Skinning and Butchering a Deer

Once the deer is hung, two pieces of meat should be removed immediately, cleaned thoroughly, chilled, and
eaten or frozen. These are the tenderloins (can be sliced to filets mignons), the two large muscles on the inside of
the body cavity that run along the backbone to the hipbone. If the deer has been properly shot and field
dressed, these two pieces of meat from any deer are tender, good tasting and excellent eating. Remove them
carefully to avoid ripping them and to be sure that you get all of the meat. If, however, the deer has been gut
shot or improperly field dressed, these two pieces of meat can be heavily contaminated and require extensive trimming and/or may have to be discarded. Once they're free of the deer, wipe these pieces of meat free of blood, wash them thoroughly if there is any chance that they have been contaminated, and then chill, cook and eat them, or place them in the refrigerator so that they can be cooked in the next 24 hours, or wrap and freeze them.

Make the incisions as shown in the illustration. Once you've made the initial incisions, put that knife down. Then use your hands and body to pull, yank, and pry the skin from the deer.

	Getting a clean start: use finger tips and thumbs to separate the hide from the meat. Notice how clean and encased both the meat and hide are.

Once you've gotten a good start, grab the hide with your hands and pull. You can also push your thumbs, fist and elbows in-between the skin and meat to release areas that are sticking. Use your body weight to help pull. There will be a very thin layer of meat that wants to come off with the hide. This is the muscle that the deer uses to twitch fly's off of its back. Nobody that I know of eats this meat because it is so thin and membraney. It is easily fleshed off later, so most folks let it come off with the hide

If you're going to mount the deer, cut the hide on the chest to the front legs, then cut toward
the back of the front leg and down the back of the front legs. Pull the hide free from each leg and carefully
continue to pull all of the hide free down to the base of the neck. Cut the neck off from the chest and take the
hide, neck and head to a taxidermist.

 

Butchering a Deer

Well you should have already taking the back strap out and now's its time to start cutting your meat of the carcus.

 

The second piece of meat to be removed from the carcass is the loin. To remove the loin, insert the knife into the carcass along the edge of the backbone and cut alongside the backbone (midline) from the hip to the shoulder, keeping the knife against the edge of the backbone. Cut the loin off at the hip and shoulder and roll these muscles outward away from the spine, using your knife to cut the meat free from the backbone and the rib cage. When both pieces of meat have been cut free from the back, trim off the connective tissue. The outer white connective tissue, or fell, is the white material that is difficult to grind and chew. It also gives venison a gamey odor and taste. Separate the connective tissue (the white stuff) from the meat (the red stuff) and dispose of the connective tissue. The loin can then be cut crosswise into steaks, butterfly steaks or 1/4-inch-thick medallions for stir-frying. To cut butterfly steaks, cut the loin into approximately 2-inch-thick pieces, then split each piece from the surface or outside of the muscle to the rib side. Cut almost in half and fold open to make a butterfly. Loin steaks and medallions are always tender and good tasting. If you want to make chops, the backbone must be sawed in half and cut crosswise into chops. (Because this requires a cleaver and/or a saw, it is not described in this publication.) Next cut the shoulder from the carcass . Simply hold the front leg away from the rib cage and cut the muscle holding the shoulder to the rib cage all the way up to and including the meat on the backbone. Place the shoulder and leg on a cutting board and cut the meat away from the lower leg (the shank) in any manner you choose. Trim all the connective tissue (the white stuff) off the meat you remove from the shank and set the meat aside to be ground into burger later or cut up into smaller pieces for stew meat or soup meat. If you plan to grind all of the shoulder meat into burger or cut it into small pieces for stew and soup meat, then simply cut the meat of the shoulder free from the front of the foreleg and shoulder.

