Meat processing or as I like to describe it, amateur butchering can save a lot of money over the years and provide some really good family instruction along with interaction among friends. It is also an opportune time to gather recipes and tell a few more tales of the great outdoors and hunting adventures.

Sometimes it will take a bad experience at your favorite big game processor to move you to take on the responsibility of trimming your own. Besides the animal you process is one that you are personally involved with. You planned for the hunt, you stalked and waited, you took the shot and you field dressed it and packed it out. To me there is something missing when you choose to drop it off to be butchered. There is a pride of ownership factor and a personal responsibility to utilize every part of the animal. It is the spirit of the hunt.

Professional guides like to network with professional meat processors.

From Field to Table Video

The first time that we decided to process a big game animal was in 1998. I had brought home a doe antelope and did not want to pay to have it processed.

Processing is the act of taking the animal, dividing it up into quarters, cutting those pieces into smaller pieces, deciding what you want to do with those smaller pieces, preparing those portions, wrapping them up in white paper, labeling the packages with information like the species of the animal, who shot it, when it was shot, and if you can remember, what kind of cut of meat it is that you just wrapped.

The first time was almost a comedy routine. When I ordered a subscription to 'Colorado Outdoors' I received a copy of the video 'From Field to the Table'. It is an excellent video showing every aspect of all of the work that needs to be done after the big beast is down on the ground and the pictures have been taken and congratulations have been made. It shows how to quarter, cape, butcher and cook your prize. I highly recommend this video.

Anyway, onto the comedy. We set up the dining room for the event. The table was cleared. And a card table was brought in for the wrapping phase. We brought in one of those thirteen-inch combination television and VCR and set it up to view the video as we went along. Then there were large bowls for meat to be ground and scrapped, cookie sheets to sort the meat, a selection of sharp knives, freezer paper, tape and a marker. We also purchased a smaller meat grinder for the occasion. We also went to the local professional butcher shop and got some beef fat to add to the grind.

We fast-forwarded the tape to the 'how to cut up your meat and put it into white packages' section of the tape. There are two butchers from a shop on Colorado that show how to hand cut and trim you animal.

First we put a hindquarter on the table in the same direction as the video butcher had his. Then he made a cut and I made a cut. Then he made another cut and I had to rewind the tape to see where he made his second cut. Then he made a third cut and I rewound the tape and played it a few times and then I made the third cut. I repeated this process over and over for every cut the butcher made. Then this was repeated again so that we knew what to label each cut on the package.

After all of the prime cuts are trimmed, wrapped, labeled and put in the freezer it was time for the grinding. This is an operation that the kids like. It must have something to do with power equipment. Most wild game has very little fat in it so some must be added to so that it will hold those tasty burgers together on the grill. How much beef fat you add is up to you. We like ours as lean as possible.

In the Homes

The guys we hunt with have a code that if you are part of the hunt, the meat is shared. This ensures that everyone gets to partake in the feast. Most years this does not come into play as we all tag out.

We have over the past years set up amateur butcher shops in each other's homes. We have transformed domestic kitchens into bloody messes. We have learned much as we continue to gain experience. The most educational sessions have come from Don Burrow. Don has been processing his own meat for decades. Watching him go to work carving out a hindquarter into fine looking cuts of meet is a treasure that I am grateful he has passed on to us.

The simplicity of butchering is quite apparent watching Don in contrast to the wearing out of the video trying to get the perfect cut is amazing. The roasts and the steaks of the hindquarter are naturally divided like highways on a map.