Happy Deer Season Eve!
Our hunter arrives tomorrow morning. The weather is supposed to be markedly colder this week than in the last few years--which is an excellent thing. AND possibly more snow this weekend. You know that makes me happy 
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Duck and goose season this year has been phenomenal. We have eaten a LOT of duck. And I suspect we'll be eating more this week lol (but I don't want to jinx them). Ronnie has been hunting at least 5 days a week, if not more. We got up at 4:15 this morning and he's just left for another round.
I thought I'd show you guys one of the places that we own and hunt on. A few weeks ago Ronnie needed me to help him get a water pump going in order to fill a low spot in the pasture up for ducks and geese. We've had a ton of rain, but this spot needed a little help filling up. Once you get it filled, it stays all season with very little evaporation. Anyway, I went out several times and took some pictures.
One of the things I love about this property is that we own a working windmill. Maybe not exciting to some of you, but I could sit and watch it for hours.
As the wind blows it pumps water into the tub. We have someone who rents this pasture and keeps his cattle on it over the spring, summer and fall and this gives them nice, fresh, cold water.
So, what we did to fill up our spot is run a pump from this water --connected by plastic hose-- to a well and pump that sits near the tree on the left of the picture. That was in order to get the second pump primed. Once that was primed we ran about a million feet of plastic hose out into the middle of the low spot and let 'er run. This pump puts out about 360 gallons of water per minute and it took about 6 hours to fill the spot up enough for hunting.
On this same property, a little ways away is the shooting house that you've seen the inside of. I took some pictures of the outside this time:
Those steps were built specifically for Chum--it used to be just a rickety old ladder that was scary as heck to climb up.
This is the door--notice the custom handle🙄😁.
Anyway, that gives you a little peek into where some of the venison, duck and goose comes from.
On the food front, I've done a few things ahead. Eggrolls are always a big hit and they freeze so well. When I make them, I make a ton. These are pork and shiitake mushroom. I save time by using bagged coleslaw mix. We'll eat these some time over the coming week.
And, I made a huge pot of venison chili yesterday --I used up a few half bags of Rancho Gordo beans so there is quite a variety of beans in there lol.
And, in the continuing quest to empty the freezer so we can fill it up again lol, I threw a venison roast in the SV yesterday. I did 130F for about 6 hours.
Before the bath --seasoned with salt and pepper
Bagged up with a bit of onion and smashed garlic
Finished
Was very tender and perfect for french dip sandwiches
And, now, it's 5:25 a.m. Debating on whether to ingest coffee and get busy or.....go back to bed for a bit???? Nah, I'd be smart to get busy ....