	Once the meat is free of the bone, remove all connective tissue and set the meat aside to be cut up into smaller pieces or ground. If you wish to make a shoulder roast, start by laying the shoulder down on the cutting board with the outside of the shoulder facing upward. The outside of the shoulder blade has a bony ridge in the middle. To de bone the meat, cut down both sides of the bony ridge on the top of the shoulder blade and, keeping the edge of the knife against the shoulder blade, cut outward, separating the bone from the meat. Then carefully separate the meat from the edges of the shoulder blade. Then cut the meat on the underside of the shoulder blade away from the bone of the shoulder blade, keeping the knife edge against the bone. Continue removing the meat down along the foreleg of the deer, being careful not to cut the meat of the shoulder blade that joins the meat of the foreleg. Once the bone has been removed from the meat of the foreleg, the meat of the foreleg can be folded up into the meat of the shoulder and then all that meat rolled and tied with a string into a roast.
The next cuts of meat on the deer are easily butchered. Neck meat: In most cases, the neck meat is best ground into burger, so simply cut the meat from the neck bone any way you choose. If you wish to make a neck roast, cut the meat all the way around the neck at the head and the chest. Cut the neck open from head to chest on the bottom of the neck and cut around the neck bone, keeping the neck meat in one piece. Go all the way around the neck, cutting around its bony projections, to remove the neck meat from the neck bone. Remove as much of the white connective tissue as possible, roll the meat on itself and tie with string for a roast. A neck roast from a large, old deer may not be tender. Flank meat: Cut the flank meat away from the sides of the deer . You may choose simply to discard it. Or you can separate the meat from the layers of fat and connective tissue and set it aside to be ground into burger. Ribs: If you wish, use a heavy knife, a small hatchet or a saw to cut the ribs from the backbone and then into approximately 4- to 6-inch squares for spareribs . Hindquarters: To separate the hindquarters (the round) from the remaining carcass, locate the hipbone on the back of the deer, insert your knife into the meat along the edge of the hipbone and cut all along the hipbone, keeping the edge of the knife against the bone of the hip . Then locate the hipbone on the inside of the hip, insert the knife along the edge of the hipbone and begin to cut along the hipbone, keeping the edge of the knife against the bone. As you separate the meat from the bone, the ball and socket joint of the hip will become visible. Insert the knife into the socket joint and sever the ligaments connecting the ball to the socket. This separates the leg from the hip. Some additional cutting of meat may be necessary to completely separate the leg. Lay the leg down on the cutting board and cut the meat of the lower hind leg(the shank) away from the bone. Handle this shank meat exactly the same as the lower foreleg (the front shank).

Note that part of the meat on the upper hind leg extends beyond the end of the bone (the ball). This is the rump . Cut it off just below the ball. It makes an excellent roast or can be cut into cubes for soup, stew or grilling. Note also that the meat on the upper hind leg (the round) is divided into three main muscles . The muscle on the top or front of the bone is almost round and the two muscles on the side are almost rectangular. Locate a seam between two of the muscles and separate them by cutting the connective tissue that holds them together. Do not slice through the meat. When you have cut the connective tissue in the seam down to the bone, cut all of this meat away from the bone, keeping the edge of the knife against the bone. Remove the bone and then separate the three muscle groups from one another by cutting the connective tissue along the seams.

Start with the half-round piece (the sirloin tip) that came from the top or front of the leg bone Trim the tips from both ends of this piece of meat. These tips can be used for cubes, stew meat, soup meat or burger. The
remaining piece of meat can be tied with string into a roast or can be cut crosswise into 1-inch steaks. These
steaks will be less tender than any other steaks that you can cut from the deer. On a small, young deer, however,
these steaks will be tender.

Take the two remaining pieces of meat (the inside and outside rounds) and trim both ends . The trimmings are suitable for cubes, stew or soup meat, or ground meat. The trimmed piece can then be cut crosswise into 1-inch
round steaks, which will be almost as tender as the loin steaks. These pieces of meat can also be left whole for
roasting, cut into thin medallions for stir-frying, or cut into cubes for venison kabobs. Once again, remove all fat
and the white connective tissue from these steaks, preferably before freezing but definitely before cooking.

When all the meat has been removed from the carcass, inspect all pieces of meat again, remove any white
connective tissue that you did not remove previously and remove all foreign matter, especially hair. Cut away and
discard any meat that has been bruised by bullet, shot or arrow. It is far better to cut away more meat than
necessary than to leave bruised meat. Bruised meat will have a strong, gamey flavor. If you think it is necessary,
rinse the meat in cold water, but be sure to pat it completely dry with toweling.

The venison can then be wrapped in white freezer paper, shiny side in, and taped closed. Label each package with
the cut of meat and the date. Then place the meat in a freezer kept at approximately 0 degrees F. Spread the meat
out over the inside of the freezer as evenly as possible so it freezes solid within 24 hours. Avoid stacking a large
amount of fresh meat in one place in the freezer - the middle layers may take days to freeze solid. After the
meat is solidly frozen, you can stack it as you desire.

The pieces of meat that are to be ground into burger can be ground at home or placed in the refrigerator and taken
as soon as possible to a business that will grind it for you.

Also check out Field dressing a Deer and Hanging your Deer