Good for you Sue. Send me a nice venison roast. Email me for my address! Just kiddin' of course.....kinda...LOL.

Duane

Our body shop manager LOVES deer--almost as much as he loves hail storms!!

Duane,

I've got the tenderloin part figured along with another strip that is 'supposed' to be really tender and I'm just winging it on the rest.

If it ends up big, I'll call it a roast. If it ends up smaller, I'll call it stew, crock pot, or jerky meat. The only person I have to please is myself, and that is a 'good thing'.

Maybe I can make it to DATE in 06 and bring some jerky. Would that suit you as well?

Big Mike....Ohhhh I just got it...body shop...hail...lol...I'll bet he does love hail>

Sue...off to process some

Hey Sue how ya been doing friend I guess with you shooting that deer kinda puts a damper on me stealing maters out of your garden now dont it.

What did you get it with 270, 300-win mag, 30-06, 25-06, 243, 222, 223, 280, 50 cal 155 howitzer, shotgun baseball bat, poisoned tomato?

I get my deer by inviting them into the house and boring them to death with talk of tomatoes into the wee hours of the night.

Come on tell us, "You canÂt shoot a deer with out talking guns!!!!!!!!!

What kind of knife did you use?

The best way to skin a deer is to let some braggart do it and act stupid even if you can do it faster thatÂs what braggarts are for. (LOL)

Oh and by the way good job on the hunt.
Now I will go back to cooking my possum stew.

Worth

Ok...Human Popsickle...gun was Remington Model 870 Combo, with 12 guage slug barrel....and got it with about 10 minutes of legal light left. It was a long shot...for me anyway, but I haven't stepped it off, and will do that sometime later. It was a lung shot and it went about 30 ft b4 dropping.

A neighbor pulled it from the woods, wanting to show off his 4wheel drive 4 wheeler...Man that thing is awesome. He then asked if I wanted him to field dress it for me, saying it wouldn't take 5 minutes, (braggart) and he was still a bloody mess from just having done 2 of his own. I said sure, held the flashlight, and he was done in less than 5.

My next one, I'm going to be ready for skinning here with a hanging rig, and pulley, or something. Then I aim to invite a few friends over to watch...and I'll bet someone will show me how it oughta be done...lol

You said, "I get my deer by inviting them into the house and boring them to death with talk of tomatoes into the wee hours of the night." That's so funny, because someone suggested I run some pesky drinking gossipy neighbors off by always talking COMPOST to them and never letting up on talking COMPOST. I have an agreement with the friend who worked with me on the skinning, and that is that I won't talk COMPOST with him, and he won't talk GUNS with me.

I did have to see his new (old) 17?? muzzleloader that he had gotten his deer with. It was a pretty sweet piece!

Knife...used his, but he is getting the info to me so I can order one just like it. It was so balanced and really felt and worked well.

Sue...who has always wanted to try ground hog but never possom.

Life is good! I've butchered 3 so far this season. First was a 2.5 year old doe on first day of bow season, 17 September. Cousin got that one for me. Next was an 11-pointer stuck on Halloween. The guy who got that one was 5th in the archery competition of last year's ESPN Great Outdoors Games! Third one was a 1.5 year old extremely fat spike buck shot by another cousin on 10 November with a .243. He was a competition shooter in his younger years and delights in slicing off the top of a deer's heart with his rifle.

The last one kept me busy for just over 6 hours last Friday and I was working alone. That was from first pulling the skin off and then de-boning it entirely and to having the kitchen all cleaned and ready for supper. Into the freezer went 12 large chunks of meat for roasts and steaks and the rest was ground. The ground meat was then split half for bratwurst and half for chorizo and packed in quart Ziploc bags. After having done roughly 200 deer since my first in October 1954, it does seem almost automatic at times!

Still room for at least two more with additional sausage spices for 200# on order. With electric grinder, slicer, stuffer, Excalibur dehydrator, and Jerky Shooter, the final deer is almost always reserved just for specialty stuff. That usually when two freezers are packed solid and still several lugs full of meat in some shady spot outside.

