ST. CLOUD -- It's been a busy year for butcher shops and meat markets.

The pandemic has created a backlog of orders and has turned what was considered a slow time of year into the busy season. And things are about to get busier.

It's expected that more people will be deer hunting this year, which means more deer will need to be processed.

Kelly Gall-Washa owns Grand Champion Meats in Foley and says they still plan to set aside two weeks just for processing deer.

We will still be doing our deer processing as normal, but we will have to monitor. We have a lot of storage but depending on temperature and how many deer are harvested this year, it will make a big difference on how many we can do this year.

As for customers who are waiting for other orders to be processed, she says they will continue to work as fast as they can to catch up.

Over in Clear Lake, McDonald's Meats is doing what they can to keep up with the demand and prepare for what's to come.

Jennifer Dierkes says last year they processed over 1,100 whole deer and will continue to accommodate as many hunters as they can this season.

We are going to try our hardest to accommodate as many as we can. We may have to stop taking deer at some point depending on how many come in. We have plenty of space, we are going add staff and do what we can.

Both Gall-Washa and Dierkes say whole deer processing will be on a first come first serve basis. Dierkis adds venison trimmings and deer you've quartered yourself will always be welcomed.

The firearms deer hunting season begins November 7th.

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