Thread: butchering animals in the city

hey there im just wondering how all you guys deal with your deer when you pring them home if you live in the city like what do you do with off cuts and offal etc and what do you do if you dont have a chiller to hang them in for a day or 2.
just asking as i since recently got my gun license but have experience hunting with a mate but he had a farm where he could dump offal and it had a chiller so i haven't seen what people do if they do not have these at there disposal

cheers

bone them out on the hill and stick the meat in your fridge until youre ready to pack and freeze it.

Firstly, leave the offal on the hill. Generally you gut the animal where it drops. Although I recommend taking the heart - yum.
If you have left over bits at home just put them in the rubbish collection bin. If it's a few days out then just pop it in the freezer so it doesn't stink up the place.
Bones can go to someone with a dog, otherwise in the bin they go too.

Take all the good bits - 4 wheels and 2 back steaks, and leave the rest on the hill. Shortbone the legs, and maybe leave skin on for travelling. Leave it in the fridge to age until the better half gets sick of it, then break it down and freeze. Put any bits left over in the freezer and throw it in your wheelie bin frozen, a bone or 2 per week until its gone

The offal gets left on the hill. If you can carry the whole animal out hang in garage and skin it until till you get it to a processor. Or as silent scope says bone out on hill and diy it at home

If you are in Nelson area it seems you Take the skin and bones, and in some cases the complete animal and drive it out to Appleby and dump it in the riverbed down one of the tracks. Alongside all the other townies rubbish and grass clippings etc.

Us dog walkers just love finding it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best advice

Take all the good bits - 4 wheels and 2 back steaks, and leave the rest on the hill. Shortbone the legs, and maybe leave skin on for travelling. Leave it in the fridge to age until the better half gets sick of it, then break it down and freeze. Put any bits left over in the freezer and throw it in your wheelie bin frozen, a bone or 2 per week until its gone

Guarantee you won't be carrying the animal out whole if you've had to walk anywhere to get it. A red deer weighs significantly more than you probably do!

The flies and critters will see to anything that you leave behind in short order. Try not to leave anything where it can fall/slide into waterways.

Like everyone says, leave the offal on the hill. At this time of year you can hang an animal for at least a few days without issue. To keep flies off you can use either a game bag or a sleeping bag liner.
After cutting up, I normally stuff the loose bones and skin into the ribcage and bury it all in the garden. Problem is I am running out of places. Sometimes I think one day in years to come if there is ever a major excavation, the person who digs up all the spines and ribs buried all over the place won't know what to think.

Leave the Offal on the Hill.

Yeah, be selective in what you take and you should be right.

Sounds like you should join your local NZDA branch where they may be able to help you out? Planning ahead the best approach. It is a bit of a common issue throughout the country where some especially with 4wd access to a particular spot for ego reasons want to bring the deer or game animal all the way home to the front door then start scratching their heads. Various river beds have ended up as dumping grounds for the skins and carcass. Poor approach. As suggested above, best to skin the animal out on the hill if you wish to keep a skin after gutting it. But you need to be organised if living in a city - have freezer space, know how to salt etc. Google is your friend but again pre plan. I usually bring out the back legs on the bone if the walk isn't too far to the vehicle otherwise you will need to 'bone' out the legs to be able to maximise your veni or similar. Huntech meat bags available online good to keep the veni blood away from your other gear in your pack. Using plastic bags a very short trem solution to store veni before getting home as any heat will spoil the meat - the car trip usually the killer except on a winter trip maybe. Watching tv programmes such as NZ Hunter provide many clues, tips for dealing with the meat on the hill. In the interim, if not already bone out the meat and see if you can fit it in the fridge for a few days to age somewhat? Back steaks can be tagged and vacuum packed straight away - age/marinate when you thaw out days prior to consumption. See if you have enough off the front legs for sausages and off cuts off the back legs? Contact your butcher/game processor to arrange drop off - usually they want it boned out prior otherwise it will cost you alot more and needs to be very clean. i suspect if only having a kitchen fridge then that's the main problem. Check with your mates if they will store some boned out veni in the meantime? Having good neighbours with dogs is another outlet for the bones. If skin still on - remove, freeze until it's rubbish collection day. Good luck.

I bone out in the field and make a LOT of space in my fridge. I bring offal home too if I kill a small animal and I can manage the extra bits of weight from the liver, kidney and heart.
Chest freezer is your friend too.

Put any shit you dont want in your neighbours wheelie bin?

As above, leave anything you don’t want in the field. I’ve typically never brought home any bone- I usually butterfly the back legs, working muscle seams to remove the femur while retaining all the meat in one intact piece. Then at home I will break it down into the individual cuts for vac packing. Most trimmings from tidying up at home go into the sausage pile & the small amount that’s left (super sinewy stuff) goes into a bag in the freezer til it’s rubbish day. I’ve recently started bringing a few legs out whole to keep the bones for our pup. Doing it this way means you end up with very little actual rubbish (I probably end up with no more than a couple hundred grams of sinewy crap for the rubbish.

Additionally, if you don’t like offal yourself there are plenty of people who do. I’ve got a few friends that like offal so I tend to bring a few bits out for them. Reduces the amount of actual waste left in the field too.

I find the ribcage is the hardest bit to get rid off as it takes up a lot of space and doesn't fit to well in a rubbish bag.
If you want to keep the skin, one option I used to do is skin the front end of the animal back to the hips, then cut through the spine. You then wrap the loose skin around the unskinned hindquarters to carry out.

Freeze it and in the bin day of collection