>>806441I forgot to mention, when you skin and prepare for aging leave as much possible fat on the carcass as it will help keep the meat from drying out. This will get trimmed off later.
When I was a noob I would take my animal in to get butchered. But I started doing it myself and I've never looked back. It's easy (and I think fun) and it saves you a pile of money. I've heard sketchy things about some butcher shops and I like to know I'm getting my own meat and that it's been cleanly and properly handled. Here's the equipment I consider essential if you want to process your own meat.
-Good quality boning or filet knife
-Good quality chef's knife
-Meat grinder/sausage stuffer
-Vacuum sealer
You can go without the vacuum sealer and just wrap the meat with butcher's paper, but it lasts way longer in the freezer if you seal it. It's pretty simple to do this in your own kitchen counter. But if you have the space, setting up a table in the garage makes it a bit easier. Get some friends to help out if you can, it can be a lot of work especially with bigger animals like elk and moose. If the weather is cool enough to let the meat continue to hang round 3-4 C you can spread the processing out over a couple days.
Throughout this thread I'm going to call meat of all deer species venison. This includes pronghorn, deer, elk, and moose. Of course each type of animal and meat has it's own unique nuances, flavors, and textures, but in general these concepts should be universal.
Venison fat and bones does not taste very good. It can be the cause for what some people describe as "gamey" flavor. For this reason all possible fat get's trimmed off when deboning. I keep a bin of fat, connective tissues, tendons and ligaments, and trimmed scraps for doggo food. He loves that shit! Since the bones do not taste good I avoid chops and similar cuts requiring the bone to be cut.
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