A warning would have been nice....

[MarcD]

Sitting at my desk and reading the news this morning......pretty much minding my own business. Then I hear a loud gunshot......very loud..... I quickly spun my chair around to see my son standing at the back slider with the barrel his 50cal muzzle loader stuck out the back door.

First day of gun season for deer.......the harvest is hanging on my back porch right now. Tomorrow it will be in my freezer....... Heart and liver are soaking in the fridge.......my dogs are gonna love me. I'll braise them up and thicken the broth with a little corn starch for a gravy.

I did tell my son to at least warn me if he ever does that again.....

 

[Dawgluver]

But then he'd scare the deer away!

 

[MarcD]

But then he'd scare the deer away!

They stand along the fence line and watch us watching them.....not tame but not all that scared.

I told the kid to put the gun away for the day. He's working on his vehicle and I'm in charge of the meat dept. He needs to go to the store and get bags for the vac sealer. I don't plan on going into town til tomorrow.....I was going to today but he changed my plans for me.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

If that happened at my house, I might need a little defibrillation. Sorta takes the fun out of going out and building a deer stand up in the trees, packing a bologna sammie, thermos's of hot coffee, layers of clothes and the beauty of hiking through the woods.

I don't hunt but a friend often treats us to deer sausage and deer jerky when he and his boys have a successful year.

 

[MarcD]

OK.......hiking through the woods is a plus. I haven't done that for years. Using rolled bales of hay for a blind on a cold snowy day I do not miss at all. My oldest son still does that and gets set up well before daybreak with his tree stand.

Defib?? Nah.......I raised 5 children....... Gotta admit that my son did get my attention this morning.....

 

[Dawgluver]

We don't need a deer stand around here either. If I wanted to, I could shoot a few off my back deck. We see them daily. Don't think my pellet gun would get us much though.

Beagle almost got a rabbit today, they're very tame and prolific. She's on a leash at all times, and the bunnies know it. They will stretch, groom themselves, and take a nap right in front of her. Not sure what she would do if she caught one.

 

[Kayelle]

Life in the country. If there was a gunshot here, I'd be hitting the deck.

 

[roadfix]

Either that or switch to PCP rifles and use the powder burner out in the field.

 

[CraigC]

Back in the late '80's, I went with an XGF to visit her relatives in West Virginia at the beginning of fall. The next door neighbor went deer hunting. He just sat down to a fresh cup of joe, then went outside while the coffee was still hot, shot an eight pointer and came back to finish his coffee. All within 10 minutes. His coffee was still piping hot and the buck was hanging in an oak tree to be cleaned.

 

[Addie]

Back in the late '80's, I went with an XGF to visit her relatives in West Virginia at the beginning of fall. The next door neighbor went deer hunting. He just sat down to a fresh cup of joe, then went outside while the coffee was still hot, shot an eight pointer and came back to finish his coffee. All within 10 minutes. His coffee was still piping hot and the buck was hanging in an oak tree to be cleaned.

Sounds like my husband #2. He grew up in the hills of W.VA. If tey had no food for supper, he and his brother would go out and shoot something. Squirrel, coon, deer. Anything that was meat and could be skinned. So glad I met him after he became civilized.

 

[MarcD]

It's not a matter of lack of meat for the table......just a matter of variety of meats. I did a quick check on prices for venison and the harvested animal is worth ~$400. I am not some avid hunter that really enjoys killing animals.....processing meat from start to finish is not a pleasant task for me. It's far easier to go to the market and avoid the unpleasantry involved in getting meat to the table.

This is the first deer taken on my property in 7 years. Lack of hunters/hunting in recent years has created a deer problem in my area......they destroy my small trees and devastated my garden this year. One option is to harvest a few animals in order to reduce herd size and make use of the meat. Another option is to let vehicular traffic thin the deer population.......dangerous to the driver/passengers and a waste of the animal's life. One year I woke up to see two deer in my front yard that had been killed by one vehicle. Many years ago my son hit and killed two deer on a rural road in a single incident.

My son did get some bag material for the vac sealer.......I'll be busy today. Perfect timing for him......he's on duty at his fire station for the next 24 hours.

 

[CharlieD]

I would love some venison stake right now


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[CraigC]

It's not a matter of lack of meat for the table......just a matter of variety of meats. I did a quick check on prices for venison and the harvested animal is worth ~$400. I am not some avid hunter that really enjoys killing animals.....processing meat from start to finish is not a pleasant task for me. It's far easier to go to the market and avoid the unpleasantry involved in getting meat to the table.

This is the first deer taken on my property in 7 years. Lack of hunters/hunting in recent years has created a deer problem in my area......they destroy my small trees and devastated my garden this year. One option is to harvest a few animals in order to reduce herd size and make use of the meat. Another option is to let vehicular traffic thin the deer population.......dangerous to the driver/passengers and a waste of the animal's life. One year I woke up to see two deer in my front yard that had been killed by one vehicle. Many years ago my son hit and killed two deer on a rural road in a single incident.

My son did get some bag material for the vac sealer.......I'll be busy today. Perfect timing for him......he's on duty at his fire station for the next 24 hours.

How about bringing back the predator population as an option?

 

[MarcD]

I would love some venison stake right now

The soon to be 12 year old g-daughter said the same thing this morning......she also wants some jerky, too. Bad thing is she does not want to see the entire process of the harvest.

