(Caution - some of the photos below show animals in processing.)
We usually don't mess with the hide but this time I'm going to give it a try. So I was careful and skinned off the hide in one nice piece and I wrapped it and froze it in the freezer. I'll do some research and figure out what I'm doing and thaw it and work it at that point. Maybe sometime in the winter when I have nothing else to do.
How did I learn it? Well, when we moved to Kerrville the deer there were as plentiful as mice and we decided to start harvesting some for venison. I found an outline tutorial on how to skin, clean and butcher the carcass. Took my 30/30 outside and shot a deer and with kitchen knives in hand Trish and I got to work. I was astounded at how intuitive and simple it was and really appreciated the feeling of self-sufficiency and was hooked from then on.
8 years or so ago I bought a full grown hog from a neighbor and he offered to butcher it with me. So he shot the hog and he and I worked together to get it processed. It was nearly identical a process as a deer so my confidence grew.
We did many hogs over the years like that.
So when we started raising cows, it was natural that we'd process them ourselves and sure enough, they are just as easy as a hog or deer, just larger. All the cuts of meat are essentially the same in all animals. The pork loin (top of the animal on both sides of the backbone) are the exact same as the steaks on a cow, which is also the same as the backstrap on a deer. We usually use the tractor's loaded to lift the animal off the ground and that works just fine.
One of my first deer:
This is how plentiful they were in Kerrville:
My hog harvest in 2010:
I actually video taped the entire butchering process of the hog in case anyone ever wanted it for learning purposes. I may upload it to youtube one day for other peoples' benefit.
