Best outdoors field to table writer ever! In the Black Forest of Bavaria in Germany, where a lot of my family and husband’s family hail from, (plus Sicilians and a little Welsh on my dads side) traditionally a true trophy consists of an OLD animal that has lived past its zenith and has begun its decline. You definitely met the criteria this year! Bravo und Glückwunsch!!
Wonderful piece again Hank. I never get the sense you are holding anything back in your writing - vulnerable when it serves the subject, questioning when things are unknowable or hard to pin down, assertive when the facts are clear. Never a stereotype, your essays and food tips define the best in us as hunters and people. So from the bone, thank you.
I prefer to bring home older animals, but I only get so many days and so many opportunities in a season and most years wild meat is all we eat. Despite having three great draw tags in 2023 I only brought home one rugged old mountain mule deer (long story - but never pass up on the first day what you'd gladly have on the last). His antlers don't add up to some impressive number of inches but he was the oldest deer I found all season. Over two weeks I saw him 5 times before I was able to get a shot on him. The trophy was 110lbs of meat (bone in quarters on a legal scale) and a terrific stack of days in the mountains - the antlers are a reminder of meals, muscle ache and beautiful mornings.
Now, I have a dry aging chamber to figure out. . .
I can help with that. Short version: Buy a temp and humidity regular for brewing, and plug it into a spare fridge. Set the temp at 34F and the humidity at 80% and keep looking at the meat each day... creates airflow.
Also, thank you so much for the kind words! Really appreciate it.
I'm looking at controllers now and figuring out what I need for my particular climate. Alberta in Nov/Dec can be beautiful, but it can also bring deep cold - no super bueno for a fridge in an unheated garage and a specialized appliance in a small house is not great for my marriage. But these are solvable problems!
Your pieces on dry aging, trichinosis and the nature of deer fat are all classics!
That sounds very much like my own hunting journey, it was all about feeding 5 growing kids for many years. Fat does, cow elk, young bull moose, whatever presented itself when I could get away from work. Kids are all grown up now, and it's become more about the experience. I have a big 5x5 mulie hanging on the wall from 2017, and this year got a big ten point typical whitetail that I passed on last year, but not this year. 160 pounds hanging, and 100+ lbs in the freezer. He will be hanging next to my mule deer soon. I love the time I can spend hunting now that I'm retired.
So great! At this point I have come full circle having killed several good ones along the way I hunt them for the freezer Does primarily It would have to be a really big one for me to pull the trigger. Interestingly enough I can sit in a stand and just watch them and never shoot and have an equally memorable hunt.
I've never been into the trophy hunting thing, and I've never hunted deer with a guide. I have shot a few nice bucks over the years (mostly public land hunting), but if a nice-sized doe comes along first (which is usually the case), I am going to take it. My main goal is putting quality venison in the freezer, not putting antlers on the wall. The problem in many parts of the country (including parts of Michigan, where there are way too many deer) is that so many hunters will ONLY shoot a buck, despite the DNR trying all sorts of incentives to encourage doe harvest. A lot of hunters don't realize that harvesting does in areas where there are too many deer helps the health of the deer herd overall (including producing more quality bucks in the future).
Non hunter but beginning cook here! I always learn from your writing and the process of respecting the meat and how to cook and prep. The thing I learn most from this blog is if you are going to hunt, not to waste the meat, and use what you can. If anything, this has also taught me to explore and expand cooking different types of meat beyond my regular comfort of chicken, beef, and maybe pork.....
My Dad had a policy of taking deer that would benefit the herd. And he has been fooled by bucks along the way. The most notable one was the huge 4 point he was sure was a 12 point. He hadn't gotten a good look at the rack, just saw that it was big, and took it down. Turned out to have very big 4 point antlers--and was old. We went with a rump roast, venison chops from the backstraps (trust me, you need a meat bandsaw to get these) and ground the rest. Oh, and venison ribs. It was one of the toughest deer we had ever had--and Dad dry hung it for close to a week because of the heavy influx of deer we had to cut from other hunters. (it was close to $2000 from mostly plain cut deer at $25 a deer.) He usually didn't bother with trophy hunting though that deer did get a European mount and guarded our front door until Dad passed and Mom moved to a nursing home. Dad did get his 12 point a few years later--the poor thing had a badly broken leg so Dad put it down and didn't realize until he got it home how big the rack was. My son had the mounted head and shoulders now and treasures them even though he has never had the desire to hunt.
That Columbia Blacktail skull is gorgeous! Even though I don't personally hunt, we have many friends and family who do. Your sentiment is far and wide. We also have many vegan friends and that is something that we have discussed in length about. Some are receptive and grateful for the open conversation (one without finger pointing and yelling), while a few just won't listen and get mad and call us names 🤷♀️ I am curious to hear how your dry aging goes!
