After butchering caribou and musk-ox in the field for 22 of my 29-year life it is interesting to see a butcher do their work for the first time. As a hunter from the north we take just about everything home but the lungs and intestines. Cool video guys!
Got my first elk yesterday. My dad and I quartered her in the field, and I wasn’t sure how to prep the meat for storage now that I’m home. This video gave me a little confidence to try butchering myself. Just gonna use a sharp knife and go slowly!
Congrats man! That’s so incredible. I couldn’t imagine how awesome it would be to have an elk to cut up. So much meat my family could eat for a year lol.
This was by far one of the most helpful and informative videos for what we need to know about butchering an elk. Thank you Randy and the whole Fresh Tracks team for all that you do!
Thank you for sharing this video. I appreciate that these folks need to make a living, and they are very efficient, but this video illustrates why I do this process myself. You said it best when you said "there is no right or wrong way to do it, it's whatever you like and what you want". It takes me a long time to process my elk but I get everything I like and I have very little waste. I even save the bones for bone broth and the scraps go to the dog. Seeing all the waste especially on the tenderloin was a little disturbing.
I understand your sentiment. I guess this is the price you pay if you dont want to do it yourself but you want it fast and they got a business to run. Its also comforting for new hunters like me to know there is a service like this available if im not confident to do it myself yet.
Thanks guys! There are 300 videos out there on how to field strip an elk, but hardly any of them tell you how to cut/wrap. Love the content and ESPECIALLY love having it to view now during quarantine. gracias amigos
It's a pleasure to watch these guys work. I'm a bone-out guy and a merciless trimmer. Nice to see a processor doing the same. Too many, in my experience, are bandsaw-jockeys that would rather slab an animal up than trim them up properly.
Outstanding video 👍, I worked with a classmate , friend , meat cutter for over 45 years ! Mr. Bill wild game processing ! I learned so much , I did enjoy the process ! Memories , special friends , co workers ! Thank you for sharing what was done ! Bob
Randy, if you ever need a hand doing this in the field, let me know. I went to school years ago for meat cutting. It provided a much needed tool in my tool bag to help me be a better sportsman and avid hunter. Being a farm kid from NW Wisconsin, it brought me through the whole circle of life to be able to being able to see these animals eat with cattle side by side in the pasture and get to hunt them in november. You have a good processor there, very knowledgeable and a good clean business. God bless in all you do.
This easily is one of my favorite informational videos. I will definitely refer to it in the future to see their way of separating the Sirloin varieties! Thanks Guys
At 86 ,Randy I would have to say that this is the best documented video of cutting up an elk .. This is for all four legged critters.. I saved this into my notes for the future . Thank you for sharing and the pro butcher at Yellowstone.👍
Great video...well done! After years (36) of butchering my own elk into steaks, roasts, burger, and breakfast sausage, the wife asked me this last season: Could I grind all but the back straps and tenderloin into burger and breakfast sausage? Got to thinking that as the backstraps, tenderloins, burger and breakfast sausage are what we enjoyed the most, why not? So I did it and have no regrets in doing so. I've always been particular about my ground elk...no fat, silverskin, or tendons! I then mix it with 1 part ground beef (70% lean) to 4 parts ground elk to make burger. For the breakfast sausage, I do a 50/50 mix of ground elk and ground Boston butt (along with my combination of spices). I did a lot of grinding last fall, but it was worth it - lots of great burgers and breakfast sausage!
I usually freeze hole muscle with in big 5 lbs bags . Lasts longer in the freezer than grinding right away. Take out what you need and then grid to make batches of sausages , stews , what ever I want . I had game like moose taste like i just shot it up to 3 years later , never had to throw any away. ground mixed with pork goes rancid in the freezer in as little as 6 months.
Excellent video Randy! I love to do my own processing at home!! However, this is a very informative look into the correct/professional side of butchering!
Pros always have a time is money factor. If you do it yourself, you can be fussy and spend extra hours to get extra pounds, that they just couldn't justify. I understand the tradeoffs...sometimes you are hunting far away from home and have to get the meat ready to go home and don't have all the tools on hand or a freezer.
