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WV Archery doe/Rifle spike added

Started by WV Sawmiller, November 16, 2019, 05:46:29 PM

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WV Sawmiller

   Been seeing lots of does and large fawns every morning in my upper shooting house. One nice buck came within 30 yards but turned away instead of towards me. One very obnoxious spike chased all the other deer away and never got a shot on him to set things right on principle. one baby spike I'd have taken if he'd got in position as he would have counted as antlerless. I let one old doe go several mornings because she had fawns with her - the fawns really should be able to make it on their own and she keeps chasing the buttonbuck away but lets the doe fawn stick around.  She is pretty bossy to the other young does that come in. This morning I had several around me and one old doe I was going to shoot but she was underneath (Maybe I should have dropped a big stone on her?) and out of position to shoot. She looked up at something in the draw below then ran off. I was hoping it was the bigger buck as he came from there while checking his scrapes. Nope! It was my 3 nuisance turkeys. I have been running them off with my slingshot or waving my hat out the window when the deer aren't watching. (I blew that yesterday and an old doe busted me but still came on in after snorting at me.) After the turkeys left the doe came back by but not in range. A few minutes later this doe came out and stopped in perfect position and I let an arrow fly. It was really a poor shot as instead of hitting the lungs behind her right leg I was too far forward but made a solid hit on her neck cutting her jugular and severed her windpipe. She ran about 30 yards and collapsed. I dragged her to my ATV, loaded her and brought her home and spent the rest of the day skinning and butchering her. I still need to de-bone the hams and shoulders. I'll corn the backstraps, tenderloins and brisket. Will make sausage out of the trimmings and one big bone in neck roast. The hams will be come cube steak. I will try to put another one or two in the freezer before the end of the season on 31 December.

While butchering the deer I had to stop when 2 big pileated woodpeckers came and stayed 20-30 yards away. I called my photographer wife out and she got a few pictures on the gate post to the pasture but I never could get a decent shot with my little camera. They are super neat birds but rarely come to the yard like that. These were on the buckeye over the white plastic barrel on the edge of the creek in the back of the picture.


 120 lbs live weight - I never field dress them this close to home. Skinning rack is an extension of my boat house that I can drive the ATV under (Also used to lift my lawn mower for blade change and repair), old cast iron sink on back side for clean up and fish cleaning. Sink supports extend out 8-10 inches so made a bench on it that is perfect to hold pans, buckets, cleaning kit, etc. I have a hose bib about 10 yards away and the buried drain goes to the creek to feed the crawfish blood, pieces of meat and fish. I'm in the process of bringing in more fill I got from the road department during recent ditch cleaning. I will finish that when my sick tractor gets back from the hospital.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

bags

Some good eat'in there--- all we have up in this country is those foul taste'in mule deer.

WV Sawmiller

120 lbs is a decent mature doe around here. I shot one last year was 144 lbs and biggest doe I remember weighing. She was a pain to load on my 4 wheeler by myself. The limp weight is always a pain to handle. I usually find a stump or rock pile or such to drag them on top of then pull the ATV right next to it and when I am lucky I can just slide it over in the basket. Sometimes I have to grab a couple of limbs to make a bridge bridge to roll or slide it up.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

samandothers

Do you have a winch and/ or a small block/tackle you could use to raise the carcass then tie off and pull under?  Just a thought.

goose63

Quote from: bags on November 16, 2019, 08:22:42 PM
Some good eat'in there--- all we have up in this country is those foul taste'in mule deer.
Whatsamatter you the mule deer here in N.D. are a lot better tasteing than the whitetail to me any way 8)
goose
if you find your self in a deep hole stop digging
saw logs all day what do you get lots of lumber and a day older
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WV Sawmiller

Quote from: samandothers on November 17, 2019, 11:26:50 AMDo you have a winch and/ or a small block/tackle you could use to raise the carcass then tie off and pull under?  Just a thought.
Yes, look at the top of the picture and you can see the small block and tackle  (like you find in any sporting goods store) hanging from a big eyebolt through the locust beam on top and you can see the rope hanging at an angle on the left side. I have a 4" nylon boat dock cleat there I use to quickly tie off the rope at the desired height. I replaced the rope last year with a 20-25 ft one and it is too short. I really need to replace it with one about 10' longer. I keep a big spring scale there hanging on the back of the boat shed to weigh deer and I have another one that weighs up to 50 lbs I use for catfish. I use this same set up for cleaning catfish. I find it is much easier to pull the skin off a big catfish pulling down than laying flat on a table or my skinning sink drainboard.

