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Posted: 11/19/2008 12:53:31 PM EDT
So, did anybody get any deer this year?
I missed a shot at a great 8-pointer this year, but had a great time... It sure was snowy and I froze my ballz off up in the rickety old deer stand! That thing was made of old untreated scrapwood probably over 10 years ago. When the 25mph gusting winds would blow, the whole thing would sway a good 3-4 feet with the tree!!! This year I decided to process my own deer for the first time. It's been a fun & educational experience to say the least! I'm normally NOT the kind of person to recommend one brand or one product over another. I'm just not a 'Name Brand' kind of guy. However, I recently discovered something cool... I learned that with the right KNIFE and a decent saw it's actually VERY easy to do. I learned that some professional processors are switching to the new Outdoor Edge Cutlery - 'SwingBlade'. I thought it looked 'Gimmicky' at first, but when I saw it in the hands of a pro... I was convinced - I HAD TO BUY ONE!!! Getting to watch a pro, I learned there are 2 ways to process a deer: 1.) The 'Trophy Buck' way (aka - the 'Right Way'). 2.) The Quick & Dirty way. Even though this was just a little buck, I decided to do it the trophy buck way for practice my first time around! I spent a few hours and I got the buck skinned, cleaned, torched, washed, and quartered! I was impressed with how quickly this new knife worked its magic!!! Even though the temps dropped below freezing and the all of the fat, connective tissues, & sinew, etc., all started to freeze pretty quickly last night, this slick knife still made a pretty easy job of the skinning & quartering work!!! What makes THIS knife so special and different from other skinning/gutting knives is the Gutting Blade! Most skinning/gutting knives have a 'gutting hook' which requires you to cut a slit in the hide, insert the hook, and pull the handle downward while applying a slight downward pressure to keep the hide from slipping off the hook! Sometimes the little downward pressure scratches/digs into the meat below the skin... That's not good. Another problem with traditional 'hooks' is when skinning the front legs. If you make the initial slit and slide the hook down the leg, when you reach the 'underarm' gap or 'armpit' area (a gap/valley between the front leg & rib cage) usually the handle butts against the ribs, and you can't get the hook down into that underarm gap/valley area easily. And to do a trophy buck just right for mounting, a taxidermist needs the hide cut in EXACTLY a certain spot. This reduces the amount of stitching the taxidermist does, and he can easily hide it easily along the edge where the two different colors of fur are bordering. Hooks are 'pulled' handle-first, and simply cannot get down into that gap properly. Some people can make the cut with a normal blade, but then you've got two problems: You're cutting the fur, which will get more into your meat, and your cutting into your meat since you can't easily control the depth when making that cut. This goofy knife has a strange gutting blade that you actually slide in under the hide, and then simply slide it down the animal blade-first. It cuts the hide from the INSIDE Outward! So, you never actually CUT any of the hair, you only cut the Hide, and the hair stays in the hide as it spreads apart! GREATLY reducing the chance of any loose hairs getting in/on your meat! It's easy as unzipping a coat!!! The only difference is this goes blade first, doesn't scratch/score the meat in any way, and due to an oddly designed tip, it simply CANNOT accidentally cut/pop/slide out of the hide like traditional hooks do. This way you don't have to keep trying to re-hook, and slide it down further, and further, etc... That's annoying and damaging to the meat. For that pesky under-arm area, this is the greatest thing since sliced bread. All you need to do is glide the blade down the leg, and down into the 'armpit' area of your buck. Hold it at a 90 degree angle, and just pull up! It's slicker than s#!t!!! You get a perfect 'trophy cut' hide every time! In the hands of a PRO, I've seen an entire deer completely skinned in a matter of minutes!!! Since it was my first time I was going slow, and with the freezing temps it took me a while to finish skinning my deer, but it went easily due to this goofy lovable knife! I just can't stop saying good things about it. The optimum temp range for processing your deer is between 33 and 40 degrees. IF the temp is 32 or below, it can start freezing, and at 41 or above, bacteria will try to grow on your meat! Anyway, it was a VERY educational experience, and I think I'm going to keep processing my own deer from now on. It'll save me the $180 to $200 for full processing, sausages, jerky, etc... All it took was to finish the butchering/separating the neck/brisket into the various steaks, chops, roasts, & burger meat... The butchering/separating the rear legs, and the front legs and she's done!!! (and that should account for the perfect aging of my meat before freezing it) I find it funny that many 'Survivalist' people I know keep telling me that whe 'The