Indiana deer processing company focuses on family, tradition

UNDERWOOD, Ind. (AP) - Dan Anderson first went hunting when he was 12 with his dad. Now 36 and a father himself, Anderson is passing the tradition on to his own children.

"It's very important to me," he said. "I don't watch sports. This is the closest I get to sports, it means a lot to me to share it with them."

Anderson's 7-year-old daughter, Breanna, has gone with with him a few times already. His 5-year-old son Tucker isn't old enough yet to shoot a gun and is more interested in video games, but Anderson thinks his interest will grow as he does.

On Nov. 18 the trio brought a buck to Abe's Deer Processing in Underwood where the catch will be processed into steak, roast, tenderloin and burger.

"I really like being able to provide for the family," he said. "It's something I can do that's above and beyond just work. And of course if you get a buck it's a trophy above that."

At Abe's, family tradition also reigns. The small business tucked off Beagle Club Road was opened 20 years ago by Abe and Goldie Broadus. Their daughter, Sunday, and her husband at the time, Randy, convinced them to open the business.

"We saw there was money to be made and a need. That first year we said if we could do 100 deer we'd be tickled. We wound up doing 400 to 500," Sunday said.

Every one of the 17 employees is related in one way or another and founder Abe, who recently passed the business off to Sunday, says he liked it that way. "It was a pleasure because I had my kids with me," he said.

Sunday's youngest daughter, Jennifer Moody, runs the front office and despite being only 27, has been around since the business opened.

"I don't mind getting my hands dirty but I've known a lot of the guys since I've grown up so I like shooting the breeze out here," she said. "I think the reason we've been so successful is because we get to know the guys. I like to think because we know the guys and their names and their orders it keeps them coming back."

Sunday said the same, adding that the business itself is part of the tradition for some hunters because it's been around for so long.

"I've had customers coming here for 20 years," Abe said. "They're all friends. Some of them say they don't take their deer no place else and it's a pleasure to bring it out here."

Also on the payroll, though unofficially, is Sunday's son and Abe's grandson, Wyatt. At 10 years old, Wyatt already knows how to do a number of things around the place and hopes to take it over from his mom one day.

The only tradition not being passed down in the Broadus family is hunting.

"I went one day and hunted and seen it wasn't for me. I never went no more," Abe said.

Sunday said the same, adding "I don't have the heart to kill anything, I'll skin and gut and do all this stuff all day long. But I can't keep my mouth shut and sit still long enough anyway."

Immersed in the hunting community, Abe said the majority of their customers know they aren't hunters and don't mind one bit.

___

Source: News and Tribune

___

Information from: News and Tribune, Jeffersonville, Ind., http://www.newsandtribune.com