Risher's Deer Processing in Walterboro

Risher's is located on Green Pond Highway

Gary Malvasio of Risher's Processing

“When I first started the deer processing business, dog hunting for deer was real popular, and their might have been one deer management club in operation,” said Gary Malvasio. “Now I’d say about 75-percent of deer hunting clubs in the county are under some kind of deer herd management plan. The herd has definitely improved in that time like the difference between night and day.’

This doe will yield some fine venison

“We do all of our own smoking with hickory chips obtained from the Veneer plant just down the road,” said Malvasio. Three gas-operated closet units heat up the deer dogs, snacks sticks, salami chubs, kielbasa and hams while the hickory chips smolder and produce the fine flavor. What are deer dogs? It turns out they are a lot like the Hillshire Farms links that go great with a Beaufort Stew.

Ordering different products from Risher’s is just part of the fun, because who else has onion burger, pickled sausage, bratwurst and Italian meatballs?! Risher’s has everyone’s favorites too like summer sausage, breakfast links, snack sticks and jerky. Risher’s has one of the largest walk-in coolers around which allows the meat to hang for one week to ten days, giving it time to age a bit.

Jessie Ellis and a wheel of smoked snack sticks

So many deer have come through Risher’s that it is hard to remember all of the big rack bucks that Mr. Gary has witnessed. However, the weights of the biggest deer are a different matter. The heaviest buck ever was 257-pounds and it came from the Smoaks area. The heaviest doe so far weighed 151-pounds and Mr. Gary reports that the same hunter had a nearly identical doe with him that weighed 150-pounds and that he figures they were twins.