Probably less than one deer's worth of meat a year. My wife won't eat it.

I'll accumulate enough meat so that when I get about 60 lbs. of boneless, I'll take it to the butcher and have it ground up. I'll have them take 30 lbs. and mix 20% beef fat with it and make burger in 1 lbs. plastic tubes. The other 30 lbs. get mixed with 20% pork fat and get's made into hot Italian sausage in casings and vacuum packed. The back straps get cleaned and cut into one serving sized pieces and vacuum packed. I'll keep a couple of roasts for an emergency (food shortage).

After I get my freezer filled, I start giving them away. I've got a guy who works for me, gets hooked up with a needy family through his church. Wounded soldier type of thing. Him and his BIL are getting older and can't hunt much. His BIL has a cold box and he'll take all of the deer I can give him on the hoof. If he gets filled up, I've got a Hispanic guy that works for me that'll take all I can give him, but he needs it cut up. After that, I donate them to FHFH.

My daughter still lives with us and she uses the burger for tacos, chili, and spaghetti sauce. I'll eat back straps or Italian sausage on the grill, when the wife isn't home for dinner. I'll make jerky when I feel like it and that doesn't last long.

When hunting season comes back in, everything left gets rotated out and start over. The guys at work will take it.

P.S.- Like others have said, it's fun to take some of that Italian sausage to a party and grill it up. Then watch the look on peoples faces when I tell them they just had deer meat. It changes their outlook on consuming wild game.


"Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem."
Ronald Reagan