Any advice on cleaning and cutting up animals you hunt, catch, or raised?
Posted by Cool_Kid_Chris@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 41 comments
I’ve watched YouTube video on slaughtering chickens and cleaning fish. I just can’t bring myself to watch videos of cutting up mammals like pigs or deer.
Lopsided-Total-5560@reddit
We butcher our own animals, except the steers, because I like my beef to hang for a couple of weeks and I don’t have a walk in cooler. For everything else, I don’t see any difference in the quality of meat. Read books, watch videos, and help someone else and you’ll see it’s not too complicated. When we do hogs and sheep, I have a large tub I fill with ice water to quick chill the carcass so I don’t feel the need to rush the process. Invest in a good meat grinder and vacuum sealer and you’re set for the basics. You can always buy sausage stuffers and other accessories as you progress. Good luck.
Misfitranchgoats@reddit
not sure why you are getting down voted you got my upvote. We butcher steers, pigs, chickens, sometimes a lamb, and rabbits at home. it is getting harder to find that window of weather to hang a steer to age the meat in our area so we are going to build our own walk in cooler with something like a cool bot to keep it at the correct temp.
Lopsided-Total-5560@reddit
Thanks and same to you. Wish I had the space and resources to build a walk in cooler myself. I’m in the same boat because even during the winter we may have a week of daytime temps in the 30’s followed by 50’s and then back down. Makes it hard to cure hams too.
DaveyAllenCountry@reddit
Sometimes, survival becomes the most important thing. While right now we have the luxury of avoiding it, if it comes to a point of live or die, we won't have that option. I would say do whatever you can to get over that squirmishness, or realistically just subdue it enough to watch the videos.
I CAN suggest watch videos of the harvesting process on a carcass rather than from a live animal. You don't necessarily need to be shown how to kill an animal, so avoid that part all together.
TheRealBobbyJones@reddit
But why? It isn't necessary. If there is a scenario where no prepackaged meat is available then hunting is pointless. If you are a farmer or wish to be then just don't kill the animals you raise. If you are poor then go to a pantry or buy cheap meats. There is likely no scenario where you must do this. It doesn't even make financial sense in terms of hunting unless you enjoy hunting as a recreational activity. Otherwise your time would be better spent increasing your wage or on recreational activity you actually enjoy.
elitodd@reddit
Go hunt and practice the skills on the animals that you hunt. Start with small game like squirrels or rabbits, and find experienced hunters for learning to hunt bigger animals.
If you don’t have hunting skills now it’s not like you are going to magically gain them if shtf.
stream_inspector@reddit
There's a trick to squirrels. Never done a rabbit. Best to have someone show you the tricks.
Main deal with deer is don't contaminate the body cavity by puncturing intestines. The meat is also way better if you strip the silver skin off the muscles.
that-1-chick-u-know@reddit
Rabbits are really similar to squirrels. Either way, dont hit the guts. Stinks to HIGH heaven.
OP, I'm the opposite of you. Once it's dead, I have no problem butchering. But I can't pull the trigger.
Destroythisapp@reddit
Just remember animals are little pieces of shit if you want to moralize them. They kill each other, rape each other, steal from one another. Hunting and killing one makes no difference in the grand scheme of things as long as you are taking the animal to use it and waste life.
Many-Health-1673@reddit
Mother Nature is one cruel mistress. It isn't a Disney movie out there and anyone who hasn't seen it up close in action is in for a huge shock when they find out.
Agitated-Score365@reddit
I worked for a butcher processing deer. Can’t handle chickens being processed.
ResponsibleBank1387@reddit
Well then, never ever skin a bear
DistinctJob7494@reddit
I personally don't like the feeling of touching the innards or the awful smells at times, so a mask and good gloves definitely help. I'm not very squeamish otherwise.
I definitely don't like to do the killing of a chicken directly, but I don't mind shooting a deer or turkey from a distance.
I always thank the animal, and I know the animals I'm taking are older and have already passed their genetics. The act of shooting an animal rather than a predator killing it is actually less distressfull and oftentimes, they don't even realize they've been hit.
Get a good butchering kit from a hunting store like BassPro. Bleeding an animal before butchering is also a good way to keep the mess down.
A good long apron and clothes you'll only be using when butchering is also a good idea. A clear visor or safety glasses will prevent splashing into your eyes.
barascr@reddit
Thanks to the modern world, technology and industrialization, we gotten away from a lot of things we had to do to survive. We got farmers that grow and raise the produce we consume and people that processes it for us. For eons we had to grow, raise, hunt and kill our food, it's just a matter of getting used to doing that. It does suck at the beginning of you didn't grow in that life, but when necessity comes, you will get through it in order to survive. So sadly the only way to do this is going through with it.
FineHoneydew8254@reddit
Be cautious of predators n humans
possibly_lost45@reddit
Next season take a deer and take it to a butcher and ask if you can watch
Fit_Treacle172@reddit
You could try a step by step guide?
It's hard to explain without being a little insensitive.
Remember to thank whatever it is before you start cleaning it, sometimes it helps
tfrauenfelder@reddit
For me, it makes it easier if you try to waste as little as possible. If I waste something, I feel guilty in some ways.. my mother's side of the family has a lot of native American roots, so I've learned to respect what I harvest by doing them right, wasting as little as possible and sharing.
You will feel guilty a bit your first few times, but as long as you carry yourself with respect to the animal and nature, it will subside if that makes sense. This may not work for all people though so to each their own.
recyclingloom@reddit
If you know a person that has the skill to properly cut the protein that you want to store then see if he/she will cut up the protein for cash or something else in trade.
