Hand Meat Saws......

[The Appalachian]

I have used a Sawzall for splitting down the backbone on deer its ok, but more than not find myself going to the hand meat saw. I find the hand meat saw is much easier to keep clean from bits of bone and meat when using it. Been a few years since Butchering a hog but even then, every cut was done with a hand meat saw, not so many years back around about this time I would help a great friend cut beef and those cuts were also done by hand. (He has since gone on to the great divide) and it greatly missed, as to regular cuts on a deer such as steaks and such I bone everything prior to cutting them, no need to freeze bone.

We don't like the taste of bone in venison. So we bone everything out, remove as much fat as possible as well because deer fat is awful too.

We are advised here now anyway to not get into the spinal cord or brain anyway as we are in a CWD management area. That's not saying our animals are sick, but a couple have been found in neighboring counties and they've decided to take preemptive strikes at our county's herd to hopefully stem the spread. We have testing available if we need it. So, splitting a deer spine isn't something we do, or want to do for that matter. Backstraps are too easy to just peel out.

When we process a deer we end up with 6 chunks of backstrap cut into 8 inch lengths; the inner loins; two large long trapezoidal shaped muscles from the hind quarters I turn into jerky; and the rest is chunked up lean either for canning or for the various forms of ground meat I make, burger, sausage, snack sticks, etc. We don't fool with steaks or anything fancy. We cut what we like to eat the most of.

 

[Daryl Crawford]

I've not found a hand saw yet that I liked enough to split hogs from tip to tail and then to cut out bone in chops.
More power to you!
With a small group of friends, we usually cut 3 steer and 16-18 hogs each year. The number of deer vary. Having a band saw is critical. Even when I was only cutting up one hog, a small band saw and grinder were key to quick work and clean cuts. Don't forget the scraper to get rid of the bone meal on your chops!

 

[The Appalachian]

https://tenor.com/vAl8.gif

 

[stikshooter]

Decided to go even further off grid with the grocery shopping and will be going back to raising a hog and a calf to kill each year.

Instead of sinking even more money into processing like in the past, my adult kids and I will do all the processing as we do with the whitetails we kill each year.

We usually bone out the deer but will definitely want to keep bone in on some cuts with the pork and beef, especially the pork. Nothing better than a bone in pork chop, nothing worse than a boneless one, in my opinion.

For a year old hog, a two year old steer, and half a dozen or eight deer that we bone out anyway each year I can't justify a meat band saw, and my cutting room doesn't have spare space for one anyway. So, it's a hand butcher saw. Probably can do fine with a 16 inch.

I've hacked critters apart before with a hacksaw, a carpenters saw, and a Sawzall, but this time I want a legit stainless steel butcher's saw.

Can get one from a dozen different sources, and pay a dozen different prices. Any first hand recommendations here before I take a stab in the dark with it?

Neighbor gave me one but I favor the sawsall , I think they were invented by a butcher who got tired /Ed

 

[Eterry]

I've not found a hand saw yet that I liked enough to split hogs from tip to tail and then to cut out bone in chops.
More power to you!
With a small group of friends, we usually cut 3 steer and 16-18 hogs each year. The number of deer vary. Having a band saw is critical. Even when I was only cutting up one hog, a small band saw and grinder were key to quick work and clean cuts. Don't forget the scraper to get rid of the bone meal on your chops!

You're absolutely right. You have to use a butter knife or something similar to scrape the bone "dust" from your meat. I don't use the saw as much as before, I also tend to bone out my deer now. My departed hunting friend loved bone in steaks, pork and deer, and he bought meat blades to fit a hacksaw from the Sportsman's Guide. But I hated hitting my knuckles using it and bought the meat saw, which made cutting steaks or splitting ribs much easier.

I watched the YouTube videos from Bearded Butcher's about quartering and boning out a deer, they really helped me learn how to make the proper cuts.

 

[TDM]

You're absolutely right. You have to use a butter knife or something similar to scrape the bone "dust" from your meat. I don't use the saw as much as before, I also tend to bone out my deer now. My departed hunting friend loved bone in steaks, pork and deer, and he bought meat blades to fit a hacksaw from the Sportsman's Guide. But I hated hitting my knuckles using it and bought the meat saw, which made cutting steaks or splitting ribs much easier.

I watched the YouTube videos from Bearded Butcher's about quartering and boning out a deer, they really helped me learn how to make the proper cuts.

Those Bearded Butcher’s videos are very good, watched them a number of years ago. But I debone too.

 

[Eterry]

Those Bearded Butcher’s videos are very good, watched them a number of years ago. But I debone too.

