December is my favorite month, but not for the reason you’re probably thinking.
We don’t do Christmas, we don’t do trees and lights, or the sweaters and cookies (anymore). . . What I love most about December is cow elk season.
I am not a trophy hunter, though I do have a few heads on the wall (not monsters by any means). I strictly hunt for meat. And friends, if you’ve never had an elk steak in your cake hole, you’ve not truly lived.
This year I was blessed to get a crop deprivation tag from my husband’s grandmother. While the powers that be are trying to make people think the elk herds are suffering here in Southern Colorado, anyone with a pair of functioning eyeballs can see that they’re thriving. Some of the old timers I’ve been blessed to know tell stories about how elk weren’t even in this part of the country until the 80s when the department of wildlife brought in elk from Yellowstone and from the Vermejo in New Mexico, which is actually really close to us as the crow flies.
My husband’s grandpa would talk about how he remembered when the first walk started showing up at their ranch. It was cool to see at first, but now they’re a nuisance.
Anyone who has ever built a fence can attest to just how big of a nuisance they really are. And don’t get me wrong, I LOVE elk. I am still very much that giddy, childlike person in awe of these critters. I will never not exclaim ELK! every time I see one 🤣
But these days we have an entire herd on the ranch. They’re not always there, but when they are, they tear up fences and eat valuable grass that we need for the cattle. And in our part of the world, we just can’t support both cattle. So every year we are given an allotted amount of crop deprivation tags by the game wardens/Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
ANYWAYS. . . I got an elk.
It’s been cold here, so we quartered her and hanged her in the shed out back. I have been chipping away at quarters while my husband has been at work. I also had some wonderful friends come help me this week! We visited and laughed while the kids played and my friend’s husband and I cut away at meat.
My daughter also an amazing helper! She jumps right in and helps trim the dried bits on the outside!
It brings me great peace of mind and joy to have all this in my freezers. My family will eat healthy all year long with this!
We absolutely love elk meat. We eat it for almost every supper.
We eat more ground meat than anything else, so that’s what we make the most of when butchering.
We ended up with about 25 lbs of tenderize steaks. I have a tenderize that attaches to our grinder. It makes the steaks into cube steaks. We use this for chicken fried elk steak, fajitas, stir fry, and burritos…and whatever else I can think of to throw it in.
We got 4 bags of tenderloins. Elk tenderloin is about as good as it gets. There’s 2 tenderloins on critters. I cut them in half. I like to cook them “whole” rather than sliced into steaks.
We 8 bags of backstrap. Backstraps are the pieces of meat that run along the spine on the “outside” (if that makes sense). Forever, we sliced these into steaks. But one year I was lazy! I cut one into four chunks and tossed them in the freezer. When I cooked one, we fell in love. The way I cooked it, it turned out like prime rib 🤤 it was SO good. So now I also keep these “whole” rather than slicing into steaks.
We saved about 15 lbs of meat for my dad to make brats with. My dad really makes all the best stuff.
This cow was so meaty. She had meat in places I haven’t ever seen on elk before. She had a full on brisket, too! I was able to pull the whole brisket off to also give to my dad. He has it in a brine for corned beef…I mean, corned elk, which he’ll slice for sandwich meat.
I just finished up with vacuum sealing the burger!
We ended up with 70 lbs of ground elk!
We like to mix beef fat into our burger, which also helps to stretch it further. Elk is very lean, so adding some fat into is always a good idea.
I also saved out about 2 lbs of burger for supper tonight! We had frito chili pie 🥰
Now we are packing for a lovely little trip to the Bahamas! Stay tuned for all the shenanigans that ensue with that! 🏝🐷🥥
Do you hunt? Do you butcher/process your own meat? I’d love to hear how your family does it!
Middle Creek Mama 