Best explanation of the different names of the cuts and cool to consider what the best steak cuts are based on tenderness. The round and sirloin are pretty tough on game like elk and I would suggest roasts on those. The front should has a lot to offer beyond burger that would be cool to go over. Some amazing roasts and steaks in the shoulders too.
P.S artist at work but the customer may be the butcher of the beautiful animal and I will still rewatch this video with a small bourbon. Thank you again.
About half way through and I think this is a great video and very informative. I liked the picture of the different cut section of the Elk posted periodically as the Butcher made his cut. I really want to hunt big game but need to feel comfortable field dressing first. Of course I am going to try to pair up with someone experience first but I don't want to spend an arm and a leg. Anyway thanks for sharing the video. From Toronto, Canada.
Great video! A fantastic channel that I learned a lot from is the Scott Rea Project. He is showing such a huge variety of how to butcher fame animals, it never gets boring. There's so many tasty ways to cut up a carcass!
I don't know if it's the feeling of providing and accomplishment, or the fact that it's food, but man, do I love the sound and smell of butchering an animal I harvested.
really good video randy...TY. And to the meat processor, thanks to him as well for letting us see behind the scenes on his processes. Ive been doing my own deer for years....hopefully one of these years soon, I get to cut up some elk meat and have some bigger steaks to work with!
Great video. Very nice of them to let you film this. I saw them throw the flat iron steak in the burger pile and cringed. Second most tender steak will make a good burger I suppose.
Great video randy very helpful and interesting to watch more educational videos like this helps us small family's doing our own thank you and keep bringing them 😀💗
This was great Randy. What would be cool is to see what they do with an animal that is dirty/hairy and had not been taken very good care of. I saw their blowtorch there, so, I’m guessing that they burn the hair off, which is what we do as well. Super interesting. Thanks for sharing.
I like to use the neck meat for cube steak. And some of the smaller muscles out of the rear quarters. Breaded and pan fried cube steaks are the way to go for people that say I dont like wild game.
First off great video as always , I mite be crazy but man , just seems like they waste a ton of good edible meat and scrap that could be used for burger. Any who , love the video and Randy you are the man. !!
My thoughts exaclty. A 'Commercial' butcher is going to go as fast as they can to maximize the $/hr of labor. There was a good amount of meat being wasted by their 'trimming'. This is why I do all my butchering.
OMG I had to get some Elk ribs out for tomorrow. We got my Elk out in one piece and cut up muh like this. Great video, thanks for sharing on the crew doing fantastic work on processing an animal.
Great video! Process your own game to save money and meat. Way too many horror stories of people disappointed with their game meat after getting it back from the processor.
They explained why they do it. Its for sanitation purposes. Most of that meat will be scrap meat and used for things like dog food so its not being wasted. There is also fat, silverskin, and other trimmed meat that just isn't good to eat alone so its used for sausage meat.
Awesome video I thank you. When I had the ability to afford to hunt for Elk I had to realize that I was incapable of doing so. I beg you to go into debt to do the hunt while you can. I thank you for your videos and I hope others will take this advice as you only have so many chances in your life. I again thank you for your videos. I think I will watch again with a small bourbon and wish to get a second chance at life.
When you take an animal in for processing, if you arent quite sure what you want done with it is it common for the butcher/processor to walk you through whats possible, or do they prefer you to know at the outset what you want done?
Commercial cutting is a bitter/sweet view for me. I love the "edjumication" factor, but I cry seeing so much usable red goodness going into the trash bin. If it's red goodness, it goes into the grinder/snausage pile. But, these guys are in it to make a profit, I understand.
I am seeing this exactly as you do. My father taught me to throw almost nothing in the trash. But then I am not trying to make a living and I don't care how long it takes to process my deers.
Depends how close to the road you are, pulled mine and my cousin's elk last year out with the truck and loaded into the bed, drove home and hung them up.
No way your getting a rosy out whole unless it’s right by a road or in a field ...rockys are quite a bit smaller though you can actually move them around to different positions..
