And today, 5 weeks later, I finally cut up the little buck.
Yup. Five weeks hanging in the garage. I like my venison well aged.
Actually, the little buck only got about 5 days of aging. He froze solid as a rock and we didn't have enough warm weather to thaw him out until this week! I got the usual pile of steaks and roasts, but the front shoulder on the off side had some damage, so I got less for grind than usual. I made a batch of breakfast sausage using 60% venison, 40% pork. I ate a small patty this evening and it was good, but needs more pepper. I will add pepper tomorrow morning and mix the sausage again before packaging into 1 lb packages.
I found the roundball under the skin in front of the off-side shoulder. It was badly mashed passing thru the right shoulderblade. I intend to weigh it out and compare it against a full roundball to determine what percentage of material it shed. I am concerned about leaving lead in a gutpile, since birds of prey will often feed on these opportunistic situations and I don't want to kill them. In this case, the gutpile got buried and a flat stone placed over the gutpile.
My freezer now has two small whitetails, one buck and one doe. Each meal will start me re-living the hunt. Each forkful will be a celebration of that animal's life and contribution. Their strength and vitality will carry me thru many days. Longbones left over will provide my dog with treats that she loves, each one will last weeks. She will run grab the bone and show me her "trophy" when I come home, her tail wagging with joy. The hides will provide rawhide backings for bows, likely bows made by some newbys on here needing a little extra support. The buck's tail will be tied into flys by Flycaster (new to this site), he also has the sinews for future projects. I'm saving some toes to attempt tip overlays for some future bow project.
These deer are not wasted. They are not taken for granted or shot to bolster my flailing ego. I bore them no malice, just as they bore me no malice. Their brothers and sisters in the woods and prairies can count on me to work to defend their habitat even as I make use of them as sustenance. I am active in several conservation organizations locally and nationwide. I keep educated on pending legislation that will effect future opportunities to fish, hunt, and enjoy the outdoors...and I not only vote accordingly, but I keep in touch with my state and national representation to ensure they understand what I find important.
All that in a little 4x4 two year old buck, a flintlock rifle, and the knife and tomahawk from a friend I have never laid eyes on? Yup, and so much more. So much more.
Thank you all for sharing this hunting season with me, brothers and sisters of the bow. Thank you all for passing along what you know and believe, for what matters to you and me and hopefully generations to come.
