Killed a deer. Now what?
Now that I finally got a deer, what do I do with it.
Get you and your deer to a safe place where you have good light and gather the tools for skinning and gutting the deer. This would include a knife with a good edge (take time to sharpen it) and a saw, hatchet or knife.
It aids things considerably if you can hang the deer up. If you cannot, you can skin and dress it on the tailgate of your pick-up truck or even on the ground. Get the legs below the “knees” and head cut off at the end of the neck. Skin it by cutting down the insides of the legs, then skin the haunches and cut down the middle of the stomach, taking care not to cut through into the intestines.
Cut and pull the hide off. Then gut the deer, see the following 3-minute video, wash the carcass, remove any damaged meat and process the rest for yourself and your pets. Boil any cuttings, and organs that you do not intend to eat for your dogs and cats. They will love it, even if you don’t think you can eat it. Deer liver and heart are good. There are recipes for “Dear Heart Soup” in an earlier post. I am not sure if I have put up one for liver-and-onions or not.
Take your time. Wear gloves to work inside of the carcass and enjoy the experience. Every ounce of meat that you put into the freezer is an ounce that you do not have to buy by paying very high prices for an inferior product.
Surviving the Economic Downturn, Natural Disasters and Political Upheavals
Could you feed your family on wild game if disaster struck?
If present unrelenting world-wide headlines of economic, political, environmental and natural disasters do nothing else they remind us that our lifestyles and even existence is a chancy thing. One unforseen disaster can wipe out all that we have worked so hard to accumulate over a lifetime and even threaten our lives and those of our families.
For many the question has become, “Could my family survive if we had to rely on our own resources for weeks, or perhaps months, before normal conditions were restored?” The various reality shows that plunge ordinary people into survival situations are popular because they offer more than entertainment – they also offer tips that might be useful in crisis situations.
“What if you had to kill and process wild animals for food? Could you do that?”
Your parents might have never done this, but your grandparents or great-grandparents almost surely did. In many families this store of vital information has been lost.
This book could be a valuable survival tool.
Author Wm. Hovey Smith addresses self-sufficiency in Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound in that the he takes the reader through all the steps that are necessary to convert deer, and other wild game, into family meals. The book is now available from all sources in softcover and as an E-book and will soon be available in a hardcover library edition.
Even if you have never hunted or processed your own animals, this book can provide a vital resource if worse comes to worse and you had to eat animals that died in same disaster than imperiled your family.
Books do not depend on access to electric current or the web to be useable. The information is always available for easy reference for anyone in the family without needing a password. In this always connected world, books are irreplaceable when these connections fail.
These terrible conditions may not happen to you, but if they did, wouldn’t a resource like this be nice to have in your home or community library? Information on this book and the author’s other books Crossbow Hunting and Practical Bowfishing are found on the author’s website, www.hoveysmith.com. All of them contain cleaning and cooking instructions as well as explaining how to use crossbows and bows to take game and fish. A forthcoming book (Summer, 2010) , X-Treme Muzzleloading: Fur, Fowl and Dangerous Game with Muzzleloading Rifles, Smoothbores and Pistols, is similarly comprehensive in its coverage of hunting with muzzleloading guns.
These books are available from Amazon.com, other web book sources or from the author’s website. The books information is continuously supplimented by postings on the author’s blog, http://www.hoveysmith.wordpress.com.
This book is now in design and should be available by Spring or Summer of 2010.
Rave Review from Interview Host Cynthia Brian
When economic or other disasters strike, wouldn't you like to have this book in your local library or home?
Dear Hovey,
Thank you so much for being a guest on my show, Starstyle-Be the Star you are! Time flies when you are having fun! I hope the interview helps in all your endeavors. You were amazing and offered such insights to our listeners. Your expertise in hunting, game and cooking are so appreciated. This was a terrific interview.
Cynthia Brian
Cynthia’s audience consist largely of those who want to improve their lives. My book covers the basics of hunting, game processing and wild game cooking. It might equally well be called “All you really need to know about hunting,” because it considers every vital topic in one volume, instead of being a 12-book set.
For this reason this book is valuable to community libraries for the use of those who need this information to feed their families. Often they cannot afford the softcover or have the ability to download the E-book. One point made in the interview was to encourage listeners to purchase and donate a book to their local library, Christian Science reading room or homeless shelter. If this is not possible, encourage your local librarian to buy it as few libraries have books on wild game utilization on their shelves. Since hardcover (released in about a month), softcover and E-book versions are available, Backyard Deer Hunting will meet all library requirements.
Two Videos, “Road Kill Deer Cleaning: The Graphic, Unedited Video,” and “Hunting, Cleaning and Cooking Swan”
- A typical road-killed deer. Some will have more damage, some less; but this is about average.
Two new videos, one on cleaning a road-killed deer and the other on swan hunting, have been done; but both files are too large to post. The road-killed deer video is about 30-minutes long and the one on swan hunting is about 15 minutes.
