text: two down, a few more to go | Homesteading Forum
  well i did the deed today, i finnally had the time and energy to butcher, a friend of mine at work wanted to get some rabbit meat from me when she found out i had them, so that gave me the excuse to do what has been needing to be done in a LONG TIME<
  i did a doe and a buck today, they were SOOO easy to skin and butcher, BUT the only probem i had is the doe had some bruising in the shoulder, i did the broomstick method and decapitated them as soon as i could, i cleaned out as much of the clotting as i could, will this harm the meat??
  We are very fussy about any blood left in any meat that we butcher but if you cleaned it thoroughly then it is mainly a judgment call. I usually just cut the bruised bits out if I can so I can't really say if the meat tastes any different from the unbruised stuff.
  If in doubt cut it out and give it to the dog or cat. That's just me.
  I also butchered one yesterday that should have been done a while ago and there are four more to do. Why only one, you ask? Well....
  I was already cheesed off with a couple of other things that happened yesterday morning so when I started I was already in a bad mood. Then, apparently the pellet gun doesn't work so well in the cold. Let's just say it took two shots because when I realized the cold gun didn't fire too well I was too far away from the hammer and it was quicker to reload then go for the hammer. Now I'm mad! Then the feet slipped out of the little loops I had it hung up with and it fell into the pan that I was bleeding it out into and got all covered in blood. Now I'm steaming! Then, when I was slitting the skin on the belly, I accidentally cut the belly too and the guts fell out while I was trying to finish the rest of the skinning. Now I"m white hot angry! Then the bladder broke.....
  Anyway, it's now vacuum packed in the freezer, feet and tail in a jar of alcohol and the pelt is in a bucket of salt water.