Parts of Meat on a Deer – Labeled Venison Cuts Diagram

All 8 cuts on the diagram

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Steaks, chops and roasts 4

Shoulder Can be boned and tied as a roast; the rest is ground.
Backstrap (loin) The loin along each side of the backbone, cut into boneless chops.
Hind leg Its muscles are separated along their seams for roasts and round steaks.
Tenderloin It lies inside the body cavity, under the backbone.

Ground or stewed 4

Neck Usually boned out for ground venison or cut up for stew.
Ribs The rib cage. Its meat can be trimmed off for ground venison.
Shank The lower leg above the foot. Used for stew or ground.
Flank The belly wall between the ribs and hind leg. Can be ground.

How this list was compiled: Every cut name checked on 2026-09-30, and kept only where both university extension guides use it: (1) Penn State Extension, Proper Processing of Wild Game and Fish, https://extension.psu.edu/proper-processing-of-wild-game-and-fish (neck, shoulder, rib, loin and backstrap/loin, tenderloin, flank, leg, foreshank and hind shank); (2) North Dakota State University Extension, Wild Side of the Menu No. 2: Field to Freezer, https://www.ndsu.edu/agriculture/extension/publications/wild-side-menu-no-2-field-freezer (shoulder, shank, hind leg and rounds, loin, tenderloin inside the cavity, rib, flank, neck, and what each is used for). Also read: (3) J. DeFalco, Field Dressing, Skinning, Butchering and Cooking Deer (1969), https://archive.org/details/field-dressing-skinning-butchering-and-cooking-deer (shoulder, shank, leg, loin and rib chops, neck, flank); (4) Missouri Department of Conservation, Savoring Venison, Missouri Conservationist, September 2004, Internet Archive copy of http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2004/09/savoring-venison (tenderloins as the strips inside the lower back, loin chops, round steaks from the rear legs); (5) Wiktionary, backstrap: a loin of meat, the muscle either side of the spine, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/backstrap. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Not to scale. Licence: own work

How it works

The meat parts of a deer on one side view, under the names two university extension guides use. Each cut shows where it sits and what it is usually used for.

Read the full guide

Front to back

Numbers 1 and 2 are the neck and the shoulder. Number 3, the backstrap, is the loin: the long muscle on each side of the backbone. Number 4 is the ribs below it, and number 5 the hind leg. Number 6, the shank, is the lower part of each leg.

Two that are easy to miss

Number 7 is the flank, the belly wall between the ribs and the hind leg. Number 8, the tenderloin, lies inside the body under the backbone, so it is drawn with a dashed line.

Backstrap and tenderloin are different cuts: the backstrap runs along the outside of the backbone, the tenderloin underneath it, inside the body cavity.
For the rules on handling and testing deer meat where you hunt, ask your state wildlife agency.

Questions and answers

What are the main cuts of meat on a deer?

Neck, shoulder, backstrap, tenderloin, ribs, flank, hind leg and shank. The backstrap, tenderloin, hind leg and shoulder are cut into steaks, chops and roasts; the neck, ribs, flank and shanks can be ground or stewed.

Where is the backstrap on a deer?

Along the top of the back, one on each side of the backbone. It is the deer's loin: it is stripped out of the groove between the ribs and the backbone and usually cut into boneless chops.

What is the difference between backstrap and tenderloin?

The backstrap lies outside the ribs, along the backbone. The tenderloin is a smaller strip inside the body cavity, under the lower back. A deer has two of each.

What is the hind leg of a deer used for?

Its large muscles are separated along their natural seams and used as roasts, sliced into round steaks or made into jerky.