Pluribus7158@reddit
I hunt. Take a step back and stop thinking of it as an animal - it's food, plain and simple. All food needs some form of preparation: apples need to be plucked from the tree, onions need to be washed after being dug out of the ground. This particular food just needs to have its innards removed (and processed if they're being kept), skinned if necessary and butchered.
It's an animal all the time you're raising it, feeding it and looking after it, but as soon as it's time for slaughter it's just a hunk of meat to me.
PrisonerV@reddit
Does raise a good point. A lotta people would die in a true collapse just because they can't overcome aversions.
Try shitting in the woods sometime. It's not as easy as it seems. Some people on those survivor type shows couldn't go the entire time they were there because psychology wouldn't allow it.
Same goes for gutting a fish or rabbit or drinking boiled pond water.
Oralprecision@reddit
The animals dead - it feels nothing as far as we know… are you gonna waste its sacrifice by not harvesting/eating/using it?
Seems sad to me…
I hunt and fish for food - I take no pleasure in ending a life, but once it’s over it’s our responsibility to use every part we can.
XRlagniappe@reddit
I think part of it is how you were raised. I lived in the country and killing animals was part of our lifestyle. Hunting, fishing, and trapping were activities we did often and you don't think of those animals the same way you think of pets. It was part of the land that helped put food on the table and money to live on.
suzaii@reddit
Fish and forage for food. I personally would never be able to hunt anything other than chicken of the woods. Lol
Led_Zeppole_73@reddit
No big deal, some people just aren’t cut out for it.
Shoddy-Ingenuity7056@reddit
I see what you did there… cut out for it.
ants_taste_great@reddit
If it's really about not being comfortable cleaning a large mammal... if you share your meat with others, it helps remove some of the internal feelings of guilt because you are helping a greater cause than yourself. But yeah, as previous posters have said, seek out someone that has done it and have them help you.
tmwildwood-3617@reddit
It's not for everyone and many won't know that until they are facing their first time. That's ok.
I've seen people who were all ready to do the deed shrink from it when the time came...and others who were really iffy about it get right into it without a pause.
My advice...have someone there who's comfortable with butchering take you through it.
Just watch if that's all that you can do. Whether it's field dressing, quartering, deboning, etc.
Aside from a fish, I can't say that starting with any one animal is easier than another. For your first time, don't sweat getting every single gram of meat from it.
Processing a fresh kill is a pretty base sort of thing.
For sure though, hunting/raising and processing your own food great increases your appreciation and valuation of it. Food security and self sufficiency is also a base hardwired instinct.
JRHLowdown3@reddit
Start with small animals like rabbits. I used a butchering guide 33 years ago when I butchered my first rabbit, still has blood on some of the pages LOL.
Most (not all) land animals are similar to a rabbit albeit on a larger scale.
Dispatch, cut head off, hang upside down, take off fur, carefully make an incision to gut region (carefully), open up skin, remove guts. Usually after this I put the rabbit on a table, cut into sections rinsing off each section and putting it into a cooler with ice water. Wife takes it from there back inside the house doing a final wash and trim and wrapping them for the freezer in dinner for all of us size wraps. I've done hundreds of rabbits yearly.
When I did a deer by myself for the first time, I followed the same procedure with little deviation. Later same with goats.
Fish and chicken are slightly different. Have not done a pig or cow.
Get some feed store rabbits, raise them up for a while and practice. It's a good skill to know.
Novel-Turnip9965@reddit
I used to process poultry for a living in an industrial setting and I do my own at home however there are big differences between the two I also hunt and my kids hunt so I proses dear as well and as kids we would raise meat rabbits and all I can tell you is some people just can't do it and if that is the case for you find someone who can in your group as far back as recorded history goes there have been bakers and butchers because not everyone could do there own
Many-Health-1673@reddit
I do deer culling in the summer months. Forget about field dressing deer, that just increases the risk of meat contamination. Learn how to debone a deer and use a 2 gallon zip lock freezer bag to put the meat in. I have deboned hundreds of whitetails, and versus field dressed, deboning only takes me about 7 - 8 minutes per adult deer. Leave the carcass in the field, and just take the meat - unless you want the brains for tanning hides, the sinews for bow strings, or the hides for gloves.
biobennett@reddit
This isn't legal in all states, check your local laws
Many-Health-1673@reddit
My culling is done by a special crop damage permit through the state wildlife department. Hunting out of season is of course a jailable offense.
biobennett@reddit
I meant multiple parts of it aren't legal in some states, including boning your animal.
Some states require removal of everything but the gut pile.
In WI I can only leave the gut pile and the lower sections of the legs, the rest must be dragged out
The gutless method is awesome where it's legal and I'm all for it, but it's not legal everywhere.
I'm a hunting guide and just am encouraging everyone to learn and follow your states laws
Many-Health-1673@reddit
👍🏻
PrepperBoi@reddit
But the ribs man
Many-Health-1673@reddit
There just isn't much on the ribs. I can't remove the carcass without dragging the deer and damaging the crops, so I take the backstraps, hindquarters, and front shoulder if th4 meat isn't damaged too much from the bullet.
Punk-moth@reddit
Leaving the carcass does give back to nature, but you could also use the entire animal for different things and not waste any of it.
Many-Health-1673@reddit
The problem for me is there is no way to remove the animal without damaging the crops that are planted in the field. That's why the deer stays in the field.
Ryan_e3p@reddit
My best advice, as someone who isn't completely confident in their skills doing that sort of thing, is to find which one of your neighbors can do it best. Have them do it, watch/learn from them, hope you can get a little 'numb' to the anxiety/distress of watching it.
ABC4A_@reddit
I've read through Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat, and Pork: The Comprehensive Photographic Guide to Humane Slaughtering and Butchering and it seems really good. Have yet to use the info yet though.