rely on hunting

[Spikebuck]

They are all cleaned and on ice within 2-3 hours of being killed...That's the "secret" to good meat...

+1 :thumbsup: Mine are cleaned, washed, and taken care of as soon as possible and in the freezer. I've never had "old buck taste" that so many people describe. Now, I think that the deer eating corn, soybeans, and clover around here is a little bonus to taste, but not to the extent to make it so much better some seem to describe they have had with other than young deer.

 

[sidelock]

When I was young my younger brother and I kept our family in meat.
We learned early in life. Sorry, we didn't use BP back then. ( started BP about 1970, brother a few years later) Our dad was not a very good hunter. But my brother and I were and provided with both rifle (me) and shot(brother). We had some good eating. My brother is still the best hunter I have ever known.

 

[Brokennock]

I find it interesting that bag limits should play a roll in whether people eat natural god given meat or antibiotic Madden, GMO tampered, poisoned production meat. Why does roadkill sit there as the elephant in the room, the weird uncle no one wants to talk about? A hunter here in CT. that so w not have access to private land still can potentially take 6 deer off state land. If that hunter has access to private land in certain zones, add at least 4 more. And crop damage tags make the bag limited even higher. But if one is willing to do some work and knows what's still good and what to pass on, there is plenty of venison free for the taking almost year round.

 

[Vaino]

Bag limits do restrict the number of deer per year and in Wisconsin, it's not that many. I don't eat "natural God given meat"...I only eat wild game and domestic meat.

There's really nothing wrong w/ super market meat.... have consumed much of it during my 82 years.

I hope you're not advocating eating "road killed animals"?. UGH!

Very few people in the USA subsist mainly on wild game.....and the ones that do, are probably poachers......Fred

 

[hoochiepapa]

Ain't nothing wrong with roadkill if you see it hit. I've cut the throats on numerous deer killed on the highways between here and Boulder. Discard the damaged meat, and voila! fresh steaks.

 

[BrownBear]

Yeah, it's illegal to keep roadkill for yourself here, but if you call it in they come and get it for donations. Also you can get on a "distribution list" to be called in cases where there's a road kill but no donations lined up. Less a deal for deer here, but a big deal for winter roadkill moose on the AK mainland. Lotta folks been fed on roadkill up here.

 

[pab1]

Roadkill tags are available in MT now. I think its a great idea to eliminate some of the waste on the roadways. I remember years ago in Colorado a herd of elk was crossing the highway near Idaho Springs and had a run in with a semi. Several people filled their freezers that day. One cow only had damage to her head. No dragging/packing and no bloodshot meat. :thumbsup:

 

[Patocazador]

I hit a black 400 lb. calf one night with my wife's car. Neither local landowner would admit to being its owner so the deputy told me to take it. We only got about 30 lbs. of meat from that calf that wasn't bruised and smashed. I should have left it for the "non-owners" to pick up.

Deer are small here and not worth the effort to try and find some unbruised meat.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

While I was deer hunting my girlfriend at the time (mid 80s) had seen a pickup hit a deer in the head. She had called DOW, and an officer came out. He assumed she wanted the meat & was 1/2 done with the paper work before she understood what was happening So he walked her through gutting & helped her get it to the butcher.

I came back from deer camp (skunked ) only to find she had a freezer full of meat :redface:

Try living that one down

 

[Brokennock]

Exactly what I'm advocating. Waste not want not. I'd rather eat a roadkill deer, even if I only get a few steaks or some stew meat off it, than grocery store beef.

 

[nchawkeye]

I was on a date when I was 16, hit a rabbit after I had picked up my girlfriend...I stopped, nothing wrong with it, threw it in the trunk, went home, cleaned it and put it in the fridge...

Dang, that was a pretty young lady, wonder how she is doing now???

 

[Grumpa]

Good for you, on walking out.
I noticed that my deer started tasting better when I quit hanging it for 3 days or so, with the hide on, to "age" the meat (as I had often read). Skinning the same day asap seems to be the way to go. Also, keeping the deer's hindquarters elevated, and the head down when field dressing, and cutting right through the breastbone so that everything comes out without contaminating the hindquarters. Learned a lot just watching my farmer friend dress his deer!
Now, my wife loves deer meat.

 

[Grumpa]

Had to read your second line to understand why the owner wouldn't lay claim to the cow. :haha:

 

[Patocazador]

The bruising wasn't the reason. The reason was he would have been liable for damages because the condition of his fence allowed the cow to get out on the hiway and be a hazard.

 

[Sean Gadhar]

The reason was he would have been liable for damages because the condition of his fence allowed the cow to get out on the hiway and be a hazard.

It's the opposite in Colorado, we are a open-range state. If you don't want to have livestock damage your car, fence in your car! :rotf:

 

[FishDFly]

Many years ago, one of the guys I hunted with hit a cow with his truck on a Friday night. The cow was not hurt very bad.

I rode home with him on Sunday and he pulled into a ranch and asked who owned the pasture with the limping cow. Man said it's not my land nor my cow. Friend told the man hit the cow on the highway and someone was responsible for the damage to his truck. Man said it's not my cow nor land.

Friend said thanks, and we left, he stopped in front of the cow, pulled a rifle from behind the seat and promptly killed the cow and we left.

 

[bendjoseph]

I was taught that deer were 1/3 skin and bone, 1/3 guts, 1/3 meat. Were your deer 60lbs dressed?

 

[Bob C of WI]

I live in SW Wisconsin and I have taken several road kills home and eaten them. If the front end is hit, eat the back half. I see very few deer hit that aren't at least half salvageable.

In WI anyone can pick up deer along the highway. You just call the county sheriff and report it, they don't even come out and look at it, they just fill out a report over the phone and the deer is yours. There is one section of road near my house that is about 3 miles long and there are at least 3 or 4 deer hits there every week that nobody claims during the spring and fall. They taste good and I give them away after processing them.

My wife and I eat venison but share most of it with my daughter.

This year I got a nice 11 point buck with a .50 CVA Bobcat that yielded 80 pounds of boned out meat. That is extremely large for even a WI deer. If I shoot a large doe it usually yields about 40-45 lbs of meat and a normal good size buck yields 60. The small deer will yield 30. My property is totally wooded but there are many hay and corn fields surrounding it.