2021 NV First Come First Serve Bull

[Grizzly1022]

New for 2021 Nevada Dep of Wildlife brought in a new system for tag returns. I was lucky enough to be a benefactor of this system by picking up my first bull elk tag in a premium unit. At about a week before the hunt, I was scrambling to get a rifle dialed in, plan made, escout and figure how this was going to happen solo. With the help of people who knew that area well, I got it done on a great 5x5 on the second day of the hunt. Shot a .300 with 215 gr bergers and the bull went about 10 yards before piling up. The bullet completely passed through with little trauma - the perks of double lunging the animal and missing all shoulder bones.

To say the least, I was stoked to have taken my first bull with a weeks notice to prepare. Now, I have an issue. The butchers in town are all full until after the first of the year due to the holidays. It is frozen in my chest freezer, but I am ready to look into processing the animal on my own. I would love to hear some recommendations on sausage recipes, and on how to go about grinding up an entire elk - except for the steaks and roasts of course. Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone else still hunting!

 

[cgasner1]

Just go to cabelas and buy some kits can’t go wrong with them


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[Steve1662]

Congrats on the elk. For my sausage I grind down a pork butt and add it at 1:3 ratio to game meat. Plenty of receipts out there. Recommend sampling it as you add your seasoning... one year I over seasoned about 15 ibs worth.

Love my Lem Big Bite Grinder. #5 0.35HP. All stainless steal and gets the job done. You'll want a big plastic tub for grinding into and mixing stuff up.

As far as grinding... I do it in 10 ibs batches. Cube the meat small and put it in the freezer for 30ish minutes before you grind it as it tends to come out better. I grind the meat with a coarse grinding plate. Mix in the pork and then grind it with a medium grinding plate. Season it all up. Sample. And then stuff it into 1ibs bags.



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[Rogue Bay]

That’s a stud of a 5! Congrats on a great first bull! We’ve also used pork shoulder to mix with our sausage grind. For burger I always buy beef suet (sp?) for a 10% mix, just enough to bind. I typically grind at a higher mix ratio for sausage.

We’ve used High Mountain and Cabela’s brands for seasoning, and I’ve yet to find one I didn’t like. As was mentioned before, maybe do some sampling and see what your preference is.

Congrats again!

 

[Calbuck]

Others above have laid it out pretty well for you. I do my own big game and after cutting up the roasts/steaks I find trimming as much of the grisle and silverskin out as you can will make for better sausage/burger..I don't mix anything in mine, and have no trouble with binding the meat when I make patties and put it on the grill..I prefer it this way as I eat the meat for it's leanness and unique flavor. You just have to start cutting and you'll find out what works best for you. Nice bull!

 

[jdyansick]

Great story. Glad you were blessed with a great bull.

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[tyeager2964]

I started cutting my own deer about 5 or 6 years ago. I am a nerd so I bought a book to help. After you do two or three it will be easy.

there are also plenty of good YouTube videos on breaking down whitetails and other deer into selected cuts. An elk is the same just bigger.

I don’t vaccuum seal anything but I do wrap all meat in Saran Wrap to squeeze out the air then use freezer paper. This has lasted in a freezer for 1.5 years.

get your steaks cut and roasts separated and wrapped. Your can then place all the trimmings in ziplocks and work on them as time allows. I have never had any quality issues thawing cubed trimmings then grinding it and refreezing.

I have mixed pork into burger but prefer straight game meat for use in spaghetti, meat loaf, hamburger helper etc