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redblood

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I dont use processors, i do my own. However, im reading lots of threads about a hunter not receiving the same deer they harvested? Is this really a common practice? If so how is anyone ok with that? When i kill a doe for meat, she is selected based in size, age, and healthiness. She is also killed when the weather conditions are right for handling- cold! I get the entrails out quickly, washout thoroughly and get her hung up and packed in ice. Id be be pissed to harvest a prime 120 pound fat 3.5 yr old doe on a cold morning and recieve back a gut shot rutted out 4.5 yr old buck that been ridden around in a a bed of truck for 6 hrs of a 55 degree day before being taken in.

I even question the legality of such a practice
 
I can't speak for all processors but the 2 I use around here I fully trust I get my own deer back. I always kind of know what average meat I expect to get back depending on the size I take.

I think one of the big things that happen is for someone to take a 90# doe in and expect to see 90# of meat back. I've seen and heard that numerous times from people who are clueless.

If I suspected I didn't get my own deer back I would make it easy and not go back to that processor.

Off topic from the original question but I see so many people take a deer to a processor and not even field dress it. How someone is so lazy and don't mind paying $30 to have field dressed blows my mind. I see a lot of that.
 
rem270 said:
I can't speak for all processors but the 2 I use around here I fully trust I get my own deer back. I always kind of know what average meat I expect to get back depending on the size I take.

I think one of the big things that happen is for someone to take a 90# doe in and expect to see 90# of meat back. I've seen and heard that numerous times from people who are clueless.

If I suspected I didn't get my own deer back I would make it easy and not go back to that processor.

Off topic from the original question but I see so many people take a deer to a processor and not even field dress it. How someone is so lazy and don't mind paying $30 to have field dressed blows my mind. I see a lot of that.
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I see that some but I can't say I see it a lot.
 
I know I've gone into the back room with processor to getmy meat and there were stacks of Italian sausage and brats. I had 2 Italian sausages and he grabbed 2 from the pile to give me. I know for a fact this wasnt my deer. I don't think he is taking the time to make individual brats for each customer from their individual deer. Also looked into their the cooler and deer were laying in the floor from being dropped late at night. Didn't want my burger from this. And yes, I do my own now.
 
redblood said:
I dont use processors, i do my own. However, im reading lots of threads about a hunter not receiving the same deer they harvested? Is this really a common practice? If so how is anyone ok with that? When i kill a doe for meat, she is selected based in size, age, and healthiness. She is also killed when the weather conditions are right for handling- cold! I get the entrails out quickly, washout thoroughly and get her hung up and packed in ice. Id be be pissed to harvest a prime 120 pound fat 3.5 yr old doe on a cold morning and recieve back a gut shot rutted out 4.5 yr old buck that been ridden around in a a bed of truck for 6 hrs of a 55 degree day before being taken in.

I even question the legality of such a practice
Click to expand...
Innocent till proven guilty?
 
Laserman1 said:
I know I've gone into the back room with processor to getmy meat and there were stacks of Italian sausage and brats. I had 2 Italian sausages and he grabbed 2 from the pile to give me. I know for a fact this wasnt my deer. I don't think he is taking the time to make individual brats for each customer from their individual deer. Also looked into their the cooler and deer were laying in the floor from being dropped late at night. Didn't want my burger from this. And yes, I do my own now.
Click to expand...

I make my own sausage but last time I used a processor I found what looked like parsley in my ground. I know my deer was cleanly killed and field dressed so in order to find half digested green gut matter in my meat means I wasn't given my deer, or at least not only my deer. I'll never use a processor again.
 
There used to be a couple of processors in S.W. Tn that did swap out deer meat. They had some type of idea how much meat you would get based off how much your deer weighed. I don't know if they still do it because I didn't go back.
 
Laserman1 said:
I know I've gone into the back room with processor to getmy meat and there were stacks of Italian sausage and brats. I had 2 Italian sausages and he grabbed 2 from the pile to give me. I know for a fact this wasnt my deer. I don't think he is taking the time to make individual brats for each customer from their individual deer. Also looked into their the cooler and deer were laying in the floor from being dropped late at night. Didn't want my burger from this. And yes, I do my own now.
Click to expand...
I do my own but have taken many to process for others. Like mentioned above I have seen all the process sausages, bologna, sticks and yes the ground also get put into a pool. Some will weigh how much goes in so you get the same plus additives weight back but they use a large grinder that is cleaned out at the end of the day because grinder will hold 2,3 even 4 pounds of meat after each grinding. As far as I know they only clean up and out at the end of the day or at a change of the species. If you don't expect your meat to be to some degree mixed or even pooled with others you are being naive about the process. I have stood in a processor's cold room and watched, Just the way it is.
You want "your deer" take it home and process it yourself.
 
