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Greg,

That was an awesome hunt for you and your son! Nothing like having weather conditions add to the fun by making more work for you.

Looked like you hard everything sorted in advance by trailering in the snowmobile. Preparation, preparation, preparation. 😆

Congrats!

🦫


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Originally Posted by shrapnel
This has been a bad year for the elk, mine and a lot of my friends and family can say that their freezers are full too...



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What, no camo while bowhunting, but camo everywhere for rifle hunts.? Looks like a good season.

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A lot of good eating there. Congrats.

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Originally Posted by Just a Hunter
What, no camo while bowhunting, but camo everywhere for rifle hunts.? Looks like a good season.

Bow hunters know that you leave the elk for an hour or so to make sure they die and don’t get pushed. So during that hour, you have breakfast and get out of your camo, so it doesn’t smell like food when you do go hunting…


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Originally Posted by 673
The boy.
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Congratulations, outstanding hunt in real rough conditions. This is a great picture and says it all. 👍👍

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Thanks again for the kind words. smile

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Personally, I am very proud of you 673, keep up the good hunts as well as your excellent posts!

Darren


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LOL Good to know.

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673 -- any thoughts on what you got meat wise for weight off that MDB.

We just got a large bodied Prairie WT that boneless steaks and burger wrapped weighed in just below 90 lbs. Adding in an allowance for heart, liver and clean up wastage (I remove all silver skin and interior fat), then using the calculation method this deer was in the 200+ lb range. As yours has a large body it would be interesting to know.



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Originally Posted by HughW
673 -- any thoughts on what you got meat wise for weight off that MDB.

We just got a large bodied Prairie WT that boneless steaks and burger wrapped weighed in just below 90 lbs. Adding in an allowance for heart, liver and clean up wastage (I remove all silver skin and interior fat), then using the calculation method this deer was in the 200+ lb range. As yours has a large body it would be interesting to know.
I suspect the buck weighed around 300 lbs.
I do the butchering, so I figure around 150-175lbs of boneless meat, I take the trim in for sausage etc.

I have shot larger bucks that were around 300lbs without any fat at all, but this one had about 2" of fat on its back, which I get rid of, and is surprisingly good eating for a rutting Mule deer. I attribute that to a late rut, perhaps because of the warm weather we had earlier...maybe I am off, but this year was different.

I just picked up a meat bandsaw so I can now do "bone in" with less effort now...gonna cut up the Moose tomorrow. smile

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After boning out and butchering probably 200 animals I finally bought a meat bandsaw, should of had one along time ago, $629.00 at peavey mart.
The instructions for set up...about 100 parts....couldn't see the pics, I just went with trial and error and it took about 6 hours to assemble LOL.

The grinder works good, gotta cut the pieces up smaller than I thought, clean them better too. Mixed up 20% pork trim to make about 50lbs of hamburger.

On the job of cutting....had to work a few bugs out ie: the saw blade slid off the guide...there is a tension adjustment for the blade, also for the motor, I think it is working as it should now.

My Wife, son and myself, put 2 full days in on the Moose cut and wrap, I figure about 450 lbs of mostly boneless.
It is best to put pieces of meat in the freezer for a few hours to stiffen it up for sawing, that takes planning. The trim go's to the sausage maker, I would like to make my own sausage, I never have done it before.

Any tips on the saw?

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673;
Top of the morning my friend, I hear you're maybe getting some snow up there?

We're not so far down here, which is fine with me since it's still not melted off yet by any stretch here in the yard.

Holy smoke both the moose and the mulie were heavy!! Well done again - very cool! cool

While we do hear about some mulies going beyond 200lb dressed, I'm fairly confident I've seen and helped pack only one that big. Similarly our whitetail are smaller bodied too - not that I'm complaining or stopping hunting them either.

On the bandsaw question, yes for sure over the years I've worked on several woodworking bandsaws of different sizes and did help a buddy maintain his meat cutting one a couple times too.

Broadly speaking, the larger diameter the top and bottom drive pulleys are, the less trouble we'll have keeping the blade from breaking.

They'll be a rubber cover on the pulleys which is sometimes referred to as the "tires". They're sort of a consumable item, depending upon how much the saw is used, what it's used on, how true the pulleys run and how much blade tension.

We tried to find the sweet spot for blade tension, sort of the Goldilocks approach as there absolutely seemed to be a "just right" spot for good cutting and not inducing excess wear on the pulley tires and bearings.

When I'm setting them up I'll usually tension the blade enough so it stays in place, then if possible with that saw, I'll adjust the blade tension and listen to the thing run. It'll "usually" tell you by ear when you're putting too much pressure on the system. The same way you tune a chainsaw by ear really - if that makes sense?

Bleach solution for cleanup of course with them. It's really not recommended to use a spray bottle with bleach solution as the atomized particles get into the lungs way too easy then. If you're like me - well lets just admit my lungs don't need any further exposure to cancer causing chemicals after a lifetime of working in and around finishing areas in a cabinet shop and then doing a bit of automotive spraying as well. It's sort of amazing I've made it this far when I think about how we sprayed without masks for years....

Anyways I want to say that a cup of bleach per gallon of fairly warm to hot water is what I'd use to clean it.

There's likely sealed bearings on the pulleys so nothing to grease most likely.

If it's a huge motor on it, then of course the usual caution of running either a big extension cord or as short as possible one to keep the thing happy.

I think that's it off the top of my head for now sir. Hope that all made sense and was useful?

Give me a shout here or by all means text if you think I can help with something else.

All the best.

