Lessons From Butchering Your Own Deer

I'm no expert.  In fact, this was the first time I ever attempted to cut up my own deer.  Normally, I take them to the butcher.  However, there is a certain satisfaction acquired from taking an animal from field to table 100% on your own.

It came out OK.  I was able to get it done.  I did not really consult any books.  I just sort of did what I thought was right based on previous cuts I've received from the butcher, and some general knowledge.  Below I've listed some tips to consider based on my first-time experience.

Tools
The only hand tools I used to butcher the entire deer were 2 hunting knives, a sharpening stone, and a hack saw.  This is assuming that you have an area set up to work.  My work station consisted of a piece of ply wood on 2 saw horses.  I hung the deer from a cross beam in my garage (head facing the earth) using clothes line rope strung through the hind legs.
I got several large bowls to put the meat in once it was cut.  I also used a cutting board.
It would be helpful to have water available to clean.  I had an outside hose that I was able to use to wash the meat.

Below I've listed every thing I used:

• 2 hunting knives
• 1 sharpening stone
• 2 saw horses
• 1 piece of plywood
• 1 cutting board
• 3 bowls
• 1 garbage can
• 1 hose
• 1 rope
• hack saw

There were several tools that I did not have that would have been useful.

Tools I did not use, but would have liked to have had:

• gambrel
• large butcher knife
• bone saw
• sink
• meat grinder

Supplies
Before starting I went and purchased a new saw blade from the hardware store.  I bought some butcher paper from the local grocery store.  I had a difficult time finding freezer tape, so I ended up using normal all-purpose masking tape.  It seemed to work OK, but certainly not as good as freezer tape.  I had to use excessive amounts of the masking tape to ensure it would stay sealed. 

• 1 roll of freezer paper
• masking tape (although I would have preferred actual butcher freezer tape)
• 1 permanent marker for labeling the packages

Steps
These are the steps I took to butcher this deer.  Again, this was my first time, so the purpose of me writing this is not not really give you the step-by-step instructions, but rather to tell you what I did so you can make a better decision on how you want to proceed.

1. Clean the deer - This is done in the field. This article is assuming that you've already completed this crucial first step.
2. Hang the deer -- I used standard rope to hang my deer.  I cut slits in the hind leg tendon just behind the knee, and tied a rope to each leg.  I then threw the rope over a cross beam in my garage, and pulled like hell to hoist the deer.  I tied off the ropes to a camp trailer in my garage.  At that point, I let the deer hang for one full week.  You will see differing views on how long to let a deer hang.  However, if you can do it, I recommend 1 week.  Hanging the deer, even for just a few days, tenderizes the meat, and greatly increases the taste and enjoyment of the meat.  Of course, this is assuming temperatures are low enough to allow hanging.  In Connecticut and most of New England this is generally not an issue during the hunting season.  You want the meat to be at "refrigerator temperature" while it hangs.  Generally you don't have to worry about freezing, especially if the deer is hung inside and the hide is left on.
3. Skin the deer -- This is pretty simple to do, but one of the most physical parts of the process.  I started by cutting a ring around the hind legs, then following a line from the leg down to the body cavity opening.  At that point, I simply started pulling.  The skin peels off.  I would gently run my knife along the connection of the skin to the body as I pulled to loosen the skin as I went down.  I took my time and just slowly worked the hide down from both legs to the neck.  I pulled the hide as close to the head as possible.  At that point, I used my saw to remove the head.  The hide and all came off along with the head. 
4. Bisect the deer -- Using my hack saw, I carefully cut the deer in half length-wise.  I started at the tail bone, and cut down towards the neck.  I was careful to stay in the middle so as not to damage any of the valuable backstrap meat.
5. Now with the deer hanging in two pieces from my garage, I untied a half and slapped it onto my plywood work station.  First I removed the backstraps.  This is the meat strip on the back of the deer along the spine.  I ran my hunting knife along the spine, then underneath and removed the back strap in one long strip.  At that point, I cut the back strap into steaks, putting them in the bowl for later packaging. 
6. With the backstraps removed, I next went about the business of removing the 2 shoulders from the brisket.  I cut the connecting meat, then simply twisted the joint.  The legs came off.
7. I cut the rump in half making a roast including the bone.  The rest of the leg I removed from the bone and cut into steaks.  Any small pieces, I cut into stew sized chunks.  As I got lower on the legs, I got more stew, and less steaks.
8. I repeated this for the front leg, but did not make a roast.  The front leg was only steaks and stew.
9. Any other meat areas were cut off and made into stew meat.
10. I tried to remove as much silver skin and fat from the steaks as possible.  Some of the direction of cuts I made could have been done better to minimize this.  I won't really know how good a job I did until it's time to eat the steaks.
11.  Repeat for the second half of the deer.
12. Wash the meat -- Before packaging I washed all the meat to ensure no hair or bone particles was left on the meat.
13. Packaging and labeling -- I packed the backstrap steaks together.  I packed the shoulder steaks together.  I double wrapped everything, and labeled them "Backstrap", "Shoulder", "Stew", "Roast".
14. The meat is now stored in the freezer ready for consumption.

If you have the time and want to save some money, cutting them up yourself is an option.  In this case, I only shot a small deer, so I knew this would be an easier job than usual.  However, I can say that after cutting up the deer myself, for my money, the butcher is worth it.  The butcher will cut the deer up exactly as you wish, wrap it, and label it.  Unless you have a meat grinder at home, you will not get full use of the entire deer.  Even if you have a grinder, the butcher adds either beef or pork to the ground meat, which is necessary for venison.
If you want to get in touch with your inner caveman, don't be intimitated.  Butchering deer yourself is a job you can handle.  It may not come out perfect, but who's going to know?   I was glad I did this to learn, and depending on the circumstances I may try it again, but I can say that my default process in the future will be to take the deer somewhere and let the experts do a first rate butchering job.