Moms Back-strap Deer Chili : 9 Steps

In this instructable I am going to show step by step how to make my mothers deer chili. Harvesting a deer and getting it to your dinner plate is no easy task, there are many steps and processes. I'm going to go over the basics of everything you need to know to dress a deer and make the best deer chili you've ever tasted.

Step 1: Harvesting Your Deer

This step is pretty straight forward, you need to harvest a deer! The small ones are the best for eating. Remember to follow all state hunting laws, and to practice so you can make an ethical shot.

Step 2: Hang Your Deer.

Now that you have harvested your deer you need to field dress it. This is basically a term for removing all of its organs. The organs of the deer need to be removed as soon as possible.

- Hang the deer from a sturdy structure (tree, garage, etc) make sure that her legs are spread open as far as possible (most outdoor stores sell hangers to help spread the legs). Place a bucket or container under the deer to catch the organs as they fall

- Find the groin area of the deer and make a cut all the way down to the rib cage. TIP: Make sure to plug you nose because it will smell. You should be able to see the intestines and other gross through the slit

Step 3: Pull the Guts Out

This step is pretty gross and smells terrible so make sure to wear gloves.

- Use your knife and your hands to cut and pull at the guts and vital organs of the deer. Everything must be removed, so be very thorough in this step.

- Most of the time you will only have to make a couple cuts then you should be able to use your hands to pull the guts and organs out. Let them fall into the bucket.

Step 4: Rinse Out the Deer

Once all of the large organs and guts are removed you need to rinse out your deer.

-The deer should look like the picture above after you have removed the organs and guts.

- Now use a hose to rinse out the rib cage and cavity of your deer. Make sure to remove all loose fragments and try to wash out most of the blood. (Most will drain down through her mouth)

CONGRATULATIONS!

-Your deer is now field dressed, but you are far from over.

Step 5: Skinning Your Deer

In this step you will learn how to skin your deer. Now we did not show the full deer being skinned in the picture because we are using just the back straps for our chili. We did later on skin the entire deer including the hams. We did not waste them.

-Start by making a cut near the hams of the deer (the thighs or upper leg) Be careful to not cut too deep, you do not want to cut the meat.

- Continue to make your cut all the way around the deer until you have made a slit all the way across its back to its cavity you opened for field dressing

-Now get a grip of the skin and begin to pull it back, you may have to pull pretty hard but once you get it started it should peel right off.

-Peel the skin all the way down until you have reached the neck of the deer. you should be able to see all of the deer's muscles and tasty goodness

Step 6: Acquiring the Backstrap

-Start by finding the spine of the deer. Once this is found you will be right next to the back-strap, also called a tenderloin, it will be an elongated muscle that runs down the spind

-Cut down the spine , and fillet the strap out of the deer, it should run near the entire length of the deer's spine.

-Once you have it started you may be able to peel the strap right off the deer's spine

-You now have the tastiest part of the deer in your hand and the secret ingredient in mom's chili

Step 7: Making the Chili

Before you make the chili you need to grind up the meat. Some deer processing plants will do it for a charge or you can grind it yourself like we do. It should look almost like burger you would buy from the store.This recipe is for the best chili you have ever tasted so prepare your tastebuds

THE RECIPE

-First cook the meat

-1/2 cup of red wine

-1packs of chili powder

- 1/3 cup Worchester sauce

- 1/4 cup Ketchup

- 1 tsp garlic salt

- 1 tsp onion powder

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp pepper

- 1 can of Kidney beans

- 2 cans of chili beans