Im Glad i clean and process my own, They were throwing away some meat that i would have kept. I am one of those people that will trim until there is nothing left to trim, but i can take all the time i need they have to be fast. Also unless you are going to mount it i will head shoot deer because there is a lot of meat on the neck. Just MAKE sure you can get a good shot.
A great meeting of the skills and trade. It takes time and money to hunt big game. Like Randy said, he doesn't have the time, and that is true. It takes time to outfit and go hunting, as romantic as that is. The less romantic part is packing out all that meet or that carcass. Then there are the guys working in the processing. 3 to 4 guys in a professional facility that has to meet health department standards, etcetera. So, if anyone ever wondered why processing costs what it does, this is why. And these guys are too busy, especially during hunting season, to get much hunting done. Unless you just happen to live on property that is next to public hunting land and the deer or what-have-you comes to your property eat without pressure. And dang, now I am hungry. A friend of mine once harvested an elk in Oklahoma where he had a lifetime hunting license. And he did his own processing at his dad's ranch. They had the shack, a gambrel on a hoist, grinder, everything. And he gave me some chile-grind out of that elk. I found a sportsman site and stole a recipe that included baker's cocoa powder. I was proud of that batch of chili.
Processed my own elk this year. Definitely not as hard as I thought it would be. Well worth the effort.
its like Legos but backwards
After butchering caribou and musk-ox in the field for 22 of my 29-year life it is interesting to see a butcher do their work for the first time.
As a hunter from the north we take just about everything home but the lungs and intestines.
Cool video guys!
Got my first elk yesterday. My dad and I quartered her in the field, and I wasn’t sure how to prep the meat for storage now that I’m home. This video gave me a little confidence to try butchering myself. Just gonna use a sharp knife and go slowly!
Congrats man! That’s so incredible. I couldn’t imagine how awesome it would be to have an elk to cut up. So much meat my family could eat for a year lol.
This was by far one of the most helpful and informative videos for what we need to know about butchering an elk. Thank you Randy and the whole Fresh Tracks team for all that you do!
Glad it was helpful! Good luck this season!
Butchers: very underrated skill and underrated job
Thank you for sharing this video. I appreciate that these folks need to make a living, and they are very efficient, but this video illustrates why I do this process myself. You said it best when you said "there is no right or wrong way to do it, it's whatever you like and what you want". It takes me a long time to process my elk but I get everything I like and I have very little waste. I even save the bones for bone broth and the scraps go to the dog. Seeing all the waste especially on the tenderloin was a little disturbing.
It hurt so bad!!!! 🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️🤦🏽♂️
Dude cut enough meat off fileting. My chef would've fainted.
Yeah. There's barely anything left of a decent size chunk of tenderloin. They used no precision, just hack and toss.
I understand your sentiment. I guess this is the price you pay if you dont want to do it yourself but you want it fast and they got a business to run. Its also comforting for new hunters like me to know there is a service like this available if im not confident to do it myself yet.
Top priority is to make a clean shot and keep meat clean! Great video Randy, like always, thank you!!
Thanks guys! There are 300 videos out there on how to field strip an elk, but hardly any of them tell you how to cut/wrap. Love the content and ESPECIALLY love having it to view now during quarantine.
gracias amigos
I had Buzz and his family process several elk for me over the years! They top quality work!
Buzz drove the local ski hill bus when I was a kid and Patty makes the best food! Great people!
It's a pleasure to watch these guys work. I'm a bone-out guy and a merciless trimmer. Nice to see a processor doing the same. Too many, in my experience, are bandsaw-jockeys that would rather slab an animal up than trim them up properly.
I don't know about anyone else, but I think the hook that he has in his hand is a great tool.
Outstanding video 👍, I worked with a classmate , friend , meat cutter for over 45 years ! Mr. Bill wild game processing ! I learned so much , I did enjoy the process ! Memories , special friends , co workers ! Thank you for sharing what was done ! Bob
Randy, if you ever need a hand doing this in the field, let me know. I went to school years ago for meat cutting. It provided a much needed tool in my tool bag to help me be a better sportsman and avid hunter. Being a farm kid from NW Wisconsin, it brought me through the whole circle of life to be able to being able to see these animals eat with cattle side by side in the pasture and get to hunt them in november. You have a good processor there, very knowledgeable and a good clean business. God bless in all you do.
