After what some described as a slow summer, area meat markets are welcoming their busiest seasons: hunting season and the holidays.

Dan Thissen, owner of Grand Meadow Meat Market, doesn’t usually butcher on Fridays, but he made an exception Friday morning to stay ahead of the added workload.

Deer season is a busy time of year for the meat market, and Thissen said there are many late nights. After a busy morning, Thissen planned to start on venison around 3 p.m. Friday and work through midnight.

Despite the elevated work load, Thissen said the extra business from the deer season is welcome after the economy affected business over the summer.

“I’m looking forward to it this year because the summer was a big financial strain,” Thissen said.

“I’m not going to turn it down,” he added. “It’s been a long summer.”

Between hunting season and the holidays, markets see their busiest season in November and December, said Todd Enderson, owner of Nick’s Meat Market in Hayward.

While Enderson described the summer as average, he said they’re always ready for the busy times of the year.

“It’s always a welcome time of the year,” Enderson said. “Just like farmers picking corn, you hope for the best crop available.”

County Line Locker reopened a few weeks ago in Riceville, Iowa, after the old location burned down last year. The business is already taking deer from the archery season in Iowa, even though the firearm season doesn’t open for a few weeks.

“It’s very busy from now until after the holidays, and that’s not just because of the deer,” Owner Rose Angell said.

This is also a busy time of the year because people like to give beef and pork to family and friends as gifts for the holidays, Angell said. That increased workload typically continues through the end of January and early February.

The added work from hunters causes area lockers to prioritize their workloads.

As business picked up leading into the hunting seasons, Thissen changed the services he provides for deer hunters. Thissen no longer takes full deer because he said he needs to dedicate his time to the farmers who use his services year round.

“Deer season’s this long,” he said holding his hands about a foot apart. “Farmer’s are all the time.”

Thissen will still take and prepare trim from deer to process the meat into things like summer sausage, venison sticks and jerky.

Other area lockers, including County Line Locker and Nick’s Meat Market, still take full deer, and are able to adjust to the added work load. County Line Locker’s new location is larger, and Angell said there is a separate cooler to take full deer.

At the same time, Thissen said more and more lockers are making changes to ensure they meet the need of year-round customers. For example, Rose Creek Lockers doesn’t take deer and doesn’t work with venison so the business can focus on its regular customers.

Thissen attributed the slow business over the summer to farmers being cautious because of the state of the economy.

Most of Thissen’s business consists of custom work for area farmers and residents, meaning Thissen will prepare an animal for a farmer and his or family to store in their own freezer or sell to friends. Few of his customers sell their meat commercially.

Most hunters are understanding of the change to no longer accept full deer. He said many deer hunters know how to prepare a deer before bringing it to a market.

Recent warm temperatures may have been problematic for hunters, as Thissen said they may have to ice their deer. In the past, hunters often stored carcasses in Thissen’s freezers.