What if you debone it in the field after putting a broadhead through it? I mean, I could buy one on the hoof and transport it to my house and drop it there, but I'm not sure how that would go over in my neighborhood........better to do it in a field.
I would think in tough times, the ranchers would take what they could get for them. Pretty sure I could have done this on my uncle's ranch a few years ago, but now they sell direct to consumer online these days. Just too many regulations these days for just getting it done.
In my opinion if you can get a farmer to deliver it to the slaughter house it’s well worth it. Most are $100 and under to kill, quarter, hang in the cooler.
You can take deboned meat anywhere that does custom legally, and have them handle it for you.
They tend to not like it that way because it’s a pain to store vs hanging the sides of beef on a rail. I would call a small local butcher, they are usually pretty decent to work with.
Dad raises beef, I spend a week every year cutting up a few beef for him and the family that they drop off at a custom slaughter plant and pick up a full 8’ truck bed of quarters.
Most pathology that the USDA inspects for is not going to hurt anyone, the main thing is E. coli. E. coli is fecal based. The ones we have killed at a custom plant are noticeably dirtier than at a USDA inspected facility. This is not all customs, I’ve seen some stellar custom plants that are amazing. We see specks of poop, small smear here and there. We trim any areas that look a bit dirty and it’s fine (because dad get them killed and skinned for $45!)
In a USDA plant, every head, tongue, eye, cheek muscle, lymph node, liver, heart, lungs, kidney, spleen, gall bladder, stomach, intestine, diaphragm, and even the esophagus are inspected, cut or palpated. Every single carcass is inspected for any signs of fecal material to verify the plant kept it clean.
In a custom there isn’t anyone checking the carcasses, so stuff gets missed sometimes.
