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comment on buck vs doe harvest
Wild Turkey
Member Posts: 2,425 ✭✭✭✭
" the dozen or so cook books I own that covers "cooking of venison" I can tell you that not 1 of them has a recipe for antlers."
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Comments
Yeah. I've never hunted for antlers, I hunt for meat. Should I get one with a big 'ol rack that's a bonus, but I'm not passing on meat in hope of a big buck I may not even see.
Given all antlers away. Cant see spending money to decorate the house . Then again I wonder what the people I have given to say when asked about the antlers displayed in their homes.
We have Doe days, I have shot three deer, two does and a Nub buck that looked a lot like a girl :)
I have no factual evidence to prove it but have always assumed the doe meat to be more tender.
Either way not a huge venison guy, mostly hamburger, back straps and an occasional roast.
A big doe,quickly killed and gutted,washed and hung in a cooler for about 2 weeks before butchering makes the best meat you can get.
Have a 6, 8 & 10 pointer mounted (racks only) on my home made plaques. Had a bigger 10 pointer I left out on a shed roof to age!! I hope whatever it was that chewed it to pieces enjoyed it😣
I usually head out each year with big bucks on my mind. By the third or 4th day I usually shoot a big doe.....2nd season usually turns out the same...I am usually pretty worn out by then......I shot a really decent 10 point 30 years ago...he hangs on the wall so I am pretty satisfied with that...
I would like to shoot one more big one now that I live here in MO....
First week of season is mostly looking for big horns. Next week size requirement is reduced. Usually not cool enough to hang carcass until Thanksgiving so donate those early deer to food pantry anyway. Most of freezer deer are harvested during antlerless or 'alternative methods' seasons when it's colder.
This year, I only have 4 1/2 days during rifle season since I'm headed for New Mexico to hunt elk and won't be back until just before T-giving day. Might not shoot a buck those first 4.5 days. I have a new 'alternative methods' tool that opens up a whole new horizon for that season and a buck tag might not be a bad thing to have.
You dont have to hang the carcass. get a giant cooler, put in 10 gallons water, stir in 2 pounds of salt, add 20 pounds of ice, quarter the deer and put it in the cooler.
i don't get that exact with measurements but that's what I've done for the past several years. I prefer to skin them and let them hang but we generally do not have the weather for it.
Meat is meat. Antlers look nice as a hat rack.
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
It was so cold here last year that my hanging doe froze solid in my garage in just the first night. Not much drainage happening and I about froze off my fingers cutting her up!
only thing I hated about hanging deer for few days is having to skin them a second time as the outer skin of the meat dries and hardens, almost as tough as the hide. I filet them out now, hang, skin, then just cut meat off the bone, can get the whole rear ham in one piece if done right and once you get the hang of where to cut, then the backstraps and the inside tenderloin, I can do it myself in less than half an hour, less if I have help, then put meat in garbage bag and put in refrigerator for few days............
My wife, middle daughter, and I shoot several deer each year. Season runs from the Monday before Christmas until January 10th.
I hang them in an open faced shed until tags are filled, or the season's over. Hide on. Just grab the tenderloin out of them.
They freeze solid. I cut all 4 legs off at the knees, and cut the head off. Then drag them into my unfinished basement, through the cellar door. Hang them horizontal.
The next afternoon, I drop the head end, and skin them. The meat is still mostly frozen. Then drag 2 more down, and leave them on the stairs.
The next day, I bone out the thawed ones, hang the ones from the steps, and repeat.
Couple of hours a day, until they're done.
Then clean up the boneless chunks on our kitchen table with a brand new shower curtain covering the table.
Been using this system 15 years now, works like a charm.
Oh, and it's doe/fawn only, for the most part. Unless it's a wall hanger.
But I don't deny my 13yr old, or wife unit shooting bucks. That'd take all the fun out of it for them, I think.
First deer is for making sure something gets in the freezer after that I start looking for 8 points or better
If I was shooting just for flavor button bucks would be the target.
I tell new hunters "every deer is a trophy" make up you own mind on what you want to shoot. My point being do not let the overrated hyperbole touted on hunting shows and by false braggarts influence your decisions.
If hunting and putting game in the freezer is what you enjoy, do it. If the challenge of hunting a big buck is what you enjoy, do it. It it's a combination of both, do it.
I hunt alone these days. I'm old and have back issues. I find those yearlings much more manageable and on the plus side, very tender and tasty! 🙂
"I hunt alone these days. I'm old and have back issues. I find those yearlings much more manageable"
Yes, that is a consideration for us 'geezers'. I usually have either younger, stronger family members or the wonderful invention(tractor loader) to handle the carcass after I get it out of the field. Try not to shoot anything I can't drive the UTV and trailer to.