Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada 2023 Deer Season

With the exceptional early season conditions, I got to carry some cool, old tools !!





Had some cool, visitors !









As well as the usual suspects !

Weather changed & so did the tools !

This was after taking 40lbs of snow off the roof;



View out of damaged blind & of soul less tool;







Meat gun !



Big dry doe !



Happy shop;



Happy kitchen;



Happy tummy;

Well done. You will eat well over the winter.

Mmmmmmm, back straps. GWPGUY

That looks good!

New 2 99s;
Good evening my friend, I shall dispense with my usual salutations as I perceive life is as it should be out your way.

Thanks for sharing the hunt photos with us, it's neat to see how others here enjoy the annual pursuit of protein.

Congratulations on the nice fat whitetail, they look to be in very nice condition.

The meal, as always may I say, looks absolutely wonderful.

All the best to you all.

Dwayne

Nice/

Thanks guys, LOVE this time of year !

My favorite time of year too, not just the hunting, but the putting up of foods, firewood etc.. for Winter, giving myself and family a rewarding and fulfilling activities, meanwhile teaching the next generations how its done.

Exactly !!!

Doug, or Son, is helping a buddy butcher a deer tonight & will help Deb & I butcher our 2, over the weekend !

Well done, thanks for sharing.

And it looks like there will be plenty of Christmas snacks and the odd meal for over the holidays. Nature's bounty will feed friends and family. With some of the venison, you can make pasties and stews! Good for cold days!

We ate a lot of soups, stews and pasties growing up.

Venison flat iron steak - small, but fits a sandwich pretty good !







Good, but backstrap for the win !!

Deb made a big pot of deer barley soup.

Used diced bottom round, cubes.





Souptacular !

Got both the deer butchered, 2 tubs like this, + some of the cuts we have been using;

Looks great!! I see you use a couple plastic sleds for catching blood and such in your shop. Some yrs ago one of those plastic kiddy pools blowed onto our property from I don't know where. I store it up on the rafters of my garage and it's been used every yr since, under deer I hang in the garage. Works great and easy to clean out when done.

Wild rice & mushroom pilaf, with back strap trim chunks;

Haven't had a good pastie/hand pie, in many years !!

Very common in Australia, seems not so much here ?

Will have to remedy that.

Perfectly cooked. Congratulations.

Meat was hung for 7 days prior to butchering , & has now aged a further 4 days of wet aging in the meat tubs.

Will vacuum pack tonight & freeze.

Simple, but delicious !

Deer sirloin (rump) stroganoff kinda thing, with the balance of the wild rice pilaf;



I did add a touch of pinot noir, to deglase the pan & 1/2 cup of stock, when the rice was added.



Looks so, so, but was amazing !

Paul;
Good morning from the still dark south Okanagan, I hope you're all well out east.

Thanks again for the wonderful food photos, while I don't always comment, I very much do always enjoy them.

As you all know, one of the things I can get quite enthusiastic about is encouraging folks to connect with their primary food producers and by extension to participate in food prep and cooking. I've come to believe it's much more important for us humans - culturally, personally and might I say spiritually - than we might have previously thought.

Have been doing some reading and listening on the subject as I'm wont to do and communal food prep and feasting is important, we just don't know yet how important - that's still under discussion.

Anyways sir, your photos are living proof of it and are a wonderful encouragement to others as well.

Happy American Thanksgiving from the slightly cooler blackness of south central BC my cyber friend.

Dwayne

Howdy Cowpoke !!



Couldn't agree more !

It goes completely against todays "instant gratification" want !

Which we believe is 1 of the major keys to our current social decline.

While we (Deb & I + 2 kids & their partners) love cooking in general, we truly respect the "natural resources" we take for our table.

Never a happier time at the house, than when their are 6 of us in the kitchen & then at the table, even if there are 7 dogs, at our feet !

People often comment on our food & why we are not 300lbs a piece.

It's simply, about what we & how we eat & the time/love spent (together) in the preparation.

Virtually no processed / package / convenience meals.

