Here’s a question nobody really prepares you for: what do you actually do with a whole animal’s worth of meat? I don’t mean the romantic version where you hang the backstrap over the fire and call it dinner. I mean the real version, where the kitchen table is covered in butcher paper, the grinder is clamped to the counter, a roll of tape is lost somewhere under a pile of trimmings, and the chest freezer in the garage makes that low hum like it knows what’s coming.
That’s where a lot of Wyoming households are right now. Rifle season is well underway, and as I wrote in Rifle Season: What Changes Once the Real Hunt Begins, the hunt itself is only the first chapter. The part that decides what you eat in February happens after the shot, and most of it happens in garages, mudrooms and kitchens with the radio on.
I’ve processed my own deer, and I’ll be honest: I’m still learning. I moved to Casper from outside St. Louis in 2022, and a lot of what I know about game has come from extension guides, asking questions and plain old trial and error. So this isn’t an expert’s lecture. It’s a walk from field to freezer, with the food-safety facts checked against people who actually study this stuff.
The First 48 Hours: Cool It Down and Watch the Clock
If there’s one thing every guide I read agreed on, it’s that heat is the enemy. Once the animal is down and field-dressed, the job is getting the meat cold, and getting it cold fast.
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension’s guide to packaging and storing wild game puts it simply: a properly field-dressed carcass should be cut and chilled to below 40°F before you package it for the freezer. They also recommend trimming big muscle groups into smaller pieces so they cool faster, which makes sense once you think about it. A whole hindquarter holds heat in the middle long after the outside feels cold to the touch.
Weather matters a lot here. A cold November night might do a good share of the work for you; a sunny afternoon in the back of a truck works against you. I’m not going to give you a magic number of hours, because it depends on the air temperature, the size of the animal and how quickly you can break it down. When in doubt, colder and sooner.
Once the meat is cooled and cut, you’ve got a little breathing room. Ohio State University Extension’s fact sheet on care and handling of venison says whole cuts can be kept in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days at 40°F or below before freezing or canning. Ground venison is much less forgiving: 1 to 2 days. That’s useful to know if you’re working through an animal over a few evenings after work, which is how a lot of us do it.
Do It Yourself or Take It to a Processor?
This is a real decision, and I don’t think there’s one right answer. I’ve done my own, and I get why plenty of people don’t. Processing options vary a lot depending on where you live and how busy the season is, so ask around for a local processor if you’re going that route.
Doing it yourself
- You control everything: steak thickness, how much gets ground, how it’s trimmed and wrapped. And you know it’s your animal.
- You learn the anatomy. Nothing teaches you where the good cuts are like finding them yourself.
- It takes time, space and gear. Sharp knives, a cutting surface, wrapping supplies, and a grinder (or a friend with one).
Using a processor
- It’s faster for you, and the equipment for grinding and sausage is often better than what most of us have at home.
- It costs money, pricing varies, and busy season can mean waits. Ask up front what’s included.
- You give up some control, so be clear about steak thickness, how much grind, and whether you want trim back.
Some people split the difference, cutting steaks and roasts themselves and taking the trim somewhere for sausage.
What Goes Where: Roasts, Steaks, Stew and the Grind Pile
How much meat you end up with varies a lot by animal: species, size, age, shot placement and how carefully it was trimmed all play a part. But the general sorting goes roughly like this.
The backstrap and tenderloins are the prize cuts. These get treated gently and cooked quickly. If you need a reason to save one for a special night, my Pan-Seared Elk Backstrap with Chokecherry Pan Sauce is the one I’d point you to.
The hindquarters break down into the big muscles that make good roasts and steaks. Some of these are tender enough for the grill or a hot pan; others are better sliced thin, or for jerky. Lean, even-grained pieces are a good fit for jerky, like my Pronghorn Jerky.
The shanks and tougher cuts are where the slow-cooking magic is. Shanks have a lot of connective tissue that turns rich and silky with time. That’s the whole idea behind Slow-Cooked Elk Osso Buco, and it’s a big reason I own more than one Dutch oven.
Stew meat comes from the front shoulders, neck and trimmings that are too nice to grind but too tough for a pan. Cube it, package it in meal-sized portions, and you’ve got the start of a Dutch Oven Venison Stew any cold Sunday.
The grind pile is everything else, and it’s always bigger than you expect.
The grind pile problem
Here’s the thing about processing a big game animal: a surprising amount of it ends up as ground meat. It’s a great problem to have, but come January, a freezer full of one-pound bricks of grind can start to feel a little repetitive. That’s exactly why I wrote Wyoming Elk Meatloaf, and it’s why I’m a big believer in setting some of that trim aside for Homemade Venison Sausage. A few pounds turned into sausage gives you a completely different meal from the same pile, and it plays well with the smoker.
Chili, pasta sauce and tacos help too. The more ways you have to use it, the less that pile looks like a chore.
Wrapping It Right
Packaging is where a lot of good meat goes wrong, slowly. Freezer burn happens when air reaches the surface of frozen meat and dries it out. It isn’t a safety problem, but it leaves dry, off-tasting spots. The goal is as little air touching the meat as possible:
- Freezer paper. The classic. Wrap it tight, fold the ends like a present, tape it shut. If you need a roll, Reynolds Kitchens plastic-coated freezer paper is an easy one to find; the listing I looked at comes with a built-in cutter, which is handy when you’re wrapping a lot of packages in a row. (Affiliate link; I may earn a small commission if you buy, at no extra cost to you.) Some folks wrap in plastic wrap first and then paper for an extra layer.