If converting a deer to venison is an art, it must certainly be an abstract one! There is no totally right or totally wrong way. Expecting the same cuts as if from an 800 pound steer is the first fallacy. End use is pretty much dictated by a number of conditions such as age, sex, physical condition, and time of year. If one has a 4 year old buck during the peak of rut, trying to make a lot of steaks and roasts from that beast will often turn anyone off to buck meat. But take that same deer, grind 90% of him to be mixed with sausage spices or sent through a Jerky Shooter, and he's great venison. The other 10% would be canned, which does wonders for even the toughest and stinkiest old buck!

Also, never slice anything up for steaks unless you intend to eat them right away. Instead, package them as a boneless roast. Don't slice them until you are ready to cook them. Big chunks will be almost as good as fresh even if they are in the freezer for a year.

Oh, my favorite rifle is a Remington .222 BDL. It's about the smallest legal rifle in this state but also one of the fastest and most accurate. There was one 3-year stretch in the mid-1980s when I pulled the trigger 7 times and had 7 deer. Every shot was into the necks. Very deadly and without the normal massive shock damage. Yeah, life really is good this time of year!

Martin

fascinating!

anyway,

Great job Sue!

I was too busy to hunt locally for deer(did not miss much)
but last month 4 buddies and myself went DEEP in the mountians of Colorado(I live in N.Ca). It was an incredible trip. We saw Elk,Mule Deer, Moose, Black Bear, and Mountian Lion. This is my second time to this hunting spot, our quarry was some of natures finest and healthiest of meats, Elk. The first time four of us harvested four bulls. This time 5 of us harvested 2 bulls and a cow with many sightings and close calls in between.
I was the luckiest, getting a very large bull.
Elk populations are very high in Colorado right now, I think what I read is that they have over half the elk in the world and with over a hundred thousand too many for the habitat that is available. In our area they made all tags either sex automatically.
Hunters and their money are the main reason for the elk success that has been going on. Natures best Conservationsists.
The picture is of a dead animal so if its not your thing please dont look. We carried every bit of meat out and cherish every bit of it.

feraltomatoes,

That is a trophy Elk!

You should be proud. I hope to visit Colorado some day for an adventure like the one you describe. Until then I'll just have to settle for the whitetails around here. I'm not much for bow hunting but rifle season opens here next weekend and I've got a 7mm 08 with a big buck's name on it!

Now thats just wrong, feraltomtoes, flat wrong. Those are not elk. Us Colorado-ians call them deer, or better still, "runty, stunted deer". And we never show pictures on the internet because that might confuse people into coming here and hunting. There are no elk in Colorado, no sir. :-).

Sue, Human Popsicle...that's funny. Congratulations on your deer. This was just sent to me by my brother who is hunting in Ky. now. He prefers hunting with a muzzleloader or bow but always hunts when gun season first opens down there. I'll never be a deer hunter but am hoping to try turkey hunting next year.
Hey, human popsicle, are you home or in Alaska? Hope your wife is doing well!

You cant have deer season with out talking guns.
This is the time of the year that all of us red necks get together and show off our guns and tell stories about them.

The little single shot 28 gauge close to the right was given to me when I was 8 years old and I still use the thing and it was old at the time of receiving it.

With all of these guns you would think I liked to kill things, you could not be farther from the truth.

The only thing I find offensive about that dead elk is the fact that it is not at my house in my freezer. (LOL)
Good job on the elk!

Now I hope this doesnt offend any one here is a picture of my small arsenal of firearms, I hope you all enjoy.

Worth

Maybe I missed this, but, Sue, is this your first deer kill? I am not much for hunting, even less for killing (yes, in California, those two activities are often distinct) but, sold guns and hunting stuff for years and, like Worth, like to hear about the gun, knife, hunt and vehicles involved as well.

You know, those small chunks make for a good salami, or what mu Uncle calls german sausage.

