2020/2021 Hunting Thread

[Anastasis 23489]

I usually take 1 to a processor in blanco.  Clean shop, he does a really good job with sausage, and mixes my ground with beef fat.  I process the others myself into chili grind, roasts, stew meat cuts for jerky and some other cuts that the processors won't usually make, e.g. bone in backstrap. I have found this book useful for guidance on finding all the right seams when breaking down the quarters. 

https://www.amazon.com/Gut-Cut-Cook-Processing-Preparing/dp/1440203709

 

[BabaYaga 15327]

16 hours ago, CHIEF said:

Its still like living amongst the Plains Indians in my household. CHIEF Jr. and I field dress them at the lease, then, bring the deer home and Mrs. CHIEF takes over. By the time we get them skinned to the neck, she already has the backstraps, tenderloins, and front shoulders removed, then, CHIEF Jr. and I sit back and watch the show. She lets nothing go to waste.

She bones out the shoulders and hindquarters:

This is all that is left:

I sleep with one eye open. She is definitely not someone you want to meet in a dark alley late at night.

CHIEF

Love it.  Last time I did all that it was with two little does I popped during the extended season.  Hung, quartered, de-boned, bagged up.  The whole 9 yards.  Then stopped at the DQ in Coleman on the way home and some ass hat stole the cooler out of the back of my truck.  Probably kids thinking it was full of beer.  

[Johnny Sack 8397]

13 minutes ago, Anastasis said:

I usually take 1 to a processor in blanco.  Clean shop, he does a really good job with sausage, and mixes my ground with beef fat.  I process the others myself into chili grind, roasts, stew meat cuts for jerky and some other cuts that the processors won't usually make, e.g. bone in backstrap. I have found this book useful for guidance on finding all the right seams when breaking down the quarters. 

https://www.amazon.com/Gut-Cut-Cook-Processing-Preparing/dp/1440203709

 

It's a little out of my way coming back from South Texas, but I really like Klein Smokhaus in Boerne.  They do a great job with just about everything (I honestly just have straps and tenders cut up and everything else ground), but have had their sausage, chopped steak with cheddar, and slim jims.  All are good.  And they vacuum seal everything, which is a must for me.

[Anastasis 23489]

Just now, Johnny Sack said:

It's a little out of my way coming back from South Texas, but I really like Klein Smokhaus in Boerne.  They do a great job with just about everything (I honestly just have straps and tenders cut up and everything else ground), but have had their sausage, chopped steak with cheddar, and slim jims.  All are good.  And they vacuum seal everything, which is a must for me.

Yeah. 4th street market in Blanco doesn’t vac pack them, but I have never noticed any issues with quality pulling it out of the deep freeze. He wraps them up real good. 

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

....some ass hat stole the cooler out of the back of my truck.  Probably kids thinking it was full of beer.  

This wasn’t around 2002-2005 was it?

[Revolution512 1495]

On 11/10/2020 at 8:37 AM, BabaYaga said:

Prior group of hunters we had did something like this.  They had a giant metal-pipe stand.  They'd hoist the deer up and get it anchored in.  They had a jeep winch welded to the bottom.  Once they got the skin started, they'd wrap a portion in a tennis ball, and viola - it would just peel off like skinning a catfish.  

We do this too. Just tie it off to the front end of the ranger and back up slow. One person usually has a rope around the deer too so it doesn’t go flying all over the place.

[BabaYaga 15327]

43 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

 

This wasn’t around 2002-2005 was it?

 

Very well could have been - was a while back, but I think it was before that as I had a different vehicle then and my old truck was a 2003 FX4

Edited November 11, 2020 by BabaYaga

[CHIEF 5095]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

Love it.  Last time I did all that it was with two little does I popped during the extended season.  Hung, quartered, de-boned, bagged up.  The whole 9 yards.  Then stopped at the DQ in Coleman on the way home and some ass hat stole the cooler out of the back of my truck.  Probably kids thinking it was full of beer.  

Sux going through all that work to have that happen.

CHIEF

[Armybrat 40920]

Story of my life whenever I got in the blind during the 1980s...

