Where to get your deer processed in Northland
Nov. 1—DULUTH — Here's the News Tribune's annual list of venison processors provided as a service to hunters.
Note that some possessors do the entire skinning and butchering work, while some only take trimmed meat for sausage. Best to call ahead, even before the season, to set up your deer processing and find out the price.
To have your processing business added to this list online and in future years, send your information to
. There is no charge.
* The Bear's Den, 5231 Highway 33, Saginaw. Complete processing (skinned, quartered, cut, ground, including vacuum-sealing). Sausage available. Fully Minnesota-licensed. Call 218-591-1677.
* The Brat Barn, 3872 Okerstrom Road, Hermantown. Family owned and operated. Does not skin or debone, but will process wild game into brats, sticks, summer sausage and more. Six-pound minimum. Custom batches. Cryovac-sealed in package sizes of your choice. Cost is based on finished weight. Guaranteed to get your own meat back. For prices and products, go to
. Make drop-off appointments by calling or texting Dan at 218-590-2456 or emailing
.
* Cole Cuts, 4040 Normanna Road, Duluth. Deer processing includes skinning, cutting, grinding, wrapping and freezing. Sausage available. Custom cutters. Call 218-391-1619.
* Emily Meats Your Ol' Fashioned Meat Market, downtown Emily, opens at 8 a.m. seven days a week. Boneless cutting, $150; skinning, $25; antler removal $5. Over 75 varieties of fresh and naturally smoked sausages made for an extra cost. Call 218-763-6328.
* Gamache and Sons Deer Processing, 10 Farmstead Road, Esko. Skinning, deboning, grinding and wrapping. Cost: $100. Customers need to wear a mask and call ahead as space is limited. Licensed to accept deer donations for the food shelf through the State of Minnesota. Rifle season hours: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. Call 218-878-1077 or 218-461-2095 or 218-391-3058.
* Kocian's Family Market, Main Street South, Bigfork. Full line of venison processing. Cost: $95. Cutting and sausage making all done on-site. Variety of sausages and smoked meats for an extra fee. Call 218-743-3113.
* M&M Deer Processing, 5535 Forestry Road, Aurora. Skinning, fully processed (cut, deboned, ground and wrap). Call 218-229-3847.
* Stokke's Meat Market venison processing. Whole-deer drop-off at 4019 Canosia Road, Cloquet. Drop-off hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. All venison comes in vacuum-sealed packaging. Call 218-624-9680.
* Superior Meats, 6301 Tower Ave., Superior. Venison trimmings made into sausages, beef strips, bacon and snack sticks. More than 40 varieties and award-winning sausages. Call 715-394-4431.
* TJ's Country Corner, downtown Mahtowa. Large variety of fresh and smoked sausage made from your trimmings. Guaranteed to get your own meat back. Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Call 218-389-6257.
* Hursh Meat Processing, 10083 E. Oak Road, Poplar. Skin, debone, cut, grind and vacuum seal for $120. Venison jerky sausage, smoked hinds, snack sticks, venison bacon, meatloaf and more, for an extra fee. Licensed to accept deer donations for the food shelf through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Minnesota deer welcome. Call 715-364-6855 or 218-393-1887.
* Carlton Meat and Grocery, 500 Third St., Carlton. Processes all types of big game. Cost: $150 per deer. Offers a full line of sausage making and smoked meats. Guaranteed to get your own meat back. Call 218-384-9910 or 218-348-7308.
* Four Seasons Market, between Coleraine and Bovey on U.S. Highway 169 in Cotton Park. Deer processing includes skinning, cutting, grinding, wrapping and freezing. Many varieties of sausage are available, along with bacon, sticks, jerky, gyro meat and more. Call or stop in for prices. Deer accepted during hunting season. Call 218-245-1669.
If you process wild game for yourself or your family, you don't need any kind of state license to do the work.
In fact, even if you do custom work for other people, if your operation is small enough and meets certain requirements, you don't need any state permit to process venison or other wild game.
Rules were changed in 2021 to make this more clear and to allay fears that small "garage" or "ma-and-pa" venison operations would be put out of business if they were required to obtain licenses and upgrade their equipment to commercial butcher shop levels.
If you exclusively process wild game (no other meat or poultry processing) as an individual, you probably don't need a license or permit to operate, provided you meet all of the following criteria:
* You do not own any other meat, poultry or food business subject to licensing under the
Minnesota Consolidated Food Licensing Law
.
* You handle only raw wild game products and do no preparation beyond cutting, grinding and packaging.
* You return all products directly to the owners/hunters (no sales or donations) and you label all products "Not for sale."
* You process no more than 200 deer in a calendar year, or have $20,000 or less in receipts for wild game processing services in a calendar year, whichever is greater.
A wild game processor who does not meet all the above criteria will need to obtain a food handler's license and custom exempt processing permit issued by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture's Meat Inspection Program. For more information, go to
Custom Exempt Meat Processing
or contact the Dairy and Meat Inspection Division at 651-201-6300.
Wild game processors who do meet the exemption criteria are highly encouraged to
register with the MDA
. By registering, the MDA will acknowledge the processor's exempt license status, which will assist MDA staff with investigations if complaints or other information are received about a wild game processor.
