Huntin' with the littlin'

Only one of the youngsters wanted to hunt this year. Of course it was the youngest(7), she had to show up her big brothers but "only if it's a boy deer". We got out the .410 the week before and she shot a couple slugs. She did really well. We also pulled up lots of deer pictures on the internet and she practiced showing me where to shoot each one.

We didn't get out too early and since we only hunt our own property we are limited on where we go. We posed for a pic so everyone could see her hunting deer.

We headed out and walked along the edge of the field you see behind us, where bucks like to bed down and watch the house. We didn't find any fresh beds, but when we got over to the other side i saw the neighbor kid in his half of the woods cutting firewood, but I didn't say anything to her.

We snuck into the woods and she learned how to cross a fence and a creek with a gun. We found a stump to sit on, where we could see the edge of a corn stubble field and watch a trail in the woods.

She did pretty good with sitting still and being quiet. We talked in whispers about different ways to hunt deer, then came in after an hour or so when we got cold.

We went back out that evening without the neighbor being in the woods so I had a little hope we would see something. No such luck.

All of our kids have shot some and all have kill animals in the live trap by shooting them. So far the only game they have eaten is the deer I have killed or has been given to us.

I have made a deal with each child that I will clean their first animal of each type they kill but then it is up to them (with my help) after that. The middle child I think is saving that for later since he won't hunt now but says he wants to in the future.

 I remember as a child the one thing I feared most was the blood, gore and guts of cleaning animals I killed. After I had actually done it there was no problem but the worry affected how hard I hunted.

I am hunting this weekend so wish me luck.

Still clinging to my God and my guns,
Randy

How to process a deer part 3 cutting and packaging

This is the final part of how to butcher your deer.



When you have the meat off of the bones it is time to cut and package it.
First take your two backstraps and cut off the membrane and dried parts so you have clean meat to cut.

Like this:


After it is cleaned of membrane I cut the backstraps into medallions.
On a larger animal you can get some excellent steaks from this filet mignon.

cut medallions like this:


Next grab one of the muscle groups you have boned out and start to clean the membrane, fat and gristle off.

Until you get something like this nice roast.



You can also cut this into steak if you prefer.
Always cut meat across the grain if you are making steaks.


Like this:




Continue on with all muscle groups.
Odd pieces of good meat can be made into stir fry or stew meat.
You can also use any of the meat you would use for steak or roast.

Cut it in pieces like this:



After you have all the "good" meat cut it's time for burger.
You can turn the whole thing into burger if you like.
Start by cutting the good meat away from tendons and membrane.

Like this:



Then get your bones and clean them up of all the meat you can cut off.
When I was young this was the job for us kids. We had to clean up all the bones and toss the meat in the burger cooler.

still some meat:



Some here on the carcass also.



We run it through the meat grinder at least twice.
Once very course and the second time on the middle setting.
We add no fat or suet to the meat. We won't be making hamburgers from it so when you brown it just add a little water or oil to keep it from sticking.

Here is Tanya grinding burger:
(looks thrilled I know)


When you are done cutting it is time to wrap.
If you want it to last a long time in your freezer wrap it in plastic wrap before putting it in your freezer paper.
I ate some elk that was wrapped this way that was over 5 years old and wasn't freezer burnt. (I wouldn't make a habit of it though)
Since this was a tiny deer and it will get eaten quickly we skipped the plastic and just used freezer paper.
The meat goes against the shiny side of the paper.

Like this:


Then just wrap it up and make sure and write the date and what type of meat is in the package.





Once we mistakenly cooked some loin in the crockpot and it turned to mush.

This wraps up how I butcher a deer, or an elk for that matter.
It may not be the best way but it's how I have come to do it.

Still clinging to my God and my guns
Randy