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Cable/bolt cutter or saw?
For those of you who do your own butchering, do you use clippers of some kind or a saw? I've been using a saw but I've seen several people use large cable cutter, bolt cutters, or even smaller 1 handed curved blade pruning tools on small critters like rabbit and chicken. The cable cutters sure did look a lot easier than all my sawing but I'm not sure which size and brand to get. This is of course for the sole purpose of chopping off legs.
So lets hear your opinions and experience.
So lets hear your opinions and experience.
Replies
Dad 5-31-13
For deer sized critturs the knife plus a bit of muscle does the same job although I have used my sabre saw at times.
I like to process game so that when I give it away or cook it, people concentrate on the flavour etc and not on the visuals..
For a deer sternum in the field, a hatchet is my go-to tool. Wire cutters/diagonal dikes are clutch for small critters or small bones.
I've seen Lopping Shears used as well as a machete.
The issue with the saw is it leave bits of bone all over the place.
On deer, I usually cut them off at the joints with a knife as well. I've been thinking about loppers or a sawzall to speed up the process, doesn't really matter since I debone it all anyway.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Yep, me too, I don't like a bunch of bones. The only thing I don't debone is front shoulder. I guess you'd call what I do to the hams deboning. That's what happens anyway. I cut steaks off and when I'm through all is left is the bone.
When I say steaks, I mean pieces about a quarter to 3/8 inch thick the width of the ham. Then before I cook it I beat garlic into the meat with a tenderizing hammer. Then chicken fry it. That is my favorite way to enjoy venison other than the back strap. I sometimes fry that too but more often I marianate it and BBQ it slowly for about 30 minutes. I don't like it over cooked. And even if it's a bit rare I don't mind it if the animal was really healthy.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Yep, me too, I don't like a bunch of bones. The only thing I don't debone is front shoulder. I guess you'd call what I do to the hams deboning. That's what happens anyway. I cut steaks off and when I'm through all is left is the bone.
When I say steaks, I mean pieces about a quarter to 3/8 inch thick the width of the ham. Then before I cook it I beat garlic into the meat with a tenderizing hammer. Then chicken fry it. That is my favorite way to enjoy venison other than the back strap. I sometimes fry that too but more often I marianate it and BBQ it slowly for about 30 minutes. I don't like it over cooked. And even if it's a bit rare I don't mind it if the animal was really healthy.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
You can also pick up a good heavy cleaver in an Asian market area. My wife got one in Houston on Belair Blvd. in China Town. Asians use them a lot in cooking and I love to use them also. They are easier to handle than a hatchet and it's hard to find a SS hatchet.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
He has a lot of visitors he processes their deer rather than driving 40 miles to get it processed.
Jeff, I agree with you. However, after having dressed and butchered my own animals most of my life, I believe you can never have enough tools available. I would add a cleaver or at least a good hand ax to what you havel listed here. I carry a good knife with me in the field as well as a small saw. But back in the vehicle I keep the rest of my gear. Another thing I bring with me is a good rope or heavy sash cord and a small SS pulley and chain with a couple of D Rings. I wrap the chain around an appropriate tree limb, secure it with a D Ring and hook the pulley to it with another D-Ring and haul the animal up and hang it while I skin and then gut it. I use my vehicle in the skinning operation so what I do woudn't work in remote areas. But for most deer and hog hunting this is the easiest and cleanest way
i've found to field dress an animal.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Jeff, I agree with you. However, after having dressed and butchered my own animals most of my life, I believe you can never have enough tools available. I would add a cleaver or at least a good hand ax to what you havel listed here. I carry a good knife with me in the field as well as a small saw. But back in the vehicle I keep the rest of my gear. Another thing I bring with me is a good rope or heavy sash cord and a small SS pulley and chain with a couple of D Rings. I wrap the chain around an appropriate tree limb, secure it with a D Ring and hook the pulley to it with another D-Ring and haul the animal up and hang it while I skin and then gut it. I use my vehicle in the skinning operation so what I do woudn't work in remote areas. But for most deer and hog hunting this is the easiest and cleanest way I've found to field dress an animal.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
yeah, I used to use a hacksaw on the legs, but now that I have been shown "the tricks", I can actually take a deer completely apart with just a knife. Including taking the pelvis out from between the hams. It's pretty cool.
-Mikhail Kalashnikov