When I first got serious about deer hunting I outfitted myself with camping gear and a new 30 06. I was already a fair marksman so was comfortable with the rifle, but I had no idea what to do if I actually harvested a deer. Luckily I half several unsuccessful years to ramp up ;) The other thing I did immediately was to watch hours of Scott Rea butchering deer and other animals so I could handle my harvest. I’ve only taken six deer myself but I’ve been able to take what I’ve seen on this channel and completely butcher my own as well as a few that friends have taken, all with great results. I highly recommend that anyone going afield to take wild game invest the time with this channel so you can go from field to fork all on your own. I owe Scott, and this is now one of the most pleasurable hobbies I have ever had! Scott look me up the next time you visit the states and I’ll repay you with a venison burger or steak !
I did this for years with my husbands "catch"... I love seeing a professionals way of doing things. Whats interesting is some of my "self taught" ways are the same as the pros, but in other areas, "the hind legs" I learned alot... thank you. You always make it seem so easy Scott. Cant wait for fall to try some of these new Idea's out.
Scott Firstly absolutely beautiful performance and work with your sweet little Swibo and the Royal Venison. It is hard to teach cut and talk simultaniously when there are thousands of lessons to be offered! Secondly folks would be smart to download these videos onto a flash drive just for preparatory SHTF reasons. Thirdly as a intermediate Flint Knapper (Shout out to Jack Crafty, a real magician) I recognize what you employed on your rack of ribs with your Fat Bast as Indirect Purcussion, folks have used that technique to produce stone tools, knives, arrowheads, for quite a long time. I have never afforded myself a cleaver but I do have a 12 inch rosewood handle Wenger that would work perfectly. You are a great person Thank You so much for the free top quality resources.
Share the knowledge baby! Yes, a lot of chefs are too focused on producing a Picasso on a plate rather than concentrating on customer satisfaction, flavour and profit. 66% GP = buy for 1 and sell for 3. Get that wrong and it doesn't matter that you are a "creative" chef. Thank you Scott for pointing out what the cuts are used for and also what customers want in the real world.
I keep learning from you. Slowly, but still! I think my skills with lamb is getting accepable, and that is quite the feat! Luckily we have great farmers around to get proper carcasses from. And they still taste fantastic, even though I butcherd the butchering. I'm still learning!
Dear Scott, My name is Scott White. I live in Oklahoma in the U.S. I am a hunter and fisherman. I am a grocery hunter not a trophy hunter. I’ve never shot a buck in my life nor do I care to. I’d rather shoot a doe with a back end the size of a Clydesdale horse than a buck with a massive rack. You’ve taught me everything I know about butchery. Every other instructional video I’ve watched is rubbish compared to yours. I have all of your books save The Catcher and the Rea. My freezer is never empty. I butchered 10 whitetail deer this past season for friends of mine that used to pay a processor to do it. I butcher their deer in exchange for a back leg and all of the shanks and hocks. Most Americans only care about the back straps and tenderloins. They have no idea how wonderful braised shanks and all of the steaks from the back end are. Your braised venison shanks recipe is my favorite. I even got a hold of a pig’s pluck and caul fat. I followed your recipe for faggots precisely. They were great! I’ve learned how to make sausages and link them, make bacon, butcher lamb, and your butcher’s knot tutorial was perfect! I don’t do social media much. My wife and daughter are my only friends on Facebook. I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your instruction very much. I retired from the fire service last year and wanted to contact you and fly to the UK and meet you as a retirement gift to myself but Covid screwed that up. I would very much like to come and meet you someday if that would be acceptable. Thanks again! Your unknown friend from across the pond. Scott White. P.S. I tried to send this to you on Facebook but I may have screwed it up.
Good for you Scott, never give up on your dream. I also am just retiring and would love to meet him. I have learned so much from him, just to be able to shake his hand and see where he lives would make my day. Take care,
I’ve been watching you since 2015 I believe. It was well before you made the Joe Grey. That video sticks in my head because it was one of the first I watched after I conquered my depression and anxiety. You were a very crucial role in my healing. I sent you a knife some time afterward. I’d love to send you a new one if you’re still interested. I was really just beginning to understand cutlery at that point.
Great vid as always Scott. Tim Burton ref made me laugh. I've learnt so much from you over the years. From deboning a chicken to making sausages. Thanks a lot mate. Isn't it about time for another sausage video? :p take care.
Thanks mate, I really appreciate your videos! I just shot a red stag here in Australia. He had some great meat on him so I took the primals, hung them in a cold room for 4 days then butchered them following your guides. The meat looks really neat all in separate cuts and in labelled vac sealed bags thanks to you. I was concerned about the dry outer meat and so I trimmed it all off. I couldn't help but notice that you left heaps of that dry surface meat on. Should I leave it on next time? does trimming it affect the meat quality?
Jesse, as a long time hunter who cuts his own meat, I typically leave the dry outer layer on, unless it's bloody and then trim that off just before I go to prepare it for a meal. If the meat hasn't hung for long enough (even in Canada it's not always cold in November when we hunt) that outer dry rind can be important to keep the cuts hanging together.
I wondered that my self, they seam to hang their meat to age a lot different than what I was taught. I'm not saying it's wrong, just don't know what the point is.
THAT is beautiful!! She looks like she’s been aged a bit!! I am a meat hunter as opposed to a “trophy” hunter. I prefer a good 1-2 yr old doe, the BEST meat you can get! A tuff old rutted up buck full of every hormone in God’s creation, is the WORST and the reason so many people claim to dislike venison! Bucks should be hung in 35-50 degrees F and aged 30 plus days, or as long as temperatures allow. Here in Tennessee, US, we have good late Fall and early Winter weather to hang and age them in sheds, barns, garages, etc. I wish it was a better known practice. Then more folks would eat it. Just like my wife. She SWORE she hated deer meat. She had no clue that all the crockpot stew, pot roasts and steaks I made were venison! She didn’t like it because her first experience was with a shot, chopped and frozen gamey old buck! HOW the animal is hunted can effect taste also. Deer full of stress hormone can taste bad also. Like deer run by dogs. Anyway, sorry for the tangent but seeing this made me want to point that out.
Can I ask how long was that carcass was in your fridge and was it with Jacket on? I base my question on 'if' the hunter has done the field prep guts,head,arse.and hoof - here in the UK.or not! The meat always needs to set but the devil is in the detail...
If it’s jacket was on in the fridge it would not be as dark a meat as that I loosely wrap mine in a clear plastic butchers meat bag this in my opinion stops the meat from going black and dry ( I hang mine for 10 days bucks seam to be darker meat )
@@fred2136fred Thanks for your feedback. I have always de-jacketed my venison and then placed it in my chest freezer .I do not give it a bag just a couple of days between 2-3 deg C. I am a geek so I have an external thermostat that controls the temp.
@@johnbaldwin143 the last one I did was in my fridge for 16 days went on holiday and forgot about it still came out fresh as a daisy and tender do it which way suits you there’s no right or wrong in my book ( if it looks right it is right)👍
Do you ever hang lean carcass, like this deer, with skin on? I do this for my deer / lans that have no fat layer. Most of mine are head shots so no contamination.
Great vid! I'm just curious: what do you do with all the leftover bones/carcass? Do you stick them in a giant pot to make stock, or is it essentially waste?
“Not the best dressed out beast” - not kidding. I’ve seen better looking roadkill. Why couldn’t you wait until you get a decent looking carcass rather than post this ? Alternatively explain how a carcass in this state could be salvaged by removing the cosmetic damage.