- Vacuum sealing or freezer bags with the air pressed out also work, especially for ground meat and stew cubes.
A few habits that have saved me some guesswork:
- Label everything. Animal, cut and date at minimum. “Elk, shoulder roast, Nov 2026” tells future you a lot more than a mystery package does.
- Portion for your household. We’re a family of three, and one of us is five. Thawing a giant roast for a Tuesday doesn’t make sense for us.
- Flatten ground meat. Pressed flat in a bag, it freezes faster, stacks better and thaws faster.
- Freeze it fast. Texas A&M AgriLife recommends freezing at 0°F or below as quickly as possible. Spread new packages out so cold air can reach them, instead of stacking a warm pile in one corner.
How Long Does It Keep?
People ask how long game keeps in the freezer, and the answer has two parts.
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service says that food kept frozen at 0°F stays safe indefinitely. The storage times you see on charts are about quality, not safety. Over a long enough time, frozen meat slowly loses flavor and texture, especially if the wrap wasn’t tight.
For a rough quality guide, the Minnesota Department of Health’s cold storage chart lists deer at 6 to 12 months in the freezer at 0°F, and hamburger at 3 to 4 months. Think of those as “best by” windows, not a safety cliff. In practice, that’s a good argument for eating your ground meat first and saving the well-wrapped roasts for later in the year.
Thawing and Cooking Safely
One thing that surprised me when I first read up on this: freezing doesn’t kill bacteria. Penn State Extension’s guide to processing wild game and fish explains that freezing only halts their growth. So once meat thaws, it should be handled like fresh meat and cooked promptly.
Penn State also recommends thawing in the refrigerator, or in cold water if the package is sealed, and never on the counter. Refrigerator thawing takes planning (a roast can take a day or more), so I’ve learned to pull tomorrow’s dinner out of the freezer tonight.
For cooking temperatures, NDSU Extension’s pocket guide to care and handling of deer and elk says to cook ground game to 160°F. For whole-muscle steaks and roasts, USDA guidance is 145°F followed by a 3-minute rest. An instant-read thermometer is the cheapest insurance in the kitchen.
A Couple of Wyoming-Specific Things
Two things are worth knowing if you hunt here, and both come straight from Wyoming Game and Fish. Rules change, so please check the current regulations rather than taking my word as the final say.
Salvaging the meat
Wyoming law requires hunters to take reasonable care to salvage the edible portions of big game. According to Wyoming Game and Fish, that means the meat along the backbone, the tenderloins, and all four quarters down to the hock. Game and Fish also notes that it’s legal to cut up or bone out an animal in the field, which is handy when you’re a long way from the truck.
CWD testing
Chronic wasting disease is something every Wyoming hunter hears about. Wyoming Game and Fish encourages hunters to get their animals tested, using lymph node samples, through check stations, field collection by department staff, or the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab. Testing is mandatory in some hunt areas, so check what applies to yours.
Game and Fish shares the CDC’s recommendation that hunters consider testing animals harvested in known CWD areas, and not eat meat from animals that look sick or test positive. There has never been a documented case of CWD in humans, but the CDC and World Health Organization still advise caution. Game and Fish also asks hunters to leave the nervous system tissue and spleen at the kill site, or, if you bring the whole animal out, to dispose of the carcass at an approved landfill. Check the current guidance before you go, since the details can change.
Cooking Down the Freezer Through Winter
Once everything’s wrapped and stacked, the fun part starts. Early in winter, I lean on the ground meat, since its quality window is shorter. As the weather gets meaner, the stew meat and shanks come out for long afternoons in the Dutch oven. Something rich and comforting like Elk Stroganoff is a good way to use up a few packages of steak trim that weren’t quite pretty enough for the grill.
And on a night that calls for it, the backstrap comes out. Just don’t save the best cuts so long they lose their edge. The best version of that meat is the one you actually eat.
Freezer Cheat Sheet
- Cool first: Chill meat below 40°F before packaging; cut big muscles smaller so they cool faster.
- Fridge window: Whole cuts 3 to 5 days at 40°F or below; ground 1 to 2 days.
- Freeze fast: 0°F or below, as quickly as possible.
- Wrap tight: Minimize air to prevent freezer burn.
- Label: Animal, cut, date.
- Quality guide: Deer 6 to 12 months, hamburger 3 to 4 months at 0°F (Minnesota Department of Health). Frozen at 0°F, it stays safe indefinitely; quality is what fades.
- Thaw: In the fridge, or in cold water if sealed. Never on the counter.
- Cook: Ground game to 160°F; steaks and roasts to 145°F with a 3-minute rest.
- Wyoming: Salvage the required meat and check CWD testing rules for your hunt area.
How Do You Run Your Freezer?
I’m still refining my own system, and I know plenty of you have been at this a lot longer than I have. Do you organize by animal, by cut, by month? Color-coded tape? A whiteboard on the freezer lid? I’d love to see it. Tag @wyofood on Instagram or find Wyo Food on Facebook and show me how you keep a season’s worth of game in order.
Here’s to full freezers and good winter dinners.
— Sean