Best outdoors field to table writer ever! In the Black Forest of Bavaria in Germany, where a lot of my family and husband’s family hail from, (plus Sicilians and a little Welsh on my dads side) traditionally a true trophy consists of an OLD animal that has lived past its zenith and has begun its decline. You definitely met the criteria this year! Bravo und Glückwunsch!!
I love your writing and read each piece aloud to my husband as part of our evening ritual.
Wonderful piece again Hank. I never get the sense you are holding anything back in your writing - vulnerable when it serves the subject, questioning when things are unknowable or hard to pin down, assertive when the facts are clear. Never a stereotype, your essays and food tips define the best in us as hunters and people. So from the bone, thank you.
I prefer to bring home older animals, but I only get so many days and so many opportunities in a season and most years wild meat is all we eat. Despite having three great draw tags in 2023 I only brought home one rugged old mountain mule deer (long story - but never pass up on the first day what you'd gladly have on the last). His antlers don't add up to some impressive number of inches but he was the oldest deer I found all season. Over two weeks I saw him 5 times before I was able to get a shot on him. The trophy was 110lbs of meat (bone in quarters on a legal scale) and a terrific stack of days in the mountains - the antlers are a reminder of meals, muscle ache and beautiful mornings.
Now, I have a dry aging chamber to figure out. . .
I can help with that. Short version: Buy a temp and humidity regular for brewing, and plug it into a spare fridge. Set the temp at 34F and the humidity at 80% and keep looking at the meat each day... creates airflow.
Also, thank you so much for the kind words! Really appreciate it.
Thanks Hank, and don't mention it.
I'm looking at controllers now and figuring out what I need for my particular climate. Alberta in Nov/Dec can be beautiful, but it can also bring deep cold - no super bueno for a fridge in an unheated garage and a specialized appliance in a small house is not great for my marriage. But these are solvable problems!
Your pieces on dry aging, trichinosis and the nature of deer fat are all classics!
That sounds very much like my own hunting journey, it was all about feeding 5 growing kids for many years. Fat does, cow elk, young bull moose, whatever presented itself when I could get away from work. Kids are all grown up now, and it's become more about the experience. I have a big 5x5 mulie hanging on the wall from 2017, and this year got a big ten point typical whitetail that I passed on last year, but not this year. 160 pounds hanging, and 100+ lbs in the freezer. He will be hanging next to my mule deer soon. I love the time I can spend hunting now that I'm retired.
So great! At this point I have come full circle having killed several good ones along the way I hunt them for the freezer Does primarily It would have to be a really big one for me to pull the trigger. Interestingly enough I can sit in a stand and just watch them and never shoot and have an equally memorable hunt.
I've never been into the trophy hunting thing, and I've never hunted deer with a guide. I have shot a few nice bucks over the years (mostly public land hunting), but if a nice-sized doe comes along first (which is usually the case), I am going to take it. My main goal is putting quality venison in the freezer, not putting antlers on the wall. The problem in many parts of the country (including parts of Michigan, where there are way too many deer) is that so many hunters will ONLY shoot a buck, despite the DNR trying all sorts of incentives to encourage doe harvest. A lot of hunters don't realize that harvesting does in areas where there are too many deer helps the health of the deer herd overall (including producing more quality bucks in the future).
Absolutely true. I also shot 2 does on that trip. #doingmypart
Non hunter but beginning cook here! I always learn from your writing and the process of respecting the meat and how to cook and prep. The thing I learn most from this blog is if you are going to hunt, not to waste the meat, and use what you can. If anything, this has also taught me to explore and expand cooking different types of meat beyond my regular comfort of chicken, beef, and maybe pork.....
My Dad had a policy of taking deer that would benefit the herd. And he has been fooled by bucks along the way. The most notable one was the huge 4 point he was sure was a 12 point. He hadn't gotten a good look at the rack, just saw that it was big, and took it down. Turned out to have very big 4 point antlers--and was old. We went with a rump roast, venison chops from the backstraps (trust me, you need a meat bandsaw to get these) and ground the rest. Oh, and venison ribs. It was one of the toughest deer we had ever had--and Dad dry hung it for close to a week because of the heavy influx of deer we had to cut from other hunters. (it was close to $2000 from mostly plain cut deer at $25 a deer.) He usually didn't bother with trophy hunting though that deer did get a European mount and guarded our front door until Dad passed and Mom moved to a nursing home. Dad did get his 12 point a few years later--the poor thing had a badly broken leg so Dad put it down and didn't realize until he got it home how big the rack was. My son had the mounted head and shoulders now and treasures them even though he has never had the desire to hunt.
That Columbia Blacktail skull is gorgeous! Even though I don't personally hunt, we have many friends and family who do. Your sentiment is far and wide. We also have many vegan friends and that is something that we have discussed in length about. Some are receptive and grateful for the open conversation (one without finger pointing and yelling), while a few just won't listen and get mad and call us names 🤷♀️ I am curious to hear how your dry aging goes!
This sentence made it all worthwhile:
"Slowly, like water seeping over parched ground, the light oozed into the world."
Wonderful. Thank you.