Thanks for your thoughtful, "challenging" reply.

Always appreciated !

Best to you & the girls.

** I'll add, that when we do buy protein, we've virtually stopped procuring it from the grocery store.

We buy either directly from local producers, or the farmers Co-op. 2 whole lambs, 1 pig & beef & chicken, as needed !

Paul;
Thank you for your thoughtful reply sir.

As I believe you know about me, I'm a Creationist in my personal beliefs, but as an extension believe in an "old earth" version, so by further extension believe there's a fair bit of genetic information way down deep inside all of us human beasts.

The fact that we have a "fire channel" on cable so people on the 43rd floor of a Tokyo high rise can be comforted by watching it would be one example I'd give.

Almost no one, regardless of their upbringing and experience up to that point, does not enjoy a real campfire.

We heat with wood and I've lost count of the times folks will come here in winter and just stare at the window of the wood stove, seemingly mesmerized by the flames.

My gut feel is there's something way, way down that gets satisfied by it Paul.

Similarly I believe that communal hunting, foraging, gardening, food prep and then the consumption/feast that follows is even more way, way down inside us.

There was a study in Spain done years ago regarding the cultural and social benefit of family sit down meals, which I can't find at this time on this ancient Google Notebook thing I'm on, but anyways the results were quite shocking to me initially, but made sense.

The short version, as I recall it, was that people who had at least one sit down meal as a family when growing up had substantially less proclivity for violent criminal activity later on in life.

Anyways sir, as usual I've gone on too much about it, but I do very much appreciate what you're all doing and wanted to attempt to articulate why I do.

Best to you all this weekend Paul.

Dwayne

Paul;
Thanks again for the reply sir, I very much enjoy your input.

You might could have some Teutonic heritage running in your veins what with all your emphasis on respect?

In our family, it was understood and reinforced constantly that our behavior, actions and work ethic would be such that it would both be respectful of others and generate other's respect for us.

Was a huge deal in my upbringing.

While I'm speculating here, it strikes me that in a hunter gatherer sort of situation where we're all sitting around the cave entrance roasting mammoth bones, if our actions aren't respected by the rest of the clan, our days as part of said clan are likely to be fairly brief.

Anyways, I like your take on the respect angle, in particular how you've explained it. Well said sir.

Thanks again, I'd better hit the road here pretty quick so all the best until next time.

Dwayne

Perzactly !!!!

Safe travels, my friend.

As a fellow who eats nothing but venison for my meat all year, I appreciate the pics. You’re giving me great ideas. Congrats on a full freezer, the real trophy!

Pasties are a big deal in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In the fall there are signs running the length of the of the UP and places seem to sell them ever 1/4 of a mile. It’s the only time I’ve had one and it was very good.

Micky

Many cultures ate what are called pasties, but the most famous, at least among nations with a British geritage, were Cornish pasties. Cornwall, in the SW part of England, was credited with creating them. They were either cooked and kept in the pickets of tin miners, or cooked on site at work.

They are good hot or cold.

Had the kids & partners, over for Sunday supper;

Dang that sure makes me hungry..mb

new 2 9s.fabulous photos,fabulous cuisine obviously prepped and cooked by gifted people.in it looks to be a nice peaceful area.you are the type i could have for a neighbor and friend anytime.the pickings get slimmer by the day.good health to you and yours and good hunting.

Thank you, that's quite the compliment !

We are blessed, to live where & as we do.

80 acres, off the back deck;



Grow veges every season, honey from home too;



5 minutes to the boat launch;





Obviously, hunt from home too !

Best to You & Yours, too !!

Perfect little nuggets of tender, tasty goodness !!!!!!!!

Do you make your own sausage 99?

Tube steaks ? NO

Burger, yes !

I freeze the chunked meat & generally grind in mid January, when it's to cold, to ice fish !

I was thinking of selling my meat band saw and getting a quality grinder for burger. I usually take mine into the man for grinding as its cheap, but my son just uses a small hand grinder as needed.