S#!t Hits The Fan' they're going to 'Bug Out' to some location (even though they have no specific plans on a specific location to go), and they're going to 'live off the land - you know, hunting & such')... When the fact still remains that MANY of them have never hunted a day in their lives, and of those who have, even FEWER have actually ever fully processed their own deer! Of all the 'hunters' I know many of them have hunted over 25+ years and have taken DOZENS of large bucks, but not a single one of them has ever processed their own deer!!! How are you going to survive when you honestly have never done it before??? I think it's better to test yourself, to test your tools/weapons/equipment, and to test your skills BEFORE your life actually depends upon them! Especially if the lives of others may also hang in the balance someday. I'm so glad that I learned how to do this, I can't begin to convey how happy I was to finally accomplish this little feat. It will save me some serious $$ in the long run as well! Mmmm... Backstraps... (This is just part of what I got off the neck & rib cage!) All that meat & burger for under $50!!! (Note: Most of the steaks, chops, roasts, & burger not shown - but it's enough to fill my freezer pretty good). A good size deer, a couple cases of canned chicken meat, some bulk beans, rice, pasta, canned/jarred sauces, and bulk soup mixes and I've got enough food to feed my Wife and I for AT LEAST a full year. I'm still working on eating last year's 12 Point Buck. Edited to add: I thought the most entertaining part of doing this whole thing was the look on the next-door neighbors' faces when I started skinning the thing while they were eating dinner! Their fancy dining room has a large picture window that looks right out across my back yard! I saw they were eating in there, but I wasn't gonna wait until later (colder & darker) to get started on the skinning! They looked like they were gonna be sick! I noticed it didn't take too long for them to clear out of their dining room! So, did anybody else get any deer this year!?!?!? |
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I cut the roasts into 1" squares and can in quart jars with beef broth. Tastes like roast beef. I have found it's the best way to get my family to eat it! Great w/bbq sauce and doesn't take up freezer space!
If you don't have one a pressure canner is a good investment and now would be a good time to get one. |
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I've never tried canning or jarring... Any good info/links I should check out??? 100% of my meats are frozen (except the canned chicken chunks I buy)...
Learning how to do it myself might be worth looking into considering the unstable economy & markets. |
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The Bell "Blue Book of Canning" is considered by many to be the bible of food preservation. In addition to canning, it covers freezing, pickling, and drying food, albeit in less depth.
It's a good place to start. If you're looking for a pressure canner, I recommend an All-American. |
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Quoted:
The Bell "Blue Book of Canning" is considered by many to be the bible of food preservation. In addition to canning, it covers freezing, pickling, and drying food, albeit in less depth. It's a good place to start. If you're looking for a pressure canner, I recommend an All-American. big plus 1 to that. its a good book. we have learned a lot from that book and canned a lot of stuff. stuck |
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Nice deer man! Thanks for the write up on the knife. I will have to check one out. I'm not having the same luck as you with the deer, and our rifle season ends this weekend out in CA.
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DIRT CHEAP??????????????
I see at least 50 dollars worth of knife, 750 dollars worth of rifle/scope. That heater thingy, not to mention 250 dollars worth of hunting clothes, etc.. Might want to reconsider that Dirt Cheap meat idea. |
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Quoted:
DIRT CHEAP?????????????? I see at least 50 dollars worth of knife, 750 dollars worth of rifle/scope. That heater thingy, not to mention 250 dollars worth of hunting clothes, etc.. Might want to reconsider that Dirt Cheap meat idea. It gets cheaper every time you use it. If you consider how much beef costs these days, he still probably didn't do that bad. I'm also willing to bet that this isn't the first year he used most of that stuff. |
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Headed to the lease this weekend. No luck on the deer yet. I have been wanting to process my own for sometime, just haven't thought how to go about it. Congatulations on a good hunt.
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+1
Got one so far this year. Can get 9 more by the middle of January. One year we didn't even buy beef, because we lived off of deer meat. Now if I can only get the garden and canning to that level I can skip the grocery store altogether. But then there's toilet paper |
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Yes, the Knife was $50.
