Steer slaughtering!

[Deerdigger]

Slaughtering 2 steers next weekend, havent done it in Years.
Is it any different then deer? shouldnt be right? my only concern is around the butt hole. I know it sounds funny, but no funny buisness intended.

[Toxic]

I have done many, many deer. I grew up on a dairy farm so I'm very familiar with cattle. Now let me tell a little story...

When I was around 18 years old we had a cow break her leg in an implement hitch. She was a perfectly health cow and my older brother and I decided that since we couldn't walk her onto a trailer and ship her to slaughter we would dress her ourselves and take her to the butcher for cutting. Our father (who was the generation where hunting skipped in our family) told us we were crazy to tackle it. We dimissed him as a non-hunter and generally just being "old".

Well long story short...when we got the point of cutting with the beast hanging from the front end loader I had a liver on my face as I tried to hold the inners in while my brother finished the cut. Our father didn't have to say anything...the look on his face and ours told the whole story.

So....now we hire a guy to come and dress the animals for us before we take it to the butcher. The neatest piece of equipment has is a stand made up of some round iron. You lay the cow on this stand and her back is held in between the two round bars. This keeps her in the perfect position for dressing. IF ever we tried one ourselves again (HIGHLY unlikely) we would build one of these stands.

Unfortunately I dont' have an answer to your butthole question. I would probablyjust leave it connected and empty the guts by lifting the cow from the neck and making that cut last once everything else is out.

Good luck!

[boakley]

same steps including the bunging step. Otherways to manage like using a debunging tool, etc... but treating like a deer works perfectly fine.
Main difference is the obvious one which is overall weight.
Challenge is manhandling an animal that maybe is around 5X heavier than a deer.
Having 4 friends around on the day of slaughter sure helps.
Don't turn down any extra hands.

[HOUSEHUNTER]

Originally Posted by Toxic

I have done many, many deer. I grew up on a dairy farm so I'm very familiar with cattle. Now let me tell a little story...

When I was around 18 years old we had a cow break her leg in an implement hitch. She was a perfectly health cow and my older brother and I decided that since we couldn't walk her onto a trailer and ship her to slaughter we would dress her ourselves and take her to the butcher for cutting. Our father (who was the generation where hunting skipped in our family) told us we were crazy to tackle it. We dimissed him as a non-hunter and generally just being "old".

Well long story short...when we got the point of cutting with the beast hanging from the front end loader I had a liver on my face as I tried to hold the inners in while my brother finished the cut. Our father didn't have to say anything...the look on his face and ours told the whole story.

So....now we hire a guy to come and dress the animals for us before we take it to the butcher. The neatest piece of equipment has is a stand made up of some round iron. You lay the cow on this stand and her back is held in between the two round bars. This keeps her in the perfect position for dressing. IF ever we tried one ourselves again (HIGHLY unlikely) we would build one of these stands.

Unfortunately I dont' have an answer to your butthole question. I would probablyjust leave it connected and empty the guts by lifting the cow from the neck and making that cut last once everything else is out.

Good luck!

lol, been there , done that......we now call a guy in aswell !!

[gasguzzler]

cut it around and tie it up with twine. works excellent

[Deerdigger]

Originally Posted by HOUSEHUNTER

lol, been there , done that......we now call a guy in aswell !!

Hey i used to work for that guy in the picture, They used to own Country smoke house in Newbothwell. The crappy part is i never got the chance to go out on the kills, always worked on the cutting floor.
Thanks. if you dont mind me asking what does he charge for slaughtering?

[MudChucker]

We do 4 beef a year... never gave it much thought... up with the loader, slide the old plymouth hood underneath and open like a zipper...

remember, the gut pile is much much larger... and unlike a deer that you can man handle around, there will be no man handling said beef until its in at least half, and then very likely not until its in quarters.

that guy in the picture is my outlaws cousin...

[HOUSEHUNTER]

Originally Posted by Deerdigger

Hey i used to work for that guy in the picture, They used to own Country smoke house in Newbothwell. The crappy part is i never got the chance to go out on the kills, always worked on the cutting floor.
Thanks. if you dont mind me asking what does he charge for slaughtering?

yep thats him, we gave him a smaller steer for the whole job, freezer ready

[Sniper-T]

we always cut the buthole first, while it was still on the ground. slice around, pull it out, tie it off, and then shove it back in. Same as his pecker (tie the tube and shove it in, not the whole pecker! lol). when you hoist it to zip it open, it, along with everything else falls out.

[Deerdigger]

Well just to inform everyone, yesterday was the slaughter day. It all went well,did it just like a deer, just a bigger animal and more time. Started the gutting process on the ground and as we were ready to drop it all out, we just raised them off the ground with the bobcat. All went well, thanks for the help everyone. Just a little tip, my brother in law told me is to put a plastic bag around the pecker,and same with the butt hole tie it off, and man did that keep things nice and clean. thanks again everyone.