That is how many deer we processed this year. Having an outside source process your venison is expensive, so we do it ourselves. It has taken a few years to develop a system, but we do now and it works for us.
Only two boys hunted for meat in our household this year because the third hunter has his own household now.
Nine is the number of deer that were hunted, tagged, gutted, skinned, quartered and processed. There are many methods out there on where to gut (field or home), how to gut (deer lying on ground or hanging), when to skin (warm or cold) or how long to hang. When they boys were new, we had to use the blow torch on most of the meat because skinning would cause hair to be on the meat. I have to say, they are much better now.
One of the boys harvested five deer this past season. We gave some meat to a landowner who allows him to hunt on his property as a thank you. The other boy harvested four deer. We kept three of them and we gave one away to a lady at his work who was in need. We were given one to process by our neighbor in the beginning of the season and we kept eight of the nine deer our hunters harvested. Nine deer in the freezer. Thank you, Lord, for a bountiful harvest.
Equipment needed to process at home…a good knife, a sharpener, cutting boards, and a grinder (I have a kitchen aid mixer with grinder attachment). Freezer paper, tape and freezer Ziplock. I use name brand because I have had freezer burn before. Garbage bin and construction bag (thickness doesn’t allow breakage), a few metal bowls (one for junk like membranes or fat, one for meat to grind, one for jerky, one for backstrap), a disposable tablecloth (I place it over my island where we work and wrap it into itself and toss at the end of processing to make clean up easier). And last but not least…music! (a spontaneous dance party may or may not occur)
The hunter will kill and gut before bringing the deer home. Then it is hung and sometimes weighed with a game scale (we had a really big doe this year weighing in at 130 pounds). The hunter will skin and quarter the deer and place garbage bags in the fridge in the garage, along with the backstraps. If it is a trophy buck, the hunter will take the head and place it in a garbage bag to either have a euro mount or shoulder mount done. From there, we determine when we all have a minute to cut the meat from the bones and membranes. Once cut and sorted into designated bowls (grind, jerky, backstrap), my job is to grind, slice jerky meat, wrap in freezer paper, bag and label. Place all junk and tablecloth in garbage bin (hunter will take out because it is heavy). Then clean the equipment. I will place bagged meat in a basket for the hunter to bring downstairs to the deep freezer for future use.
Nine sounds crazy, but the amount of meat our family goes through is a lot. Because of my health, I have to eat lean meat and venison is lean. It will not last until next year. We will use all of it. Backstrap, ground and jerky from the muscle is how we use the meat.
I enjoy spending time with my boys and processing gives us that time. Talking. Laughing. Reminiscing about anything from processing mistakes of the past to family vacations or silly memories. Observing the amount of fat on the deer and developing a hypothesis on how hard the winter to come will be is always a conversation. We work as a team. To hunt, to process and to consume. I have already lost one of my hunters and teammates and I know the day will come when I will lose the other two. But in the meantime, I will enjoy every minute I have.
Since we homeschool, this has always been used as one of our labs for science. Identifying muscle groups, bones, organs, veins (yes, you can see blood that has been trapped and push it through the vein), trachea and esophagus tubes and, yes, even the digestive tract. Depending on where the boys cut, it may or may not add additional steps to clean bacteria…blah! A few times one of the boys and I invited other homeschoolers to have lab with us. Most of the kids are disgusted, but a few are willing to touch the raw meat or body parts.
Dissecting the heart is amazing to me. We have, a few times, kept the heart to eat (marinating the dickens out of it is how I got through that). Identifying the chambers. Aortic or pulmonary valves and what that means for blood flow and oxygen. Squeezing and replaying the cardiovascular system. It truly is an amazing design by our Creator.
The younger two kids wouldn’t mind hunting, but they have no interest in gutting or processing, so my rule is…then you don’t hunt. If you can’t complete the entire process then you don’t hunt. You are not going out to hunt and kill and leave for someone else to do the dirty work. Again, this is my rule. And it is OKAY that they don’t want to hunt. It is not for everyone.
Batches of jerky have already been created and consumed…gluten free so my daughter and I can enjoy as well. Backstrap is usually the first to go by way of grilling. Marinate or dry rub. Ground meat is usually consumed as tacos, quesadillas, chili, goulash or pasta meals like a ravioli bake or lasagna.
I am thankful for my hunters. Thankful for the Lord’s granting success in the harvest. And thankful for the time well spent together in the kitchen. Until next season…
I am ONE story,
~ Kristy