 

[CHIEF 5095]

Somehow Mrs. CHIEF still had a picture of the smokehouse with over 1000 pieces of jerky drying:

Thats what everything besides backstraps and tenderloin gets made into as well as dried sausage. Kind of a funny story. CHIEF Jr. was working with me at one of the TTHA expos, and he went and bought jerky at Rusk Market booth, they are out of New Braunfels. He brought a piece over to me to try, and I said that it was our same recipe. He went back to buy some more and told the owner that it was the exact recipe ours was, and that it was his great grandfather's recipe. The owner asked him who his great grandfather was, when he told him, he laughed, and said it was the same recipe, and he had known his great grandfather.

I'm about to build a smokehouse to get this started in the family again. My FIL was always the one who did the planning, it has been probably a decade since we made any.

CHIEF

If anyone wants to know the process, I'll explain the whole thing.

Edited November 11, 2020 by CHIEF

[BabaYaga 15327]

20 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

Somehow Mrs. CHIEF still had a picture of the smokehouse with over 1000 pieces of jerky drying:

Thats what everything besides backstraps and tenderloin gets made into as well as dried sausage. Kind of a funny story. CHIEF Jr. was working with me at one of the TTHA expos, and he went and bought jerky at Rusk Market booth, they are out of New Braunfels. He brought a piece over to me to try, and I said that it was our same recipe. He went back to buy some more and told the owner that it was the exact recipe ours was, and that it was his great grandfather's recipe. The owner asked him who his great grandfather was, when he told him, he laughed, and said it was the same recipe, and he had known his great grandfather.

I'm about to build a smokehouse to get this started in the family again. My FIL was always the one who did the planning, it has been probably a decade since we made any.

CHIEF

That's super cool.  One of my best friends and I have ranches not too far from each other.  One day his g-mother is in town and over and we get to talking.  She grew up in Mason and the property is in MIllersview.  Turns out she used to buy/sell cattle from my Aunt in Coleman.

Small world.  Stories like that always make me smile.  

[hookemATL 11915]

Please explain when you have the time, CHIEF. Love getting all this info from folks with so much experience. Much obliged.  

[hookemATL 11915]

Please explain when you have the time, CHIEF. Love getting all this info from folks with so much experience. Much obliged.  

[CHIEF 5095]

As for the smokehouse, insulated or not, just lengthens the time of year you can smoke and dry the meat. My FILs was not insulated, it just had a window unit in one end, that smokehouse is good for smoking in January and February, the coldest time of the year. I'm going to insulate enough to be able to use it from about November through March. It is important to keep the meat between about 38-45 degrees.

Its easiest to de-bone the meat when it isn't frozen, but also, not completely thawed. You may have to rotate shoulders and hams in and out of the freezer a few times to cut your pieces when they are about 50% frozen or "slushy". After you de-bone, it is imperative that you remove any fat, tendons, ligaments, and the muscle membrane around each individual muscle, leaving nothing but pure muscle tissue. It is very tedious, but crucial for it to taste right and not go rancid. We usually cut ours anywhere from 3/8s to 1/2 inch thick. You will have a lot of smaller pieces that you won't have to cut. After cutting we take a trussing needle and butchers twine and string all of the pieces and overhand loop a knot to make a loop to hang the jerky with. Then it is time to salt it.

We pack the meat in salt in restaurant tubs for the 4 days before Jerky Day, drawing out the blood, and salting the meat happens at one time. Do not rinse the meat, just bang the pieces together to knock off the access salt. We boil a large pot of water, take a straightened coat hanger and put on about 4-5 pieces at a time. You drop the meat into the boiling water and blanch it for approximately 30 seconds, agitate the meat up and down to get the boiling water between the pieces. When you pull it out, all pieces should be completely gray, if anything is still red, remove the pieces that are completely gray and drop the meat back in for another 10-15 seconds until totally gray. After pulling it out, let the meat dry enough not to drip or have noticeable water on the surface, but it should still be wet to the touch. We have a huge container of black pepper that we throw the meat into that coats it with black pepper. After the meat is peppered try to get it to the smokehouse as soon as possible and hang it while the water is still causing the pepper to adhere to the jerky. Be sure no pieces are touching each other, anywhere they touch, both pieces will go rancid.