I've watched them several times, almost every year before deer season I watch it again to refresh my memory. The deer are, i think, partially frozen, which helps them quarter easier, but they show which cuts make what steaks. Following the seams is a great tip.

 

[TDM]

I've watched them several times, almost every year before deer season I watch it again to refresh my memory. The deer are, i think, partially frozen, which helps them quarter easier, but they show which cuts make what steaks. Following the seams is a great tip.

Agree, I need to watch a few again.

 

[Shorthanded]

Agree, I need to watch a few again.

I have two hand meat saws, can't seem to find quality blades locally and they are pricey. I find I can't stay on track splitting the back bone, keep fighting run-out. So this year tried the sawzall. Why I didn't think of that before I don't know. I only use the saw to split the back bone, the rest I bone out

 

[TDM]

I have two hand meat saws, can't seem to find quality blades locally and they are pricey. I find I can't stay on track splitting the back bone, keep fighting run-out. So this year tried the sawzall. Why I didn't think of that before I don't know. I only use the saw to split the back bone, the rest I bone out

They do work well.

 

[bud in pa]

I have a Disston meat saw. The blade is 22 inches long. I bought it about 25 years ago, still has the same blade, and I can't remember how many deer it has butchered. I use, my son uses it and friends use it. I wish the rest of my tools were as good.

 

[DuncNZ]

What you call a sawzall I call a reciprocating hand saw . I use one at home but carry a Silky saw in the field . I used to use a Small axe and a piece of no8 wire inserted into the spinal cord to help guide the axe blade , that works quite well .

 

[flconch53]

I have my grandfather's old hand meat saw. He cut all his own meat on the farm. His sons, my uncles didn't want to do there own meat so I got the saw. I have used on deer hogs and 1 small cow. It makes me happy when I use it.

 

[CZMark]

I have a LEM meat saw, it cuts through bone so fast it's scary.

 

[waksupi]

We don't like the taste of bone in venison. So we bone everything out, remove as much fat as possible as well because deer fat is awful too.

We are advised here now anyway to not get into the spinal cord or brain anyway as we are in a CWD management area. That's not saying our animals are sick, but a couple have been found in neighboring counties and they've decided to take preemptive strikes at our county's herd to hopefully stem the spread. We have testing available if we need it. So, splitting a deer spine isn't something we do, or want to do for that matter. Backstraps are too easy to just peel out.

When we process a deer we end up with 6 chunks of backstrap cut into 8 inch lengths; the inner loins; two large long trapezoidal shaped muscles from the hind quarters I turn into jerky; and the rest is chunked up lean either for canning or for the various forms of ground meat I make, burger, sausage, snack sticks, etc. We don't fool with steaks or anything fancy. We cut what we like to eat the most of.

Quickest way to ruin venison is to cut meat with the bone in.

 

[Eterry]

Quickest way to ruin venison is to cut meat with the bone in.

I agree that deer bone chips in your soup will ruin it quick.
A few years back I used a camp axe to chop off the neck of a nice buck. I cleaned it of bone chips best I could then boiled it until the meat fell off. Then got the vertebrae out and made a huge pot of stew. It tasted fine, but was full of small bits of bone from the axe. The Jack Russell got the meat, I threw the rest out.

This year I used a boning knife to remove the neck, made the best stew you've ever had. I took it to my lodge and everyone thought it was beef.

If your saw is sharp and you get the bone dust off your chops you won't have a problem. Almost all commercial meat is cut with saws, but they scrape the dust off immediately. Or they did in the 80s.

 

[French Colonial]

Some years back three friends and I went on a buffalo hunt out in Kansas, the young men who were the guides used a battery operated sawsall and it was amazing to watch how fast they could turn a buffalo into a pile of bones on the ground.

 

[BrianL]

I have a Makita electric chainsaw that I have used nothing but vegetable oil in since the day that I bought it. It has come in very handy on several moose and deer that had to get into the freezer quickly due to weather. My brother hit a big moose in August with his truck and as you can imagine, after waiting for the police/game wardens, it was a fast reducing effort. We lost none of it.

 

[The Appalachian]

I have a Makita electric chainsaw that I have used nothing but vegetable oil in since the day that I bought it. It has come in very handy on several moose and deer that had to get into the freezer quickly due to weather. My brother hit a big moose in August with his truck and as you can imagine, after waiting for the police/game wardens, it was a fast reducing effort. We lost none of it.

That's nice......

But no input on current hand butcher saws on the market regarding construction, ergonomics, one length over another, teeth per inch, etc?

Thanks anyway.......

 

[wild willy]

kasco are good saws.The blades are what’s important and kasco blades are very good.A lot of the blades sold on the internet homeowner butchering sites aren’t very good.I use a wellsaw for splitting but still use a hand saw