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Sunday, October 24, 2010

getting started with the sausage process

Here we go with our sausage making post. You can tell I have harvested the doe in the picture, it took all day but that is why I hunt, I got to  read a good book, took a nap in the sun shine outside, ate all my food before 8 am and watched the world wake up, now there is my sun rise service and I enjoy it often I tell ya. I am not going to post the skinning and taking apart pics because some may not like that, let me know though and I have no problem posting on how to butcher either. So I got this nice little doe at about 45 yds. with a blackpowder rifle in Maryland. Head shot with a .490 round ball and .20 patch, 70 grains of FFF not a massive load but real accurate in my gun. She dropped instantly and had no Ideal what just happened. The four that were with her another  big doe and three little ones stayed right there and continued to eat, running off only when I went to pick her up.
I like to hang em from the head, my dad from the hind legs, but the key is getting them cooled off quickly. My son who worked in a deer processing shop showed me the quick way to take care of em and I use his method everytime with little mess.
When it comes time to gut the animal I hang it by the neck and starting at the top make an incision just through the skin at the brisket and work the knife down to the anus. I do not cut the gut sack yet and it stays in place. Now I make a small incision and with two fingers just under the sack I slip my knife in and open up the stomach cavity never touching the stomach or intestine as this will taint the meat big time. I have a tub under the deer and the internals just fall into the bucket. Taking a saw I split the brisket and cut loose the lungs and heart dropping everything in the bucket. I then tie off the intestine keeping the deer poop inside and remove everything that is left. Open up the body cavity and rinse it out real good taking a towel to wipe it dry when you are done, as water will ruin good meat fast. Allow the meat to hang and cool in the evening air, but hang em high as critters are looking for an easy meal. I like to drop off my gut pile and hides in an cut field away from where I hunt, but where the foxes and buzzards can find em quick. Believe me when I tell you bald Eagles love a deer carcass and make beautiful pictures, and foxes make good targets!!!
Okay lets get the hide off of the deer. Once again I have the deer doing the Saddam and using a very sharp small knife I cut around all four legs just under the knuckle, and split the legs up to where I cut the brisket. now I cut all the way around the neck and down the throat area to the brisket, staying just under the skin not cutting the meat. Working my small knife I get the hide working down and pull it off, usually it will come with very little knife work down to the hams. Using the same small knife I split the hide on the hams and pull it the rest of the way off. Now my deer is naked, cold, and bare. The hams are attached by a joint and socket so using my butcher knife I cut the hams and use my small knife to take the hams off laying them on the clean hide. The front shoulders are not attached with a socket just tendons and ligaments, follow the meat and they come off in one piece also also going onto the clean hide. Using a very sharp small knife I remove the outside tenderloins (back straps) and the inside loins or the true tenderloin. Next I separate the body from the neck and then the head from the neck saving a killer neck roast. I place all this in pans or hang in the cooler box till I am ready to process into sausages. Next we will butcher the meat!

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