I thought that the smoking process would be long and drawn out, but it isn't the smoking process that takes a long time, it is the drying process. My FIL had a pecan tree, and some oaks, he would keep small branches that fell off the trees until jerky time. Also, it doesn't take much, he used an old plow disk and a box fan and cold smoked the meat for only about 5 hours. More than that, and the smoke became overpowering. After 5 hours, he just took the plow disk and the box fan out. 

Finally, the most time consuming and hardest part to wait on is the drying. He had a window unit that he would keep on the whole 5 weeks it takes to dry the meat. It keeps the meat at about 40 degrees, but more importantly, it sucks out most of the humidity. That first piece after 5 weeks of drying is glorious. Still, to this day, it is probably the best thing I have ever eaten. We have to ration CHIEF Jr., he will eat a whole gallon bag in a day if you let him.

Special note: Keep about 10 flossers on you at all time. After a few days of jerky getting caught in your teeth, and your toothbrush not getting all of it out, your breath will smell like a meat freezer that has been out for a week in August.

Hopefully someone here tries it. I grew up on a ranch that you could kill anything, anytime you wanted. I was just a trophy hunter, and had lost the fire to get out and meat hunt. This jerky brought that fire back, but it has waned again. I have a place to go, see deer as soon as I get there (they aren't afraid of people), but without having a smokehouse yet, I just haven't had the itch to shoot one.

CHIEF

 

[Speedtrucker 2082]

Badass! Interesting read.

Dropped my 2 doe off at Kubys rather than doing the normal self quartering and collection of backstrap/tenderloins etc. never had one processed before but figured I’d use as much as possible and have a bunch of gifts for the holidays to the family.

[Both Tacos 1806]

Badass! Interesting read.

Dropped my 2 doe off at Kubys rather than doing the normal self quartering and collection of backstrap/tenderloins etc. never had one processed before but figured I’d use as much as possible and have a bunch of gifts for the holidays to the family.

Can't give wrong with Kuby's. If I don't process my own, that's where my deer meat goes.

[BabaYaga 15327]

Quick trip to the ranch.  Wore an older pair of cheap boots from Academy with a softer rubber sole.  Hiked around some to scout out feeders and fences were not in disrepair.  Feel a stabbing in the arch of my foot.  Thought it was a small rock or something.  Now, thank goodness I have extremely high arches, as this little shit tried to kill me.  Never broke the skin, but damn.  West Texas mesquite thorns....they never cease to amaze me.  Dozens of truck tires.  Bike tires.  ATV and quad tires.  Went through the boot sole like it was a metal nail.

[Speedtrucker 2082]

There are 2 things on my land... brush and mesquite trees, so it’s always eyes up, eyes down, eyes up, eyes down...

I have a few scratches and puncture spots where some thorns got me good. My last one was on my butt when I was dragging my doe outta the mud and backed into a low branch something fierce.

[hornmpa96 2621]

yep - As my dad likes to say, "everything out here sticks, stings or bites."

[CHIEF 5095]

I thought mesquites were bad until a friend of mine bought a place near Bryson (between Jacksboro and Graham). Had trees I had never seen before, Honey Locust, they are like the Incredible Hulk compared to mesquites. Thorns are about 4-5 inches long. I swear, if you got thrown off of a 4-wheeler and it threw you against the trunk, your impaled body would just hang there until somebody peeled your corpse from it. I have found 3 on my acreage in Granbury, they are coming out immediately.

CHIEF

[ROFL BOX 6649]

On 11/10/2020 at 1:23 PM, Lat22 said:

He couldn't believe that he got to go.

From the look on his face, it sure seems like he still was in a "Pinch me - this shit ain't real!" moment.

[ROFL BOX 6649]

On 11/10/2020 at 2:07 PM, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Fully outfitted hunt so they are providing everything.

So when you miss your shot, the blame goes to the rifle not being sighted for you?  Easy call.

