'Tis Hunting Time—A smallish blog

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, SLB said:

Hey Shelby -- why don't you vac-seal your ground meat? 

I dunno.  Habit I suppose.  ☺️  Or maybe I was a butcher in my past life and I have a strong attachment to that white butcher paper.......

[ElsieD]

Thanks, @Shelby  I always enjoy reading along.

[SLB]

"I dunno.  Habit I suppose.  ☺️  Or maybe I was a butcher in my past life and I have a strong attachment to that white butcher paper......."

 

Interesting!  I myself love butcher paper, and loved using my fake-origami skills to get all the meat surfaces covered.  And my hardware store dude seemed intrigued that I, perhaps alone in all of NYC, purchased freezer tape. 

 

And also I love sharpies.  

 

But then I bought a foodsaver.  

Edited December 12, 2019 by SLB (log)

[Smithy]

Thanks so much for this blog, @Shelby. I always enjoy your updates! 

 

What seasonings, if any, did you put in the sausage?

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, SLB said:

seemed intrigued that I, perhaps alone in all of NYC, purchased freezer tape.

😂

 

I love sharpies, too.  I think you've hit the nail on the head.....I like the folding of the paper and the taping.  Using the VacMaster would probably save room in the freezer though.  

[Shelby]

1 hour ago, Smithy said:

Thanks so much for this blog, @Shelby. I always enjoy your updates! 

 

What seasonings, if any, did you put in the sausage?

No seasonings at all in the burger  

[Eatmywords]

So we have a short hunting season and the deer are abundant.  I don't hunt (yet) but my friendly neighbor is an avid bow hunter and fisherman.  I'm very lucky because he doesn't particularly like preparing venison but appreciates when someone else does (enter, us).  He makes some jerky but that's about it.  So he takes what he wants and gives us the rest or, as in this case, gives the entire specimen if he knows he'll be out for more.  Whatever we make we share, some of  his faves include shepard's pie and riffs on traditional stew.

 

The butchering cost is currently $115 for well over 30lbs.  Some might find that costly but at $3-4 a lb, for the quality and flavor, I'd say awesome deal.   A nice coincidence is having a retired butcher on our street who's sole mission is carving up game in his garage.  He has commercial equipment including a fridge, a Hobart band saw, and huge meat grinder and other tools of the trade.  

 

He wraps the cuts tightly w traditional thick butcher paper and it lasts.  I have some from last year and it's just fine. (He mentioned customers w stories of 2 and 3yr old meat that come out perfectly fine. Don't know if I'd go out that long but who knows in a pinch : ).   

 

Below, chop meat (mixed w pork for fat), stew, steaks, cutlets, loins, fillets and ribs under not picd:   

[Shelby]

A short 2020 update:

 

 I have no words for how strange the world is this year.  This is the first year in like 27 years that our hunter friend hasn't been here.  It feels like bizzaro- land not having him and not blogging here.  It's always some work, but it took this year to realize  that all the cooking and blogging keeps me occupied during all the long hours of hunting.  Ronnie's been hunting still, but no one rides with him in the truck and they stay distant from each other--sitting in different blinds etc.  And only 3 guys have been going and they are all like-minded (I think) that they need to be careful.

 

Three deer have been gotten over the last few days.  Two dry does and one really old buck.  We will end up with two of them (hopefully both of the does).  One is going home to another hunters house.  We really needed the meat.  We're almost out and it was starting to make me nervous.

 

 

 

 

We cut up one of the does yesterday....tenderloins and backstraps and then the rest I cleaned up and we will grind into burger in a few days.

 

 

 

 

I won't bore you with any more meat pictures--I'll save that for (HOPEFULLY!!!!) 2021.  

[rotuts]

can you cut up any of the shoulder into cubes for

 

SV ' stew meat ' ?

 

or is grinding it all ups , and bagging easier and gets the job done quicker .

[Shelby]

8 minutes ago, rotuts said:

can you cut up any of the shoulder into cubes for

 

SV ' stew meat ' ?

 

or is grinding it all ups , and bagging easier and gets the job done quicker .

Certainly!  But, I like to have a couple of roasts, so I save them in whole form and then if I want stew meat, I'll cut up one of those.

 

Edited to say:  I see I wasn't clear in my above post.  I still have one more deer to cut up so I'll take a couple roasts off of that one.

Edited December 6, 2020 by Shelby (log)

[Smithy]

Thank you for the update, @Shelby. It has been a discouraging year for all of us, and the pain and uncertainty aren't over yet. One of my favorite writers from the Duluth News Tribune also wrote about how strange and unsatisfying it was to try pheasant hunting with friends in North Dakota. They did it to carry on their decades-long tradition, but they couldn't be together swapping stories and sharing meals in the farmhouse in the evenings.

 

We talked to some Texas deer hunters a couple of weeks ago about Chronic Wasting Disease precautions. They said they'd taken their deer to the registration station and that wildlife personnel had removed the lymph nodes from around the neck and sent them to a lab in Del Rio for analysis. The hunters had already processed the meat, but would be able to use it only after the results came back and verified that the meat was safe. (One hunter was sure his doe had been healthy; he'd seen deer with the disease before. Still, he was going to wait.) Do you get your deer meat tested that way? If so, what does one do with the meat if it isn't safe because the deer had CWD? I forgot to ask the hunter.