This easily is one of my favorite informational videos. I will definitely refer to it in the future to see their way of separating the Sirloin varieties! Thanks Guys
At 86 ,Randy I would have to say that this is the best documented video of cutting up an elk .. This is for all four legged critters.. I saved this into my notes for the future . Thank you for sharing and the pro butcher at Yellowstone.👍
Glad it was helpful for you.
Great video...well done! After years (36) of butchering my own elk into steaks, roasts, burger, and breakfast sausage, the wife asked me this last season: Could I grind all but the back straps and tenderloin into burger and breakfast sausage? Got to thinking that as the backstraps, tenderloins, burger and breakfast sausage are what we enjoyed the most, why not? So I did it and have no regrets in doing so. I've always been particular about my ground elk...no fat, silverskin, or tendons! I then mix it with 1 part ground beef (70% lean) to 4 parts ground elk to make burger. For the breakfast sausage, I do a 50/50 mix of ground elk and ground Boston butt (along with my combination of spices). I did a lot of grinding last fall, but it was worth it - lots of great burgers and breakfast sausage!
I usually freeze hole muscle with in big 5 lbs bags . Lasts longer in the freezer than grinding right away. Take out what you need and then grid to make batches of sausages , stews , what ever I want . I had game like moose taste like i just shot it up to 3 years later , never had to throw any away. ground mixed with pork goes rancid in the freezer in as little as 6 months.
Great video Randy. Thankful for you your processing friends willing to let us "peek" into their world and make us a little wiser for it!
Excellent video Randy! I love to do my own processing at home!! However, this is a very informative look into the correct/professional side of butchering!
Pros always have a time is money factor. If you do it yourself, you can be fussy and spend extra hours to get extra pounds, that they just couldn't justify. I understand the tradeoffs...sometimes you are hunting far away from home and have to get the meat ready to go home and don't have all the tools on hand or a freezer.
Best explanation of the different names of the cuts and cool to consider what the best steak cuts are based on tenderness. The round and sirloin are pretty tough on game like elk and I would suggest roasts on those. The front should has a lot to offer beyond burger that would be cool to go over. Some amazing roasts and steaks in the shoulders too.
Very nice job by these people
After every video I’m like well guess nothing left till next year😧 then boom!!🤯 a new video! Awesome Randy and boys keep up the good work
There's nothing quite like watching a Maestro at work.
Thanks,it's fun to see how others process game...On smaller game such as deer I have cured and smoked the shoulders and use it similar to ham hocks.
P.S artist at work but the customer may be the butcher of the beautiful animal and I will still rewatch this video with a small bourbon. Thank you again.
"Nothin fer men of our talent" said the man from Reno. Glad to call you a local Mr. Newberg. Keep the quotes coming.
About half way through and I think this is a great video and very informative. I liked the picture of the different cut section of the Elk posted periodically as the Butcher made his cut. I really want to hunt big game but need to feel comfortable field dressing first. Of course I am going to try to pair up with someone experience first but I don't want to spend an arm and a leg. Anyway thanks for sharing the video. From Toronto, Canada.
Should have been in saskatchewan. I could have took you out.
Gotta love that “side meat”. That’s what I call it too. 😂
Thanks...I learned some new approaches. Really helpful to have the camera right on the meat.
Great video!
A fantastic channel that I learned a lot from is the Scott Rea Project. He is showing such a huge variety of how to butcher fame animals, it never gets boring. There's so many tasty ways to cut up a carcass!
I don't know if it's the feeling of providing and accomplishment, or the fact that it's food, but man, do I love the sound and smell of butchering an animal I harvested.
By far one of the best step by step processing videos I have watched
When he said Tri Tip my mouth watered! ❤
Dang I want them folks to do an elk for me ! They definitely know how to cut steaks , not just grind .
Very helpful Randy. I never realized I’ve been trimming the meat to much. Also, I enjoyed learning about the different cuts of meat. Much appreciated!
