Well, it's that time of year again, bow season is now is full swing here in Illinois. Plenty of deer around, there were 9 in the barn lot this morning. I consider deer to be the ultimate free meat. Here in southern Illinois you can't hardly throw a rock without hitting at least 2 deer and hunting is kind of like shooting fish in a barrel. For the cost of a little time, one can put a nice chunk of meat on the dinner table.
I'm a picky deer eater. I will spend all the time it takes to process my own deer. I meticulously remove every bit of fat and every sliver of sliver skin from my meat. By doing that I eliminate the need to soak my meat in cider or vinegar to remove the "gamey" taste from it. People that don't like the taste of deer meat will eat a meal I prepare and never know that they were eating deer. Commercial processors just can not afford to take that kind of time during their butchering and the resulting meat is such a lower quality than you get if you do it yourself. Plus, doing it yourself eliminates the bill. As usual, I refuse to pay money to have something done I can do for myself.
If you don't own a bow or have no experience hunting with a bow, that's okay. Shotgun season will soon come along and hunting that way is just as good.
So, don't pass up the chance for a little free meat for your table and freezer, go out and get yourself a deer or 2! After all, if you have a garden, you probably fed those same deer all summer and doesn't it make sense to get just a little bit back from that?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
Love the venison! We have 3-4 in the freezer every year. I've just learned how to can the meat so I will do stew meat etc..to save freezer space. Best jerkey ever, we made som this weekend. We also have had folks share a meal the entire time talking about how much they dislike venison...the whole time scarfing up the "best roast ever!" Its a hoot!
ReplyDeleteBut your right its all in the processing. and we also do our own, makes all the difference. Love your posts
Hubby is going hunting in mid-November in southern Il. Hoping he gets one. It'll be his first. He hunts geese in the fall and we always jerky that. Do you hunt, too, or just hubby?
ReplyDeleteI love Free Meat , for me thought it's just rabbit galore , your right though they fed themselves all year on my garden , LOL.
ReplyDeleteSo you dont soak your meat at all? I've never cleaned a deer, but I clean birds all the time and ussually soak then in salt water solution. Does the vinegar or cidar enhance the flavor? Have you ever heard or used something to soak bids in? Im curious and eager to learn other techniques.
ReplyDeleteLove Deer meat...would buy it if raised like cattle. But the hunt is half the fun...Eating the other half.
ReplyDeleteSee Ya
Hi MM,
ReplyDeleteWe just finished processing a 6 point,grinding the "leftover" cuts, about an hour ago. Burgers are on the grill, and I am hungry. The jerky meat is curing in the fridge and the rest is cut, wrapped and in the freezer. Your post is right on, once again. Thanks...
Yep, once we learned how to prepare venison, we eat it year round. Deer jerky is the best jerky imo. We slice the backstrap thin and run it thru flour and fry it. The wife used to not like deer meat, but now we use it for numerous recipes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading your blog.
David
LOL, ain't deer meat the greatest?
ReplyDeleteyup
ReplyDelete