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[bob ford <bobford79 AT yahoo.com>]

You make a very good point, Bev.  It has been many years since I have shot or 
dressed animals for meat.  I don't remeber dressing a deer taking nearly as 
long as you describe, and I remmember killing , dressing and cleaning 
squirrels before  going to school in the a.m., but I'm no longer a young 
boy.....bobf


--- On Sun, 10/26/08, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

> From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [Homestead] Processing a deer
> To: homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
> Date: Sunday, October 26, 2008, 12:31 PM
> > 
> 
> > bob ford wrote:
> > 
> >> Say, a person had only small animals (rabbits?) up
> to the size of 
> >> maybe a couple of sheep , a coupla pigs, and a
> coupla goats, per
> >> year (that should be plenty for two-three
> people?).  With this ,
> >> and fishing, and perhaps a little hunting,
> couldn't a couple feed 
> >> themselves?.
> 
> I think most people don't realize how much time is
> involved in
> homesteading. They look and see a woodpile and think, wow,
> no heating
> costs, failing to see the hours and sore muscles it took to
> make that
> woodpile.
> Likewise, when we get a deer, it takes some time to
> process.
> Say I were to shoot the deer at 5pm, I may have sat in the
> woods for an
> hour prior.  Then, I have to field dress it, often in the
> dark, then
> drag the beast home(luckily they usually weigh less than
> 150# here-at
> least what we take for food is light), stick it on the
> singletree and
> hoist it up on the meatpole.  I spray it down with water at
> that time,
> and look it over really well.  If it is cold out, then I am
> lucky and I
> can let it hang overnight, aging on the meatpole for a few
> days.  If it
> is not cold, like now(and as is the usual case) when the
> daytime temps
> get over 50, I have to skin the deer and cut it up enough
> to fit it in
> coolers.  That requires some forethought...saving jugs and
> such to
> freeze water for ice so you don't have to make a trip
> to town for ice.
> So you cut up the carcass, stuff it in multiple coolers,
> and ice it
> down.  Then, you can leave it for a few days to age.  Of
> course, you
> have to keep the ice on it for that time, drain off the
> water, etc.
> Then the real work begins when you assemble all your paper,
> bags, and
> wrapping stuff, your bowls, knifes, sharpeners, etc.  You
> cut the
> carcass up into meal sized portions, and with venison,
> removing the
> connective tissue is very important...no shiny stuff,
> minimal fat...that
> is real work my friends, hours at the sink, killing your
> back and hands,
> sometimes your hands get so cold you can't move
> them...then you wrap or
> package and label your meat.  Hopefully, while your meat
> has aged, you
> cleaned out the freezer enough to make room for the new
> meat.  Sometimes
> I'll slice a good portion up for jerky and get that in
> a
> marinade....sometimes we will borrow a cuber and cube the
> venison...sometimes we will assemble the grinder and make
> ground
> deermeat.  If I do it by myself, it can take me two days
> cut to cut up,
> package, and freeze the meat.  That is why a lot of folks
> take their
> kills to a processor and pay $40 or more, but I have
> gasoline costs to
> consider, too, and I like keeping the skin and deciding for
> myself what
> to keep and what to discard.  I probably could do it all in
> one day if I
> was 20 and had a good back and good dexterity, but for me,
> it takes a
> few days because I need a break on the physical stuff.
> So as you can see, a whole week could go by before that
> kill is turned
> into freezer food.  Some people 'waste'(my opinion)
> a deer, only taking
> the backstrap(outer loin/tenderloin) and maybe a hind
> quarter.  We use
> and save as much as possible.  I am currently even saving
> the hooves to
> later build a nice gunrack.  BTW folks, the inner loin is
> our favorite
> cut.  I also really like a good neck roast...put that puppy
> in a crock
> pot with some onions and garlic and potatoes and carrots
> and mushrooms
> and in a few hours it will just fall apart and melt in your
> mouth.
> 
> Bev, locked and loaded and ready to go...ruuuuunnnn Bambi
> run!!
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger.
> Anger leads to
> hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda
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