The Words We Use and How They Define Us

[Whughett]

I am sure those regulations have helped. But through much of the Northeast and the rest of the country habitat is sorely stressed. I am in a rural part of the county and to look at the small farms and many patches of woods you might think good habitat. Well.....it seems to work for deer. But pheasant disappeared at least 20 years back. No grouse have been seen here in decades. Black bear is so rare as to merit newspaper articles when one is spotted. Opportunistic species, like coyote, do well enough.
We have isolated patches of habitat. A healthy game population needs large swaths of contiguous habitat.

And yet here in Rhode Islamd deer and Turkey thrive in suburban Areas. I live in the city, same house 53 years, skunks opossum and rabbits are seen occasionally. My eldest sons house, same city abuts a disused tank farm property, and also backs up to a green way space. Turkeys are common and deer drive his wife bonkers eating her flowers and shrubs. Raccoons raid his trash cans and rabbits and squirrels are plentiful. No hunting of course. Coy dogs are seen occasionally. I think there are more game animals near his house than there are in the states game management areas.

 

[Shiloh]

But,If keep my reading magazines in my PowderRoom does that make it a Magazine,Magazine?
Now I'm confused

That would be a library.

 

[Shiloh]

Let me check my dictionary and get back with you.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/magazine
Definition #3

 

[SOLANCO]

And yet here in Rhode Islamd deer and Turkey thrive in suburban Areas. I live in the city, same house 53 years, skunks opossum and rabbits are seen occasionally. My eldest sons house, same city abuts a disused tank farm property, and also backs up to a green way space. Turkeys are common and deer drive his wife bonkers eating her flowers and shrubs. Raccoons raid his trash cans and rabbits and squirrels are plentiful. No hunting of course. Coy dogs are seen occasionally. I think there are more game animals near his house than there are in the states game management areas.

I think you are talking about opportunistic species. Turkey is a case in point. Not long ago had a tom in the middle of town fighting its reflection in the window of the local state rep's office. Can't find a wild pheasant here to save your first born but turkeys are everywhere. Deer love suburban gardens. Love them to death. The whitetail is become a nuisance species. Possum and rabbit? Sometimes but rarely. Ditto racoon. Maybe an unknown factor in the equation is raptors. We have a healthy population of eagles and hawks. I watched a hawk miss a critter in my wife's garden and chase it around "on foot". Fox is here, but scarce. I think coyote is more abundant than people realize or than the Game Commission is willing to admit.

But I am firm in my belief that absent large swaths of contiguous cover, and absent clearings in it caused by fire or other means, the population of flora and fauna will be skewed and limited. Add to this that we see far fewer snakes, frogs and toads than we did 10-15 years ago. I can not help but wonder if that is a result of the intense herbicide use prior to seed drilling in no till farming.

 

[TDM]

Agree @SOLANCO, hard to find a balanced woodland environment these days.

 

[CVA Enthusiast]

The words you use......Ya know my fat self got tired of being stuffed under someone else`s micro scope so they can pass a judgement, their God stated was a sin.. So life teaches me stay away from the non sense..I do not care Killed/Harvested Field Dressed/Processed/Gutted in my dictionary it all means the same thing something killed, guts pulled out, quartered, select cuts removed, frozen, cooked and I stuffed my face....Have a nice day.

 

[ETipp]

The words you use......Ya know my fat self got tired of being stuffed under someone else`s micro scope so they can pass a judgement, their God stated was a sin.. So life teaches me stay away from the non sense..I do not care Killed/Harvested Field Dressed/Processed/Gutted in my dictionary it all means the same thing something killed, guts pulled out, quartered, select cuts removed, frozen, cooked and I stuffed my face....Have a nice day.

Indeed it does. Different words with the same meaning. I have no issues with what anyone else wants to call it. But I will not allow anyone else to force their chosen words upon me. That's especially true with this new "Pronoun" fad.

That's where it stops with this ole boy.

 

[waksupi]

Shoot 'em, skin 'em, tan 'em, eat 'em, wear 'em.

 

[Steve Wagner]

Kill, bone out [gutless method in field] and butcher the meat at home. Harvesting is done with a scythe or a combine. Domestic meat gets slaughtered. 1st time I heard "harvest" for animals was at a hunter's safety course for my kids, and the instructor was doing cartwheels to soften the reality of dead Bambi to placate a minority of MT residents that don't like hunting. After class, I told the kids we don't talk silly like that. I moved them 1500 miles to get away from such nonsense, and if "kill" gets some people to leave MT, happy trails !
Now we kill 'em, strap 'em on the hood and pull their lips back in a big smile, as a farewell to the squeamish. Not really, they are in gauze game bags, in our packs, when they get to the truck. But some do that, and I don't mind a bit. It's like a free, one way ticket to Seattle, Portland or LA. Adios, and take your PITA stickers with you. SW

 

[ETipp]

Kill, bone out [gutless method in field] and butcher the meat at home. Harvesting is done with a scythe or a combine. Domestic meat gets slaughtered. 1st time I heard "harvest" for animals was at a hunter's safety course for my kids, and the instructor was doing cartwheels to soften the reality of dead Bambi to placate a minority of MT residents that don't like hunting. After class, I told the kids we don't talk silly like that. I moved them 1500 miles to get away from such nonsense, and if "kill" gets some people to leave MT, happy trails !
Now we kill 'em, strap 'em on the hood and pull their lips back in a big smile, as a farewell to the squeamish. Not really, they are in gauze game bags, in our packs, when they get to the truck. But some do that, and I don't mind a bit. It's like a free, one way ticket to Seattle, Portland or LA. Adios, and take your PITA stickers with you. SW

I find using euphemisms has its limitations. Euphemisms is way to sugarcoat reality for the touchy-feeler type. The truth is often too harsh for many folks so we are not supposed to “offend” them.

