How do you prepare you deer for the processor

[DCS]

For those that use a deer processor, how much preparation do you do on your animal before you take it to the processor?

For years now, we skin it, cut the shoulders, cut out the back straps and cut the back legs off.  And whatever neck meat, etc we can get.  It seems we are doing 90% of the work for him and getting charged for boning it out.  We never gut our deer, unless it is a really big one and we will go in after the tender loins and still we have figured out a way to get those out from the top of the back after the backstraps are out.

Now, I am thinking about gutting it, skinning it, cutting off the head and then cutting it right down the back bone with a saws all.  Seems like with would be a lot less work and let the processor recover additional meat from the ribs, neck etc.

[Big Tony]

Sounds like you need a good grinder. 👍

[DCS]

We processed a couple of deer in the past, we can make decent pan sausage, but link is a whole different ball game.  This place in Schulenburg, link that we have been using for probably 15+ years makes the best German Sausage we have ever had.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[TXHuntress]

We do the same, quarter it up with no gutting. I did the deboning one time, told hubby never again, especially with the shoulders, there isn't enough meat there to worry about, it's more tendons and cartlidge than anything. That's why we don't worry about blown out shoulders. 
We would like to grind our own for burger and pan sausage, but it hasn't happened yet. 

[twice70]

I normally take one a year to the processor for smoked sausage. I skin it and quarter it and keep the backstraps. Just take the hams shoulders and trimmings. Other than that I grind the rest into burger (minus the backstraps). I bought an electric grinder a few years back and it’s been a good investment.