sampotter

Was I supposed to respond to this or FSW? Upstate Nomad is partially correct, but I said 3800 head, not 3800 milk cows. We ship about 130,000# of milk a day from 1600 lactating cows. 3800 includes all milk cows, dry cows, and young stock. Yes, were a CAFO and are fully compliant with a very detailed nutrient management plan.

It typically is, or at least that is what the Midwest has been seeing. If that buck had CWD then it wouldn't matter what you fed him. His fate was sealed. No hard feelings Mike, I just never had someone question what I said I did for a living.

No, I didn't breed them, both are purchased.

Or is that really me?

Mike- I specialize in IVF and embryo transfer and breed the bulls that AI companies sell the semen from. I'm not sure what the relevance to this thread your questions have. I stated what I do to add credibility to my statements pertaining to the buck in the picture, nothing more. If you want me to answer your questions maybe you should start a separate thread called Dairy Farming 101 and I'll enlighten you when I get more time. As it is I flushed 4 donor cows this morning and have to transfer 29 embryos this afternoon. My assistant is stuck in Chicago as well, so I have to do my work and hers today.

You should see some of the green horn veterinarians that come to the farm... We aren't even the big guys. There's a couple of farms nearby that are twice as big.

Come on Mike- I'm a dairy farmer. I'm not full of bull but I have a few on the farm. I have 3800 head under my management and I've seen more sick animals than you will in your lifetime and I have a pretty good handle on matching symptoms to a disease... I may not he and EHD expert but the deer in the picture did not lose nearly all of his fat and muscle mass in a matter of days. If you look a little closer at the picture you will notice the buck's left hind foot is missing. Before you point to your "clinical signs of EHD" part about hooves sloughing off it is important to realize that when that happens it affects all of the feet. Also, the buck's foot is missing, which is a lot different than the hoof sloughing off. He was likely hit by a car or perhaps was caught in a trap. Not every sick deer has EHD or CWD.

Fsw- not EHD. Deer die in a matter of hours from EHD, so they never get a chance to lose weight. This buck is going to die no matter what you do. There is no reason for him to be that poor other than sickness or injury.

The 2 times I've gone I've done quite well.

I've hunted the past 2 years 60 miles southwest of Zanesville, both times during the 3rd week of November. It was dynamite both times. I'm pretty sure you'll have a blast. Too bad you can't get down there in March and do some shed hunting.

I wired up a temperature controller for my DIY skull boiler to keep the water temp consistent. STC-1000 temperature controller (~$20 on Amazon) , electrical box ($10 Home Depot), single female outlet ($3 Home Depot) , and corded GFI ($25 Home Depot), all ready for assembly. Wired, just prior to closing the box. It works! The outlet on the left side of the box is where the heating element gets plugged in. I ran the controller with the heater for about 2 hours. In that time it took the water from about 30 degrees to 85. I currently have it set on 85 degrees Celsius (185 Fahrenheit) with a 3 degree tolerance (once the water reaches 85 the power to the heater shuts off until the water cools back down to 82). The tolerance can be set to the tenth of a degree. The controller came without a wiring diagram and I initially wired it improperly (safe, but the unit didn’t run). Once I did an internet search I was able to get it to work just fine. The controller can also be wired to run a compressor to cool as well. If I did this again I would try to find a cheaper GFI- maybe use one that is built into the outlet.

Very few wild bucks reach the age where they would need a blue pill. Decreased testosterone will lower their libido and sperm count but they'll still be able to "git 'r done". My brother's dog found a newborn fawn on August 31st one year.

Just because a buck this time of year has lower testosterone levels doesn't mean he can't get the job done. If the opportunity falls in their lap they're going to make the most of it. They're not dead!

Welcome! Unfortunately you will find our bucks a little smaller than in Ohio. Thanks for your service. My Granddad, Great-Granddad, and Great Uncles were in the 10th during WWII- back when the 10th was stationed in Colorado and skis were a vital mode of transportation.

I'm pretty sure the Midwestern hunters are more concerned about EHD than CWD.

Many DEC regions consider the current feeding law null and void after the Sullivan county case...

Or go to the Northwoods where hundreds of deer come from miles around to yard up in a single cedar swamp....

Here’s a deer my Dad shot. Because he didn’t skin it out 4 months ago I wasn’t really compelled to do it either. I boiled this one yesterday. After 6 hours in the boiler and then drying overnight: Interestingly, this deer had some dental issues that may have become a serious problem over time:

I shoot blind bale for a month straight prior to the start of hunting season. I use the eyes closed method. I knock an arrow and then close my eyes, forcing myself to hook on my release, draw, and shoot with my eyes closed. When I start shooting with my eyes open about a week before the season starts it's amazing how natural every shot feels.

The key word is "sudden". If feeding started before the animals were starving already, their gut flora will acclimate to other feeds. In places where deer have been fed routinely this is not a problem. To the uninformed reader it sounds like any feeding corn will be deadly, but that is not true. There are certainly better ways to feed them though. We don't feed our cows straight corn either.

I like collecting skulls and thought his head would be an interesting addition....

I think I remember seeing that before- the end result looks great but he could save some time by using a pressure washer instead of the air gun and all that soapy water. Mine are coming out just as clean without so much work- except for the degreasing method. We'll see how this works. The other thing is that the grease really doesn't start to show up for several months. I know that if we didn't boil them at all we wouldn't have the grease problem, but I'm not patient enough for the beatles and the masceration process sounds absolutely disgusting.

So far this set up is performing just like an actual Buck Boiler would. A skinned head would probably take 4 hours, but the one I put in with the hair still on it looks like it will take about 6 hours. I wrap the heavy-duty saran-type wrap used on pallets around the bases as tight as I possibly can. Initially I did several without wrapping the bases and you would end up with a white fat film on the antlers and the bark that was in the beading and burr would come out. The fat comes off with really hot water, but I also like to keep the antlers as natural as possible, so using the plastic wrap makes a big difference. Also- being able to do this at the farm is convenient. Some of the steps can be a little messy especially when I hit it with the pressure washer.

It appears that the grease gets trapped in the sinuses as the grease spots always seem to appear between the eyes. I use a pressure washer after I take the head out of the boiler but there is no way that water pressure is actually removing grease that is soaked into the bone. I have another head in there right now. Because me Dad didn't skin it last November I just threw this one in hair and all just like the picture above. After 5 hours the water temp was up to 200 and I was able to push off all of the flesh, leaving just a little bit of cartilage hear and there. I put new water in the bucket and added a healthy squirt of Ajax dish detergent. I'll post before and after pics tomorrow when it is all done.

Honestly, I haven't degreased any to date. After I get one cleaned today I will have 4 that I've done recently. I think I'll soak all of them together in water with Dawn. From what I've read that's what works well.