To those who don’t know how to self-butcher game, the process can seem… intense. It’s messy, time consuming, and it puts a lot of hard-earned meat at risk of spoilage.
So I cast no shade on those folks who take an animal to a professional to be processed. It’s right to be realistic about the amount of time and energy butchery requires. Half-hearted or hurried self-butchery is a sure way to waste a fresh kill.
That said, I choose to butcher my own meat for a number of reasons.
For one, it’s the surest way to ensure the meat I bring home is from the animal I killed—many processors combine meat from multiple animals. I’m particularly careful to not contaminate my kills, but I can’t be sure other hunters have shown the same diligence.