The only reason I deer hunt is for the venison. I try to kill three or four deer each season for the freezer, and have dozens of favorite ways to cook the meat. One of the most important things about good tasting venison is what you do after shooting the deer and the way it is processed.

I gut any deer I shoot immediately and wash it down carefully. Then I take it to a processor. I like for the deer to hang for a few days before being cut and packaged. Hanging in a cooler makes the meat more tender and flavorful.

For the past several years there was a very good processor, Done Rite, out near my farm. I was very well pleased with the way they handled my deer but they did not open this year. The three deer I shot this year were taken to three different processors with different results.

I shot a 115 pound doe opening day of season. I weigh each deer I kill and then weigh the meat I get back. I carefully gutted and skinned the deer and saved the heart and liver. Yes, I eat both and they are delicious! I also cut out the rib cages to cook.
This deer I took to a processor near my house that shall remain nameless. To be fair about the weight of meat I got back I asked if they cut out the meat from the ribs and they told me there was not enough to mess with.

I got the usual cuts, cube steak, ground meat, butterfly chops and a neck roast and the ground meat was packaged in tubes, something I like. But the rest was in the same kind of trays and wrap that you get from the grocery store. That kind of wrapping allows freezer burn too fast.

From a 115 pound deer I got 28 pounds of meat, only 25 percent of its live weight. And they charge $70 no matter what size the deer.

The second deer I shot was small, only 60 pounds live weight. I took it to Huckabys near Senoia since I had herd they charged by the size of the deer and did a very good job. They did. The meat was vacuumed packed, a very good way to protect it, and the ground meat was in tubes. I got 22 pounds of meat, over 33 percent of the live weight, and it cost me only $35.

Huckabys did not take any deer after Christmas and I shot a 110 pound buck on December 26, so I took it to York in Barnesville. They came highly recommended, too, and they did an excellent job. I got 49 pounds of meat back, almost 50 percent. And it was wrapped in butcher paper with plastic wrap on the outside, a good protection.

They charge $75 no matter what size the deer but they get every bit of the meat. And that included skinning the deer. They also told me they would rather gut it themselves, but most places charge a lot to gut a deer and I would not get the heart or liver.

Next year I will carry any small deer I shoot to Huckabys but, since York is closer to me, I will take bigger deer to them!