TasunkaWitko: Thank you for the great posting! I have printed it out and will make reference to it this fall (hopefully!). And let me add - I agree with you 100% on the common modern butcher! Results from using them anymore is very often disappointing. And at the prices they charge that is a further shame. Believe it or not I actually remember back when I was a child (50 years ago) seeing huge coolers (not freezers!) where Deer were actually kept very cool (not frozen) for days until they were cut up (with knives!) by teams of butchers then double wrapped and THEN frozen!
You could not be more right on regarding proper butchering yielding a much more satisfying product from ones Deer (and Antelope & Elk!).
Over the last 10 years I have made every effort to butcher my own game animals! Now and then I have to take an Antelope to a commercial butcher as I Hunt hundreds of miles from home in often warm weather in dusty country with partners (time of Hunt extended with the more partners)! I really notice the difference in commercial and my own prep of Antelope!
I would just like to add a couple of hints that I am sure have helped me produce an excellent product that will store well in my freezers!
First I prefer to "age" my Deer in a very cool (not freezing) place. Several days is my goal if at all possible. 4 days is my typical goal here. I sometimes age the Deer with the skin on! This keeps the Deer meat from drying out. Usually I skin the Deer (when conditions are conducive) and then hang it in home made high quality muslin game bags! Again the goal is to keep the natural moisture in the meat.
Then after butchering I prefer to use a specialized saran like wrap for the first layer of wrapping then a quality butcher paper. Again the goal is to prevent freezer burn and dried out meat.
Lately I have really enjoyed roasts from my game (Deer & Elk). These I cook in crock pots with a few veggies and Onion Soup mix with water added and slow cooked! Ooh I am drooling now just thinking about this - I better go thaw out a roast!
Now on my Antelope I make only steaks (lots of them) and the rest of the meat is made into a wonderful hamburger with the addition of some beef suet and beef meat! This concoction makes wonderful chilli and sensational spaghetti! The Varmint families favorite way to eat Antelope is this! I do take the extra Antelope meat (all that is not made into steaks) to a commercial butcher for these additions and processing!
Elk roasts are so wonderful when slow cooked in a crock pot that I literally beg some of my dedicated Elking friends for a few roast cuts from their creatures before they are processed! I am not much of an Elk Hunter (not a very succesful one anyway).
My family literally clamors for more every time I cook up some of my Deer venison "sheep herders style" (one of my Grandfathers was a sheepherder in eastern Oregon during summers after he had retired)! He taught me this style of cooking venison. I remember specifically him telling me his favorite meal while out in the mountains of eastern Oregon was fresh Deer steaks cooked this way (many years later I realized that there was probably no special Deer season in eastern Oregon for sheep herders!). Anyway the Varmint family just loves my Deer steaks prepared his way - simply by rolling the steaks in flour (with salt and pepper), then the steaks are pan fried in butter just until pink in the very middle! The steaks are served with fried potatoes, sliced tomatoes and cold cottage cheese! Oh yeah. Like I say the Varmint family really appreciates Deer meat served thusly!
Thanks again for your tips TasunkaWitko!
How did the Deer herds fare this past winter up in your neck of the woods?
Mild and dry winter down here in SW Montana!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

somehow my response to this thread got on your O'Connor post.

Would someone please move it down here.

Originally posted by Ray Atkinson:

The man must have been ranch raised, thats the cowboy way and all country raised Mexicans follow his procedure, but the recipe changes, Montanians are wusses and probably can't handle chilis...

Cut the steaks thin, double dip them in flour and fry in a skillet, then serve with biscuits, pinto beans, lots of pico de Gallo on the meat, and ya gotta have white gravy....truly the staff or cowboy life, I ate that meal almost every nite of my life until all our kids were gone, then my wife went of a health kick to save my life according to her, and now we eat cardboard tasting stuff....

A good post, it leaves me cold when folks use French recipes for deer meat, most can really screw up a deer haunch with fancy cooking...

Man with funny name, that was a real good post.

--------------------
Ray Atkinson
Atkinson Hunting Adventures
10 Ward Lane,
Filer, Idaho, 83328
208-326-4120
www.atkinsonhunting.com
ray@atkinsonhunting.com


ps: Ray, I couldn't actually move it without starting a new thread. So I just copied the text over...hope this helps.

Cheers,
Canuck

vg -

thanks for covering the parts that i did not take to task thoroughly! i age my meat at least 3 days and up to a week or two as weather and time permit. for myself, i always leave the hide on.

your wrapping method is similar to mine. i usually pack the meat into freezer bags, press out all air, then use one or two layers of paper. i found packages in the bottom of the freezer 2 years old that tasted just as good as when frozen a month!

the deer herd is fine, but i guess the antelope have really suffered in eastern and north eastern montana!