Dwayne


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Hi Dwayne
On the weight...I am guessing, but think it reasonably accurate...a friend of mine shot a 2 point Mule deer just north of me here, it was weighed at the hanger...365lbs just dressed. Having hunted the area I saw the Mule deer were larger than anything I was used to seeing, my son shot a doe up there that was massive lol.
I measure a Mule deer by using the length of my forearm, from the end of my fist, to my elbow, across one hind quarter to judge size, without a scale, it is accurate.

Also accurate is...when 2 guys gotta figure out how to lift, roll, drag and roll a buck into the truck LOL laugh

The Moose....I packed a hind quarter into my shop by myself, 20ft, it was all I could lift without blowing a nut, which I have done before. frown

On the saw....I think it wise to have a spare blade in case of breakage?.. and thanks for the bleach tip, that is what I am going to do this afternoon.

The blade tension....thanks for that tip too, go with the ear, I was wondering about that.

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673 I had a saw like that . keep an eye out on the table slides they will get lose when in use and the blade will hit the table when you move it. get a spare blade if it hits the table it will dull quick. the set up works good if you are easy on it . my hard head brother tore ours up quick

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Originally Posted by 44mc
673 I had a saw like that . keep an eye out on the table slides they will get lose when in use and the blade will hit the table when you move it. get a spare blade if it hits the table it will dull quick. the set up works good if you are easy on it . my hard head brother tore ours up quick
Thanks for that, I was wondering what could go sideways.
I think a spare blade is a good idea.
Can I get it sharpened?

I see the ingenuity of the saw after I began to clean it, all the stainless stuff comes off for easy cleaning.
The instructions are ridiculous and put them away after I realized they were the problem LOL

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673;
Good afternoon thanks for the reply.

Yes absolutely on a spare blade.

These days if you can swing a couple spares I'd do that actually. Never know anymore what shuts off where, right?

We used to have a place that used to sharpen sawblades down here - was called Cut Technology last and Western Saw before that.

They got bought out by an outfit in Salmon Arm and moved all the equipment up there.....

Meat blades are a little different and your saw is smaller than the big blades, but yes if you can find someone who is inclined to sharpen them, they're able to be sharpened several times.

Likewise they can be welded back together if they break - we had a bandsaw blade welder at the cabinet shop in fact, but where it would be anymore I've no clue and my goodness did it take a bunch of electrical juice to run. Worked wonderfully though 673.

Hope that helped again.

All the best.

Dwayne


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Originally Posted by KillerBee
Originally Posted by troutfly
Originally Posted by KillerBee
Originally Posted by troutfly
Originally Posted by KillerBee
Originally Posted by troutfly
Good stuff! Looks like some beautiful countryside. Some darn good eating there that has been hard earned.
Jeff

Hey Jeff, did you get to hunt any Mullies in southern Alberta this year?

One of my boys killed a fantastic 6x6 elk just east of Suffield though.

The areas I normally hunt have been ravaged by CWD now. Not seeing many large bucks in the areas around Medicine Hat like we used too.
Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Suffield area has some tremendous Elk opportunities, probably the best in the province, don't know if it's as good as it was prior to the culling program a few years ago? Great to get a 6x6.

Just curious to know if the Government irradicated the Mullies in the zones you hunt in?

They did in the zone where I hunt with helicopters and shooting them, I was told, then two sever back-to-back winters further decimated the Mule Deer population. Where I use to see well over 100 Mullies a day, now you're lucky if you see more than 10.

I have had every deer tested for CWD since the testing became mandatory many years ago, not 1 tested positive.

Sad situation and poor deer management IMO.

Cheers ~

Hey KB,
I actually work on the base as a contractor to the Canadian Armed Forces.
There are still some excellent elk opportunities on the base and, with the right owner access, around the perimeter too. The early years of the base hunt saw some very good animals taken for sure. The whole idea was to bring the numbers to a sustainable level. Now the hunt is in place to hold the numbers as stable as possible.
Yep, my son is quite happy with his 6x6. Got it exactly where I told him to look. Wish I had a tag.......lol

One of the areas I hunt mulies was where the initial CWD positive was killed. It was also on the AB gov list to cull heavily, which they did. Unfortunately, but, not unexpectedly either, the cull didn't work. Go figurer.....
The last time I hunted a certain property, there were skeletons of deer in many spots. It was eerie to say the least. This property was producing good numbers of large, 4x4 and up, bucks. The does were large and healthy as well. Now it is a graveyard. This was a year ago. I doubt I'll hunt deer there again as the land itself is CWD contaminanted. Damn shame the way it has played out. I fear for the entire eastern side of the province. Hopefully the elk will dodge the CWD bullet....
Jeff

I hear you; the whole situation disgusts me!

Maybe we should talk? I can put in for Suffield draw next year and if I win, you can join me and have half of the elk?

If you are interest, feel free to shot me a PM :o)

Cheers ~

PM Sent.
Jeff

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673 cut meat to be ground in long strips not chunks . strips are easy to feed in to the grinder good luck

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Originally Posted by 44mc
673 cut meat to be ground in long strips not chunks . strips are easy to feed in to the grinder good luck

Absolutely 100% correct 44mc!

I do an entire Big Moose in one day. The shoulders go into Course Grind, the rest are steaks and roasts. I Love Moose burgers and Moose Spaghetti Sauce!

I cannot even imaging bringing my moose to a butcher, butchering correctly is part of the hunt, and I look forward to it :o)

Last edited by KillerBee; 11/21/22.

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KB I am with you no body is touching my meat . I enjoy doing it too

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