus perhaps 4 hr drive home. Sure isn't easy.
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Re: Butchering course

Post by JohnV » 02 Jul 2022, 7:12 pm

If I had a mate with a farm that had deer I would be putting out some feed in a good handy spot for the truck and wait for the deer to come to me .
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Re: Butchering course

Post by bladeracer » 02 Jul 2022, 8:18 pm

JohnV wrote:If I had a mate with a farm that had deer I would be putting out some feed in a good handy spot for the truck and wait for the deer to come to me .


Yep, great way to fill the freezer :-)
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