Watch: How to Break Down a Deer Ham or Hind Quarter

Deer hunters have quite a job ahead of them when they make a kill… they have to convert that large beast into preservable packages of edible meat. And it’s true that many hunters hire that job out to others by taking their deer to a butcher or processor, but if you have some time and determination it’s really not all that hard to do it yourself.

I’ve butchered many of my deer, and it does take time… but knowing how to do it right can help you speed up the process. This video shows how to “break down” a deer ham (or hind leg/quarter) into the separate muscle groups, or roasts — including sirloin tip, rump roast, bottom round, shank, and top round.

He begins by cleaning up the outside of the meat by removing fat, sinew, hair, and the like.

This has a lot of great info, as I never knew that the eye of round roast was a nice tender goodie in the ham… I usually turn my hams into cubed steaks.

At the end, he names and describes the various sections of meat, along with suggestions for use & preparation of them. Nice!

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.