It does happen. I think it's more common for the larger processors that make lots of sausage, bologna, and meat stick products. They prefer to do those in large batches and save up enough ground meat from several customers before starting a batch. But I don't use those places. I usually trim and wrap my own backstraps and tenderloins, and have the rest made into summer sausage or meat sticks by a friend of mine. Although slower and probably more expensive, he still does individual orders and my deer is my deer from start to finish.

He loves gutting deer for people by the way. He says it's the easiest money in deer processing.
 
Many years ago I dropped a nice archery doe off at a processor in Union County (they are no longer in business), while at the same time some guys dropped off some coolers full of quartered deer from South Carolina that were taken with rifles. Upon receiving "my" deer and eating some of the backstraps, I found several pieces of copper jacket. Now I understand that this could have been from a poor shot the previous season, but there was no sign of that when I handled the animal. I believe I got a mixture of the rifle killed deer with my own archery deer. That was the last deer I dropped at a processor until trying Tyler Johnson. I still mainly process my own, but there are times I can't and Tyler's work is absolutely top notch.
 
I've heard of processors doing their grinding in large batches, and dividing it up according to poundage per customer. I can't blame them in some ways, as it would kill them time-wise to do so for every deer.

While I'm sure they'd throw out anything that looked suspicious, I really don't want a deer unless I know how it was handled and what kind of shape it was in before being dropped off. That means I want my deer only.

I guess the only way to know is to ask the processor beforehand.
 
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rem270 said:
I can't speak for all processors but the 2 I use around here I fully trust I get my own deer back. I always kind of know what average meat I expect to get back depending on the size I take.

I think one of the big things that happen is for someone to take a 90# doe in and expect to see 90# of meat back. I've seen and heard that numerous times from people who are clueless.

If I suspected I didn't get my own deer back I would make it easy and not go back to that processor.

Off topic from the original question but I see so many people take a deer to a processor and not even field dress it. How someone is so lazy and don't mind paying $30 to have field dressed blows my mind. I see a lot of that.
Click to expand...
Develop an allergy to deer blood and it's well worth $30, whatever allergy i have is absolutely awful, and it just developed 10 yrs ago or so. That said, I still process my own, but I dont field dress and I debone while hanging. I have to wear shoulder length gloves, and usually take 2 zyrtec and wait 45 minutes before I start. After it has set on ice until cold it doesn't bother me any more.
 
redblood said:
I dont use processors, i do my own. However, im reading lots of threads about a hunter not receiving the same deer they harvested? Is this really a common practice? If so how is anyone ok with that? When i kill a doe for meat, she is selected based in size, age, and healthiness. She is also killed when the weather conditions are right for handling- cold! I get the entrails out quickly, washout thoroughly and get her hung up and packed in ice. Id be be pissed to harvest a prime 120 pound fat 3.5 yr old doe on a cold morning and recieve back a gut shot rutted out 4.5 yr old buck that been ridden around in a a bed of truck for 6 hrs of a 55 degree day before being taken in.

I even question the legality of such a practice
Click to expand...
I think it all boils down to circumstance but mainly convenience. You made lots of valid reasons to do your own and you should keep at it. I wont let anybody else process my deer mainly because I am particular but I sure won't put anyone else down over it.
 
Rockhound said:
Develop an allergy to deer blood and it's well worth $30, whatever allergy i have is absolutely awful, and it just developed 10 yrs ago or so. That said, I still process my own, but I dont field dress and I debone while hanging. I have to wear shoulder length gloves, and usually take 2 zyrtec and wait 45 minutes before I start. After it has set on ice until cold it doesn't bother me any more.
Click to expand...
The hair on deer, cats, and horses causes me to sneeze, hard to breath and eyes water. Some antihistamines help but not that much. I feel your pain. Once hides off I'm fine but that hair causes me trouble . Field dressing and butchering are no prob for me .
 
I used to help process deer at Crawfords in Union Co. ~35 years ago when I was in school. They did it right, each person's deer was individually processed and that's what you got back (even the grind/sausage). I have processed my own for decades. I would have a hard time trusting any of the "big" processors these days based on some stories I've heard from friends.
 
BigAl said:
Most processors I am familiar with, you get your own meat back on roast, steaks, and loins. But when it comes to ground, its placed in a big hopper and ground up with others.
Click to expand...
that's been my experience as well.

a processor isn't going to take the time to separate all the ground.
 

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