Enjoyed watching people who love their craft. Want to into hunting so bad
really good video randy...TY. And to the meat processor, thanks to him as well for letting us see behind the scenes on his processes. Ive been doing my own deer for years....hopefully one of these years soon, I get to cut up some elk meat and have some bigger steaks to work with!
Thank you Randy for all the help of how to do it right.
I always save the flatiron out of the front shoulder. Kind of a pain to pull the connective tissue out of but an amazing cut of meat!
That is the one cut they really missed talking about, the flat iron. The other side of the shoulder blade is some of my favorite stew meat.
This is the most butchers, butcher ever. I fix meat processing equipment I’ve met a lot of them.
Thanks, Randy! Yellowstone Processing is my go to. Plus, Buzz and Patti are great people along with all of their staff!
Yes they are!
Watching this is literally making my mouth water.
Great video, my family used to have a meat shop and it is hard work, they make it look easy. Got a love that equipment!!
Mouth watering video. Seriously.
I’m kinda disappointed that he didn’t cut the flat irons… they are a pain in the but to cut out, but they are so worth it.
OMG this guy is a genius! What talent!
Thank you Randy for this. Good lesson on how to maximize what ends up in the freezer. 😁👍🏼
There's something very satisfying watching a good meat processor; game or domestic.
I agree.
Great video. Very nice of them to let you film this. I saw them throw the flat iron steak in the burger pile and cringed. Second most tender steak will make a good burger I suppose.
Why do I enjoy watching this so much?
The hook will be Randy's next addition to field dressing supplies
I saw it and already told my wife that I NEED one.😀
And why isn't Havalon making a meat hook with replaceable points and a nice shiny orange handle? ;)
Great video randy very helpful and interesting to watch more educational videos like this helps us small family's doing our own thank you and keep bringing them 😀💗
Yellowstone did my cow elk this year! Great people there that did a great job. Plus they love Grannys donuts!
They took half of my elk, I had a horrible experience
@@brentr.3260 care to elaborate?
thumbs up
thanks Mr. Newberg
that was an awesome post, I will have it in my favorites for a reference
Just picked up my elk from Yellowstone about a week ago. Thank god for shoulder season!
Very educational, thanks Randy...you be the man 👨!!!
I love to hunt with good friends, and family! That was a grea buck. Thanks again for sharing.
Respect for this guy I cleaned my 1st elk two years ago and it's hatd
Hard
Sweet video! I process everything myself and this was a very good very informative video I need one of those hooks!
Glad it helps. Thanks for watching.
Best video on processing I have ever seen. Thank you for doing this.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I’m hungry now
Same
knew you had to be a Montana boy Randy, I come from up near the border and east of Glacier Park, live in Pacific Northwest now, miss the hunting
Looks like Buzz has one heck of a career there.
I've been waiting a while for this video. Thanks for doing this and sharing.
This was great Randy. What would be cool is to see what they do with an animal that is dirty/hairy and had not been taken very good care of. I saw their blowtorch there, so, I’m guessing that they burn the hair off, which is what we do as well. Super interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent video Randy,much appreciate these educated videos.
I like to use the neck meat for cube steak. And some of the smaller muscles out of the rear quarters. Breaded and pan fried cube steaks are the way to go for people that say I dont like wild game.
First off great video as always , I mite be crazy but man , just seems like they waste a ton of good edible meat and scrap that could be used for burger. Any who , love the video and Randy you are the man. !!
My thoughts exaclty. A 'Commercial' butcher is going to go as fast as they can to maximize the $/hr of labor. There was a good amount of meat being wasted by their 'trimming'. This is why I do all my butchering.
@@Kriptoker you go ahead and eat all the bloodshot shit , silver skin, tendons etc..
Awesome. awesome. awesome!!! Thanks so much!! Great instructional tv!!
super video these people sure earn their money
It truly is an artform.
awesome needed video! thanks randy
good video Mr Newberg
Thanks for watching.
I think the band saw needed cleaned first
Great video Randy, as always!
