Heather says she doesn't care about antlers, she is going to shoot the first deer she sees. I am hoping she gets a nice, young doe, because I want that meat.
Butcher shops charge ridiculous fees to process deer. There isn't that much meat there, and by the time you are done you could probably have spent the money on ground beef and ended up with as much meat.
Our ground beef supply is dwindling faster than I would like it too, and since we sold this years beef animal, there will be nothing to replace it for quite a while, unless Jody gets so lame we have to butcher her before she calves. Of course, if she is still limping after she has a calf (she will be), we will butcher her then, in February. So there's that.
I'm not a huge fan of venison, but if it's from a young doe it isn't so strong-tasting. I like to mix it with ground beef for chili and other recipes. It would stretch our hamburger supply.
Heather says if she gets a doe it's mine. But there's the problem of the expensive butcher-shop processing.
So I ordered a meat grinder from Walmart. Check it out HERE. There are sixty-six reviews that give it a five-star rating. Trust me, it would cost more than the price of that grinder to have one deer processed. If Heather does not get her deer, we will end up using it eventually, possibly on Jody when the time comes. Cliff is a former butcher. His arthritis bothers him after he's butchered an animal, but he can still do the job.
I tried to talk Cliff into getting a deer tag: It's free, since we have 42 acres. He has a good shotgun now, thanks to the grandson. But he just wasn't interested.
So we are counting on Heather.
But what a waste of Cliff's talents.
Good shot Cliff!!!!! We like deer burger in chili. Thats about it. Oh, and in jerky. Thats pretty good too.
ReplyDeleteWe have one in the freezer now, from bow season. And I'm expecting Thomas and Eler Beth to fill our freezer and a couple others this year as they usually do. I hope Heather gets a doe for you. You know, I don't taste any strong flavor in our deer, and I maintain it is because of the way Thomas processes it, from the way he field dresses it to the way he cools it down, and then the way we butcher and pack it. I have shocked some skeptics by cooking them some of our deer, simply, with no extra seasonings and no marinating. It is SO good. I wish I could cook a roast or a steak for you! lol I don't like much of my deer ground. I like a freezer full of steaks, roasts, stew meat, neck roasts, and rib meat. I will allow some of what I'd normally have as stew meat be ground up for chilis and such, only after our the third deer. It just hurts to see all that good meat ground up.
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