Bob-who is trying to convince a friend of his, who just homesteaded some land, to cull the wild pigs roaming his land. I gove him the idea, he gives me a rib roast.

Nice arcenal Worth. You spent some $ on some optics too, usally Worth every cent. I have a 30-06 and a .243 wich I usually use the .243 on the local deer since 100 lbs. is a nice one. The 30-06 is responsible for quit a few hog meals wich I am about to plead with Bob to ask his friend to have me take a couple hogs, my very favorite animal to chase. Oh sooo tasty, inteligent and unique. I live in NCa. and have no pig spots right now.
I used my friends 7mm to take the elk. little more umph then my 30-06. Apperantly the gun is about 30 years old and his grandfathers, he took 10 nice mulies in 10 trips and it was put away. In the last 10 years its been elk hunting 3 times and shot 3 bulls no bull. The luckiest gun in the world it may be.

Deer season with guns opens this Saturday in Alabama and lasts till the last day of January. We are allowed two per day in most counties but only one may be antlered. I usually use a Browning 30-06 but sometimes use a Browning 12 ga semi. One or two is all I have freezer space for.
BTW the liver is the best cut of all. Milder than calf liver. With onions, gravy and smashed taters, Yum I can hardly wait.

Martin, I sure could have used your help as I finished up late last night. What a job, being my first and just winging it as I've never even watched it being done. I may not be good, but I'm slow....get it?

ferral, Is that what they call a 'Video Elk? Nice one! I'd enjoy a trip deep into the mountains, but wouldn't relish the idea of getting one and all the work of getting it out.

griley...nice one! What a rack for it just being 6 points. Mine wasn't even big enough to make rattles, which I'm 'needing.' They sure do grow em big 'up' in Kentucky.

Worth, Nice arsenal...is Nancy a shooter as well? It looks like she has some good 'protection' there.

LandArc, No not first deer, but the first I have done anything with besides taking to the locker. I decided if I'm going to hunt that I want to have/enjoy the total deer hunting experience, and that is skinning and processing it.
This was my third. The 'first' was a 12 point (Video Buck they say) which I have mounted.
All 3 have been taken on opening days, late eve, from the same spot, about a 10 minute walk from the house. About 6 months out of the year, there is a herd of 14 that can be seen at the back of my field, so it does need some thinning.
I'm told this is some 'prime' hunting ground.

Ted, that's one long season. Is a hunter allowed 2 per day on all days of the season? Is Alabama that over run with them? or is the DNR making some money from the sale of so many tags? I'll have to remember the liver next deer. I do really like it with onions and taters as you said.

Sue

Sue,

Lighten up that picture of your great mount and post it here. That was an impressive deer.

Now that you know how they are "put together", the next will be easier to "take apart". My grandfather showed me when I was 15. Never a problem after that and it became easier with each deer. When all else fails, make a lot of ground meat! To get even higher returns, saw the spine, neck, and any other meaty bones into 2 or 3 inch sections. Cook them down in a large stock pot. Sort out the bone bits later and you've got super base for "hunter's stew". Just add potatoes, carrots, and onions.

I shake my head at those hunters who don't take the time to learn how to butcher their own kill but then complain about the cost of having someone else do it. In 1975, my race car sponsor shot a nice buck and dropped it off at a professional butcher. Going cost was around $25 at the time. A week or so later, I saw the small box of meat that he got back and I would have gotten more than that off a fawn! I let word out that I'd butcher for $10 and the hide plus 10# of meat. Next year, that group dropped off 13 for me to process in one week. And that was with a hand-cranked grinder!

Our normal 9-day gun season opens Saturday. Looks bad for the deer with snow cover in northern two-thirds of the state. Makes for easier spotting and tracking. 1.5 million deer in the state and 600,000 hunters will be trying to get at least one. I'm hoping that at least two of them still are reserved for me!

Martin

Thanks Martin, but I'll try and get a better pic of it here in a day or so and post it.

