What do you do when meat prices skyrocket and meat companies use chemicals, hormones and antibiotics in food? Well, if you’re like me, this is what you do:
Did you know that Deer Meat is healthier than beef? Especially considering all the practices used in raising cows and in meat processing. Deer meat is leaner as well. So maybe this doesn’t mean anything to you, and all that matters is a good deal. Well 26.4 pounds of ground up deer meat cost me a total of $27.50 for a total cost of $1.04 per pound of meat. And it really doesn’t get much more free-range than deer now does it?
I got an entire deer at a local cooler for $55, and split it with my Mom. We plan on getting one more so that we are stocked on meat until deer hunting season comes around next year. Deer coolers are where hunters take their deer to be processed. The extra ones can go to people like me that want to buy the meat!
To find a local deer cooler in your area, I recommend doing a search online or in your local phone book. If that doesn’t turn up anything, ask friends and family while keeping your eyes open for a local cooler when you are out driving. And if you have an online website or forum for your local community, ask people in there, and I bet you will find a deer cooler in no time.
Do you get deer meat? How do you think it compares to buying and eating beef?
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My husband hunts and last year got 3 deer! My freezer is still full and hunting season starts in one month! I have started selling my extra meat to friends and family just to make room for this year’s hunt. They love it and I also have quick Christmas gifts if needed! We often have our ground venison mixed with pork at the deer cooler to make it less gamey and less dry.
My parents have hunted deer ever since I can remember. For the past few years they have started hunting elk. Elk has the same advantages as deer- free range and lean- but is much larger. So when you shoot your elk, you have much more meat. With the majority of deer and elk , you will find a slight (or in the case of antelope a strong) “gamey” taste but if you cook it right you can’t even tell. My parents have also started processing their elk with a brine and it almost completely removes any of the gamey flavors. In the case of either, it is a much healthier and frugal option.
We bought a whole deer from a friend of my husbands last year, he had killed 2, but only wanted the meat from one. The taste is def. much different! We like it straight, especially if you put it in chili or things like that. But if we are making burgers we will mix it with ground beef, you can get the cheapest kind, the fat from the beef helps flavor the lean deer, we just prefer the taste that way. You still get the savings and the flavor.
I think I get a better deal. Have a son-in-law and grandson that both go deer hunting and get lots of meat from them FREE. Usually it isn’t gamey tasting unless it is an old deer,but they usually add a little ground pork or sausage to their ground meat..Trail bologna made from deer meat is totally delicious and I like to use the steaks to make baked steak. Can’t tell the difference between it and beef steak.
I didn’t know you could buy deer meat. My dad is a big hunter and always has plenty to share. Except now we live too far away. This christmas we are hoping he will go hunting here and get us a deer. Yum! And you are right, so much better for you than beef.
So if you live in a city, how might you find deer meat?
After reading your post, I just HAD to send you the link to my blog post about deer meat . . . I really believe it will make you laugh. Please feel free to pass it on . . .
http://www.savvymoxie.com/2009/10/not-all-free-things-are-good-idea.html
another tip for removing the gamey taste – if you use whole cuts for roasts or a variation of a roast – you can marinade the meat in beef stock (I save and freeze mine anyway when I make beef roasts) or simply cook it in a crock pot with beef stock
omg… we are big country ppl around my family…. we all hunt and my uncle processess animals…. so we always get free meat…. pork (for when the wild pigs come in the yard), deer and well a few other cute furry little critters…. its not bad tasting at all for you city folk
fishing is also a cheaper alternative…. expecially if you know how to filet it we eat alot of blue gill, bass and catfish
Post made me smile. I’ve never heard anyone call it “deer meat.” It has always been venison. My sister hunts deer and processes her own in Michigan. Always stayed away from commercial processors because they tend not to be very clean. They saw right through the hide to the meat, grinding in whatever organisms are on the outside of the deer into the meat. But I have always enjoyed venison.