Something a little Different

[senseisugarbear]

I'm glad you liked it...That alone makes my day. Been some GREAT responses, Frankly more than I thought. I've got a couple other ideas for another day..Forecasting 104' here TUES. C'mon FROST....be safe.....Wally

 

[William Sublette]

When I was single, I’d hunt elk and get mostly deer. When I moved out and got a roommate, an elk would feed us for a year. Add more roommates and a deer or two and things were plentiful for us allI. We were a fun crew back in the day.

33 years ago, I was newly married, and suddenly I had another person that relied on me. And as my little family grew over the years, the need to fill the freezer grew. I’d get minimum of an elk and a deer each year…as my family grew, I’d add to my meat larder by bringing home a couple antelope, out of Wyoming. I also supplemented this with lots of geese. I love goose hunting, and when the limit was 5 geese per day…the meat adds up. Goose sausage is some of finest sausage you can eat…add to that goose chili, or Philadelphia Cheese Steak Sandwiches made from goose. My goodness goose is a versatile meat, once you have a lot of it and need different ways to prepare it. In a season of hunting, the amount of goose meat that I brought home was probably as much as the meat from a large doe deer.

Pheasants, quail, doves, rabbits and some squirrels come home every year and make very fine table fare, but not enough to support a family reliably, for any length of time. It‘s too time consuming when compared a single hunt and a fat cow elk in the freezer. But those are fine meals, following a fine day in the field chasing upland game. Smoothbore smokepoles are awesome.

A number of times I’ve gone up to Wheatland Wyoming and taken a Buffalo…a single Buffalo would feed my entire family for a year, and have enough to share with others. Buffalo are an amazing animal, those hunts left quite an impression on me, and a lot of respect for this magnificent beast of the plains. Buffalo is hard butchering, they are such a massive animal; when the largest game I’d taken, previous, was elk. So, I need to back-peddle a bit. I butchered my 1st Buffalo, after that the processor in Wheatland took over. They are a lot of work to butcher. You add a Buffalo with deer & elk in the same year and it’s a Cornucopia…I’m giving meat away. It didn’t take long before we had 2 freezers, 20 cubic foot each; and another 20 cubic footer for all the processed perishable crap.

Aside from Buffalo, I always butcher my own meat, I take care of my game from harvest to dinner plate; and I do not trust the commercial Butcher to keep my wild game meat separated from others. I’ve seen the way other people take care of their meat in the field…it’s not that people don’t like the taste of gamie meat, it’s that they don’t know how to care for the meat, once the animal is down. Take care of the meat you harvest, it’s a skill that you are obligated to learn. Nothing beats a fat cow elk for fine dining. If I draw a bull tag, I’m not opposed to taking a massive bull, but it’ll be mostly elk burger in the freezer that year.

Last couple years, the needs of my job no longer allowed me the time to go hunting each year. So I’d go every other year and finally…not going.

For the last couple years, we’ve gotten a side of custom beef and a whole hog…it’s palatable, but just not the same….

I miss my wild game; I miss crawling into a herd of bedded elk and taking a fat cow or a mossy horned bull…now that I’m retired, probably time to start getting elk and deer again.

I need a buffalo to eat.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

I need a buffalo to eat.

Shoot a cow, very good eating; on a par with a fat cow elk…young bulls are not bad, old bulls are poor for eating….great hamburger though.

The ranch is still there, outside Wheatland Wyoming, but I hear they recently sold.

 

[Patocazador]

I miss my wild game; I miss crawling into a herd of bedded elk and taking a fat cow or a mossy horned bull…now that I’m retired, probably time to start getting elk and deer again.

Heck yeah, get back to hunting.

 

[Patocazador]

Processing costs have gone up so much lately here (around $350 to $400 if you have the entire deer processed into jerky, salami, deer sticks etc.) that we usually dehydrate our own jerky now and maybe cut one deer up for canning. The canned deer meat tastes just like beef and makes great stew meat and gravy for potatoes.

That is insane. I usually take the loins, tenderloins heart and liver out and bring the rest to my processor if we need hamburger. He cubes the sirloin and grinds the rest with added beef fat. Costs me $60/deer. Sausage is a bit more, about $65 - $70 without stuffing it in casings.

If I had a large grinder, I'd do it myself but those are expensive and this processor is the head butcher for a local supermarket so he's no amateur.

 

[Bnewberry]

One deer a year for me.I process it myself. We also raise a flock of chickens for meat each year and we process those also.

 

[30coupe]

One or two a year and I do my own processing. My wife won't eat it on purpose, so it's just me and the grandkids as a rule. They quickly make my jerky disappear, so I try to have some on hand when I know they'll be with us.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

One or two a year and I do my own processing. My wife won't eat it on purpose, so it's just me and the grandkids as a rule. They quickly make my jerky disappear, so I try to have some on hand when I know they'll be with us.

I just took 6 lbs of very lean meat and made jerky with my grand kids.

That was so much fun…I’ve been working on a new recipe, and I think I’ve got a winner…cuz the grandkids are gobbling this stuff up.

