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Outdoor topics => The Outdoor Board => Topic started by: WV Sawmiller on October 20, 2018, 06:00:45 PM

Title: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: WV Sawmiller on October 20, 2018, 06:00:45 PM
   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.

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_0960.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1540072576)
 110 lb doe on the skinning rack ready for skinning

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_0961.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1540072639)
 144 lb doe on the rack

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/38064/IMG_0962.JPG?easyrotate_cache=1540072712)
 
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.
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: samandothers on October 20, 2018, 07:39:14 PM
Sounds like you and the grand daughter had a great hunting morning together!
Congratulations to you both.
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: WV Sawmiller on October 20, 2018, 08:51:10 PM
   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.
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: samandothers on October 20, 2018, 11:15:02 PM
You are a 'great' grandfather without the extra generation!
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: Bricklayer51 on October 21, 2018, 08:04:35 AM
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.
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: WV Sawmiller on October 21, 2018, 06:36:27 PM
   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. 
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: thecfarm on October 21, 2018, 08:57:38 PM
You did good!!!
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: samandothers on October 21, 2018, 09:41:19 PM
Busy guy and gal!
Title: Re: Youth and Senior Deer Hunting Day in WV
Post by: WV Sawmiller on October 22, 2018, 03:18:07 PM
   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.