What’s it about?
Located between Canterbury and Ashford, join us at our ancient woodland camp on the beautiful Kent Downs for this 1 day deer preparation and butchery course and learn how to skin and butcher a deer., as well as other game.
We understand that this is an emotive subject for many people but we believe that it’s an important skill for those of us that have an interest in how our hunter gatherer ancestors lived. There’s a disconnect in the modern world between people and their food; on this deer preparation course we aim to re-establish that connection and remind ourselves where meat comes from.
Crucially we believe that the whole process must be conducted in a way that is respectful to the animal. The animals that are used on this course are carefully selected so that the population as a whole benefits; we do not advocate trophy hunting, we don’t use stags nor females that are pregnant or have young.
We make use of as much of the animal as possible, including the bones and skin.
What will I do on this deer preparation & butchery course?
During your time spent with us on this 1 day deer preparation course, you will:
- Learn how a deer is selected for culling, where and when it can be culled, how the animal is stalked and how it’s dispatched,
- Understand about the safe use of firearms when deer stalking,
- Find out about the various diseases that the animal must be checked for,
- Be shown meat hygiene techniques and methods,
- Skin the deer with minimal damage to the hide or the meat,
- Butcher the deer to ensure that as much meat as possible is produced,
- Learn about the different cuts of meat produced and how to cook them.
Once the animal has been butchered we will light a fire and cook some of it.
Bring a bag so you can take home a venison steak or two!
We’ll also start the process of tanning the hide by fleshing it. We use the skins on our Buckskin Tanning course and the bones on our Bone Tools workshop.
The course isn’t just about deer preparation and butchery, if time permitts, and the game is available, we’ll also look at preparing rabbit and pigeon.
Book now
We only run this course during the stalking season, so dates are typically over the winter.
You can see our complete course schedule here.
Other information
Location: Westwell, Kent
Duration: 1 day
Start: 10am
End: 3pm
Course size: Maximum of 8
Catering: We’ll provide tea & coffee, you’ll need to bring a packed lunch
Note: There is a short walk from the meeting point to the camp.
You might also find these Frequently Asked Questions useful.
What our customers say about our deer preparation & butchery course
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I thoroughly enjoyed the day with Jack Raven Bushcraft, and a great mix of activities for both foodies and stalkers. Gary, Nicola and Phil all work very hard to ensure everyone benefits from the course, and tasty snacks. Thank you!
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the deer butchery course. I gifted it to him for Christmas, but we both enjoyed the new life skills and lots of venison to take home. We started the day by learning how to butcher rabbits and game, and then tackled the deer in the afternoon. It's so important to know where our food comes from, and this course made me feel more connected and gave me a deeper appreciation of native deer species and their ethical management. It was very hands on, and Phil explained every step of how to prepare the deer and shared brilliant stories about his working life. Nicola cooked delicious snacks and I enjoyed cups of tea around the fire. Highly recommended.
I stumbled across this course looking for bushcraft activities to do with the kids then booked it just for myself. I'd wanted to connect with my food more closely as someone deeply concerned about the environment and nature who eats meat but in (hopefully) a mindful and respectful way already. It was everything I hoped for and more with interesting information about wild game species, population control, environmental impact, hunting and anatomy. I learned butchery skills that I hope to use at home but more importantly I saw and felt the missing connection between the meat I cook and eat and the animal it came from. Thank you Phil, Gary, Nicola for an insightful day and to my fellow guests for being like-minded in the way they approached the day.
A really interesting and enjoyable course, highly recommend it!! The instructor Phil is so knowledgeable and a great teacher, plus a brilliant story teller, I could have spent the whole day just listening to his anecdotes. All the techniques were clearly explained and there was plenty of practical work to understand the instructions, but Phil always ensured we knew there was no pressure to do things perfectly, he always made sure to put us at ease. I came away understanding so much about the ethics of hunting, the right way to approach it and have a real appreciation and respect for the game animal and the hunting discipline.
As ever the camp facilities were excellent and Gary furnished so much bushcraft knowledge to put Phil’s instructions into context and Nicola created delicious dishes from the meat which really showed the full cycle from field/woodland to plate.
An all round excellent course and much enjoyed by my wife and I.
Really enjoyable course. Phil is very knowledgeable and tells many great stories. We learned to skin deer and game and we eat some of the meat that we prepared which was really tasty. We also brought some meat home too. This is definitely a course to consider if you are interested in deer and game butchery. Great location as well.
