With over 30 years of meat cutting experience, we can honestly say, Wayne Hanson knows his beef. He started cutting meat right out of high school in 1972. Having quit the industry, he hired back on 8 times, with a large grocery chain out of Denver. In the early 80’s, he left the industry for a short time, headed to Casper and hired on with Special Division Oil Exploration crew mainly working in the Rocky Mt. Division of the US. This drastic career change was short lived and he went back to the meat cutting business soon after with his final “employment” at the IGA in Thermopolis, Wy before venturing out on his own and opening Wind River Processing in 1989.

This hometown start-up venture was a family effort with himself, his wife Colleen and his father in-law Popeye. Without any financial help, they built the business from scratch adding to the processing plant as they had money to do so. It took nearly 8 years to complete.

So how does the interest for smoking meat fit in? After joining the Wyoming Meat Processing Association and attending the annual conventions his interest was drawn to the smoked meat competitions. Before he could participate he needed a smokehouse. With out much capital again, he took a garage and turned it into a large freezer, dry storage, spice room, sausage kitchen with a full smokehouse and curing cooler. He entered his first competition with Wild Game Whole Muscle Jerky, took home first prize and he’s been trying to perfect it ever since!