Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV

[WV Sawmiller]

   Well, today was youth day for deer hunting in WV where kids 8-14 can shoot an antlerless deer. They must be accompanied by a licensed adult standing next to them to supervise. A few years ago they modified the rules to also allow Seniors 65 and older to participate and shoot an antlerless deer that does not count against our tags. This year I turned 65 and could participate from both sides. I took my 10 yo granddaughter and we got up in the deer blind (Shooting house) by 7:00 am. It was a cool drizzly rainy day and real overcast. A grown doe came out around 7:45 but was almost too dark to shoot. A few minutes later a second doe came out. Abbie shot the first doe behind the front left leg and it jumped and hunched which is generally a sign of a good hit. It ran about 30-40 yards and collapsed in the trail near the gate to my pasture. We waited and a few minutes later the other doe came back out and headed back towards the feeder. I took the rifle and shot her from a sharp down angle between the shoulder blades and it collapsed where she stood. We were shooting a little Ruger rifle chambered in 7.62X39 - an AK47 round.

  Abbie's doe weighed 110 lbs and mine weighed 144 which is the heaviest doe I have ever shot. Those are live weights. I am quoting live weight as I am close enough to home I never bother to field dress the deer. I find they are easier to skin when whole than field dressed too.


 110 lb doe on the skinning rack ready for skinning


 144 lb doe on the rack


 
Big doe on the rack. Spring scales used to weigh deer. Ladder used to read the spring scales. Boat/Dock cleat on the pole to tie off the pulley rope at right height to skin/process a deer.

[samandothers]

Sounds like you and the grand daughter had a great hunting morning together!
Congratulations to you both.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Yeah, it is always great spending time with them in the woods or on the water or such. Of course hunting with kids is different than what I grew up with. While waiting for the deer to come out Abbie played games on her I-Pad then when my deer feeder went off at 7:30 and that reminded her it was time to eat her snacks and drink the soda pop her grandma had packed for her. I also carried, but did not happen to need it this time, a propane heater with me that I got for Christmas last year. I now realize it was for the grandkids not really for me.

  I confess I usually take a book with me and get a lot of reading done while sitting in the woods and we were sitting in a 6' X 8' shooting house with walls and a roof sitting in an outdoor chair instead of backed up to a tree stump or swaying in the wind high in a tree up in a climbing or ladder type tree stand.

  I bought all three of the local/WV grandkids lifetime infant hunting, fishing, and trapping licenses for their first birthday to ensure there are more of these days ahead.

[samandothers]

You are a 'great' grandfather without the extra generation!

[Bricklayer51]

Thursday was the start of the dav hunt here in mi had two does with fawns come in last nite the one doe was the biggest one I have seen watching behind the house now.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I processed deer all afternoon. Longest part was de-boning the hams which wife cut into steaks and cubed. We got 3 roasts off the necks (Bone in), we have 10 pints of small pieces to can tomorrow. Likely I will cut a quick piece off to fill one more pint jar as the canner holds 11 regular pints. I cut the shoulders off and cut the hock off for roasts. Probably put all 4 hocks in one package can cook at one time. I may cut each of the shoulders in 2 for smaller sized roasts or leave alone. I have them all in a bucket soaking overnight in the downstairs refer to remove any blood shot residue left in them. 

   I still have the ribs to finish. Will pull the backstraps and the briskets and corn them and likely get another canner full of meat trimming or make it into a little bit of burger. The temps outside will be right at freezing tonight so good time to hang meat on the rack. 

[thecfarm]

You did good!!!

[samandothers]

Busy guy and gal!

[WV Sawmiller]

   Well I finished this morning. We have 16 pints of canned deer, 11 neck and shoulder roasts, probably a couple dozen packages (tailored to feed 2 of us) packs of cubed deer and about 17-18 lbs of backstrap and briskets to be made into corned deer meat when they finish soaking overnight.

   One thing I wanted to try but did not yet is making corned deer in the pressure cooker. I have read of people doing it. Sounds just like canned deer only you add the spices to the raw meat in the jar then cook/can it. What I have not found is what kind and how much of what spices to add. If anybody out there does that and has the recipe please reply with it.