When I take my trim in for sausage or burger I only take 30lb in at a time, because the lean game of any species I have here lasts for a long time in my freezer on its own.

In 45+ years of hunting I have only had 3 sausage makers, the good ones retire or die, kicked several to the curb, we have a Hungarian fellow now, he is exellent.

I would get the grinder for convenience, looks like you have a good one.

Yep, it's an old warhouse, just like us !!

Steak, eggs & chips ??

Deb filled Doug's buck tag Saturday evening !



So, 3/3 !!

Gutted & hanging in the shop, hide on this time as we are finally getting some cold !

Back strap & scallops, last night;

Nice, looks like you guys have lots of Whitetails, that makes for a good time.
I am skunked on Whitetails this year, again.

Whitetails, black bear & moose, are the only big game available, here.

We used to have lots of Whitetails, we used to be allowed 2 bucks per year, I always took 2 bucks. Then someone decided that they needed to save the Mule deer pops from crashing and lowering WT pops was the way to do it by having a general opener for 2 weeks for WT does. It worked.

Whitetails have only been in this area for 70-80 years, they compete with Mule deer somewhat, Mule deer eat 10 things, Whitetails eat 600 things, so there is that. But..........in area's that were poor MD turned into great WT country and it was good times, not now, I haven't shot a WT in 7 years. I dont hunt farm land or anywhere near farm land which is at lower elevations, I like to hunt higher elevations where I have always hunted WT.

Fact is, MD will likely never come back, poor management, and no money, special interest groups have destroyed any chance of a recovery for MD and likely WT too. Moose have been increasing and it is good to see that happening, fire is the reason for that, and in the initial stages right after a fire the MD have responded well, but then they are knocked back to where they were previous, or below pops.

Then we have grazing leases on "Crown land" cattle compete directly with MD, they dont stand a chance.

Soon the Fox is going to be looking after the Chicken coop for all game species in this Province and then it will spread to all Provinces, book it.

Surf & Turf ...... Looks good!

Flash frozen, scallop chunks, from the Rock !

As an aside, everybody loves dogs, right ?

Ours were both in the house while we gutted & hung the deer.

Came in to this;





Lil shytes !

LOL They were trying to train you, you wont do that again

673;
Morning my friend, hope all is well with you all.

Also I hope your slippers are in better shape than Paul's!

While we've not had a dog since I was a youngster, I've observed that there are some cats and indeed some horses who are just destructive terrors and some are not.

You're spot on though, or at least in my case, in that they trained me.

Our bloody Quarterhorse gelding was such a chew monster I'd bring down 5' lengths of poplar for him to practice being a beaver with just so he'd leave the feed bins and fence rails alone. That worked very well by the way for anyone who has a "chewy" horse.

Scratching cats I never found a cure for sorry to say.

We're "in between" cats for the first time in 30 years now, but there's still obvious signs in the house and yard that there were cats here at one time.

All the best to you all this Christmas.

Dwayne

Hahaha, been there, done that, too Dwayne !

Cats, not horses !

Leather couches & leather boots, scratched up !!!!!!

Deb was most displeased !

Prep for tonights dinner;





Trying to decide noodles or rice ?

Late to the discussion. But HOW do you have ringnecks up in THAT neck of the woods ?????

WE DON'T !!

Apparently.

Helped Doug butcher his buck, so he treated us to supper !

Is this buck from this weekend?

No mate, it was the 1 Deb shot, last Saturday, using Doug's tag.

Sooooo...........

OK. Now I'm confused..... 🤔

Looks like a pheasant to ME. 😏

Oh, it is a rooster pheasant !

We don't have any.

Escaped "farm" bird, or pet ????

What's really bothering me is, 2 Days before that, I had just posted in 1 of Samm0's cock threads, that we didn't have them !

If anyone else asks.........just tell em its a Rainbow spruce grouse.

No feathers, were "ruffled" !

👍😁👍

Mongolian deer;











Deer stroganoff;





Stuffed peppers;

I really enjoy seeing your meal preparations. Gives me some ideas.

