Deer Processing · Bemidji & Turtle River, MN
What deer processing actually costs.
Posted publicly, because you deserve to know before you make the drive. Full processing is $150 for any deer — cut, wrapped, labeled, frozen. Sausage and smoked products are priced per pound on top. No mystery invoice at pickup.
Any Deer, Fully Processed
$150
Skinning Only
$50
Cape Skinning
$75
The Whole Card
Every rate, in one place.
Wild Game Processing
- Full processing — any deer$150
Cut, wrapped, labeled, frozen. Boneless.
- Skinning only$50
You take it from there.
- Cape skinning$75
Hide saved for the taxidermist.
Wild game is processed boneless only.
Domestic & Add-Ons
- Beef, pork, moose, elk, bear — cut & wrapped$1.00/lb
- Grinding & wrapping$0.50/lb
- Vacuum packaging upgrade$1.00/lb
Sausage & Smoked
- Bulk sausage$3.50/lb
- Brats — pre-cooked, smoked or fresh$5.00/lb
- Ring bologna$5.00/lb
- Summer sausage$5.00/lb
- Polish sausage$5.00/lb
- Jerky$5.50/lb
- Dried$5.50/lb
- Link sausage$5.50/lb
- Custom flavored brats$6.00/lb
- Wild rice & cheddar summer sausage$6.00/lb
- Old fashioned wieners$6.00/lb
- Pepper beef sticks$6.00/lb
- Teriyaki beef sticks$6.00/lb
- Wild rice & cheddar brats$9.00/lb
18 lb minimum per flavor. Priced on top of processing. Smoked products come vacuum-packed at no extra charge — bulk bagging saves $0.50/lb.
Real Math
What a whole deer actually runs.
Three orders we see every season, itemized from the rates above. Yours will land somewhere in here.
All cut and wrapped
Steaks, roasts, and ground. Nothing smoked.
- Full processing$150
A ~165 lb field-dressed deer yields roughly 35 lbs of boneless meat — about $4.29/lb finished.
Half cut, half summer sausage
The most common order we see.
- Full processing$150
- 18 lbs summer sausage @ $5.00/lb$90
18 lbs is the minimum per flavor — it is what keeps the seasoning ratio right.
The snack-stick order
For hunters who want it in the truck console all winter.
- Full processing$150
- 18 lbs teriyaki snack sticks @ $6.00/lb$108
- 18 lbs summer sausage @ $5.00/lb$90
Two flavors means 36 lbs of trim committed — plan for a bigger deer or two.
Before You Budget
How much meat comes back.
The single biggest surprise for new hunters is yield. A deer does not come back at hanging weight — bone, hide and trim loss are real. Rough numbers we work from:
- · 165 lb field-dressed deer → roughly 35 lbs boneless meat
- · 200 lb field-dressed deer → roughly 45 lbs boneless meat
- · Elk and moose → scaled by field-dressed weight
That matters for sausage planning: at an 18 lb minimum per flavor, an average deer supports about one smoked flavor plus a freezer of cut-and-wrapped meat. Two flavors is a big deer, or two deer.
Honest About Price
We are not the cheapest. Here is why.
Most processors batch during deer season — several hunters’ animals run together, and everyone takes home a fair share of the pile. It is genuinely faster and genuinely cheaper, and if price is the only thing you are optimizing for, that is a legitimate choice.
Stittsworth processes every deer individually. Your animal is tracked from intake to pickup, your trim becomes your sausage, and your name goes on every package. That takes more labor, more cooler space and more scheduling — which is what you are paying for.
The other half of it is the smokehouse. Our sausage, summer sausage, snack sticks and jerky are smoked over real hardwood in Turtle River, using the same recipes and equipment that produce the Stittsworth® retail line. It is not liquid smoke in a steam cabinet.
Questions Hunters Ask
Straight answers.
How much does deer processing cost?
At Stittsworth Meats, full processing for any deer is a flat $150 — cut, wrapped, labeled and frozen, boneless. Skinning alone is $50 and cape skinning for a mount is $75. Sausage and smoked products are priced per pound on top of that, starting at $3.50/lb for bulk sausage and $5.00/lb for summer sausage and brats.
How much does venison summer sausage cost per pound?
Summer sausage is $5.00/lb, and wild rice & cheddar summer sausage is $6.00/lb. There is an 18 lb minimum per flavor, which is what keeps the seasoning ratio consistent batch to batch.
How much meat will I get back from my deer?
Roughly: a 165 lb field-dressed deer yields about 35 lbs of boneless meat, and a 200 lb field-dressed deer about 45 lbs. Elk and moose scale by field-dressed weight. Wild game is processed boneless only.
Why is there an 18 pound minimum on sausage?
Seasoning is blended to a ratio. Below about 18 lbs of trim the batch is too small to season accurately and quality gets inconsistent, so 18 lbs per flavor is our minimum. If you want two flavors, plan on 36 lbs of trim.
Do you mix my deer with other hunters deer?
Never. Every deer is processed individually from intake through pickup. Your trim is your trim, your sausage is made from your animal, and your name goes on every package. Many processors batch during deer season — we do not.
Are there any other charges?
Smoked products come vacuum-packed at no extra charge. Choosing bulk bagging instead saves $0.50/lb. Fresh cuts are wrapped in butcher paper, with a vacuum-seal upgrade available at $1.00/lb. Orders not picked up within 30 days accrue a $6/month freezer charge.
By town: Bemidji · Blackduck · Cass Lake · Bagley · Park Rapids · Walker
Hunter guides: Wild Game · Field Dressing · Aging Venison · Venison Sausage · All processing services
Call before you drive.
Whole hide-on deer go to 7972 Farley Dr NE, Turtle River. Quarters and boneless trim come to either location.
(218) 586-2149 — Stittsworth Turtle River Processing
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