Too long in conditions you aren't aware of. I'd guess your deer is gone but if not I would be nervous eating it not knowing how it's been kept. Unacceptable either way.
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Deer at processor for 5+ weeks
- Thread starter dammitbobby
- Start date
Dropped one off last year here in west tn . It took a month to get it back from the processor . But they did a very good job !
kaizen leader
Well-Known Member
Go get the rack or head and tell them to keep it. To risky. I would take a chance the meat was kept properly. No way would I eat it. Sorry about that. When you get it back tell us which processor it is.
BigCityBubba
Well-Known Member
You will know if its bad the minute you thaw it out. More than likely if the processor let it go bad, they will give you a bunch of meat that isn't yours to replace it and won't tell you.
Mud Creek
Well-Known Member
You might get some meat but won't be yours. I'd go by and get the rack if you left it and walk away.
I used the same processor since '94. I would cut up 5 or so a year myself, but let them grind 1 or 2 for burger and sausage. However, as they have gotten busier and busier, the wait time became longer and the general condition of the place more disgusting. Last year I dropped off a deer and took 5 weeks to get it back. They said they had the wrong number and it had been in the deep freezed for a few weeks. I know I didn't get my deer back because I cut out the tenderloins myself, and it came back with 2 packages of tenderloins. The disgusting conditions of the place led me to the decision to grind my own from now on. I bought a chambe vac, grinder, stainless steel table, and the quality of all the meat I put up is now many times better than before. I am having a new outdoor garage built, they are just finishing up, and there is a 6x8 coolbot cold storage closet, so no more rushing to get one skinned in the heat.
agelessssone
Well-Known Member
I take mine to Flower's farms and they are calling me within 2 days to come get my deer!!
Carlos
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My 6.5 CM processes deer for me, saves a ton of time and money.
Squirle hunter
Well-Known Member
Name of processor please so I don't use them.
With that money saved you can buy more product for your manbun and more Whiteclaws.
Update?
DeerCamp
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With commercial equipment and 2 people you can process an entire deer including specialty cuts in less than 30 minutes.
A month is RIDICULOUS.
dammitbobby
Active Member
*Original poster*
I wanted to give y'all an update. I appreciate everyone that decided to comment. This forum really is a good community and I'm glad I found some people to sympathize with about my less than satisfactory experience. I omitted the processors name in my original post because I wanted to see how they attempted to resolve the issue before putting them on blast on a public forum.
The processor is Tri Star Meat Co. in College Grove. They reopened the old C & F meats building last year off Hwy 96 in Williamson Co.
After reading y'all's comments yesterday I became more and more perturbed so I contacted them again. They claimed "they called and left voicemails" twice on Friday 11/10 and that my deer was actually ready then. This is 100% incorrect, as I certainly never once received a call from them. It's easy to verify your call history on an iPhone, so they may have called someone but it was not me. The bad thing is, I left my phone number on my deers tag for them, I left it on their VM, sent them FB messages that included my number, and also sent them text messages from my phone. There is no doubt they had the correct number.
I arrived at the processor and met with the what I assume was the owner. They were very nice and apologetic and shared that they were short staffed and working 13 hour days to get caught up. They've been so busy that they recently had to hire more people and were finally getting up to speed. They mentioned they had processed about 30 deer so far this season but had about another 50 in the cooler. They also harvest and process local cattle which is probably their main area of focus throughout the year.
I have yet to thaw any of the meat for the final test which will really be the deciding factor. What scares me is that if they are forgetting stuff like my phone # and promise dates, then what sort of cleaning and sanitization are they also forgetting about on the butchering side. I do consider myself a patient person and understand that things happen, and that's why I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's a new local business providing a service that is convenient to where I live, so I certainly do not intend to drag their name through the mud without cause. Rather, I am just a normal customer sharing a real experience since I'm sure some of the 50 other deer in that cooler belong to other members of this site. Starting off a deer season grossly understaffed is a foreseeable cause for concern as deer processor. The proper way to conduct business in that situation would have been to set and communicate realistic expectations which unfortunately was not done.
To address other some of the other comments:
I wanted to give y'all an update. I appreciate everyone that decided to comment. This forum really is a good community and I'm glad I found some people to sympathize with about my less than satisfactory experience. I omitted the processors name in my original post because I wanted to see how they attempted to resolve the issue before putting them on blast on a public forum.
The processor is Tri Star Meat Co. in College Grove. They reopened the old C & F meats building last year off Hwy 96 in Williamson Co.
After reading y'all's comments yesterday I became more and more perturbed so I contacted them again. They claimed "they called and left voicemails" twice on Friday 11/10 and that my deer was actually ready then. This is 100% incorrect, as I certainly never once received a call from them. It's easy to verify your call history on an iPhone, so they may have called someone but it was not me. The bad thing is, I left my phone number on my deers tag for them, I left it on their VM, sent them FB messages that included my number, and also sent them text messages from my phone. There is no doubt they had the correct number.
I arrived at the processor and met with the what I assume was the owner. They were very nice and apologetic and shared that they were short staffed and working 13 hour days to get caught up. They've been so busy that they recently had to hire more people and were finally getting up to speed. They mentioned they had processed about 30 deer so far this season but had about another 50 in the cooler. They also harvest and process local cattle which is probably their main area of focus throughout the year.
I have yet to thaw any of the meat for the final test which will really be the deciding factor. What scares me is that if they are forgetting stuff like my phone # and promise dates, then what sort of cleaning and sanitization are they also forgetting about on the butchering side. I do consider myself a patient person and understand that things happen, and that's why I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. It's a new local business providing a service that is convenient to where I live, so I certainly do not intend to drag their name through the mud without cause. Rather, I am just a normal customer sharing a real experience since I'm sure some of the 50 other deer in that cooler belong to other members of this site. Starting off a deer season grossly understaffed is a foreseeable cause for concern as deer processor. The proper way to conduct business in that situation would have been to set and communicate realistic expectations which unfortunately was not done.
To address other some of the other comments:
- I would 100% process my own deer if I could but it's not really feasible right now. I don't have the proper equipment and have an 8 week old son that occupies all my free time. I was lucky get a few hours to even hunt this buck!
- I did get the antlers back.
- Receiving someone else's meat: I'm conflicted on this. On one hand, if it's not my meat then maybe it didn't sit in the cooler for a month and is fresher. On the other hand, I made an ethical, clean shot on this buck, watched it die about 20 yards away, had it gutted, to the truck and in the cooler all within 2.5 hours of that deer hitting the ground. I handled everything as responsibly as possible so I know my meat would've been good if handled properly.
I know exactly the building. I used to take deer to C&F. Place kinda smelled but he had a refrigerated trailer out back where you could drop off deer after hours if you joined the "deer club".
agelessssone
Well-Known Member
I dropped two deer off at Flower's Farms this morning. They said they'd be ready Friday.
BTW, they raised the price to $95.00 per deer this year.....
BTW, they raised the price to $95.00 per deer this year.....
dammitbobby
Active Member
It definitely still smells. I know all meat plants will have an odor but it was like knock you down as soon as you open the door. Not quite a rotten/rancid smell but not like fresh blood or meat either. They do still have the refrigerator trailer for after hours which was nice
dammitbobby
Active Member
Flowers is great. I'll probably be making the drive to them next time. I shot one opening day of archery last year which was a Saturday. Had it in the freezer that following Tuesday and they had a huge line of trucks dropping off when I was there.