I used to take my deer in to be processed. That is one thing I no longer do and am unsure of whether you get the full yield. What would be returned as steaks is nothing more than round steaks......the true steaks from the loin were never seen. Tenderloins were returned because most hunters are well aware of those two small sections. Roasts were nothing more than the shoulders. Plenty of ground venison would be returned.....

I de-bone everything.......loins will be sectioned out for roasts and can be sliced into steaks. Same thing for the hind legs (hams) that can be roasted whole or sliced into steaks. Smaller sections will be marked as "grind" and can be cut into stew meat if needed.......the decision on whether to grind is determined by what's on the menu.

I see venison chili in the near future.......maybe after a few steaks.

 

[MarcD]

How about bringing back the predator population as an option?

Almost missed this one.....

I would love to see some of the predators return. The only problem is that there's open season year round on coyotes. We don't have much other than those for predators and people shoot them on sight. I used to hear their songs in the middle of the night as I sat at my desk with the window open but they are now silent. I leave them alone but they do take a toll on game birds. Rabbits are rife in my area (at least on my property) and it's common to see a dozen or so in my yard just before dusk. Coyotes are a welcome sight for me........along with cats that are allowed to roam about. If I see a coyote I will not be reaching for a gun.

A few years ago there was a deer 'victim' in my yard.......struck by a vehicle. I didn't have the time to try and salvage at least the loins (easiest section to get to). I was thinking of firing up my mower and dragging the remains to the back of my lot but vultures arrived and I left it for them. One morning my son noticed the carcass had been moved ~100'......the next morning it had been moved 300' from the original location. Coyotes saved me a little bit of work!! Perfect.....not much left and right next to my 'burn pit'......I was happy.

 

[Addie]

States like Maine and Washington, if there is deer kill on the road, pull it over to the side and notify the Games Wardens. They will make sure a deserving and needing family receive them. I am sure there are other states that do the same.

A number of years ago we were having a problem with a surplus of deer on the North Shore. The Tree Huggers did not want hunting allowed. The herd became huge, decimated the local flora during the winter when there was no food available for them. Ate the tree bark right off the trees, thus killing them. In the spring like some of those here, they went after the private property of the residents. The tree huggers wanted the government to provide bales of hay for them. Government said only if they were willing to pay an extra fee added onto their property tax. There was an extended hunting season of deer that year.

For the Bambi lovers, deer can be and are very destructive to the local areas where the reside. If we are to live in harmony with them, the herds needs to be kept under control. For their good and ours.

 

[Kayelle]

Please Addie, your wealth of knowledge on every single subject makes everyone else feel stupid. That's not nice now is it?

 

[MarcD]

Addie is pretty much correct on this matter. Deer populations are constantly increasing in some areas......and these animals are very destructive. In 1970 the estimated population in Ohio, where I live, was 17,000. Last year the herd size was 700,000. In the 70's and 80's I never had to erect a fence to protect my garden.......this year I opted to forego putting up a fence and paid dearly with the total loss of all crops.

Ohio does have a program where deer can be donated through a registered processor......if funds are available to cover the cost. The hunter does not have to pay the fee for processing. Years ago my son and I took our deer to a processor. The entire parking lot was full of vehicles and many were waiting out on the street for spaces to open up. While waiting their turn, many hunters were roaming about in a large tent sampling all kinds of venison products. After a few years of paying a hefty fee to have the deer cut and frozen in packages I began to wonder. Low yield and certain cuts were not to be found when the meat was returned. The loin sections are decent sized and will provide far more chops than what was being returned......the few steaks in the returned packages were nothing more than 'round steaks'. Where did all the venison for the free samples come from?? Are the products from the donated deer actually making it to their destination.......is some of my harvest also part of the free sample tray?? That company was a very popular place among hunters......but it is now out of business.

We had a severe overpopulation of deer in one of our Metro Parks nearby. You could see the deer behind the high fence as you went by......the animals were absolutely pathetic looking. Not only were they malnourished they were also showing the effects of in-breeding. Of course, there was a huge outcry from the public when professional hunters were brought in to cull the herd. It may seem cruel and cold hearted but it is far more humane than to let them starve to death during a cold hard winter.

 

[roadfix]

Since Thanksgiving Day we've trapped 6 coons and 1 skunk in our back yard and released them several miles away in another wooded area. Trapping them was a lot easier for me than to stake out my back yard in the middle of the night with my air rifle.
These critters have been tearing up my back yard for months and I know there are a few more out there.

 

[MarcD]

I don't see many raccoons.....unless they are roadkill. Just because I don't see them does not mean they aren't around......they destroyed my second planting of corn last season. That planting was for corn cut from the cob.....the first batch was frozen on the cob (and plenty tasty).

Skunks I have no problem with......so far. I found a litter of 5 kits a few years ago right on the edge of my 'wild area'. What I thought was a plastic grocery bag in my side yard turned out to be a smoke colored skunk on closer inspection. My daughter got the bright idea of turning two of them into pets. She bought a new fishing net and an animal transport box.......loaded them in the back of her Explorer and headed home. After ~10 miles she returned (without her son) and dropped the little critters off where she got them from. Her 12 yr old son had enough and got out at his GG-parents place. I had no trouble releasing them from the animal carrier.......they were all sprayed out. Her car did smell kinda bad......