  I spent the best part of the day de-boning the hams and have them cut into steaks for cubing. I still have the shoulders to de-bone and just got back from getting some cheap pork sausage for the fat to mix to make sausage. I will add the should meat to the trimmings and hopefully grind it all tonight. I would starve to death if I had to butcher for a living. If it was my shop I'd fire me for being too slow. :D

Goose & Bags,

   I have never eaten mule deer so I can't comment on them. If like most game I bet it is in the prep and seasoning. 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Chuck White

Mule deer isn't a lot different than Whitetail but I suppose there is a slight difference, but you couldn't prove it by me.

My first (and only) mule deer was a doe and, my very first Archery deer, taken in the Black Hills of South Dakota, it was quite tasty!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

Nebraska

Congrats on the doe, years ago I had a similar too far forward hit, I was done and walking back to the truck and a couple does came running in from the opposite direction. I heard them and froze the were about 25 yards out and  one  wasn't shootable the other had a tree covering her back half quartering slightly away. I had to lean to right to clear a tree I had stopped beside and I think the lean and subconsciously being aware of the tree right beside me caused me to push the bow slightly right. Initially thought I had missed, but umm nope, she had a bad day and went about the same distance yours did.  Firearm deer opened this weekend heard a few shots, neighbor kid got one, haven't heard of much else though.

WV Sawmiller

   Our rifle season opens a week from today for 2 weeks then a short break then muzzleloader season. Archery season lasts till 31 December here. 26 &27 December are youth (and old folks) hunts where kids 8-14 can shoot an antlerless deer each day that does not count against your season limit and a couple years back they opened it up to people 65 and older. Kids have to be accompanied by a licensed adult and I have taken the granddaughters. The main youth hunt is in October but it was so hot and our deer were dying from Epizootic hemorrhagic disease at the time so I did not start hunting then or until we had some cold weather to kill the insect vector spreading it. The deer I have seen that survived it look good.

We got up and I cubed about 20-25 lbs of round steak and we put that up then I ground about 15 lbs of de-boned shoulder and trimming meat and added 4.5 lbs of cheap sausage for fat and seasoning and made bulk sausage patties from that. I take an ice cream scoop and make meat balls about 5.5/lb and we put them in the vacuum bags and flatten into patties before vacuuming and sealing them so we can freeze and break them apart later. Pretty simple and effective. I have done the same with burger just make a bigger patty.

All processed now except about 10 lbs in corning solution that needs to soak in the reefer downstairs 3-4 more days. That's actually a pretty simple recipe and way to make corned venison which we like real well too.

I even went up and sat in my other deer stand a couple hours till dark but other than a big black coon at dusk and a couple of turkeys calling down the hill it was a slow day. I need to clear out some excess catfish to make room for more deer plus we found turkeys on sale and got ours for Thanksgiving and Christmas so that is space that will get freed up.

EDIT/ADD-ON: I got the little hand cranked cuber from Cabela's several years ago and it is real simple to use and does a great job tenderizing meat. I ran this through 3 and initially 4 times. My wife said the 4 times was tearing apart and 3 times was often overkill. A couple of passes especially if you make sure to rotate 90 degrees is probably all you need on 3/4" steaks. Now if I just had a motor on that grinder....
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

WV Sawmiller

   I shot this little guy today about 4:30 pm. Actually shot him for a doe but turned out he had little spikes about 2-2.5 inches long which still qualifies as a legal antlerless deer. A buck is described as one or more antlers over 3". Was easy to load with a 90 degree limb 6' high about 25' away so threw the winch over it and pulled him and into the dump bed on the ATV. He weighed in at 102 lbs live weight. It is supposed to get down to about freezing tonight so I cleaned him and left him hanging on the skinning rack to chill tonight and will cut him up tomorrow. I pulled the tenderloins while cleaning him and they are frying right now so I gather dinner (and maybe lunch tomorrow) will be steak sandwiches. I also cut off the neck and am soaking it in the fridge downstairs and I'll vacuum seal it for a roast. I may swing by HF tomorrow and check out their electric meat grinders. I talked with a guy Monday who highly recommended them and see more positive comments than negative on them. I will check and if a standard blade size I may go ahead and get one.


 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Nebraska


Chuck White

Looks like some good eatin'!

And...... they all look the same in a vacuum bag!  ;)
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

thecfarm

More good eating and more for the freezer!!
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

WV Sawmiller

   I can say the tenderloins were good and expect the rest to be the same. We had friend tenderloin, rice and gravy for dinner last night. Its about 36 degrees out there right now and looks like he should be chilled and ready to debone. I guess I better get at it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

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