i'm looking for an idea of what it will cost to have an average sized deer processed. I'd be getting the cheapest cuts possible, but would want to minimize waste

I'd say $45 is a average... some places charge you $5 or $10 to skin your deer and if you're gonna have one mounted they charge you to cape it.

sausage is where all ur money goes. without sausage up to 150. with sausage up to 225. IT ALL DEPENDS ON SIZE OF DEER AND WHAT PROCESSOR, they are all different, prices arent going down either.

damn rick oshay u got a good place that or mine is way overprized. I have never paid under 100 but then again i get sausage every time and mix it with pork 50/50. so thats alot of extra cost and my place costs $20 to skin which I now do myself and quarter it myself.

Our processor charged an extra $40 I believe just to de-bone. We only take quartered up deer, never a whole animal.. ours wouldn't accept them that way anyway. We get the tenders and backstraps cut up, get as many tenderized steaks as we can, then get the rest in hamburger/chili meat. Our orders typically were about 150.00
(Oh, and we had them use beef tallow to mix with the deer for the hamburger, it's cheaper.)

For basic processing which would include steaks, and ground meat you would pay $75 at the processor I use! $10 extra if you dont gut it first!

If your going to a cheap prosseser make sure that the meat you take in is the meat you get back. And also your geting what you pay for if prosssing fee is cheap your going to get a cheap product. We process and an average deer will get around 30 pounds of meat and with deer steaks that will run you from 75 to 100 bucks. Depending if you want steaks out of the hams.

Our processor charges $95 for a basic process. That includes steaks, backstrap and ground beef.

Carcass field dressed, about 75 cents a pound for basic cuts and ground. Skinning is usually 15-20 bucks. I have gone to quartering everything as a matter of fact, saves a little, and we'll just be sitting and drinking beer instead of skinning and quartering anyway.

As for your name, "beprepared", just do it yourself. I do about one a year myself to remind me why I let Steve do it at Po Boys OUtback Processing, Merit Texas 903-776-2004

Syracuse meats charges $8.50 a quarter. I generally process a lot of my own meat but after the first 3 or 4 I get tired of it quick. I used to do all of them so now if it is going to someone else it goes to Syracuse first. They charge like $.50 cents per pound for the ground and final cost is usually around $60 to $65. If you do sausage and stuff it more of course but it is all good stuff. You guys paying $150 for basic are getting fleeced.

there not getting fleeced, what you pay is what product you get. Ill be surprised if you passthru get your same meat back. I dont know about yall but i want my deer i bring in cause, no telling what others do to theres. I know i take care of my deer, we have had to turn away people that brought deer the smeleted terriable and im pretty sure they took it to another prosseser who just mixed it with other meat.

Syracuse is A++, they do custom meats for World Market and are one of the best processor's in the DFW area.

AP - Not sure how you can justify saying you are not getting you meat because the price is low. If you take a gutted unskinned deer into Syracuse the price is alot higher. If you take the time to quarter or de-bone the meat they do make it cheaper for the extra time you are saving them. Not sure how you can bash a company based on a price.

Like Rick O'Shay said, most cost comes from the sausage. The last processor I used was $55 for just the meat, but by the time you had some sausage made it would run the price up to $125.

In Bridgeport, it's $80 basic, $20 for skinning and I can't remember about the sausage. I've always wondered about whether I get back the same meat I brought in. Just have to trust your instincts on people.

Meridian Locker PLant charges .50 cents a pound for skinned, quartered deer. That's for tenderized steaks and ground meet with beef tallow added. Most bucks cost about $35-45 to have done.

[quote=Trust] Syracuse is A++, they do custom meats for World Market and are one of the best processor's in the DFW area.

I disagree on the recent service at Syracuse, They have gotten to big and expensive.
Last year I took 3 Large body Buck deer in Quarterd and went to pick up the finished product in 2 small boxes.....300.00....well sudenly they produced 2 more "lost" boxes.

When you do find a place that is reasonable and has a quality product, Then stick with them until they do not and don't. Processing in general can be $$$$, but as stated earlier doing it yourself can be rewarding.

It comes back with the tag they attach to the meat when you drop in off. Unless you watch them I guess you won't know.

at the processor I worked at last year, just steak and burger would run you 75 dollars, more if you did not gut it. he also makes sure you only get back your deer

Kuby's in Dallas is top-notch and probably cost you $80 for basic stuff. You'll pay a little more but you get your own deer back and it is delicious!

Depends on the size of your deer though. Northern will weigh 70 to 140 lbs and hill country 40 to 120 so prices range widely and is it quartered or not?

Nothing like butchering a deer in your driveway in Flowermound to make your neighbors mad.

It does tend to make them a little pissy doesn't it? If it wasn't for the fact that divorces are so expensive I wouldn't live anywhere near her now.

I like!

I dont care what place you take your deer you never get your deer back,hamburger,chili meat sausage and all your links are all done in bulk.only steaks and backstrap are what you brought in.They will not do batches takes them to long.

I agree with this statement. How in the world could a processor make small batches of sausage on a deer by deer basis? Impossible!

I guarantee you they bone out the meat, and throw it in bins until they get a batch large enough to add their pre-measured seasonings. Then they grind, package, and label.

Now, backstraps and loins, I can see how they could easily keep those separate.

buckie2010 -- very interesting. Makes sense too. That would explain why I had some bone chips in my sausage one year when I didn't even clip a bone on my deer. If they ALL do it that way, then I guess I shouldn't hold that against that particular processor (which I did -- I haven't been back to him).