# Deer Meat



## teenGSPowner (Jun 13, 2013)

Deer season is coming up in just a few days! This will be the first year Simon is being raw fed during deer season! Hopefully we will get several deer and, have one for ourselves and one totally for Simon. I was just wondering how you guys butcher/cut up/portion deer for your dogs? Do you keep all the bones, or throw some of them away? I know most people say to keep almost everything but is there anything you really don't want to feed? Just wondering how you guys all do it! Suggestions are very welcome! :smile:


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

I will give all parts of a deer minus the intestines/stomach. Well, if you are really brave you could empty and rinse the stomach and have tripe. 

The hunters I know usually take what they want for themselves, and I end up picking up the rib cage with spine, the legs, and this year someone left the head attached to the spine and rib cage for me! The neighbors came home just in time to see me cleaver the head off in my driveway. Sometimes they will have bags with meat scraps in them too. So from here, I can take a sawzall or a cleaver and break things down a bit further. I always just tell my hunter family and friends to please throw whatever they aren’t using in a trash bag and I will come pick it up asap. One time my sister’s b/f gave me two whole deer, but he skinned and quartered them for me. I really don’t have a way to transport an entire deer, I don’t have a truck. 

Just reread your post and it sounds like you actually do the hunting and butchering yourself, so that is good. I don’t actually know how to field dress or gut anything, so that is why I like to get deer already quartered up, lol. But butchering for the dogs is easy, doesn’t have to be pretty either. Just cut up hunks. The ribs make an awesome meal, my labs will eat three or four ribs attached for a meal. Same with the neck, spine, shoulders. The legs are more of a recreational chew, but a great one. And freeze for two weeks first before giving anything. And save the organs definitely.


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## teenGSPowner (Jun 13, 2013)

Thanks shellbell! Quick question, do your labs eat all the bones? That seems like a lot of bone in their diet. Or do they just pick off the meat, eat some of the bone and leave the rest? You feed the head?! I don't know if I will be able to do that hwell:


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

You can feed most all of it. I am not sure you really even need to worry about freezing it first. I have fed it fresh before. I just cut in chunks put in freezer bags I use quart size.


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## teenGSPowner (Jun 13, 2013)

What about road kill deer? How "Fresh" does it have to be?


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## wolfsnaps88 (Jan 2, 2012)

Bloat sets in and that is when tissues start to break down. Cut the deer open. Smell the meat. If it smells off it is starting to rot. I recently got a roadkill deer and the tissue that surrounds muscle (thin membrane) was slightly slimy meaning it was starting to 'turn". The meat itself was fine but that was the first sign of breaking down. I once brought home a roadkill deer and when I cut into it the meat was green. Def past it's expiration date. LOL. The colder it is outside, the longer it takes the gut bacteria to start breaking down tissues. Best to roadkill hunt on cold days.


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## shellbell (Sep 24, 2011)

Mine can easily power through the ribs, spine, and neck. They can usually get through the leg bones too, unless it is a large buck. The leg bones just take longer. I consider those more of a recreational chew. 

I actually got a road kill deer over the weekend. A friend of mine hit it with their truck. A huge buck with a nice rack. They actually wanted to mount the head and keep it, but weren’t interested in the meat since it was all bruised up and the blood was all clotty. So they called me, lol.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

We feed all of the deer except stomach and intestines. We just got a couple hundred pounds of deer scraps from a processor, and most of the bones are neck. ribs and legs. Ours will go right through the ribs and neck. They pretty much pull the meat off the leg bones and leave them. I will throw the leg bones out once they are done since they are weight bearing and dense.


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## teenGSPowner (Jun 13, 2013)

Well dad ending up getting a small doe and that was it, didn't see any road kill either. So Simon only got scrap meat(about 10lbs) and all the bones. I didn't keep the head lol I'm not ready to walk outside to see my dog happily munching on a deer head yet! We still have an early 2014 season so hopefully we will get a couple more!


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

Yes me too I am waiting for a guy to get a couple for me. Now it is going to get really cold, oh why can't it wait.


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## K9Sandy (Oct 15, 2013)

I'd be concerned with the Chronic Wasting Disease that is being found in deer here in North America. From how the meat is being processed in my area on deer kills, butchers aren't giving anyone the brain and the spine, just the "boneless meat." From what I've learned, this disease is contagious, and once a deer gets it, there isn't anything that can treat it, and it is 100% fatal. However, I'm not sure if it is transmittable to dogs, but I'm not taking any chances with mine and neither are my friends and family when it comes to feeding their dogs. 

I'm not trying to scare anyone from feeding their dogs raw meat from deer, however, I know that when it comes to our dogs' health, it is best to be forewarned and advised. Deer hunting began in Pennsylvania today (Monday, December 2), and a few of us did get our deer. When it came to butchering them, we've had to keep our dogs away this time, so we could contain the situation by not allowing them contact with any of the meat, blood, and so on until the brains, spines, and other areas of the deer that could be affected is removed and safely contained. 

How far this disease has been spreading, I don't know for sure. I heard that some deer have been diagnosed with it in my county and the counties surrounding mine. I do know some parts of Nebraska and other parts of the United States have known cases of this disease in deer in their areas. The only map I've found so far is from 2012, so how far it has actually spread, I'll have to keep looking for that information. 

*File:Chronic Wasting Disease Map September 2012 in North America
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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