If you cut up your own deer, you are likely familiar with the main roasts found in the ham (rear leg) potion. Most people break down this large section into top, bottom, and eye of round, shank, sirloin, and rump roasts. Most of these cuts can be cooked whole, cut into steaks or stew meat, or ground for burger.

Try cutting these thick round steaks from your next deer ham instead of separating it out into roasts.

But what if you didn’t separate the cuts but instead cross cut them into a large, caveman-style round steak? Full disclosure here, I had never thought about doing this style of steak with my venison until I watched the Bearded Butchers do it. If you aren’t following them on their YouTube channel, you should be. I’ve been processing my own meat, both wild and domestic, for most of my life. I come from a long line of grocery and butcher folks. I still learn something every time I watch one of their videos. If you process your own venison, or even if you take it somewhere and just want a better understanding of the cuts you get back, give them a watch.

Anyway, to get a round steak from a venison ham, you simply need to cut through it, bone and all, in a cross cut fashion. You’ll have a short section of the femur in the steak once it is done. You can cut through the bone with a butcher hand saw or a power reciprocating saw; it only takes a few seconds with either. When I’m working in the tight confines of the kitchen, I’ll often forego the bigger butcher’s saw for a compact 12 inch hacksaw with an 18 tooth per inch blade. It’s just easier to work with on the kitchen counter or table.

You will need a saw to cut through the leg bone.

For this experiment, I chose a ham from a young doe, knowing it would be some of the most tender venison available. When working with a venison ham, be aware that there is a gland located between the top, bottom, and eye of round. It is hidden in a clump of fat and needs to be removed before eating. Take care not to cut through the gland, as it will taint the meat and make it taste terrible.

Slice the steaks thick and be sure to remove the gland from inside the eye of round before slicing if you work down that far onto the ham.

Cut the steaks to your desired thickness, but I like around 2 inches to keep the inside at a nice medium-rare.

Cut the steaks to your desired thickness.

Once you have the steak cut, what do you do with it?

Realtree APX is perfect for this recipe or use whatever seasoning you enjoy.

I simply seasoned with Realtree APX seasoning on both sides and grilled it to a nice medium-rare (about 125-130 degrees) on our Pitboss grill. I started the steak by searing on both sides by opening the slide to expose the meat to open flame, one of my favorite features on this grill. After I had seared both sides, I closed the plate and moved the steak off to one side to finish.

This is a thick piece of meat, so season heavily on both sides and around the edges.

Depending on thickness, you can serve the steak individually, or slice it after it comes off the grill.

A 2-inch-thick steak is perfect for one really hearty eater or two or three folks if you are serving it with sides. Because the cut came from a young doe, the finished product was perfectly tender and tasted great.

Once you have the steak or steaks cut from the ham, go ahead and bone out what remains for roasts, steaks or grind. I like to keep the lower shank bone in and use it in recipes like a nice slow braise.