Favorite ways to process Mule Deer?

[Doc Holliday]

Is mule deer best made into sausage?

How do you guys ideally process your bucks?

With a whitetail I usually leave the backstraps and loins as is, take some good sized roasts out of the hindquarters for crockpot, and then I grind the rest and make sausage....

 

[justin84]

I do the same. I've used some cubed pieces for "beef" soup and it was great.

 

[jimmy33]

That’s exactly what I do


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[idahohikker]

If you’re not enjoying backstrap, tenderloin, and hindquarter steaks, you’re missing out. Mule deer make some great steaks. I don’t get the bad rap that mule deer have in some parts. Take good care of it, find a decent recipe, and deer eats good.

I also make roasts. I’m not normally as enthusiastic about the hamburger.

 

[muddydogs]

Burger, breakfast sausage its all good. I don't have a problem with any wild game and I sure as heck don't believe most of what I read on the internet about this or that wild game tasting bad until I try it for myself.

Every place you look you'll read that antelope is the worst but from my experience antelope is the best for wild game steaks. Javelina are supposed to suck bad and not worth packing off the hill but I find them to taste just like a leaner pork.

Bottom line is take good care of the meat, keep it cool and try a few samples before you just have it made into something just to hide the taste because you have been told thats the only way to stomach it.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Burger, breakfast sausage its all good. I don't have a problem with any wild game and I sure as heck don't believe most of what I read on the internet about this or that wild game tasting bad until I try it for myself.

Every place you look you'll read that antelope is the worst but from my experience antelope is the best for wild game steaks. Javelina are supposed to suck bad and not worth packing off the hill but I find them to taste just like a leaner pork.

Bottom line is take good care of the meat, keep it cool and try a few samples before you just have it made into something just to hide the taste because you have been told thats the only way to stomach it.

We love to make chili, and I have found that using sausage gives great flavors and virtually eliminates the needs for spices. I also look cooking sausage on the grill for snacks, and it also usually adds 20-30% of poundage to the freezer vs regular ground. It's got nothing to do with stomaching anything.



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[Lawnboi]

Loins and tenderloins get kept as is.

Top round and bottom round left as is for roasts.

The rest is cleaned up and cubed. From there it will go toward sausage or be ground with or without whatever I want to grind it with at the time.

I do the same with all the whitetail I shoot.

I don’t know if your wondering because you have heard mule deer dosnt taste good but my experience is that isn’t the case. Iv had whitetail that was gamier and tougher than mule deer, and the other way around.

 

[Cockeye]

Can it! freaking awesome!!

 

[bigmoose]

I will take the heart and loins out when I'm in the field and get them on ice as soon as possible. Back at camp I'll take the backstraps out after skinning him. The rest will go to the butcher. I like steaks off the rump and then anything not big enough for steaks turned into stew meat. The rest goes into hamburger, usually mixed with beef hamburger for the fat content.
The loins are very tasty and if left in while the buck hangs they will crust up and become much smaller after you trim the crust off. There's nothing like fresh deer meat while in hunting camp and the loins and backstraps go first. One year all we brought back was a front leg with the tag on it. There were 5 of us at camp and we were there for 3 weeks. Great eating!

 

[muddydogs]

We love to make chili, and I have found that using sausage gives great flavors and virtually eliminates the needs for spices. I also look cooking sausage on the grill for snacks, and it also usually adds 20-30% of poundage to the freezer vs regular ground. It's got nothing to do with stomaching anything.



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Well if you like sausage then make sausage, guess I don't get what the intent of the post is then?

 

[Sleeperls]

Tenderloins, backstrap and any other big muscle groups get saved whole, cube what i can for kabobs etc. Grind rest make sticks, and any other ground snaks you like.

Try and keep it healthy

 

[Azone]

My friends mule deer from Utah getting turned into salami.
I also love making Swiss sausage and Italian sausage out of mule deer.

 

[Takem]

Back strap, loins and some of the hind roasts are saved for grilling. Other hind roasts are used for kabobs and some are ground up for burger along with all of the scrap meat.

Neck and shoulder meat for slow cooking.

If you haven't tried the neck and shoulder meat for stew you should. The connective tissue really help keep the meat moist. I've been using the last several years based on Hank Shaw and Steve Rinella cook books and it's far superior tot he hind roasts in my opinion.

 

[RCB]

Started hunting last year, got a mule deer and elk. Processed both about the same. People say mule deer, especially those that live on sage (like mine), can taste funky, but I could hardly tell the difference between the deer and the elk (elk was a bit milder). Randy Newberg has some videos of people trying to distinguish deer, elk, antelope meat etc, and in general people fail.

One thing I did was buy a few books on how to cook game. Hank Shaw’s Buck Buck Moose has a lot of recipes.

I didn’t even own a grinder when I shot my animals - didn’t buy one until a few months later. Can do a lot with deer other than sausage.

 

[Daubsnu1]

Pull the backstrap, tenderloin out, then take rest to local locker. They process lots of beef and pork.

Love their peperjack deer sticks & cheddar summer sausage. Best is the cheddar deer brats!

Yes, costs more than doing it myself, but it's quick, easy, and tastes great!

 

[jspradley]

Keep the shanks intact!!!! Making osso bucco with them will change your life

 

[GregB]

Keep the shanks intact!!!! Making osso bucco with them will change your life

So true. Instead of grining some of the tougher cuts I'll cube it and make chili or stew, after a few hours in the slow cooker the meat melts in your mouth. I also take all the other leg bones once the meat is off put them in the oven as low as it will go for 5 or 6 hours and give them to my dog.

 

[Sundance]

View attachment 119630View attachment 119631
My friends mule deer from Utah getting turned into salami.
I also love making Swiss sausage and Italian sausage out of mule deer.

Care to share you recipe Azone? That looks amazing!

 

[Sundance]

I place more value on the handling of the meat (cooling, cleaning, ice, processed in a timely fashion in a clean environment) over the species/sub-species and age of the animal. I've eaten mule deer, whitetail and blacktail that all taste great. Then there are some guys that I would never eat meat they harvested due to their handling practices.

 

[jspradley]

So true. Instead of grining some of the tougher cuts I'll cube it and make chili or stew, after a few hours in the slow cooker the meat melts in your mouth. I also take all the other leg bones once the meat is off put them in the oven as low as it will go for 5 or 6 hours and give them to my dog.

The connective tissue is awesome once it breaks down, gives it a super silky texture.
Sounds weird but it's delicious.

I found some shanks from 2016 in the bottom of my freezer a few weeks ago and braised them in the oven for about 5 hours, good lawd that was so good.

Slow cookers are good but it doesnt quite get the same results as braising in the oven.