Carry out wild game butchery

URN: IMPMP156
Business Sectors (Suites): Meat and Poultry Processing
Developed by: Improve
Approved on: 2025

Overview

This standard is about the skills and knowledge needed for you to carry out butchery of wild game primal joints to individual joints or cuts of meat or poultry including in food operations. Carrying out butchery of wild game is important to the production of a final product that meets organisational and customer product specification requirements.
 
You will need to be able to carry out butchery of wild game to organisational procedures. You must also be able to use correct tools and equipment when carrying out butchery, store wild game and dispose of waste products. You must also know how to address problems and be able to apply your skills and knowledge within food safety and health and safety regulations and any relevant international industry codes. You should also have an understanding of how the green circular economy supports repeated use of resources and products within your organisation.
 
This standard is for you if you work in food operations and are involved in carrying out wild game butchery.


Performance criteria

You must be able to:

  1. prepare to carry out butchery of wild game according to organisational requirements and standards
  2. wear and use personal protective equipment according to regulatory standards and organisational requirements
  3. check with the relevant person the cuts of wild game meat required
  4. check the availability and cleanliness work area, tools and equipment
  5. source the wild game joint requiring butchery
  6. choose the correct knives and ensure they are sharp, clean and suitable for purpose
  7. check availability of storage areas for final product and waste materials
  8. produce cuts, joints or dressed carcasses of wild game that adhere to organisational specification
  9. carry out butchery in a timely way maintaining pace of butchery if appropriate
  10. minimise waste when producing cuts of wild game
  11. check cuts are available for storage or next stage of process
  12. clean personal protective equipment, work area, tools and equipment to organisational procedures
  13. store waste for disposal according to regulatory and organisational standard procedures

Knowledge and Understanding

You need to know and understand:

  1. how to access organisational procedures
  2. the organisational and regulatory procedures that must be adhered to when carrying out butchery of wild game
  3. the personal protective equipment required to carry out butchery of wild game
  4. the tools and equipment needed to carry out butchery of wild game
  5. why it is important to have clean personal protective equipment, work area, tools and equipment
  6. the major differences between slaughtered wild and farmed game carcasses
  7. why it is important to take account of carcass damage and contamination when preparing to carry out butchery of wild game
  8. how to maximise yield from different weights of game carcass
  9. the importance of precision cutting in wild game butchery
  10. the specific knives used in wild game butchery
  11. how to use the specific knives used in wild game butchery
  12. why it is important to use the correct knife for each cutting specification
  13. how to access the organisational specifications for specific cuts of wild game and why it is important to adhere to them when carrying out wild game butchery
  14. the different ways in which it is possible to carry out butchery of wild game depending on national, regional variations, customer and personal requirements
  15. how to utilise continental butchery to produce cuts of wild game
  16. different ways in which wild game joints and cuts can be presented and how they differ from the traditional way of presenting wild game
  17. the typical cuts and joints possible from avian and mammalian wild game carcasses
  18. the importance of keeping waste to a minimum, its effect on yield and the economic value of the wild game
  19. the edible offal cuts from wild game and how they are butchered for sale
  20. the inedible by-products from wild game and how they can be utilised
  21. how to dispose of waste from wild game processing according to organisational and legal and regulatory requirements
  22. the limits of your own authority and competence and why it is important to work within those limits
  23. what recording, reporting and communication is needed, how to carry this out and the reasons why it is important to do so

Scope/range


Scope Performance


Scope Knowledge


Values


Behaviours


Skills


Glossary


Links To Other NOS


External Links


Version Number

1

Indicative Review Date

2028

Validity

Current

Status

Original

Originating Organisation

Improve

Original URN

IMPMP156

Relevant Occupations

Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, Manufacturing Technologies, Plant and Machine Operatives, Process Operatives

SOC Code

8111

Keywords

Wild game, butchery, primal, cuts, food