Dragging your deer to the local butcher can cost a huge chunk of change these days. In most cases, you are left with a lot less money and a long waiting period. Sometimes the quality of work is not up to your standards and a lot of the meat ends up being wasted or suffers from freezer burn. However, here are three easy home butchering tips you can use this season to get the most out of your kill and save some much needed cash.

1. Cool Things Down

According to Sim Harp, a professional deer butcher, the worse mistake a hunter can make is allowing the meat to get too warm. He recommends field dressing the deer as quickly as possible and storing the meat at a cool temperature to let it age. The safest way to age venison is to debone the deer and place the meat inside of a heavy contractor’s bag. This cuts down on space and allows you to keep the meat in the bottom of your refrigerator at a constant temperature. It also enables hunters to head back into the woods in states where you can fill multiple tags.

2. Meat Processing

Basically, you have four major cuts of meat consisting of the sirloin tip, back loin (back straps), front shoulder, and back ham section. The back ham portion of the deer includes the top round, bottom round, sirloin, and eye round. A lot of this meat can be cut into juicy steaks instead of grinding it into hamburger. According to Harp, the key is to trim away the silver seam and fat from the meat before butterfly cutting it into steaks. Simply square both ends of the meat and cut almost all the through before stepping over and cutting all the way through the steak for a butterfly cut.

3. Wrap It Up Tight

For the cost of one trip to the butcher you can purchase a commercial grade vacuum sealer from Cabela’s like the CG15. This handy device will dramatically increase the freezer life of your meat and eliminate wasteful freezer burn. The CG15 will also help maximize your freezer space and allow you to customize each package to fit specific quantities or cuts of meat. For innovative home butchering tips checkout Sim Harp’s DVD entitled “From the Field to the Freezer” by calling 1-800-858-1549. Also, feel free to share any of your own home butchering tips on the BBZ by posting a comment.