I am waiting on CWD test results -- deer is boned out, cut and frozen and on hold pending results.

Could be summer BBQ season by the time results come in so keep the meal pictures coming.

OK, what to do with a bunch of leftover, stuffed pepper filling ?



Worked like a charm

Food should always be good, but doesn't always have to be fancy !

Oh, & blissfully unaware that we had CWD issues ??

CWD is getting to be fairly heavy in a few zones in Alberta. Particularly ones on the eastern side of the province. I shot this deer in a controlled hunt area with mandatory head submission. The biologist said that Male MD were the heaviest hit, followed by FMD, Male WD and last FWD. The deer I shot was a young male Whitetail (most likely 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 yrs old) and in good physical condition it should be fine.

Thank you, for taking the time to reply, Hugh !

Good luck, too.

Those invasive Chinese are everywhere.

Tonights supper will be .........

Do you plan on chewing those? lol
How are you going to cook them 99?

Haha, they will be fall off the bone tender, when the 10 hours in the slow cooker, is done.

Pics tomorrow !

I'm sure they will be falling off the bone. I see your stuff there, so I went to get some Lea & Perrins for the chops for this evening, and we are out, pizzin me off.

Yeah baby !!

Deb's famous, homemade deer burger helper !

That looks exellent! ...........-28 right now, accompanied by a stiff wind, that would be just right.

99, are those neck roasts?? I have been reading about a deer hunter that lives down the road and he thinks the neck roasts are really good.

That is deer shanks, but I do keep the neck roasts.

Similar slow cook process, usually pull the meat off those.

It makes excellent taco meat, great in deer & barley soups etc, good foe ragu style sauce too !

Venison chili today. Good day for it, with windchills in the -40s.

Recipe, please?

Hey Rick,

I've been using and really enjoying this recipe lately:

https://www.themeateater.com/cook/recipes/game-meat-and-cocoa-chili-recipe

It's a little spicy for my kids, so I scale back the ancho chile powder and the chipotles. I'm not a cilantro guy, so I omit that, and I don't usually have Juniper berries handy, so I sub in some blueberries.

So far I've tried it with cubed moose meat and deer chipotle sausage as the game meat. My preference is for cubed meat.

Sounds very good.

Well, with the weather turning brutal, ..............

Thats great 99!
I like the mixer you have there, I have been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on one. I see they are pricey for a good one.

I have one on my meat bandsaw, but its a pain in the azz to clean so I just use a small hand grinder and do small batches at a time.
I might put an electric motor on the largest hand grinder I have here, if I find the time.

Paul;
Good morning my friend, I hope you're all keeping mobile in this latest blast and you're all well.

Other than not being able to get the son in law's '09 Forester running in this weather - even jumping it with the Dodge pickup didn't work - but otherwise we're keeping most things working. It doesn't have a block heater so we'll wait for a break in the weather before trying it again, or that's the current plan as I understand it.

I will say the woodpile is taking a beating, but it had an easy run with exceptionally light usage up until last week so I can't complain.

Thanks again for the photos, I really need to do the same thing as we're down to 5 packages of burger from the 2022 deer.

Lastly, while you know I respect and like you like a brother, I do not understand how you can actually consume Guinness.

That same son in law who I love like my own flesh and blood also drinks it from time to time, so please know this doesn't degrade our relationship whatsoever. In fact it gives me more faith in my son in law which is never a bad thing!!!

Now there's 3 people I know who drink that brown liquid....

Have a great week sir and do try to keep warm.

Dwayne

Guinness....is that the beer with the little ball of shyte in it? It sure tastes like shyte LOL.

Don't mind a couple of stouts, in winter !!

Bonus = while digging in the freezer, for the trim meat, came across 6lbs of deer burger, we didn't know about.

Consequence of 3 fairly full freezers !

Thawed 1 for nachos;



Life is good, indeed.

C'mon Man !!!

As above, I like stouts & ales, in winter.

Strong flavours & a bit of body !