[Mdhorn 5989]

Saw this: https://dcist.com/story/20/11/11/dc-rock-creek-park-roads-nps-deer-population/

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mncppc/jobs/2896021/park-ranger-seasonal

Could almost make more money working fast food which is $15 minimum wage. 

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mncppc/jobs/2903103/park-ranger-14284-14611-14787-grade-16

There was a time when I wanted to be a park ranger.  Always wondered about it and now I guess I know.   Would be real difficult to survive on this salary but maybe DC pays more.

 

Edited November 13, 2020 by Mdhorn

[BabaYaga 15327]

18 hours ago, CHIEF said:

I thought mesquites were bad until a friend of mine bought a place near Bryson (between Jacksboro and Graham). Had trees I had never seen before, Honey Locust, they are like the Incredible Hulk compared to mesquites. Thorns are about 4-5 inches long. I swear, if you got thrown off of a 4-wheeler and it threw you against the trunk, your impaled body would just hang there until somebody peeled your corpse from it. I have found 3 on my acreage in Granbury, they are coming out immediately.

CHIEF

Sweet baby Jesus.  Had to google these trees.  What the actual F is this all about??????

[BabaYaga 15327]

7 hours ago, Mdhorn said:

Saw this: https://dcist.com/story/20/11/11/dc-rock-creek-park-roads-nps-deer-population/

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mncppc/jobs/2896021/park-ranger-seasonal

Could almost make more money working fast food which is $15 minimum wage. 

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/mncppc/jobs/2903103/park-ranger-14284-14611-14787-grade-16

There was a time when I wanted to be a park ranger.  Always wondered about it and now I guess I know.   Would be real difficult to survive on this salary but maybe DC pays more.

 

I wanted to be a Game Warden, then quickly realized how insanely competitive it is.  How low the pay is.  And how you are a journeyman for years, operating wherever there is an opening (didn't want to leave Texas).  They also have an insanely dangerous job, with jurisdiction limitations second only to US Marshals.  

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

Dallas fireman I know got tired of working for incompetent leadership, a corrupt council and watching his pension shrink daily. Cashed out and applied to be a TX game warden. Two years in he’s home every night except when they get activated to the coast for hurricane response. The days of shipping new game wardens and dps hires straight to the border or BFE west Texas are long gone.

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

9 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

So when you miss your shot, the blame goes to the rifle not being sighted for you?  Easy call.

well yeah!

[Mdhorn 5989]

1 hour ago, BabaYaga said:

Sweet baby Jesus.  Had to google these trees.  What the actual F is this all about??????

Almost similar to a form of Acacia tree or thorn tree native to South Africa.  Cape Buffalo when cornered by Lions will back their way into thorn trees as defense.  

[Speedtrucker 2082]

Fuck that tree.

[Armybrat 40920]

About ready for a second cutting (Medio Blue Stem) on my place.

Nephew & friends bagged their bird limit there. He’s gonna build me a new gate.

 

[Anastasis 23489]

still too damn hot for this shit. 

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

Doe season ends next Sunday. Headed out tomorrow night to put a dent in the population since all dad and brother want to do is shoot anything with antlers

[Anastasis 23489]

A mid sized doe popped out a bit ago. Think it smelled my bourbon and spooked. 

[CHIEF 5095]

A buddy I used to work with lives in Iowa Park, west of Wichita Falls. He is a pumper, so he spends the day riding around checking wells, but mainly looking for big deer. He shoots at least a 165+ buck every year, all low fence. He has more huge low fence bucks on his wall than anyone I know. He just sent me a picture of this toad he shot this morning. It weighed 307 lbs. on the hoof. This buck was probably a 180+ class buck 2-3 years ago.

CHIEF

[BabaYaga 15327]

47 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

A buddy I used to work with lives in Iowa Park, west of Wichita Falls. He is a pumper, so he spends the day riding around checking wells, but mainly looking for big deer. He shoots at least a 165+ buck every year, all low fence. He has more huge low fence bucks on his wall than anyone I know. He just sent me a picture of this toad he shot this morning. It weighed 307 lbs. on the hoof. This buck was probably a 180+ class buck 2-3 years ago.

