Economy Deer processing plan

[El Jagermeister]

Bills are high and money is tight this year, but the freezer is almost empty, too.

My food goal is to have 2- 3 deer in the freezer by years end. With processing fees and gas cost, I'm looking at 300 bucks. That's not in my budget after all the other costs of hunting take their toll.
I'm looking at processing them myself, on the cheap. My hunt camp has a old barn with a rafter that I can put a hoist and gambrel on, and I've got a bone saw and suitable knives for butchering and boning.
I figure that if I remove all the meat and take it home in ziploc bags in an ice chest, I can freeze it and process it later. I usually just save the tenderloins and have everything else ground up into burger meat, anyway.
This would give me time to buy a grinder in January or February when they go on clearance sales.
Is there anything wrong with this line of thinking? I've got access to a hand cranked grinder in the meantime, so I can still have some ground meat until I buy the Weston or LEM grinder on sale.
I've got plenty of info on how to do it, but does anyone have any advice on tips or tricks to make this process easier or cheap?

 

[catman529]

It sounds like you have a good plan already. Cut the pieces off the bone and put in bags in cooler on ice. It's not hard to do especially once you get familiar with the muscle groups and skeleton and know where to cut.


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[smalljawbasser]

Second what else has been said. If you have fridge or cooler space you can age in quarters at home. Debone and cut burger meat into chuncks, vac seal and grind one time/year.

Couple helpful items - large cutting board, stainless half pans and heavy plastic bus boy totes. You can get it all at Sams. Vac seal bags are your best friend.

 

[sandman064]

We process our own. That we we get what we want and use the entire deer between us and the dogs. The only thing we end up throwing out is the head. Feels good to know nothing goes to waste and we accomplished everything ourselves.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Somebody posted a heck of a deal on grinders at The Academy

 

[Mike Belt]

A problem? I have more of a problem with everyone just dropping them off at a processors when they could do at least as good a job themselves at home with much less expense.

 

[mikemc411]

Processed 6 deer at home last season -- kept backstaps/tenderloins and ground everything else... Used a Harbor freight meat grinder -- used 20% off coupon got it for less than $40.... Did a better job than a low end Lem I have borrowed before .... Also have used a $20 hand crank grinder , replaced handle bolt with an Allen bolt, then chucked up an Allen bit in a half inch drill to spin it... Works but is clumsy ...


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[jard]

Also, I killed 3 very small does last year. I took them home and boned them completely. I took the backstrap and tenderloin into steaks. I boned the rest into small cubes. I then took all the meat and small cubes to my processor and asked him to grind it into ground beef and it was extremely cheap!

 

[csi-tech]

:super: I can't over emphasize aging. I put my quarters (hams, backstrips, tenderloins and front shoulders) in plastic bags and let it sit without touching ice or water in a cooler for 4-6 days. After that I butcher it into jerky cuts, steak, roast, tenderloin medallions and burger. I vacuum seal it with the date and cut and freeze it. Mmmmmmmmm.