I did not edit the road-kill video so that the viewer would have an accurate and realistic view of a 68-year-old guy (me) sometimes struggling to skin and gut a road-killed deer by himself. Everything is there but the smell, and I describe that as best I can. The reason I did this is to show that salvaging a road-killed animal requires considerable effort. By the time a person has done everything necessary to gather, skin and clean that deer; I feel he (or she) has earned the right to keep it – despite some states’ laws to the contrary.
Should anyone want a one-off copy to help convince state legislators to change their laws on utalization of road-killed animals, I will produce and mail a copy for $25.00.
In my opinion anyone who goes through this much trouble to salvage meat from a dead animal lying beside the road and accepts any risk of feed it to their families should be allowed to do so. In times when unemployment is high and people are going to bed hungry there is no reason not to utilize the meat from a dead animal found beside the road. From a health point of view, there is no practical difference between salvaging a road kill and a hunter cleaning a gut-shot animal.
The meat, bones and organs that I cannot use are often boiled for my pets. What is left is put in an open field for the buzzards.
Send the request and payment to Whitehall Press – Budget Publications, 1325 Jordan Mill Pond Rd., Sandersville, GA 31082.
Swan from a January, 2010 hunt at Lake Mattamuskeet, NC taken with an original 1842 British musket and load of non-toxic shot.
I will make another attempt to reduce the photo sizes on the Swan video to get something up for those who are interested. I will also post some photos on Flickr when they are ready.
A video on my blog, http://www.hoveysmith.wordpress.com , (look back in the archived sections) has a narriated slide show on using road-killed deer, and my book, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound ($19.95) pictures and describes the processes of retrieving, cleaning and long-term storage of road-killed deer.
Coot Soup & Carp Salad for New Year’s Eve
Coot soup and carp salad with a bottle of $3.00 wine for the author's New Year's meal.
To bring to end what has been a year where the nation has been battered by economic woes and wars, I could think of a no more fitting end-of-year meal than coot soup and carp salad.
Three coot. They even look a little like over-stuffed brokers.
I take the grey-feathered coot to represent the Wall Street wizz-idiots whose greed took the nation to very-near financial failure and the carp salad to be congresses’ “carping” about every issue, rather than producing much in the way of actions to benefit the average American.
Coot, skinned and the external fat removed, can be boiled with some garlic, rice and a handful of vegetables to make a tasty soup. I use the entire carcass along with the cleaned gizzards and hearts.
The carp salad is made from baked carp that is de-boned,
- Bottom-feeding carp were an appropriate addition to the meal.
mixed with mayonnaise, pickles and a bit of dill weed along with an egg. The result is a better product than typical tuna-fish salad as it does not have the oily aftertaste.
I found the preparation of this meal very satisfying, particularly boiling of the coot and stripping the meat from the bones. The limit on coot is 15 a day, there is no limit on carp; and the result was a good and inexpensive New Year’s meal - ironic through it might be.
They may be celebrating on Wall Street tonight, but the only cause for joy for many, many more of us is the thought that, “We got through this year. Let us take whatever pleasures that we can find from simple food and $3.00 wine.”
For more recipes go to http://www.hoveysmith.wordpress.com . There are also recipes in my books, Practical Bowfishing, Crossbow Hunting, Backyard Deer Hunting:Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound and in X-Treme Muzzleloading: Fur, feathers and dangerous game with muzzleloading rifles, smoothbores and pistols.
Best American Lever-Action Rifle
Deer killed with cast-bullet loads from an 1886 Winchester lever-action rifle. Soft or hollow-pointed bullets would have given better results.
My selection as the best lever-action rifle ever made would be the Browning ExtraLite 1886 Winchester chambered for the historic .45-70 cartridge. This gun was a joy to carry, functioned smoothly, was reliable and could kill any North American game. After being first offered by Browning-Winchester and then discontinued, the ExtraLite again appeared at the 2010 Shot Show as an available items. 1886s in .45-70 replica editions of the rifle and carbine were also listed as available from Chiappa (These guns are carried by Taylor Gun Works, among others.) and Davide Pedersoli will have a round-barreled half-magazine version ready by mid-summer.
Both the Chiappa and Pedersoli versions lack the tang safety which Browning added to the gun. It is hard to argue against additional safety devices, but I prefer the original versions. For hunters, I would recommend the Perdersoli as being the best value, while reenactors would probably gravitate towards Chiapps’ designs.
Casting over a fire is a primitive as you can get, but it is difficult to produce good bullets.
I like the .47-70 because of the variety of loads that can be purchased and reloaded for it using relatively primitive reloading tools. For most uses expanding 300-grain bullets are fine for deer-sized game, the 405-grain soft-points are commonly available in mild loadings and high-velocity ammunition in this caliber is available from Winchester.
A simple reloading set-up for sizing bullets and loading a few dozen cartridges.
Taking a more modern approach, my next best selection would be the Marlin Model XLR which has a 24-inch stainless barrel and is available in either .30-30 Winchester or the new .308 Marlin Express. I have shot this gun and like it. The new spire-pointed express round improves the bullet’s trajectory and increased its point-blank range. In addition, this gun can mount a scope for those of us with failing eyes.
