Deer season 2021

[Stikpusher]

That's a lot of good venison there! Feed ya for quite some time... But yeah, junior needs some corrective training ASAP Double Quick on trigger discipline!
Or he would not be able to sit for a week...

[Gary Brantley]

Yeah, it was the first time to shoot a real gun for both of those guys. I loaded each single-shot round and stood pretty close while they shot. I wouldn't take any chances with their safety. By the time I took their pic with the .22 rifles, they had driven my pickup and hunted turtles with their BB guns. I had almost forgotten to take a pic of them together with those old Czech rifles, on D-Day no less, and grabbed the unloaded rifles (yes, I checked! ) for a last-minute photo. They both also have great dads who will steer them straight!

[Gary Brantley]

I can't believe you can make 3 deer last 3+ years!!!
We put 10 in the freezer in 21, and 6 for 22. Not one bit of any of that left!
We've already gone through at least one from this past season! (ended 2 weeks ago)

8.5 months to go, til next season!

We just can't eat that sausage fast enough!

Man, you must have a king-hell freezer, Jeremy! Do you have meat ground, cut into steaks, sausage? Y'all must be eating venison quite a lot!

[Stikpusher]

Bad weapons handling habits are bad habits, period. I've seen too many "accidents" as a cop and soldier that have happened from bad weapons habits... with loaded and "unloaded" firearms... and those are from trained people trusted to handle firearms.

[Gary Brantley]

Bad weapons handling habits are bad habits, period. I've seen too many "accidents" as a cop and soldier that have happened from bad weapons habits... with loaded and "unloaded" firearms... and those are from trained people trusted to handle firearms.

No kidding! In fact, I don't subscribe to the term "accidental discharge"; if the firearm was unintentionally discharged, then it was a negligent discharge. I know as I have had one myself and was within three feet of another when a friend dropped the hammer on a loaded AKM, thinking the mag was unloaded, inside my study. Both were negligent. And both were committed by men who have been shooting for many years. You can never be too safe.

[Fermis]

We just can't eat that sausage fast enough!

Man, you must have a king-hell freezer, Jeremy! Do you have meat ground, cut into steaks, sausage? Y'all must be eating venison quite a lot!
[/quote]

We've got a full size "meat freezer" (30-ish-odd cubic ft)...and another chest freezer (17.5 cubic ft, for garden veggies)

When I process...I just cut off chunks and freeze. The final trimmings/cuts happen when I thaw for cooking.
I do grind some (trimming from the carcass), for burger and sausage (think breakfast sausage). Once in a while, I'll do up some summer sausages.

My typical breakdown...
Backstrap...(4 chunks, roughly 6-8 steaks worth)...bacon wrapped filet mignon, over charcoal(rare-mid/rare)
Shoulder blade and arm(bicep/tricep)...typically gets cleaned up for burger...sometimes roast for pulled BBQ.
Sirloin tip(thigh)...ends up sliced into "steaks", hammered out into chicken fried steak.
"Ham"...there's 3 main muscles there. It's all "round", but I label them with a "square", "circle" and "eye". These, I typically use as "filler"...think stir fry, stroganoff, french dip sammich, etc.
Neck...(depending on size) 1-2 whole chunks for the crockpot..."pulled" BBQ.
Anything else I can scrape off goes to burger/sausage...or the "garbage" cuts, get made into dog food.

[Gary Brantley]

That's really interesting! And your system provides a lot of variety too. We usually have some steaks cut from the hindquarters, some ground (mixed with beef/pork), and some stuffed link sausage and of course, the backstrap and tenderloins. My usual processor has a seasoning that is a sage and garlic mix and makes for some great sausage.

For the backstrap and tenderloin, I cut them into pieces about 1-1.5" thick. Those I beat pretty flat with a tenderizing mallet and soak overnight in milk. Next day the pieces are battered and fried in a skillet and then served with some white cream gravy (I want mine with a lot of black pepper on it! ) and fried potatoes and fresh onion slices. You will need some white bread to sop up that greasy gravy! My-tee fine eatin'!

[Fermis]

DUDE!!!
Leave the backstrap in slices...1.5" thick...rare-mid/rare, over charcoal...bacon wrapped. YUMMO!!!
About half the time, I'll make an Aus Jus(flavor packet) and add some "caribbean jerk", for dipping.
That is about the only part we eat "as is". Meaning, not as "filler".
It took some years and many deers...but the wife will eat anything I cook now!
I keep the "lesser" cuts (thigh) for the battered steaks and gravy.

#1 trick to getting the best taste out of it, is getting rid of any fat and membrane/silver skin.

[keavdog]

My brother is a big deer hunter and used to send me deer jerky. Awesome stuff.

[Gary Brantley]

DUDE!!!
Leave the backstrap in slices...1.5" thick...rare-mid/rare, over charcoal...bacon wrapped. YUMMO!!!
About half the time, I'll make an Aus Jus(flavor packet) and add some "caribbean jerk", for dipping.

#1 trick to getting the best taste out of it, is getting rid of any fat and membrane/silver skin.

That does sound good, I may give it a try someday. I do plan on asking the processor to package the backstrap and tenderloin in smaller pieces; that would make it more convenient when it's just Jackie and myself. We could thaw out just enough for a couple meals that way.

Yes, even though I receive really "clean" venison from Raybroker's Meat in Westphalia, Texas, I always spend some time trimming away all the silver skin I see. I do think it tastes better like that too.