THe Deer Tag was about $45 The Rifle, Scope, and Ammo was exactly $0 (Borrowed from Father In Law) THe heater is an old wal-mart special my wife had since college a few years ago (Free to me) The hunting clothes belonged to my In-Law's family... They're FREE Hand-Me-Downs because I seem to be the weight the used to be when they first bought them! (Free to me). But I guess what matters most is the perspective from which you look at it all... Since MOST of the stuff (aside from the knife) were things I used for free belonging to my wife, or her family, I guess that means those things are the most expensive of all... Let's See, the cost of the engagement ring was $X,XXX.XX Divide that by... Awe F(_)ckit. I guess that means it was pretty expensive. But as was previously mentioned, the more you use it, the cheaper it gets... Quoted:
That's what happened this year! Didn't spend a single penny on beef!
+1 Got one so far this year. Can get 9 more by the middle of January. One year we didn't even buy beef, because we lived off of deer meat. Now if I can only get the garden and canning to that level I can skip the grocery store altogether. But then there's toilet paper I agree though. If only I could get a garden started that was capable of producing worth a darn, perhaps I could skip most trips to the Grocery store as well - for everything but Cheese, Milk, and TP! I was told by one of my in-laws (who likes to hunt but hates venison) that he's heading out for Muzzleloader/blackpowder season this year, and if he gets another deer he was wondering if I had room in my freezer for it. Well, it's getting tight for space, but I might be able to make it fit! We'll see how fast I can do it the next time around. |
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Quoted:
You remind me of someone... http://blogalice.com/files/pyle.jpg Just kidding dude. Nice job. I really need to get out and do a guided hunt right away... I though the exact same thing when I saw this pic: |
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nice post dude.
not a bad buck, lots o grub there. We have 3 does (youth hunt, pop control and a 125 hog) so far No Mr Big yet, maybe this weekend Been cuttin my own for years, its 75.00 here crazy Vacuum packers are great. but freezer paper is cheap Harbor frieght has a cheapass food grinder, mine has lasted 3 years. like 19.99 i think Way ta go!!!!!!!!!!! |
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To gut a deer with a regular knife: lay the deer on it's back, spread the rear legs, slice the skin in the rear leg crotch. Insert first 2 fingers of weak side hand into slit palm up, place knife blade between the 2 fingers sharp side up, fingers and knife under the skin, push knife and fingers toward chest on up to the throat.
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Thanks for the comments!
I guess the goofy look on my face does look a bit 'psycho' though! Good deal on the 3 does. Never shot a hog before. I think I might borrow a friend's vacuum packer to see how good they work, and if it's worthwhile to buy one of my own! Until then, I've just been using freezer paper. My wife always loved baking in college so she has a big kitchenaide mixer machine with a bunch of attachments. One was a meat grinder, another attachment was a juicer setup. She never used the meat grinder part but now she's glad she got it way back when... Her grinder worked out great though! Thanks for the great information on the Canning/Jarring book! I'll have to see if they have a copy on hand at my library! Usually I'll borrow/order a book from the library, read it over a little, see if Canning/Jarring is a feasible option, and then I can go out & buy the book if I decide to do it - to keep the info on hand for reference. |
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last i noticed, dirt got really expensive according to one company that likes to price stuff just below dirt.
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What frustrates me the most about deer season is I wash my clothes in uncented detergent, use unscented soap and deordorant, unscented bug spray, keep my hunting clothes in a bag with pine needles, sneak out to my stand an hour before first light even thinks about showing and right before it's game on, it's all I can do not to shit my pants climbing down from the stand while high stepping and take a wicked dump at the bottom.
Laugh all you want, you sumbitches have done the same thing. |
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You processing your deer...My hats off to you...I do that also. That is the only way togo. You Rule Dude.
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Quoted:
DIRT CHEAP?????????????? I see at least 50 dollars worth of knife, 750 dollars worth of rifle/scope. That heater thingy, not to mention 250 dollars worth of hunting clothes, etc.. Might want to reconsider that Dirt Cheap meat idea. Yeah but it can be done with a 15$ Remington knife, a 135$ rifle (think No4mk1 with the micrometer sight, you Americans must have an equivalent cheap yet sturdy gun) and normal clothes... |
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Good on you iNuhBaDNayburhood
In all my years, I could never understand anyone that could shoot an animal and then have to have someone else turn it into food for them. GM |
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Quoted:
You remind me of someone... http://blogalice.com/files/pyle.jpg Just kidding dude. Nice job. I really need to get out and do a guided hunt right away... |
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