Packsaddle Meat Processing

Packsaddle Meat Processing A custom exempt butcher shop specializing in slaughter and butchering of cattle, hogs, lamb and exotic livestock. We do not process wild game.

On this page we also provide education and entertainment related to butchering.

05/30/2026

We do our best to have as little waste as possible.

In addition to our customers getting soup bones and marrow bones, we cut as many bones from the carcass as possible that can be salvaged into dog bones.

From butchering five cows we cut more than 200 pounds of additional bones for pups!

To be responsible for the carcass of an animal we believe in harvesting as much as possible and wasting as little as possible.

05/29/2026

When you have cattle but no stocks, chutes or heavy equipment, you get creative about moving them.

We love it when the owners are happy to help us out.

Let the tools do the heavy work for you.

05/29/2026

A customer hired us to process a cow elk from an elk farm down the road.

Visiting these guys was truly spectacular… and intimidating.

We are a small custom exempt butcher shop that typically only processes livestock. This cow was the only game we’ve done in three years.

Because of the distance of the shot, the number of bulls nearby, and to ensure there wouldn’t be an “oops” that would lead to the herd panicking, I used the scope on our .270 for a clean head shot. Normally for an animal this size I’d use our .243 but our .243 has open iron sights.

05/28/2026

Soup Bones and marrow bones. A whole cow yields 12-16 depending on the size of the beef.

There’s never as many as people would expect! They come from the round (as you see in this video) and the shoulder. This cow weighed over 900 lbs hanging weight and we were able to get 16 soup bones (no marrow bones were wanted).

What do you make with soup bones?

05/28/2026

A huge part of why I can do this job happens right here.

Twice a month I meet with a very dear friend of mine for 90 minutes to 2 hours.

Outside of Jesus and my husband, I am the most open and vulnerable with her. She helps my body to rest and heal, and my body has carried decades of weight long before I ever started butchering.

In her room of facts and faith, the humble reality of my humanity and the hope of my eternity meet in peace.

My heart, mind, spirit and body are able and willing listen to each other and they find a place of unity and rest in the Truth and love of Jesus.

I am the “weaker vessel” (1 Peter 3:7) and that’s ok, because I am also strong (Proverbs 31:17).

I cannot do everything, and that’s okay because God never asked me to.

I make mistakes, and that’s also okay because there’s another day to make it right, and God’s grace is sufficient.

To do this job without becoming hard-hearted or breaking down after five years requires allowing your body, heart, mind and spirit to face and accept Truth, to love and be loved, and to rest.

Perhaps that’s just as true for every job.

I know I couldn’t do mine without this place and this friend to help me. I let go here, I accept reality and limitations here, and rest here because everything about it is safe and holds no expectations.

What if we could all provide and be provided such a place? How would our lives look different?

05/27/2026

Genuine question: what’s the logic behind bleeding out being the most human method of slaughter?

I’m no doctor or scientist, but the process of being cut open and slowly bleeding out doesn’t seem painless to me.

What’s the logic behind calling this method humane? Any thoughts?

05/27/2026

HOW you approach cattle in makes all the difference in the world.

If you act like a predator sneaking up on the animal it will trigger a flight response.

Livestock are used to being around humans enough to be fed by them. Keep it casual and they expect life as usual.

90% of them have never seen a gun, so they don’t know what it is when you show it to them. Let them be curious. Let them sniff at it. When they lose interest is the time you can take the shot without any stress.

Five minutes of curiosity won’t make a difference for you on processing day. Take your time.

How you behave after the shot impacts the cows left in the field. These cows were calm the entire time.

05/27/2026

How do we load deceased livestock without a tractor or skid steer?

We work with a lot of customers who don’t have trailers or heavy equipment. We make it easy for them.

If we can get our 14’ dump trailer to the pen we can get the livestock in it.

We have a 12,000lb winch mounted to a custom made steel headache rack that’s bolted to the truck bed.

We have an aluminum ramp with bolts that rests on top of the ramps that came with the trailer.

While one person operates the winch, the other wraps the cable around the cows neck and guides it into the trailer.

When positioned right there’s minimal wrestling involved.

We’ve learned the key is to not take short cuts, because they always cost you more time in the end.

Do it right and it’s done quick.

05/26/2026

We love our job.

05/26/2026

What does God think about eating meat? You have to kill an animal to eat it, so what does He think?

There are actually a lot of scriptures about it, but let’s start at the very beginning.

Genesis 1:29-30. Believe it or not, before the Fall we were designed to be vegetarians. We can’t eat meat without death, and there was no death before the Fall.

Here’s a hard pill to swallow - when Adam and Eve ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they brought death into the world (Genesis 3:6), it was God who killed the first animal (Genesis 3:21).

Genesis 9:1-4. God specifically tells Noah He’s given those who survived the flood all the animals for food just like He gave them grain and vegetables for food.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20. No matter what we eat we’re to glorify God with our body because it’s the temple of the living God.

Meat or veggies, take your pick. Whatever you do, honor God in how you do it.

Address

Athol, ID
83801

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+12088196051

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Packsaddle Meat Processing posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Packsaddle Meat Processing:

Shortcuts

Share

Category