Last season I took a medium sized doe in to the deer locker, and it yielded 27 pounds of meat at a cost of $55! That was when I decided 'never' again. The friend who worked with me on skinning it, had said he would help me with the whole thing start to finish, for a portion of it. After getting one of his own (and wanting to get another) he regretted telling me that. He assured me I would get along fine cutting it up and packaging it myself, judging from watching me skin it, safely.

He stressed the main thing when cutting it up, is to be careful not to cut myself.

I'm sure I'll get better, and quicker, and have better yields in the future. This first time I was just so ready for the 'whole deer experience' to be over with.

The hunter's stew sounds like a good idea, and could've/ should've done that with lots of the bony pieces....maybe next deer.

I hope you get 2 more too.

Sue...who thinks some whole tomatoes would be good in that hunter's stew and that the misc chunks will be great for some venison barbeque.

Sue, there certainly were more deer running around yet and reserved for me. Jeff's uncle, Jordan's great-uncle, plugged a yearling doe and a monster 9-point buck for me Sunday. Buck's meat was almost as dark as liver and so tough that it could "turn a knife"! Lots of meat off of him but not a single steak or roast. Thus far, 26 pints of stew meat have been canned with another 20 pounds or so to be canned as soon as Thanksgiving is out of the way. The rest, combined buck and doe, is waiting to be ground and mixed with pork shoulder roast meat for 20# each of salami and summer sausage. What's left will be mixed with some leftover 2004 bulk ground venison for bratwurst, Italian, Polish, and chorizo. Life is good!

If all goes as planned, there will be no more deer to play with this season. However, word is still out that I haven't cried "Uncle" yet and that I could handle one more. If that one does come, it will be within the next few days now that cold weather will quickly make it miserable to be in the woods.

Martin

Some alternative views.

The man who snowplows for me and lives over the VT line, just 5 min from me is a deer hunter. Right now the season is open in both VT and NYS and he hunts both. He got an 8 pt buck yesterday, as he told me on the phone last night when I called to see if he'd be plowing tonight after todays snow since I have two folks stopping by tomorrow from W NYS coming from Glens Falls on their way to Albany.

The man who sands and salts the wicked slate slabs in front of the front door where I have to get out with my walker also lives in the same small VT town where my snowplow man lives. He was supposed to be doing a few other things for me this Fall but left on Nov 1 to go to IL to deer hunt. At least this year it wasn't Montana where he also has a hunting camp. Above snowplow person said IL hunter is back and heard he got an 8 pointer yesterday and called to congratulate him. IL hunter is an outlaw re deer hunting, but we all love him anyway.

What I'm trying to say is in this area of NYS where I live everything comes to a halt when deer season opens. Few do bow and arrow, few do the muzzle loader season after the main season. Signs on stores say...gone hunting. And most of these folks are not pleasure killers, it's meat for winter.

I was raised in a hunting family for my father shot anything that had four feet or flew. And each Fall after the season I'd see the many deer hanging from our barn rafters that were killed by the folks in his hunting group.

Hunting has changed now. My father and his friends would put out watchers, do drives and forever I'd hear them talking and laughing about the low and high points of each season's hunt. Where I live now it's tree stands and shooting from the road, outside the truck or car so as to not be illegal. No drives like in the old days.

When I moved here in 1999 I had my 30 acres posted, for any good that does where I live, but just for once I wanted to see the wildlife here up close and personal without seeing it hang from a rafter, and I do have a herd of about 20 deer that hang out on my hillsides. But they aren't dumb deer and they pretty much disappear when hunting season starts. LOL

Three years ago I fed the deer here b'c it was a wicked winter and they were starving. Others did the same, even though it was technically illegal to do so b/c of concerns about chronic wasting disease.

Since that time one doe, whom I can recognize b'c she has a long scar on one side, brings her fawns down to my backyard each year. I can watch them up close and personal from where I sit here at the computer b'c there's a low panel fo four large windows and they've given me lots of wonderful hours of enjoyment.