 

[oldwood]

There were a few times in deer season , I was away on business , sick , or just a bad hunter , and got no meat. Wish I COULD have said , shoot 'em , slaughter , kill , wound'emrun 'em down and cut their throat , hung 'em up , pulled the hide off , bone out , cook and eat the meat. Living in an area where industry slows down , w/ poor economy , gives an education got the hard way. Maybe in a big city , someone else does the difficult tasks above , thus nothing is learned about where food comes from. Remembering the first deer my beloved Son killed , I stood behind him waiting for the spike buck to come to us. He got ready , fired the shot , buck ran a short distance and fell. The smoke and smell of burnt powder hung around us , My Son turned to me and said , "Dad , that was just as easy as shooting squirrels". I smiled , then heartily laughed , and said , yea , it is. You made meat.

 

[Sparkplug]

My 2 cents (for what it's worth)...

Lots of folks kill a deer, but not everyone harvests it.

My hoist is only about 50 yards from where I kill them. So, I don't bother field dressing or field quatering anymore. I drag them up and gut them.

The butchering takes place under the same tree I skin them under. The meat is broken down into the different cuts and trimmed.

The individual cuts of meat are then taken into the kitchen and processed if needed (steaks, ground, jerky, etc...).

But, I was never taught and had to figure it out on my own. So, I may have it all wrong. Then again, I know a lot of folks that don't know the difference between tender loin and backstrap. And they have a lot more experience than me.

 

[Urban Coyote]

Read through a thread here with a lot of talk about whether we "harvest" or "kill" animals. I am sure it does not matter a damn to the dead animal, whether he has been harvested or killed. It is curious how and why we choose different words to identify identical events. Let me throw another word choice into the bubbling discussion.
When you kill, or harvest, a deer? Do you process it? Or do you butcher it?
Years ago a cousin raised a champion steer every other year to compete in the county fair. After the blue ribbon it went for meat. Wish I could remember for sure, but I would bet she said it was butchered. Processed not likely in her vocabulary.
There are brutal constants and truths in life. Dressing them in soft words has never been a good idea.

I kill 'em and cut 'em up, game animals that is. What I take from the garden I harvest. One thing I don't do is get my panties all tied in a knot over the difference.

 

[Urban Coyote]

I was once asked the question by a woman I used to work with, "So what do you do with those deers after you shoot them?" I explained my process to which she replied, "You mean you do it yourself and not take them to a butcher?" So, I asked her, having a family to feed, if she ever cut up a chicken or meat for a stew? "Heaven's no, I buy my everything already cut up." So I asked, "Do you mean to tell me if a piece of chuck roast or whatever cost $2/lb and that same item cut up by the butcher is $4/lb you buy the cut up meat?" She told me that's exactly what she did.

Like my grandmother used to say, "To each thier own said the old woman as she kissed the cow's ***."

 

[Whughett]

I was once asked the question by a woman I used to work with, "So what do you do with those deers after you shoot them?" I explained my process to which she replied, "You mean you do it yourself and not take them to a butcher?" So, I asked her, having a family to feed, if she ever cut up a chicken or meat for a stew? "Heaven's no, I buy my everything already cut up." So I asked, "Do you mean to tell me if a piece of chuck roast or whatever cost $2/lb and that same item cut up by the butcher is $4/lb you buy the cut up meat?" She told me that's exactly what she did.

Like my grandmother used to say, "To each thier own said the old woman as she kissed the cow's ***."

If I could find a chuck roast for $2 a pound, I’d stock my freezer and have Sunday Pot Roast for the next 52 Sundays

 

[yellowhammer]

99% of the population thinks chicken come from styrofoam trays, so they know you neither butcher nor harvest chicken!

Old thread, but true story: My younger sister had a sleepover and one of the little city girls went with her to the henhouse to get some fresh eggs for mother. Disgusted, the little girl wouldn't eat them. She said "I only eat the factory-made eggs."

 

[Whughett]

Growing up on the farm in the 40’s the boys Sunday job was to select the chicken or chickens. Pullets or older hens, for Sunday dinner. Remove the heads, dip the bird in boiling water and pluck. It wasn’t the most pleasant of chores.

 

[2 shots]

99% of the population thinks chicken come from styrofoam trays, so they know you neither butcher nor harvest chicken!

NOW IT DOES

 

[leadhoarder]