Five Seasons

man talk about a jelly head! congrats!

don't ever be sorry for typing the story. For me and many others as we drink our coffee at work, the story is better than the pictures. Congrats on a great bird!

tonight will finally be practice #2 for my oldest. Lost both practices last week due to weather.

i got a euro done a few years ago and really like how it came out. My dad isn't a big fan because it reminds him of a roadkill deer you'd find in arizona haha. I think they're a good homage to a nice buck that just wasn't quite mount worthy, and they're a heck of a lot cheaper. Mine was mounted to a piece of weathered barn wood which i think really touched it off nicely.

wife forbids? thems fightin words

lots of clumping for me too. went over it again to try and break it up, but it's just so wet and rich right now. tempted a part of the backyard and got stuck twice, so the backyard will be left alone for now.

Yeah let it rest. Outsides were easily 165, middle probably got close enough but we’re all still alive. I wouldn’t say it was that bad. But I just have the one example and it was smoked/roasted. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I followed this method and minus cleanup had this done in 30 min. Not bad Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha alright so final verdict is mixed. On Easter I did a 17lb farm bird. I’m not sure what the weight of this bird dressed was, but it was def bigger. For experiment purposes I used the same recipes and wood with the exception of adding bacon. The farm bird was done in about 3 hours, which was shorter than expected, so thinking a bigger bird would take another hour I started at 2 with a goal of being done at 6 or 7. Come 7 and it’s still at 142* and I’m needing 155 and not able to really hold out. So we pull the bird. I’m nervous about over drying it, but also don’t want to take any health chances. Wife and I decide to pop it in the oven at 400 and it was in there for maybe 30 minutes and at 150 we took it out. The skin was toast, but we’re not skin eaters anyhow and the bird was moist and freaking delicious. I’m soooo happy it didn’t go to waste. Some thoughts on this. 1.Don’t shoot big birds or plan on longer smokes haha. 2.The bird didn’t seem to retain the smoke flavor of the domestic. It was moist and good but bland. Maybe we were spoiled by the Smokey flavor of the domestic, but gravy or sauce is needed for some kick. 3. The legs were certainly tougher as expected but edible. Really excited for the sandwiches this week and I’d recommend you guys try to cook the whole bird. It’s worth the extra meat in my opinion. Ps the bacon won though haha Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don’t have the energy right now, but the whole discussion is about deer hunting man... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Was up at 7 and it was super foggy east of Rochester. Felt bad for you guys, but tomorrow looks better. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You winning archery competitions doesn’t answer his question regarding successfully hunting with a bow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well here goes nothing... not sure the smoker is big enough [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So I decided to skip the mayo, but I did melt a stick of butter and drizzled it over. Fingers crossed for tomorrow. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

yeah i appreciate that advice. i will probably try that if theres another big enough bird in my future.

no. but i did a domestic on Easter in the smoker. not brined, but stuffed with aromatics and basted with some cider/vinegar broth throughout and it was maybe the best turkey i've ever had. skin dried out, but we dont eat that anyhow.

i remember these statements in 2014

i'm not sure i'm sold on the brine part. any reason to brine or not to brine?

its also been answered before. numerous times.

agreed. there's a thread on a ms board where i guy supposedly dropped a bird at 75 with remington nitros. cheap shell and ethics aside, they can all get it done. I however look at all the time, money and effort expelled before that 2 seconds of truth and don't have a problem spending $5 a shell. That's very inconsequential in the whole picture. And there's a guy earlier in this thread that learned that the hard way.

I mucked up the live from the woods thread bad enough. How do you guys like your birds? Particularly interested in whole bird recipes.

hevi-13's for me. Been hearing great things about the TSS loads

And that’s good advice, I’m fortunate that nobody hunts the wood chicken near me, but I honestly think it’s been 3 years since I’ve actually used one. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Haha. I feel after the plucking I need to give it a shot to see how it goes. I suppose I could roast it too... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk