Been up in the stand since 6:30ish. 20* when I got here and it's warmed up a little. Had 2 med size doe come in right under me not even 5 mins after getting up in the stand. No doe tag though . I would of been out of my stand before the sun was fully up if I had a tag lol. I was hoping a buck was trailing them but haven't seen anything in a few hours now. The wool pants I picked up in the fall are definitely worth the $ I paid for them. I'm on the hunt for more wool too lol
Hung in there until noon. Absolutely nothing around after those 2 does came in first thing this morning. Not a bad hunting season for me. I'm still eating the buck I got in November.
I need to make sure to save enough vacation this year so I have some days to hunt. It's been 2 years since I've had venison in my freezer, and this talk of it is making my mouth water!
Ours ended a while ago. Well, that and I sold my bow a couple years back. I didn't have the time to bow hunt, so I rifle hunt, and if need be hunt with the muzzle loader to extend the season. I still have a small amount of venison jerky I made a while back, and a couple of roasts from my big doe from 2013 season. But I only make snacks (i make my own jerky, but have it made into hot sticks or sausage)from my venison, as the wife isn't into eating deer.
I'm in one of the zones that has an extended season and it ends tomorrow. theres a storm coming in tonight with snow and ice in the forecast.
Mine surprised me when I got my 1st deer in 2013. I didnt think she would like it but she did. She eats everything I cook up w the meat.
If at all possible, hunt a food source this time of year....especially with a storm coming! Best of luck filling your tag. Our season ends the end of December and I still waiting to get my sausages from my butcher.
She isn't into me hunting anything but birds either. But she understands. That's about our only differing of opinions. We've been married since summer of 2011, and together since 2003, so it seems to be working for us
When it comes to venison, Processing and cooking it properly makes all the difference. I process/butcher my own venison and I make sure it is cleaned of all fat and silver/blue skin. Next step is to not over cook. Medium rare is all you need.
Yeah, cooking venison properly is the big deal. My wife doesn't like red meat too rare. So, that's another reason she doesn't like venison. Even the most friendly to bambi lovers slow cooker recipes are not to her liking. More jerky and sausage products for me I guess.
You can soak in milk or white vinegar and water to get a lot of the game taste out. The wife has eaten it and thought it was beef.
We're almost done with our deer season too. I would love to add another to the freezer. I tried the other day and hit the window of the blind shooting at a big doe.
I age mine for 7-10 days in a spare refrigerator and it really helps the flavor. Keep the temp in the mid-to high 30s. I just hang it and put a drip pan under it. The 2nd time I did it worked out better than the 1st. My mistake was stacking the small cuts up on a plate and covering them. It works a lot better if you spread everything out and not cover it. The silver skin will start to dry out and its a lot easier to cut when its dry.
The vinegar is what my mom did. I think it's 1 part vinegar to 2 parts water. Soak maybe a hour or so and then soak with water for a short time to get the vinegar out.
