Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We still hunt in the woods behind our house - we get deer, rabbits, quail, canadian geese, ducks, pheasant, etc. I have field dressed a deer but we take our deer to the local butcher to process....easier and less messy. I butcher the rest of the game. I also butcher chickens and have dressed a wild turkey but I really don't like them and I don't like to butcher them either. They are tough and lots of dark meat and don't taste much like tame turkey.
I can fillet fish really well.....I learned this when I was going to school to be a chef. Just make sure the knife is sharp....as is the case with any time you butcher animals.
I used to help my dad castrate hogs and cattle but have never butchered one....and don't plan to either.
Last edited by rural chick; 01-22-2013 at 01:06 PM..
My grandfather taught me how to dress/clean dove and quail in Az. When I was 10 I started hunting and he said not to kill any game unless I was going to take care of it and learn how to clean the animal. He also taught me how to cook what I killed.
Since then: I learned how to take care of game such as; dove, quail, deer, javelina, elk, antelope, chicken, turkey, duck, rabbit, goose, bear, pheasant, and all kinds of fish(saltwater and fresh).
I also, during my time with Safeway, learned how to "properly" butcher meat. The correct cuts etc.
This last year I dressed over 12 elk as I work with a local guide during hunting season.
on wild game such as deer, moose, elk, bear, caribou, a good butcher will make all the steaks boneless, the bone and fat is where most of the "gamey" flavor comes from, if you take a critter to a butcher and he uses a bandsaw to cut wild game,,,,don't wonder why it tastes particularly gamey-
a wise butcher will bone the steaks out for all bnls cuts, except for roasts
the animals are often very lean, and with the trimmings (burger stock) I like to mix mine with 20-30% fatty beef trimmings, or use fatty ground pork, such as pork butts...I dont like mixing suet into the trimmings
lean and tender don't go hand in hand, so the forequarter steaks (called chuck on a beef critter) and the hindquarters (called round on a beef critter) can be tough, usually slice these muscles, or steaks thin...
the backstraps along the backbone are the more tender steaks, rib, sirloin, cuts and of course the tenderloin (filet mignon) is on the inside of the shortloin
the roasts are great for crock pots,,,especially the neck roasts
the offals,,or heart, liver, kidneys, you can brine these and cook slow, with kidneys, change the water a couple times,,,while simmering
if/when you do dress one of these wild game- take care not to puncture the ****-bag,,,,,and pop the shhit intestines, and use the back of an axe, or rock to pound a knife down thru the pelvic bone,,,so all the anal stuff come out in tact..
You have to kill them young unless you want chicken and dumplings. Fryers or roasters have to be young or they are so tough you can't eat them.
yep, I really did know that, but Mr Rooster was so tough, (we were doing chick and dumplings) he still couldn't have been cooked tender. I think if I had cooked him for 2 years he would have been awful. Anyway, I decided, I might love to ccok and do a fair job but I am not a farmers wife....
I've never done any of this, not even cut up a raw chicken. I don't remember seeing my mom do it either. My dad was not a hunter at all. He and my granddad would occasionally go fishing, but getting the fish ready to cook was their job. My mom and grandmother wouldn't do it. My husband is not a fisherman and not really a hunter. He's gone hunting a few times, but on someones ranch that had ranch hands that came a took the dead animals away in a pickup and did all the dirty work. They had it waiting, already cut up and labeled, wrapped in butcher paper, inside plastic bags in ice chests for him when he was ready to leave.
Stepford wife here. I've helped my husband with deer, if that counts. And growing up we always butchered our own chickens but I haven't done that since a headless chicken chased me around the yard.
Must have been related to Mike the Headless Chicken.
LOL. I envisioned a dog sitting at the table with a suit and tie, all proper like.
People from the city, like me, might not see the need for such skills. I suppose if I lived in or was abandoned in the mountains somewhere, those skills might come in handy. And I love venison, but I would have a hard time hunting. Let someone else do it. I can cut up and prep chicken and turkey though, all day long, from the meat aisle at the store.
As a kid, I had trouble adjusting to the thought that meat actually came from animals. I always told myself that meat came from a meat factory, just like canned foods or other packaged food. If I hadn't told myself this I probably would have become a vegetarian. It's still not an idea I'm really comfortable with. I have never seen anything I've eaten in its living state. I'm a 50 something city kid. Meat comes from the supermarket, on a sytrofoam plate, covered in plastic wrap, and I am totally okay with that.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
