From the forest to the table

After the abattoir, the venison was aged for about 12 days at 35 degrees.

It was then brought in and given a final rinse before butchering.

The kitchen island set up as a home butchering station;

• Lem meat lugs;
• Latex gloves;
• Small knife sharpener;
• Big cutting board;
• Paper towels;
• Food scale;
• Pencil and paper to log package weights;
• Sharpie marker to label packages;
• Wax paper to separate meat inside packages;
• Lem freezer tape dispenser;
• Freezer paper for the initial wrap;
• Butcher paper (and dispenser) for the outer wrap;
• Plenty of hot water.

Me, pretending to be a real butcher.

 For butchering, I mainly use three knives and one pair of scissors.

• 12' knife for initial boning and cutting large pieces;
• 3-4" metal paring knife for boning;
• 3" ceramic paring knife to remove silver skin and fat;
• Claus 8" game shears (best I have ever used).

Presenting the yum-yum, bacon-wrapped back strap...

Also prepared were venison fajita strips, tenderloin tips, roasts, ribs, and shoulder for grinding (and possibly snack-sticks). We will use the ground venison as burgers, in chili-mac, tacos, etc... the kids really like it in just about everything.

It was a long day of work, but will be good eating all year long...

Spotter duty for the Eldest

Some pictures from the hunt that I had not yet posted. My spotter for the morning...   :)

Deer Hunt 2012

Great hunt this year, I must have spent 20 hours in the stand before I saw anything other than squirrels  woodpeckers, and a skunk. Here's the postmortem:

Saturday:

6am- In the stand.

3pm- In the stand.

Warm all day, not good for getting the deer moving, few gunshots heard.

Sunday:

6am- In the stand.

Did not go out in the afternoon, too much rain.

Cold in the morning, pouring rain in the evening, no gunshots heard.

Monday:

6am- In the stand.

3pm- In the stand.

Cold, very cold, windy. No deer spotted, few gunshots heard.

Tuesday:

7:30am- In the stand. It was raining deer!

10am- Started cleaning and and dressing animals. Mother-in-law was a huge help in assisting.
4:30pm- Made it to dance lessons on time with Katie!   :)

All five of us! The three does, me and my rifle:

(Marlin 336 30/30, Nikon Prostaff scope, DNZ Gamer Reaper scope mount)

Finally, here are the dressed animals starting to age in the garage refrigerator (planning on ten days). I plan on butchering, making burger and sausage Thanksgiving weekend.   :)