 

[3 trees]

I raised 4 kids on pretty much deer meat. With them out of the house I now kill at least two a year. I work up all the meat myself. Cut to protein and vac seal..

 

[30coupe]

I just took 6 lbs of very lean meat and made jerky with my grand kids.

That was so much fun…I’ve been working on a new recipe, and I think I’ve got a winner…cuz the grandkids are gobbling this stuff up.

Lately I've been doing mine on my pellet grill/smoker. I much prefer it to the stuff from the dehydrator...grandkids seem to eat it either way, lol.

 

[Christophero]

A friend of my Dad taught me how to debone and butcher my first deer nearly 36 years back. Been doing ever since. Anymore I'll save back some steaks but most go into the grinder.

Between my son and I 230 lbs of burger was processed from the past season's take. Most was mixed with homemade jerky seasonings to use as summer sausage and and flavored meat sticks. Using the Wild Game burger bags filled with an old lard press makes a very presentable product to place in the freezer until time to dehydrate and cook. The meat/sausage mixer and jerky gun I finally splurged on were well worth the investment. Should have done that decades ago.
Between my five adult children, friends and myself we can put 5 deer up easily and another won't go to waste, either.

 

[DuncNZ]

Here in New Zealand Deer are considered a pest and we have no season or limits , same with Canada geese .
We have European Red deer , Elk which we call Wapiti ,American White tail , Javan Rusa ,Japanese Sika Indian Sambur , European Fallow , also Himalayan Thar and European Chamois. Feral pigs and Goats , Rabbits and European Hares , Australian Opossums and 3 different Australian Wallabies ( small Kangaroo ) all pests all with no season or limits on numbers , age or sex.
The animals are fairly localized with Red deer being the most common and found over most of the country as are rabbits and hares , all the rest are generally found in the areas where they were released over 100 years ago ,
Canada Geese are a very cunning and adaptable bird and occupy a large area of the country , they move off the lakes and live in the high mountain country , We go on Goose culls 3 times a year and it is not uncommon to shoot 100+ in 3 days , we turn the meat into salami and jerky , I cook the legs in a pressure cooker and make a stew .
I used to shoot about 20 deer a year now it is only 4 or 5 .
I butcher my own deer , Hang them in a chiller for 1-2 weeks to tenderize them then process them into steaks, roasts and salamis and some stew meat and jerky. I divide the back legs into their individual muscle groups ( known here as Denver Cuts) , then remove all the silver membranes because they shrink on cooking and make the meat tough , the small muscles get made into stew pieces , the big muscles are made into steaks or roasts , I bone out the shoulders and make rolled roasts stuffed with bread crumbs , herbs and prunes or dried apricots . I take the back steaks , I think you call that sirloin , trim off the silver skin and make steaks about ½" thick , these get fried in garlic butter in a hot pan , less than a minute a side . MMMM. I get garlic and herb sausages made with pork fat to stop them getting dry ., I turn the flap , and the muscles between the ribs and brisket into salami , my dogs get the bullet holes and all the trimmings , and some of the bones , the shanks are cooked in the slow cooker and made into stew , as are the neck bones , sometimes I turn the ribs into spare ribs and roast them in the oven , I eat the heart , liver , kidneys and tongue . The dogs get the spleen , I have never made hamburger venison , what we call mince .
All the meat is vacuum packed and frozen
When it comes to eating , White tail is the most toothsome and tender of all the deer I have eaten, Sambur it the toughest and most is made into salami .
I give away a lot of meat to neighbors and family .

 

[tenngun]

Butcher it my self, one per year now. Moved out of the country in 2012 and storage for me is an issue.
One turkey now per year. Got one this year but skunked the last two.
Tree rats a few times a year,
Rabbit two or three times in the winter
I don’t hunt like I used to for sure.

 

[Rudyard]

Here in New Zealand Deer are considered a pest and we have no season or limits , same with Canada geese .
We have European Red deer , Elk which we call Wapiti ,American White tail , Javan Rusa ,Japanese Sika Indian Sambur , European Fallow , also Himalayan Thar and European Chamois. Feral pigs and Goats , Rabbits and European Hares , Australian Opossums and 3 different Australian Wallabies ( small Kangaroo ) all pests all with no season or limits on numbers , age or sex.
The animals are fairly localized with Red deer being the most common and found over most of the country as are rabbits and hares , all the rest are generally found in the areas where they were released over 100 years ago ,
Canada Geese are a very cunning and adaptable bird and occupy a large area of the country , they move off the lakes and live in the high mountain country , We go on Goose culls 3 times a year and it is not uncommon to shoot 100+ in 3 days , we turn the meat into salami and jerky , I cook the legs in a pressure cooker and make a stew .
I used to shoot about 20 deer a year now it is only 4 or 5 .
I butcher my own deer , Hang them in a chiller for 1-2 weeks to tenderize them then process them into steaks, roasts and salamis and some stew meat and jerky. I divide the back legs into their individual muscle groups ( known here as Denver Cuts) , then remove all the silver membranes because they shrink on cooking and make the meat tough , the small muscles get made into stew pieces , the big muscles are made into steaks or roasts , I bone out the shoulders and make rolled roasts stuffed with bread crumbs , herbs and prunes or dried apricots . I take the back steaks , I think you call that sirloin , trim off the silver skin and make steaks about ½" thick , these get fried in garlic butter in a hot pan , less than a minute a side . MMMM. I get garlic and herb sausages made with pork fat to stop them getting dry ., I turn the flap , and the muscles between the ribs and brisket into salami , my dogs get the bullet holes and all the trimmings , and some of the bones , the shanks are cooked in the slow cooker and made into stew , as are the neck bones , sometimes I turn the ribs into spare ribs and roast them in the oven , I eat the heart , liver , kidneys and tongue . The dogs get the spleen , I have never made hamburger venison , what we call mince .
All the meat is vacuum packed and frozen
When it comes to eating , White tail is the most toothsome and tender of all the deer I have eaten, Sambur it the toughest and most is made into salami .
I give away a lot of meat to neighbors and family .

