Deer hunters have an unusual problem this year. When they shoot a deer there is no processor to take it to for hanging, cutting and packaging. I know of two local long-term processors that are closed this year. I heard they just could not get help since the government is paying folks so much to stay home and not work.

The processors, often called “deer coolers,” that are open are full and not taking deer the last I heard. Even Welch’s Smokehouse in Macon that takes in 20 pound of boneless meat and returns 25 pounds of delicious smoked summer sausage had a sign on the door last week saying no more deer until after Thanksgiving.

I cut up and processed one deer, only the third one I killed, way back in 1972. Linda and I had just gotten married the year before and she helped me. We covered my parents pool table with heavy plastic and “processed” the deer on it.

It was a hard job, especially since I did not know what I was doing. The cuts of meat did not resemble what processors provide, they were more just chunks of meat.  And the ground meat, put through a hand grinder my parents had, without adding any fat, was not nearly as good as what the processors produce.

I think a big problem was the deer did not hang and age at all, we cut it up the day I shot it. And it was an old buck, tough and with almost no fat.

I have cut up deer since then. If I can shoot a small yearling, either on purpose or accidently, like one I shot in thick brush and I could not really tell how big it was, I skin and gut them and put them in a huge ice chest. 

After three or four days I cut the deer into quarters, with hind and rear quarters left whole for roasts. And I cut the backbone into two or three sections for loin roast. They are delicious smoked or cooked in a big crockpot. I even cut up sections of ribs for smoking.

Linda says she will never help me cut up a deer again, she does not want to eat the meat after doing that although she loves it from the processor. I really do not want to process bigger deer and hope local coolers are able to open again soon!