Some folks are intimidated by butchering their own deer and opt for paying a processor to do it for them. If you have a garage, a place to hang a deer and a knife. You could do it yourself. Most folks get scared when it comes to the hind quarters because they are not professional butchers and fear that they will screw up cuts of meat. Trust me if you follow the natural seams of fat, you will find it very easy to take apart the hind quarters. If you mess up on the first one, you always have the other leg to improve on. Once you have removed the meat from the rest of the deer you will be left with the hanging hind quarters where the spine meets the pelvis.
You can use a saw to remove the spine or you can work a knife in between the vertebrae to remove it near the pelvis.
Take the pair of hind quarters to a table to debone them. The first step is to lay the pair on the tail end and press on each hind quarter to see where the hip is. By spreading the hindquarters, you will see where to start. What you are looking for is the hip joint (ball and socket joint) No saws are needed for this operation and you only need to cut the tendon in the ball joint to remove it from the pelvis.
Follow the seams in the meat and cut along the pelvis bone until one half is removed.
When you are done. You will have a de-boned pelvis with very little meat to trim off. (use this for burger or sausage)
On the inside of the thigh you will be able to feel the thigh bone (femur). Cut around and remove the bone. This is the bone you are removing. The ball joint is on the upper right.
Once deboned your hind quarter will look like this. This view is from the outside or hide side of the leg. The lines show you the cuts of meat that are in the hind quarter. If you were to leave the bone in the leg and saw across the whole hind quarter, you would have a "Whole Round Steak" Most folks don't do this with a deer and it is seen less and less in beef as well
Follow the natural seams in the muscle groups and you will be able to take each group out. Clean up any fat and you are left with cuts that can be sliced into steaks or used as roasts
Take the time to try and butcher your own deer. You will learn a lot and save some money too.