Another Marlin, the 1894 Cowboy, chambered in .44 Remington Magnum, has good handling characteristics, is chambered for a cartridge that can kill close-range deer and can be inexpensively reloaded. This is a 7.5-pound gun that is pleasant to shoot, even with higher-velocity loads.
All of these are longer-barreled guns which are desirable in adding needed weight to dampen recoil and for more accurate placement of off-hand shots. Carbines are wonderful to carry, but difficult to shoot well. Even the .30-30 can be punishing in too light a gun.
If I were to put one more rifle on my list it would be the .300 Savage Model 99. Although not as accurate as some later designs and shooting a now-uncommon cartridge, this was always an excellent deer rifle. If you still have your grandpa’s Savage 99, drag it out. It will surprize you.
Comments on the .45-70 as a deer cartridge are in my book Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound and more detailed information on guns like the .577 Snider are in my new book X-Treme Muzzleloading which will be released in the Spring of 2010. Go to www.hoveysmith.com for more details.
Christmas Prayer
A wild swan, ready for Christmas dinner.
This brief Christmas Prayer is from my new short story, “A Visit from Auntie Thresa Claus” that will be released in 2010. Both screen and stage play versions of the story are presently available. Once some illustrations for the story are ready, I will start a new blog on this project.
Heavenly Father, in remembrance of the child Jesus that you gave to save the world from sin let us celebrate this day in honor of his birth. Bring peace and your blessings to those gathered here, this family wherever they may be and to the world. Amen.
For information on cooking swan, turkeys and other wild fowl refer to my book, Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound and blog http://www.hoveysmith.wordpress.com.
Merry Christmas
Wm. Hovey Smith
Texas Hogs with Traditions’ Flintlock and Horton Scout Crossbow
The Dahlstrom Ranch near Austin provides hunts for both exotic and domestic game animals.
A December hunt on the Dahlstrom Ranch near Austin, Texas, provided the opportunity to use Traditions’ PA Pellet Hunter .50-caliber flintlock rifle and Horton’s Scout crossbow. Both are specialized instruments with limited applications, but both downed their animals.
Hovey Smith and Sharon Henson with TX hogs, Traditions PA Pellet flintlock rifle and Horton Scout Crossbow.
The Traditions’ rifle is synthetic stocked, a flintlock and is designed to be used with either Hodgdon’s Pyrodex or Triple Seven pellets or loose powder. I used a two-pellet load (about 110 grains FFg equivalent) and a 240-grain saboted hollow point bullet. The lock is a more recent Traditions’ design and features a larger pan along with a wider frizzen for better ignition. I used a fresh agate flint and had no ignition problems during load development or hunting. Loading techniques are different in that about 5-grains of FFFFg priming powder needs to be trickled through the touch hole into the barrel to insure pellet ignition.
The bullet hit high in the neck, passed into the spine and broke into two fragments. One exited the right shoulder and the other penetrated the liver. The 200 lb. sow dropped on the spot.
Sharon Henson took a smaller hog with the Horton Scout. The Grim Reaper point went through both shoulders. Instead of dimming the Red-Dot sight to compensate for the fading light, Henson turned it to a higher power and near-blinded herself with the glare from the red bulb. (A classic problem with Red Dot sights that is easy to do in the excitement of shooting game.) Ideally, the shot should have been placed behind the shoulder and forward, rather than straight through both shoulder blades.
The flintlock is light weight, and I added a pound of lead shot suspended in the middle of the hollow buttstock with compressed plastic bags to help balance the gun and reduce recoil. This added weight gave the gun a better ”feel” and improved handling.
The Scout crossbow is designed for women and younger shooters. It has a relatively short stock, a short barrel, 125 pound pull and is easier to cock than “standard” 150-pound-pull crossbows. This is also a relatively light-weight crossbow. It is accurate and can be depended upon to kill deer at 25 yards (and further with proper shot placement and hold-over). When zeroed at 20 yards its “point-blank” range is about 25 yards before arrow drop becomes noticable.
Christmas Gift for New Hunters
For the new hunter information is often more important that hardware, and some recent books could be appropriate stocking stuffers for less than $20 delivered to your door.
Backyard Deer Hunting: Converting deer to dinner for pennies per pound contains basic information on all aspects of hunting. It considers everything from “why people hunt?” to equipment, regulations, knives, first hunting rifles, cleaning, processing animals and ends with 50 easy recipes for cooking deer and other game. Not only does this book consider deer, it also discusses wild hogs, other big game animals, small game and waterfowl. It is available from Amazon.com and other sources and is presently being discounted.
For hunters in states that have recently allowed crossbows to be used during the general archery season such as TX, MI, PA, RI and NJ; Crossbow Hunting, is the only book that completely considers the crossbow as a hunting tool. It is complete with descriptive information on various price crossbows, hunting strategies for different game animals, hunts for African lion and other animals and concludes with chapters on cleaning and cooking game. This book is also being discounted at Amazon.com and in other electronic book markets.
Buy Backyard Deer Hunting at AuthorHouse.com
