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cjl2010

Tips for boning out meat

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And remember if you take a elk to a processor full of bone you pay them hanging weight (.90-1$ a pound) for bone they are chucking out as they chuckle to themselves. One more reason to DIY. That walk in will pay for itself in no time if your family kills a lot.

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To me, separating the big muscle groups is more about finding the places where they come together - more pulling apart than cutting, then use a fillet knife to get rid of the separating tissue. You can literally take apart a hind quarter with your fingers and little knife work. If you are cutting meat, you're probably wasting meat, IMO. Top round, bottom round, and that little "eye of round" all come apart by separating with your hands. Only the stiff outer layer from drying usually has to be cut.

 

I've seen guys sawing away at the pelvis. It all comes apart easily with little to no cutting.

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Any tips for boning out elk meat? We always quarter both elk and deer but Ive never boned out anything. Do you just hack the meat off and try to figure out the puzzle later? Does each quarter get its own game bag to keep the meat organized? Do you pop the quarters off and the bone them on the ground or do you bone it while its still connected to the animal? Whats your method? Any tips are appreciated.

This one is from Randy Newberg he is an avid elk hunter. I fold the hide over and out flat, and de-bone it right there on the hide, its fairly clean, then place the meat into separate bags. Each quarter gets its own bag. You can also bone it out without taking the quarters off. First trip out is my gear, head, and loins. I am normally way to far in to carry out hide or bone. Good luck on your hunt.

 

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Before I got my first elk i bought the outdoor edge video set on how to quarter and debone an animal in the field. It also came with a basic butchering video and game processing video. I've watched them several times. You are welcome to borrow them. Pm me your address if you want. He uses a small cow elk in his video.

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I use my thumbs just as much as a knife to separate the muscle groups, the silver skin shows you where to cut/separate. Front qtrs are grind, hind qtrs for roasts and steaks and stew meat. Cut your steaks at 90 degrees to the grain. A flexible blade & stiff blade boning knife and a 10 inch butcher knife are all you need to do your own processing. And a $100 countertop grinder works fine until you've a couple elk to do, then it takes a while.

 

I used to have the butcher at Albertson's save beef suet for me for the grind, I don't bother to anymore, just grind it up and if you want to make a meatloaf just add a couple eggs to keep it together.

 

For sausage 2/3's game with 1/3 fatty pork butt is my mix and the recipes are from Bruce Aidell's Complete Sausage Book. If you are going to stuff links, brats and the like, don't skimp on the fat or they come out dry, links are the only time I use all the fat recommended in the recipe.

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I just seperate the muscles and get to the bone and use tip of the knife and peel around the bone till free and leave it all attached and put into a game bag. usually the inside of the leg is easiest/closest to the bone.

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Shoulders i use for grind so don't pay to much to a good debone. Hinds if you want roast or steaks find the knee cap and then work along the bone up and down. Stay on the bone the entire time just cut around the bone and pack out. When back at camp or home you can easily separate by muscle group

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Yesterday I found it very effective to quarter the elk and, with rope, hang the quarter that you are going to debone off a tree branch at whatever level is most convenient for you to cut on it at. If it's got the hide on it, start at the highest point and skin down, letting the hide and hair hang down against itself. And that keeps most, if not all, of the hair off the meat. Hanging it also made it easier to debone because you could spin it to wherever you needed to make a cut. Having another person there to hold it steady where you wanted helped greatly also. As soon as a chunk of meat was almost off, someone was waiting with an open pillow case. Made the process flow quickly and smoothly. And sure drops the lbs on the pack out!

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Deboning is the way to go! Thanks guys for the tips. I forgot to get a piece of tyvek for my hunt so we layed out a big game bag and 2 of us cut quarters off while 2 others deboned and bagged the meat. My coworker is a butcher so we weighed another guys bones and it was 30lbs of bone you save on a mature bull

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