Do any of you think I'm crazy b'c I think she comes down here b'c I fed her that winter? She got Agway deer food and I'd drive to an apple place where I'd drag home large bags of what they sold as deer apples. And I had a kid up the road dig out five huge circles of snow b'c I needed to separate the 12-15 that came to feed each day b'c the big ones would kick the smaller ones out of the way.

It's snowing now so I expect to hear lots of shots today and in the next few days b'c tracking will be so much easier.

Carolyn, whose mother didn't like venison and would only cook it as one would saurbraten. The Firemen in the small VT town I'm talking about put on a wild game dinner in late Fall that is known far and wide, even to nearby states. I haven't gone but they serve deer, moose, beaver, rabbit, bear, woodchuck, turkey and I forget what else.

Carolyn, talk about a town shutting down. Before the No Child Left Behind came along and we had to be accountable, the entire school district shut down for "Elk Days" mainly because all the teachers and kids called in sick anyways. The Thursday and Friday before opening day.

"deer, moose, beaver, rabbit, bear, woodchuck, turkey"

The tradition of a 'beast feast', though I have never heard of beaver or woodchuck being served at one. The Ducks Unlimited and one other hunting group out here used to hold them annually to raise funds.

Bob

We have things that shut down here for deer season, too. Along the Missouri River, we have a great recreational trail that starts at our town and follows the river north for about 30 miles. Since it goes through wood and fields, it is posted as shut down during deer season. Two weeks ago it was down for a week for rifle season, next week for a week for black powder muzzle loader season and the first week in January for second rifle season.

Not being a hunter, I won't be walking either chasing a deer or out on the trail trying to maintain my tone. Those weeks I just walk the hills in town or potato out in front of the tube watching the old movies listed in another thread in conversations.

The wild game feeds I have experience with had all the above animals plus lots of beer and hard liquor and another "wild beast", Rocky Mountain Oysters.

Carolyn,

Do any of you think I'm crazy b'c I think she comes down here b'c I fed her that winter?

No, you're not crazy...of course she remembers, and is still hoping to 'find' some apples.

Hummingbirds return to the same feeders they frequented the previous year. They remember. If I don't get mine up soon enough, I can look out and see them hovering where the feeders were last year.

I have a friend whose hummers come and hover looking in the kitchen window if she happens to let the feeders go dry even though she fills them daily.

Sue

Sue, there are no deer tags in Alabama. All that's required is a valid liscense and since I've been over 65 for some time I don't even need that. Non-resident liscenses are expensive but I don't remember how much. The deer are so plentiful in some areas that they overgraze the teritory sometimes. It varies by county but many counties allow only bucks with visible antlers except for a few days between Christmas and New Year. Where I hunt mostly, allows two deer per day but only one may be antlered.
Don't think it's like shooting fish in a barrel. As Carolyn pointed out, come opening day they disappear and they are expert tricksters. I did not get one on opening weekend but two friends did.
Carolyn, I hope those 20 deer have more room to roam than your 30 acres. If they are as thick on your neighbors land they will eat all the available forage and some of it will never grow back. They will become stunted and have a massive die off. Many years ago the state of Utah put a bounty on wolves and cougars and restricted deer hunting in the Kiabab Forrest on the rim of the Grand Canyon. Within less than 10 years the deer overpopulated the entire forrest and began getting smaller so they changed their tactics. Some of the plants they ate have never come back.

Carolyn, I hope those 20 deer have more room to roam than your 30 acres

Sure they do Ted, thousands of acres. LOL I live in a very rural area and was speaking only of my own 30 acres and in good weather my herd does hang out on the open 10 acre hillside b'c a local dairy farm leases from me and they plant the green stuff for haylage and fertilize and all that and so the green stuff is lush and the deer love it.

In certain areas of my own backyard it gets pretty lush as well, so first thing in late winter I see many of them coming down to paw thru the remaining snow b/c the hillside would have been cut for haylage while not necessarily my grass. What interests me is that there's a certain rock outcropping that they go to and always paw there first. The woman who was here before me had planted thyme and various mosses along the outcropping and I suppose there's aomething there they especially like that gives them certain minerals/nutrients.

