The Fearless Hunter
Mr Chiots is back at it again, deer hunting in Ohio with my dad. It’s become a yearly tradition. They head down to the family hunting cabin for a week of hunting and manly chatter, no doubt lots of stories of the big one that got away. There are usually a few other friends that come as well, makes for a fun week for them.
I got an update yesterday afternoon and both Mr Chiots and my dad filled three deer tags each. This will keep us in red meat for the entire year, along with our ducks, chickens and pigs, we won’t be going hungry any time soon!
Are there any hunters in your family?
Filed under Miscellaneous | Comments (18)
There are three deer quarters awaiting my attention as I write; I only got one cut up yesterday. This deer was shot over a week ago; it froze solid in the shed and we couldn’t cut it up before yesterday.
My husband is planning on getting another. More butchering. Yay.
to kristin @ going country's comment
No hunters in this family, however when I was growing up we use to get some deer meat if a family friend had extra.
to Adelina Anderson's comment
My father was an avid hunter and we grew up eating vension. I haven’t had any since I was a kid. Looks like they’re having a great time and much success!
to Amy Svob's comment
Yea, Brian. You have fulfilled your household duty in hunting down the Winter storehouse of meat. Do you feel the spirit of pioneering when you are out in the woods? I do not hunt but instead fish. It’s a little less intense. Kudos to you for getting your limit. Enjoy your venison. I haven’t had venison in about three decades. It was quite tasty as I recall.
Have a great deer story telling day.
to Nebraska Dave's comment
My uncle is a hunter but mostly fishes now. My Grandfather – his father – was an avid hunter. But as I think back on it now, I don’t recall ever being fed deer meat as a child. How odd…
blessings
~*~
to laura's comment
My father. He just got back from a hunting trip with friends in Canada. He has been all over the US hunting. He is respectful and a true gentleman when it comes to this particular skill. When my sisters and I were children he provided for us many times in this way….We grew up eating dove, quail, pheasant, turkey, deer etc…I think that in part is why I am a very good eater to this day…not afraid to try anything outside the “ordinary.” Two of my family’s favorite reads are Robert Ruark’s, “The Old Man and the Boy” and Patrick F. McManus’, “The Bear in the Attic.” They both are very very good and about the beauty of hunting and simpler times…..The latter one is on audio and is so funny you could possibly run off the road from laughing….not that I would know anything about that ;)
to amy's comment
Thanks for the book recommendations, we’ll be getting those for sure!
to Susy's comment
Congrats on the successful hunting, Brian! Yes, my father was a deerhunter (a bowhunter) and my two brothers continue to hunt every season. Fresh venison is a delight – we usually have a smoked venison backstrap at Christmas dinner along with the ham.
Very tasteful photo of the trailer, Susy.
And hey, SNOW!!! It’s 76 degrees with 90% humidity here today. Ugh.
to DebbieB's comment
Can you make a blog post about your daily life from when you wake up to when you sleep? And more about food?
to Ana's comment
I have had venison twice. The first time it was awful-very gamey and strong tasting. I couldn’t even stand the smell of it while it cooked. I was complaining about it to my chicken farmer who swore I’d like his deer meat so I hesitantly took some. Lo and behold, it was awesome-better than the grass-fed beef I was accustomed to. Apparently, it is all in how it is prepared. That would probably make a good podcast discussion. :)
to Heidi's comment
That’s very true. It depends on how long you hang the deer and at what temperature. It also depends on what the deer eat, those that feed mostly on acorns and other woodland mast are more likely to be gamey than those that eat lots of corn from farm fields. We always take our deer to the processor right away to make sure they’re not gamey, and they never have been. We did have one very old buck that was slightly gamey, but the dogs loved it.
to Susy's comment
Yes, my dad was a hunter and an avid fisherman. My husband is a bow hunter. Congratulations, Brian!
to Colleen's comment
They each got 3 deer? Didn’t know you could get that many each person. I’m in Ohio, but hubby doesn’t hunt. You must have a lot of freezers to store that much meat with the 2 hogs too. Happy for you. Not enough freezer room here. No snow here in NW central Ohio.
to Deb's comment
Yep, they each got three deer. In Ohio each hunter could get up to 9 this year, but only 3 in their county. They’d have to go to another county to try for three more and then another county for he final three.
to Susy's comment
I didn’t know that. Thanks. if everyone got 9 deer that would take down the population alot. Will you keep all 3 of them? Waht kind of freezers do you have, chest or other? Do you ever can it? Wondering, I would like to get some venison having never eaten any. Hubby wasn’t a hunter and at 57 don’t think I cna convince him to start. please share the butchering or will you take them to be processed. Will the meat stay frozen till you get it back from OH to ME? Hope you share with us all the process and how to cook deer. I like reading so I will learn even if I never egt any.
to Deb's comment
Yes, we will keep all three and eat them throughout the year. We keep them in a big chest freezer in our basement.
to Susy's comment
I find this concept of hunting large game in your country, intriguing. Not the US particularly, but in any country where hunting is seen as cultural and providing food.
In Australia, they’ve tried to market kangaroo meat, which would be our biggest meat animal to hunt and the population hasn’t taken to it. Hunting is not something that is very mainstream in Australia either. Not quite sure why – maybe because our native animals weren’t anything like the European settlers were used to? I also don’t think our native animals evolved to store a lot of fat in their meat, so they do taste very gamey.
Did you find it common place in the areas you grew up, when travelling as a child? Were the animals particularly gamey, simply because they didn’t have the environment to store a lot of fat? I notice where hunting is a big cultural deal, tends to be where it snows. The animals can store a lot of fat which becomes valuable for carnivores in winter.
to Chris's comment
There was a lot of hunting of certain things in Colombia, my dad experienced it a lot when he was out in the jungle, monkey hunting was the one he participated in most.
to Susy's comment