unicornduke (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unicornduke) wrote2018-12-22 10:25 pm
unicornduke) wrote2018-12-22 10:25 pm
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Hunting cw
If I wasn't so fucking bad at guns (not safety wise, I'm big on safety), I probably would have a deer right now. It turns out, you can't shoot a rifle that has an spent round in the chamber. And rechambering made them run off. But I know where to look for tomorrow night. And I went towards a hedgerow between our and our neighbors property and there was a deer hanging out on the other side of it, maybe fifty feet away. It completely missed seeing me coming. I couldn't get a shot at it because it was in between me and some houses.
If I wasn't so fucking bad at guns (not safety wise, I'm big on safety), I probably would have a deer right now. It turns out, you can't shoot a rifle that has an spent round in the chamber. And rechambering made them run off. But I know where to look for tomorrow night. And I went towards a hedgerow between our and our neighbors property and there was a deer hanging out on the other side of it, maybe fifty feet away. It completely missed seeing me coming. I couldn't get a shot at it because it was in between me and some houses.
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Do you butcher them yourself, or get somebody else to do it? I'm quite confident in my deer-stalking ability, but much less so in my butchering. I can do birds and rabbits, but a deer seems...complicated.
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My parents have a nuisance permit for the farm and so previously dad was just shooting them and dumping them since he never learned how to field dress them. I figured it was a waste and at least I could get the meat, so I watched a lot of youtube videos and I shot and butchered my first one over thanksgiving break.
We could take it to a processor but I'd rather learn how to do it myself and a couple of hours saves me $75 per deer.
It wasn't too bad to be honest for my first time! I wrote up a list of instructions and it took me an hour to field dress that one. Since it was extremely cold that night, I just hung it (tractors are definitely helpful) and processed in the morning. The actual skinning/breakdown into quarters took me maybe two hours or so, with about half being a failed attempt to hang it on a sturdy rafter because the tractor had an issue and I couldn't move it.
After that, it took me three or four hours maybe to do the final cuts off the bone, grinding and freezing.
I think it took around 10 hours total which is a good amount of time when I'm on vacation and bored out of my mind of video games :) And not bad for my first time ever butchering something.
I think if you do rabbits, you can do a deer, it's the same stuff; it's just the size makes it harder, there was some dragging around by hand on the ground. It was a pain to move around and to transfer from tractor to rafter. I had to have my brother help me hang it because there was no way to both lift it and keep the rope taut.
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Chain hoist? Ought to be able to lift directly with the hoist, and if you expect to make a habit of this it's likely worth the about-two-processing-fees cost.
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That morning was just so fricking cold that I wanted to get it done as far as I could. I was in the metal shed and had layers and a coverall on and was cool. The legs of the deer froze that night.
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Totally get the "oh god get this done" part.
A friend of mine's family is from up around Kapuskasing where people are more likely to hunt moose than deer, and they have stories about the most fundamental rule of moose hunting, which is "you are going to see a moose in a swamp. You never, ever shoot that moose, because then you have to get a dead moose out of a swamp." People who don't know this rule produce a lot of stories about doing things as quickly as possible while freezing cold.
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oh my god. I am never hunting a moose ever. At least the deer I shot was at the top of a hill and it was easy to drag down.
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(I had a pair of moose hide moccasins (commercially obtained!) last about ten years as house shoes.)
So wouldn't swear off entirely, if you should ever get the chance. One does not sensibly go moose hunting solo! (I mean, there are people who are very good at it who can, and do, but generally you want a team of four or so.)
Top of a hill is excellent planning!