Sue, so how come it's only ONE doe out of many who loves me? LOL Yes, I suppose it's no different than humans in that with some individuals the brain neurons fire faster than with others and maybe she does remember. LOL And now for several years in a row? I mean the one doe who brings her fawns down, usually just the three of them, although this year one died and it was just the two. Other does appear now and then in the backyard, but fawnless. And I sure as heck know they didn't leave them back with daddy. LOL I do see the new fawns out on the hillside, but just that one doe brings hers to my backyard.

Carolyn

Animals do have a great abilty to remember food and water sources. Seems this one doe has an extra fancy for apples or possibly finds security from predators during fawning time while hanging out with Carolyn.
From what I know about animals food, water and security are in there heads better then our top 10 tomato list.
Here is a very funny story on venison vs. beef
VENISON VS. BEEF
Controversy has long raged about the quality of venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is tough with a strong wild taste. Others insist that venison is tender and that the flavor is delicate.
To try and resolve this issue once and for all, a blind taste test was conducted by a certified research group to find the facts.
Fist, a high-choice Holstein steer was selected and led into a swamp approximately a mile and a half from the nearest roat. It was then shot several times in various locations throughout the carcass. After most of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged over rocks and logs, through mud and dust, thrown into the back of a pick-up truck bed and transported through rain and snow approximately 100 miles before being hung in a tree for several days.
During the aging period the tempreture was maintained at between 25-60 degrees. Next the steer was dragged into the garage and skinned out on the floor.
Please Note: Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout the processing within the limitations of the butchering environment.
For instance, dogs were allowed to sniff at the steer carcass, but were chased out of the garage if they attempted to lick the carcass or bite hunks out of it.
Cats were allowed in the garage, but were always immediately removed from the cutting table.
Next half a dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic individuals worked on the steer with with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was 200 pounds of scrap, 375 pounds of soup bones, four bushels misc. meat, two roasts and a half dozen steaks that were an inch and a half on one end and an eighth of an inch on the other.
The steaks were then fried in a skillet with one pund of butter and three pounds of onions. After two hours of frying, the contents of the skillet were served to three blindfolded taste panel volunteers who were asked if ther were eating venison or beef.
Every one of the panel members was sure they were eating venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted exactly like the venison he had been eating at the hunting camp for the last 27 years.
The results show conclusively that there is no difference between the talste of beef and venison.

Sue,
You did good, lady! Proud of you. My wife has taken a couple bucks in days past, with a 30.06. I've taken a few since I've been in Ohio, but most came out of Georgia. I always age them in ice chests for at least two weeks before deboning them and putting in freezer. Five minutes for a gut job seems kinda fast. Did he use twine to tie anything off so seepage wouldn't taint any meat?

Did you save the heart? Pickled heart is great.

OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH,

BAMBI and mom. LOL

When I was small tyke, and I was once, when I saw dad getting out his red plaid heavy hunting jacket that had the orange license pinned to the back I'd start pleading with him to NOT shoot Bambi's mother. LOL

He solemnly would tell me he would never do that, no way.

Now at that age I guess it never occurred to me how he could tell Bambi's mother from all the other does, but what did I know, I saw the movie and I guess I thought maybe all the fawns were Bambi and all the does were Bambi moms.

Thanks Bully, for the picture memories.

What were the names of some of those other critters? Wasn't one called Thumper or do I have my Disney movies mixed up?

Carolyn, who last saw that movie in maybe the early to mid-40's. I suppose if I'd had kids or grandkids it would have been one that they would have watched, along with Fantasia, Snow White and some of the earlier classic Disney films.

Thumper is the small gray bunny, fourth from the left (in case you couldn't tell gray and bunny from brown and racoon or black and white and skunk)

Feral, too funny. This would explain why I have never had venison roast or venison steak, but, my friends always have plenty of venison salami and jerky.

