Making Meat

What most people would call hunting, my friend, John McPherson, calls making meat. And that's what I like to call it too. I hunt to put meat in the freezer. It's not a sport to me. I don't hunt horns. Here I am with my second doe of the season. I feel very fortunate to have gotten her. The deer season this year has been a hard one. They brushed up early and went nocturnal. Hunting from a tree stand or a blind has been tough going. The deer are not moving much, and tend to bed down during the day. Therefore, our tactics have had to change. My friend and fellow hunter, Laine, worked together to drive the deer. He walked slowly through a cedar woods, while I followed the fence line parallel to him. Suddenly, there she was. In a matter of seconds, I drew up on her and shot. Our plan worked. I am very grateful to have been able to fill my second tag. Many thanks to Laine and to Jim and Robbins for letting me hunt on there land.

Ready for the Freezer

After letting my deer hang for three days in a walk in cooler, it was time to do the processing. Though, I have worked in a meat shop before, this is the first time I have cut up a whole carcass from start to finish. I took my time and tried to do a good job. It is important to me to use as much of the animal as possible. Except for the area around the bullet hole, all of the meat was packaged. I even saved the bones to be used as stock. I also kept the hear, liver, kidney and some of the internal fat to be used. Seen here are the neatly wrapped white packages ready to be put in the freezer. What was left of the deer was taken back to the woods and the coyotes.

My First

After returning from a week in Oregon, it was back to the farm. Most of the work in the produce fields is done by this time of year. So the first couple of weeks were spent doing basic clean up tasks like picking up hoses, putting away machinery and cleaning out the barn and various out buildings. And then it was deer season. For the ten days of rifle season, daily life is pretty much geared to hunting. As far as hunting seasons go, I was told it was a hard one. Warm, full moon nights, very windy days and a good acorn crop, combined to delay the rut and keep the deer 'brushed up'. It wasn't until the sixth day of season that I filled my first tag. Thankfully, I woke up that morning to a heavy frost and no wind. Well before sunrise I hiked to my hunting spot and waited. When the sun finally rose, it cast its warmth on the hill opposite my blind of cedar boughs. Two hours passed and not an animal stirred. At long last a cow and her calf appeared. I figured my chances to get a deer that morning were gone. And then suddenly, just below the ridge of the hill was a doe. She had stopped in a small clearing to let the sun warm her. I knew I could make the shot. Using the blind like a bench rest, I quickly spotted her in the scope. I picked my target and fired - one shot. The noise from my 308 can be deafening. The little valley echoed. The cow and calf froze still, startled at the sudden boom. I waited a minute and then left the blind, crossed the little creek and went up the hill. I found the doe where she had stood. I was ecstatic and ran part of the 1/2 mile back to the house. This is my first deer.