. We did have Moose but I think they got shot out in Fiordland . Rudyard

 

[Nazgul58]

We are fortunate to hunt on our own farm. I like to take one whitetail a year, usually a fat doe. They feed well on soybeans and corn so they taste good. Have an old man that worked for a major meat processor who has a commercial processing room set up. He is super clean and ages it in his freezer, comes out very well.

My son in law took huge buck a few years back and there are more tracks that look like his. A big whitetail here is 160+ lbs, his was 220 lbs after field dressing. So there are more big bucks out there, I will shoot one of those if I get the chance.

Don

 

[TFoley]

Surprisingly enough, even here in UK, I'm less than an hour's drive from a decent-sized flock of bison. However, if I shot one, I suspect that the safari park owner would be really peeved.

 

[OldSmoky1967]

Let's try this topic out, Beings it's 100 degrees out. How many DEER do you use in a year? Do you do your own buthering? What do you do with the carcass.......I'll bet we get some INTERESTING responses.,,,,,,,,,,,,Myself, I need 2-3 deer to get through the year. Nebraska allows 2 bucks by any method(1 to permit) Then along the River systems you can buy Antlerless only permits (2 to a permit) That gives me the meat that I need.( REPLACES BEEF) I don't hunt horns.I'll shoot any Large bodied buck. and I leave the short noses alone ( young of the year) I hunt for a large dry Doe. If I find one I'm done.I won't fill my last permit ,unless I come up short W/ the other 2. I bone them out and GRIND it all to course hamb. We use it better that way. I take the bones and trimmings back to where I hunt to feed the critters. Hides go to the Fur Buyer. He trades a very nice pair of deer skin gioves lined with Thinsolate for each hide. ...........BE SAFE>>>>>>>>WALLY

I used to shoot 3 a year. But, my sons are grown and busy. 1 of them is moved away and no one else to help me eat them. 1 year we had a big storm causing power to go out while I was away at the beach and I lost everything in the freezers. What a mess! So I learned to can the venison. Shelf stable for up to 2 years and very quick to use, as well as tender and tasty!! Now, I shoot 2 and use it all.

 

[Patocazador]

I used to shoot 3 a year. But, my sons are grown and busy. 1 of them is moved away and no one else to help me eat them. 1 year we had a big storm causing power to go out while I was away at the beach and I lost everything in the freezers. What a mess! So I learned to can the venison. Shelf stable for up to 2 years and very quick to use, as well as tender and tasty!! Now, I shoot 2 and use it all.

How about a short tutorial on canning venison?

I have 150 acres about 200 miles from home and have an off-the=grid cabin so no freezer. It would be nice to keep some there.

 

[LSB]

That is insane. I usually take the loins, tenderloins heart and liver out and bring the rest to my processor if we need hamburger. He cubes the sirloin and grinds the rest with added beef fat. Costs me $60/deer. Sausage is a bit more, about $65 - $70 without stuffing it in casings.

If I had a large grinder, I'd do it myself but those are expensive and this processor is the head butcher for a local supermarket so he's no amateur.

The meat lockers here charge $100 to just grind a deer into hamburger. It is more if you want any beef or pork tallow ground into your hamburger. Things like deer sticks, sausage, hot dogs, jerky, brats etc. add around $3.50 to $5.00 more per pound.

 

[LSB]

How about a short tutorial on canning venison?

I have 150 acres about 200 miles from home and have an off-the=grid cabin so no freezer. It would be nice to keep some there.

We cube the deer meat into about 1 to 1 1/2 inch cubes removing as much fat and sinew as possible. We use a pressure cooker following the standard instructions for canning meat included with the pressure cooker. When filling the quart jars prior to pressure cooking we add 3 beef bullion cubes to the jar. We also put a wedge of 1/4 of a medium sized yellow onion on top of the meat in the jar prior to putting them in the cooker. We find the beef bullion cubes and the onion add a lot of flavor to the deer meat. I have never served it to anyone that can tell it is deer meat, everyone thinks it is canned beef. If you "love" the taste of deer meat you could omit the beef bullion cubes and the onion and I suppose it would have a much more venison like flavor. Very simple to do, and it needs no refrigeration and we have eaten it two years after canning and it still tastes great.