[Shelby]

35 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Thank you for the update, @Shelby. It has been a discouraging year for all of us, and the pain and uncertainty aren't over yet. One of my favorite writers from the Duluth News Tribune also wrote about how strange and unsatisfying it was to try pheasant hunting with friends in North Dakota. They did it to carry on their decades-long tradition, but they couldn't be together swapping stories and sharing meals in the farmhouse in the evenings.

 

We talked to some Texas deer hunters a couple of weeks ago about Chronic Wasting Disease precautions. They said they'd taken their deer to the registration station and that wildlife personnel had removed the lymph nodes from around the neck and sent them to a lab in Del Rio for analysis. The hunters had already processed the meat, but would be able to use it only after the results came back and verified that the meat was safe. (One hunter was sure his doe had been healthy; he'd seen deer with the disease before. Still, he was going to wait.) Do you get your deer meat tested that way? If so, what does one do with the meat if it isn't safe because the deer had CWD? I forgot to ask the hunter.

No, we don't get our deer tested and I've never heard of anyone around here doing it.  I do know that if you think you've killed a deer with CWD that you're supposed to leave it right where it is and contact Fish and Game.   Looking at a map, it's not prevalent at all where we hunt.  

[gfweb]

@Shelby how long will the meat from 2 deer last you?

[Shelby]

Just now, gfweb said:

@Shelby how long will the meat from 2 deer last you?

Probably a little over a year.  We always have a bit of overlap.  We've learned not to keep so many roasts and make more burger because we eat a lot of burger (chili, pizza, lasagna, etc.).  This last year --2019--I used a lot more burger because it was something I could (somewhat) eat during the awful surgeries I had on my gums.  

 

 

[MokaPot]

3 hours ago, Shelby said:

Three deer have been gotten over the last few days.  Two dry does and one really old buck.  We will end up with two of them (hopefully both of the does).  One is going home to another hunters house.  We really needed the meat.  We're almost out and it was starting to make me nervous.
 

Glad you got stocked-up again.

[Smithy]

@Shelby, I may not have been paying enough attention over the years. I know Ronnie fishes and hunts, and you cook what he brings home - beautifully, if photos are to be believed. Are his hunting and fishing catches all, or at least most, of the meat you eat? (I'm not counting the oysters and crawdads you occasionally score by mail. ) If so, you're impressively self-sufficient!

[heidih]

Um the pork belly shots ;  @Shelby we do pay attention to your food, peeled tomatoes even

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, Smithy said:

@Shelby, I may not have been paying enough attention over the years. I know Ronnie fishes and hunts, and you cook what he brings home - beautifully, if photos are to be believed. Are his hunting and fishing catches all, or at least most, of the meat you eat? (I'm not counting the oysters and crawdads you occasionally score by mail. ) If so, you're impressively self-sufficient!

Yes, except for chicken --I'd love to have our own chickens but A.) I'd be too attached to eat one and B.) They wouldn't survive out here even in a coop.  I haven't bought a package of ground beef.....in probably over 25 years or more.  

[Shelby]

Just now, heidih said:

Um the pork belly shots ;  @Shelby we do pay attention to your food, peeled tomatoes even

Oh yeah, the pork belly too  

[SLB]

I am in something of a rut, which is weird because my freezer has just re-filled with pork, beef & lamb coming soon, spring veg, etc.

 

So I poked my head in here for its reliable boost.  It did not fail. 

 

Shelby, I somehow missed that you and Ronnie had been living this way for so long!  I  *really* wish I could read the blogs from those first years, girl.  

 

Anyway.  Carry on, Shelby and all.   Over here -- I found some cream cheese in the freezer, along with pimientos.   I'm making me some [freezer-burnt] pimiento cheese.  

[Shelby]

Hello everyone!

 

Can you believe that we're still in a pandemic?  In certain ways the time has flown since Dec. 2019, which was the last time our friend was here to hunt,  and in other ways it feels like it's been a zillion years.  What a horrific, awful, scary year and a half it's been and we ain't done yet, sadly.  But, there are still good things and I try to focus on those.  At least we have toilet paper now.

 

So, unless things change dramatically for the worse...such as numbers skyrocketing or a no-fly thing is put in place, our friend will be here Sept. 14!  Teal season and dove season will be in full swing.  There will be no hugs hello and hand sanitizer will rule .....but we can deal with that  .  We get our second Pfizer shot on Aug. 25 so by the time he gets here it will be well over 2 weeks of being fully vaccinated . I should be up to my armpits in tomatoes and other garden stuff, so I'm going to have to squeeze in some major canning AND cooking.  Our friend has already been warned that he's going to walk into seeing me with extremely long, gray hair (not comfortable yet with getting my hair done) and, that with the garden, meals may be not as he's used to.  But, you guys know me, I'm going to try my best to fit it all in.  I'm already planning so that I can get some things in the freezer to help me not get too overwhelmed.  

 

So, hopefully, I'll see you all back here in a few weeks for maybe a bit of feeling  normal like it used to before the plague.

 

(((hugs)))

 

 

 

[heidih]

This will be fun. Different is good. You have your whole posse here if you need ideas. I am sue your hunter ill be happy to be able to hunt with Ronnie and to enjoy your bounteous hospitality. The girls will be in lab heaven right?

[rotuts]

thanks.

 

looking forward to it.

 

please be careful

[Shelby]

57 minutes ago, rotuts said:

please be careful

I promise.

 

 

[FauxPas]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

So, hopefully, I'll see you all back here in a few weeks for maybe a bit of feeling  normal like it used to before the plague.

 

(((hugs)))

 

Yay! It will be lovely to read about your adventures!   🙂