Bob

I did not draw a deer license this year. So no deer hunting but went elk hunting and never saw one.

You can butterfly the tender back strap into small steaks. Cut almost through and then open up and twice as big but small and oh so tender and good. We do our own processing. Have electric grinder for hamburger. We trim good and no fat and bone and great meat and keeps good in freezer. Also not gamey. Our hambuger is plain deer , elk or antelope. Horn here is only counted on one side. Was that 6 on each side. Congratulations that would be a really big one here.

Every time I hear someone say venison tastes "gamey" I ask what other game does it taste like? Rabbit? N0. Squirrel? No. Turkey? No. Then I point out that all of them are game and each one is as different as pork is from beef or chicken. Buffalo and elk do taste very much like beef.

They're not Bambi. they are killers that need to be stopped! See below from USA Today

"Ron Dudek, 73, of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., died Oct. 17 of complications from antler wounds inflicted to his face by a male deer that Dudek encountered when he went to pick tomatoes in his backyard garden. It was the nation's second deer-assault death in two years"

Today I heard on radio that Ohio hunters took 116,000 deer during gun season. Yet, still, during the year deer continue to kill HUMANs by getting on the roads. What if cockroaches got as big as deer and loved to snack on people?

Ted,

Yes, opening day sure gets them stirred up and sends them into hiding. I had hoped to maybe go during muzzle loader season, but the temps have turned off too cold for me to enjoy doing that.

Carolyn,

Deer are maybe just like us...some more trusting, and some more leary than others. Once while hunting, a herd came along, and they spotted me (standing there with gun leaning against a tree). They all stopped and watched me watching them for a bit, and then one started slowing walking toward me (the trusting curious one). I was starting to get a little scared when one of them turned and high tailed it off, and the rest followed it. Could that be where the term 'high tailed it' originated?

feral, Is it possible that with enough onion, garlic, or barbeque sauce, one could never tell what meat they were eating?

Earl, No, he didn't tie anything off, and I have never heard of doing that. In checking my ready reference guide (from a magazine), it doesn't address tying off either, nor does "The Joy of Cooking" address it. We didn't save the heart and pickled heart just doesn't sound good to me....kind of like blood sausage, squirrel heads, and buttermilk...all yucky!

Bully, cute picture...but I got Bambi's dad...not pictured.

Colorado, No, here we count total points...this one had 3 on each side...The one staring down at me(from the wall) is a 'nice' 12 point though (6 on each side).

Ted, That makes me wonder about the different tastes of wild versus tame rabbit(my most favorite meat). They definately have different tastes. Would their tastes best be described as wild and tame? My experience with tame, was that it tasted a little sweet IMHO from what I remember.

Land, That's scary! It makes you wonder how many assaults there were that didn't result in death, and how many folks are killed each year as a result of vehicle/deer collisions.

Earl, now I want to know how many were taken in Indiana.

Sue

Sue, apparently Indiana has not yet tabulated or released the deer kill figures other than the 1,390 deer taken in state parks. We managed roughly 320,000 here during the 9-day regular gun season. With all seasons combined, we'll probably run about 500,000 when they are done. In the past 15 years or so, we've had a few times when we led the nation along with Texas and Pennsylvania.

Even in the city, we were plagued with several deer all summer in the community gardens. With fresh snow, we now see that we have two separate herds with 5 or 6 in one and about a dozen in the other. No doubt more will join later as they instinctively become social herds in the winter. I also discovered that the city very quietly has allowed several bow hunters to attempt to take care of the problem. I can live with that!

Martin

I almost hit 10 point buck with my car yesterday 1/2 mile from home at 2:00am.

I gave up goose huntin' first. Actually, I only went one time. It's a long story, but suffice it to say, it involves subzero weather.

Duck huntin' was the next to go.

Then deer huntin'. But that mainly was because I tended to fall asleep in the blind, start snorin', and spoilin' the hunt for the rest of the guys.

20 deer in my neighbors yard today.