Quote Originally Posted by TennVol View Post
The only downside(?) is you get back all of the animal (hide, bones, head & legs), not just the meat since they don't have a permit to dispose of the waste.

The last elk I had processed (two seasons ago), the meat was put in a plastic bag, then wrapped in butcher paper. I cooked some last weekend, and after two years, no freezer burn anywhere!
Yup, that's definitely the same couple. Their price was fantastic, but it took some effort for me to figure out where/how to dispose of the waste (after a bit of a discussion with the garbage man [he knew right away what was in the bag], he finally took it).

I will admit that I still have meat left from the elk they did for me in 2006 and I just ate some of the Hot Italian Summer Sausage ("HISS") they made for me this weekend - still all very fresh. I guess the issue I have with the packaging is that the damned bags remind me of something the newspaper comes in (my problem, not theirs).

Still, I REALLY was looking forward to smoking the tenderloin and I couldn't because they gave it to me in chops. That depressed me more than you could possibly realize and because of that I have avoided using them. Petty to be sure, but it's just how I feel (it was my first elk too so maybe that has something to do with why I feel the way I do).