Pre hunt freezer clean out. How do you do it?

It's an annual effort that intensifies a couple months before elk season. At the same time we're packing the deep freezers with garden veggies and orchard/vineyard fruits, we work diligently to use up game meats and other stored foods to make space to hold another elk and possibly a deer, pronghorn or bear. Even so, a couple years ago I had to add a second chest freezer to hold our stores. We're finishing up the 2012 elk and still have a lot of 2013 elk steaks and meat to grind packages in the freezer.

Mrs. Hummer typically cooks roasts, soups and stews to package for quick meals at home and in hunting camp. We also make lots of fresh elk-pork sausage in a dozen or so flavors. Last weekend we mixed up an elk-pork summer sausage recipe which I stuffed and smoked yesterday. I cut the time and smoked hot but it still came out delicious. Tonight we cut it into 1/3 and 1/2 pound sections and vacuum sealed ten pounds for future use.


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Do you guys go through the same clean-out-the-freezer business every year before season? How do you deal with it?

If I am lucky enough to have that much left over, I usual make a lot of jerky. The less desirable steaks get sliced in the jerky slicer and the hamburger goes into he jerky shooter. My dehydrator will hold about 40 lbs of meat, so it doesnt take too long to empty the freezer. The jerky doesnt seem to last very long either.

We always used to do a big neighborhood party (grew up in the sticks so that is a 20 mile radius haha). I have not been able to hunt for a few years due to apartment living and lack of freezer space

I have two teenage boys, no food lasts very long in my house.


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I eat what I can and the rest goes to family. Last year they made out pretty well!

Worst thing about NC... no elk.

Made a huge batch of venison Irish stew last year... ate on it for a few days, froze a few freezer bags and took them hunting. Fed everyone at camp one night, and myself a few more times...

We usually share generously to friends and neighbors, to clean out our freezer. But even then, seems like we still end up finding something that sat in the freezer for a few extra years. For instance, we just moved and in the move we had to empty the freezer. I found 1 turkey with "2010" label and another with "2011" on it. SO, those two got deep fat fried for the house warming party. Everything else was a bit "fresher"...got plenty of room for this years meat...

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Originally Posted by mcantar18c

Worst thing about NC... no elk.

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there are some in TN...just fyi

Well, my freezer has plenty of room if you need to put some of that game meat....... I wouldn't mind if you forgot where it went........