OMG I had to get some Elk ribs out for tomorrow. We got my Elk out in one piece and cut up muh like this. Great video, thanks for sharing on the crew doing fantastic work on processing an animal.
hi , where can i get cheap prices for elk meat
Thank you for sharing this video with us 👏
Great video!
Process your own game to save money and meat. Way too many horror stories of people disappointed with their game meat after getting it back from the processor.
Thanks for making this video very interesting.
Fascinating, thanks Randy.
Used to do this with my family growing up. We would butcher the animal together as a family.
I see them throwing a lot of good Meat into the trash can
They explained why they do it. Its for sanitation purposes. Most of that meat will be scrap meat and used for things like dog food so its not being wasted. There is also fat, silverskin, and other trimmed meat that just isn't good to eat alone so its used for sausage meat.
@@kimchi2780 true. I save this stuff and grind it up and turn to food for my dogs and cat. Also make sausage and jerky out alot of the pieces.
Awesome video I thank you. When I had the ability to afford to hunt for Elk I had to realize that I was incapable of doing so. I beg you to go into debt to do the hunt while you can. I thank you for your videos and I hope others will take this advice as you only have so many chances in your life. I again thank you for your videos. I think I will watch again with a small bourbon and wish to get a second chance at life.
Very cool to see how a pro does it. Thanks!
When you take an animal in for processing, if you arent quite sure what you want done with it is it common for the butcher/processor to walk you through whats possible, or do they prefer you to know at the outset what you want done?
Awesome video Randy and crew
Commercial cutting is a bitter/sweet view for me. I love the "edjumication" factor, but I cry seeing so much usable red goodness going into the trash bin. If it's red goodness, it goes into the grinder/snausage pile. But, these guys are in it to make a profit, I understand.
I am seeing this exactly as you do. My father taught me to throw almost nothing in the trash. But then I am not trying to make a living and I don't care how long it takes to process my deers.
remember they also need to have healthy product. To many lawyers out there if its bad meat.
Thank you!
Wow, that meat looks so, so good. I’d love to get some elk steak.
4 years as a butcher give me the skills to process my own meet little bit different than this guys but don't have to pay
I cant quit wondering how you get the elk to the butcher whole
Depends how close to the road you are, pulled mine and my cousin's elk last year out with the truck and loaded into the bed, drove home and hung them up.
FedEx/Uber
No way your getting a rosy out whole unless it’s right by a road or in a field ...rockys are quite a bit smaller though you can actually move them around to different positions..
I did the same exact thing when I got my first elk, a spike.. I didn't know what I was doing, however.. I do know that it damn near killed me lol
If they are whole they usually came off private land.
Im Glad i clean and process my own, They were throwing away some meat that i would have kept. I am one of those people that will trim until there is nothing left to trim, but i can take all the time i need they have to be fast. Also unless you are going to mount it i will head shoot deer because there is a lot of meat on the neck. Just MAKE sure you can get a good shot.
What a great video
Great video
A great meeting of the skills and trade. It takes time and money to hunt big game. Like Randy said, he doesn't have the time, and that is true. It takes time to outfit and go hunting, as romantic as that is. The less romantic part is packing out all that meet or that carcass.
Then there are the guys working in the processing. 3 to 4 guys in a professional facility that has to meet health department standards, etcetera. So, if anyone ever wondered why processing costs what it does, this is why. And these guys are too busy, especially during hunting season, to get much hunting done. Unless you just happen to live on property that is next to public hunting land and the deer or what-have-you comes to your property eat without pressure.
And dang, now I am hungry. A friend of mine once harvested an elk in Oklahoma where he had a lifetime hunting license. And he did his own processing at his dad's ranch. They had the shack, a gambrel on a hoist, grinder, everything. And he gave me some chile-grind out of that elk. I found a sportsman site and stole a recipe that included baker's cocoa powder. I was proud of that batch of chili.
Amazing!
Well done!
This is a tender piece of elk.
What would it cost for him to process an elk like that
Mike Carlson kinda late but $265 under 275 lbs and $290 over 275lbs
i just cant stand how he cuts so mutch of the tenderloin and hacks into the meat with his meathook