From Field to Freezer: A Guide to Processing and Storing Wild Game

You’re standing over your harvest. The hard part—the hunt—is over. Now the real work begins. This is the moment that separates those who just hunt from those who truly provide. It’s the sacred transition from field to freezer, where care, respect, and skill determine whether your reward is legendary venison steaks or mystery meat with a side of freezer burn.

This isn’t about being a master butcher. It’s about being a competent craftsman. It’s about honoring the animal by wasting nothing and preserving the pristine quality of the meat you worked so hard for. Let’s walk through this process, step by deliberate step. No fluff, just the essential knowledge you need to get it from the woods to your table at its absolute best.

Step 1: Field Dressing – The Critical First Move

Time is your enemy here. Your goal is to remove the internal organs (the viscera) to cool the carcass rapidly and prevent spoilage.

The Essentials: A sharp, dedicated knife. A small bone saw or sturdy knife for the pelvis/sternum. Disposable gloves. Game bags.

The Process (The Clean Getaway):

1. Position & Cut: Roll the animal onto its back. Make a shallow cut from the sternum down to the pelvis, careful not to puncture the stomach or intestines. Use your fingers to guide the knife, lifting the skin and muscle away from the organs beneath.

2. Split the Pelvis/Sternum: Use your saw or a sturdy knife to split the pelvis bone and the sternum. This opens the cavity fully.

3. Remove the Organs: Carefully cut around the anus and tie it off (the “butt out” tool is great for this). Work to free all the organs, letting them roll out of the cavity. Remove the heart and liver if you wish to keep them.

4. Clean & Prop: Tip the carcass to drain all blood. Wipe the cavity clean with dry grass or a cloth. Prop the cavity open with a stick to promote air circulation and rapid cooling.

The Tool Truth: This is messy, precise work. You need a sharp, controllable knife. A blade that can make careful cuts without slipping and can be cleaned easily is worth its weight in gold. This is where a purpose-built, razor-sharp knife makes all the difference.

Step 2: Aging & Hanging – The Flavor Developer

If conditions allow (temps between 34-40°F), hanging the carcass for 7-14 days is a game-changer. It allows natural enzymes to tenderize the meat and develop deeper, richer flavor.

• Hang it in a cool, clean, dry place, away from pests.

• Skin on or off? For shorter hangs (under a week), skin on helps protect the meat. For longer hangs, skinning is often better to prevent spoilage.

• Trust your nose. If it smells sour or off, it’s gone bad.

Step 3: Butchering – Your Kitchen, Your Rules

This is where you turn a carcass into meals. You can do this yourself. It’s not surgery; it’s following the seams.

The Mindset: You’re not “cutting” through meat; you’re “separating” muscles at their natural connective tissue seams (the silverskin). This yields cleaner cuts and less waste.

The Basic Breakdown:

1. Skin & Quarter: Hang the animal and skin it completely. Remove the front and rear quarters (legs), the backstraps (the long muscles along the spine), and the tenderloins (inside the cavity along the spine).

2. Break Down the Quarters: Each leg breaks into familiar cuts: sirloin tip, top round, bottom round, shank. Use bone-in cuts for braises, boneless for roasts and steaks.

3. The Prize Cuts: The backstraps and tenderloins are your prime steak material. Remove them carefully, trim away all silverskin, and keep them whole for magnificent medallions or steaks.

The Non-Negotiable Tool: 

Butchering is 90% about having a sharp, confident blade. A cleaver’s weight can help with small bones and joints, but for the detailed work of seam-butchering, you need control. A sharp, sturdy boning knife is ideal, but a versatile, well-balanced blade like the MWTP Cleaver 2.0 Collectors Edition can handle the heftier separations and precise trimming with authority. Its edge should glide through connective tissue, not saw.

Step 4: Packaging & Freezing – The Long-Term Payoff

This step is what protects your investment. Freezer burn is caused by air exposure. Your job is to eliminate it.

1. Final Trim: Back in your kitchen, do a final trim of all silverskin and excess fat (venison fat doesn’t store well and can become rancid).

2. Portion for Meals: Think about how you cook. Package steaks individually. Package stew meat in 1-2 lb batches. Ground meat in 1 lb packages.

3. The Wrap (The Double Layer Defense):

   • First Layer (Contact): Tight plastic wrap. Wrap the portion tightly, pressing out all air pockets.

   • Second Layer (Armor): Heavy-duty freezer paper (shiny side in), taped securely, or a vacuum-seal bag. Vacuum sealing is the gold standard. It removes almost all air and is worth the investment for the quality it preserves.

4. Label Relentlessly: Use a marker. Write the cut AND the date. “Venison Backstrap, 1/26” is perfect. In six months, you won’t remember.

Storage: Place packages flat in the freezer to freeze quickly. Once solid, you can organize them. Use bins to separate cuts: steaks, roasts, grind, stew meat. A organized freezer is a happy freezer.

The Honorable Finish

Processing your own game is the final, respectful link in the chain of harvest. It connects you directly to the food on your table in the most fundamental way. And when you pull a perfectly preserved package of backstrap from your freezer in July, you’ll feel a pride that no store-bought steak can ever match.

That pride extends to your tools. Using a blade that feels right—one that held its edge through the entire process from field dressing to final trim—completes the circle. It’s a tool that’s earned its place. And when the work is done, storing that essential tool with care is part of the ritual. A Cleaver Sheath protects your blade’s edge and your gear when you’re on the move, from the truck bed to the camp kitchen.

This is about more than meat in the freezer. It’s about self-reliance, respect, and the deep satisfaction of the full process. If you value the journey from the first step in the woods to the last slice on the plate, then you understand that the right tools aren’t a luxury—they’re a necessity. Equip yourself for the entire mission. Find the gear built for the wild at the MWTP Cleaver 2.0 Launch. Your harvest deserves nothing less.