CHIEF

Man, looks like a giant Kansas buck.  Lots of big ranches near WF, so who knows.  Maybe he got loose.  Those beams, looks like part mule deer!

[CHIEF 5095]

4 minutes ago, BabaYaga said:

Man, looks like a giant Kansas buck.  Lots of big ranches near WF, so who knows.  Maybe he got loose.  Those beams, looks like part mule deer!

Thats what I thought at first, maybe a Whitetail/Muley hybrid, but those horns are 100% whitetail. I figure he probably found a creep feeder for fattening calves. When you get north of I-20, and west of HWY 281, the deer get a lot bigger. I was told that is the line where everything south migrated from Mexico over the last few thousand years, and everything North migrated from northern stock, midwest, and Canada. We had a buck go over 240 lbs. on a lease in Aspermont. 200-220 lbs. is pretty common, 307 lbs. isn't common anywhere in Texas from a low fenced place.

CHIEF

[BabaYaga 15327]

You can tell it's 100% WT.  That big body and those beams, that is genetics from up north.  Only time I've ever seen that large of specimens are ones from the OK/KN region.  So who knows, maybe he's a traveler?  Either way, hell of a deer.  Digging the bomber hat also.  Damn things are warm  

[Both Tacos 1806]

Got a positive result for COVID this morning after spending a week down in Cabo. Well, looks like I'll be quarantining at the ranch.
Just got here and jumped into the stand to see if I can fling an arrow at a doe.

[BabaYaga 15327]

Going through some old pics.  Look at these fat fucks.  Corn thieves.  Every last one of them.  Just hanging out.  Not sure what that blob in the foreground is?  Either a cow turd or some kind of little chipmunk/rat thingy.  Looks like the one on the far left is making a beer run.  

One year we planted sorghum for the cattle.  Got really tall (6+ft).  Turned the cows loose and of course they all but disappeared.  It was getting dark and we were checking on a cow and heard two bull 'coons fighting in the fields.  Jesus, it scared me TO DEATH.  It's like two demons trying to kill each other.  If you've ever heard it.  My god, at night when before it was quiet....lordy....like s screeching, chattering, huffing, scream.  

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

Those High Plains deer are a step above. Very easy to spot one. Around Haskell/Woodson/Throckmorton area is about where I’ve noticed they make a distinct change. North and west of that point and there’s some serious low fence monster

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

Those High Plains deer are a step above. Very easy to spot one. Around Haskell/Woodson/Throckmorton area is about where I’ve noticed they make a distinct change. North and west of that point and there’s some serious low fence monster

Truth.

I’m from the WF area and have a good friend that has a lot of family land in Throckmorton that I’ve hunted on.

Iowa Park can suck it. Go Bulldogs.

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

Truth.

I’m from the WF area and have a good friend that has a lot of family land in Throckmorton that I’ve hunted on.

Iowa Park can suck it. Go Bulldogs.

Knox City Greyhounds Holla!

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

Holy cow. Now that’s a small town you rarely hear people mention.

[Herbie Hancock 7376]

Didn’t miss a watermelon festival from 1987 to 2004. And I claim Knox City because nobody actually knows where O’Brien is. First ever 6-man state champions!

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2740]

I’ve hunted Benjamin, Weinert and Throckmorton plenty of times.

[Anastasis 23489]

God bless Texas. 
 

[Anastasis 23489]

Somebody should take that tree down though. 

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

17 hours ago, BabaYaga said:

Sweet baby Jesus.  Had to google these trees.  What the actual F is this all about??????

You have to know that the Comanches got creative with these. 

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4977]

So we are in the middle of moving, but I already had a weekend hunting trip planned. I told my wife not to pack up any of the camo. Of course she didn't listen and packed up all except what she thought was the prettiest. So now I'm sitting here in a natural gear shirt with the sleeves cut off...

[Both Tacos 1806]

So we are in the middle of moving, but I already had a weekend hunting trip planned. I told my wife not to pack up any of the camo. Of course she didn't listen and packed up all except what she thought was the prettiest. So now I'm sitting here in a natural gear shirt with the sleeves cut off...

Well, at least you won't get hot.