Floki wrote:Talk about a haul, cleaning all that had to be a nightmare.
It's a lot...but it's the price to be paid.
By myself...I can have the deer skinned, boned out and in the freezer in less than 3 hours. That's with just a basic trimming off of fat and packaging up whole muscle...and not including grinding burger. I do all the final trimming and make my cuts when it comes time to cook it. Those scraps get cooked up for the dog.
With Carol helping out now...it still takes about the same amount of time, having to teach/demonstrate along the way, as well as explain why I do things the way I do.
Next season, things should go a lot quicker!
It aint so bad, really. Fire up the heater in the garage (when needed)...put on some music, have a rum-pop or two. It's even more enjoyable with a hunting buddy!
BlackSheep214 wrote:Once the deer is down, you have to gut him immediately or else the meat will spoil from the gas. Hard work and bloody, yes. You leave the innards to the predators. That's my understanding hearing from a few deer hunters and my bro-in-law.
There seem to be a lot of myths/misconceptions regarding the field dressing and how long you let them hang and regarding temps.
Ideally, the sooner they get dressed out and cooled down, the better.
I have left plenty of deer out overnight. Either a not so good hit or just couldn't find them. Recovered the next morning...zero difference in the final product. Heck, one of them was in Sept...temps in the 70's. Lost blood trail and had to come back the next morning...completely gave up, and happened to dumb luck find him on the way back to the truck. On that particular deer, I even accidently popped the pee bag (which many people will swear destroyers the meat...BULL$#!T!!!). No lie, that was probably the best tasting, most tender deer I've EVER had! Another, just a few years ago...I shot a big doe on a Tuesday evening...tracked to the river...found where she came back out...back in...back out...then lost track shortly after that. I spent a good 7 hours, Wed morning/afternoon, combing the woods/swamp...no joy. I assumed she ended in the river. Got back home, took my deer target to where she was when I shot...shot the target...my scope was off and it was a gut shot. Back to the deer...I noted that this deer seemed to have a bigger white ring around her eyes than usual...she also had an abnormally short tail. Friday morning, my mom called..."Your deer is floating down the river".
I went down there and recovered a gutshot deer, with large white rings and an abnormally short tail. At least the river was cold! Even days later, I did it like I always do...all seemed well...and it all tasted just like the rest of em!
BorgR3mc0 wrote:That is indeed an impressive haul. I live in a densely populated country and our “nature” is all managed, each inch (or M2) is part of a zoning plan. I cannot imagine going outside to hunt and provide for my family. But I have the utmost respect for it.
It is a beautiful thing to be able to do such things. Even better that I live in a spot where I can just walk out the back door and do it!!!
A full freezer is good indeed; I didn't even get a license this season, or last year either. I still have some meat, mostly sausage, from the three does that I shot back in 2020. They made a lot of sausage, which most of our family loves. The problem is that my wife and I can't eat it fast enough by ourselves. 
In fact, nobody hunted our place this season. Next year may be more active as our two grandsons are soon coming of age to hunt. And, we'll have some freezer space to fill by then! 
