phade

Most public lands don't allow for screw in mounts.

This is not a monopoly situation and nowhere near one. There are fewer suppliers than buyers in this market (end consumer aside). Many of the suppliers have consolidated into very large companies. One just sent me my ATA buyers PDF and it had 21 name brands in it.

I'm up to and including medium rare. Anything over that and I'm out. I've had a few blue steaks before and occasionally rare, but medium rare is often the choice when in company of work or my wife, lol. But, never, ever, over that. For venison, I don't mind backstraps, they're usually butterflied and the typical methods people mention here, but it's not a favorite. I'll eat the heck out of venison chili, italian sausage, hot dogs, etc. One set of backstraps will last me a full year in terms of steak cuts.

Cablea's got bought out because of poor transitional leadership with the family running out of the line of qualified and/or interested leaders; they put themselves in a tough financial situation and if BPS didn't buy them, they were in serious liquidity trouble. BPS while part of an umbrella group, put the corporate spin on Cabelas and that is what most people see and reference now. Cabelas has backed off of things like their lifetime or long-warranty periods for house brands and they've moved into success measurement by the normal retail standards of revenue per square feet. Less experience and more business, if you will. Sportsman's was the lone real standout. Scheels and other places are not 100% focused on outdoors. BPS has big money backing; hope the revenue continues to offset the debt load that I am sure they took on with financing from JPM and others. It had to have gone well for them to go a second round to buy Sportsman's at a 40% premium just a short while later. There is no in between, either BPS is booming or they're making a scale play to recover from a tough financial situation. Guessing it's the former.

It does stink not being able to access good steakhouses but if anything it's forced me to be a better cook, lol. If you search locally you might surprise yourself finding some quality steaks at local producers at good prices. I'm fortunate to get these steaks pretty cheap - the picture posted above ran me $35ish I think which is cheaper than what I'd pay for a basic angus steak at a barely above chain-level steakhouse.

This is close to what I've been doing inside, except I finish in the oven with pan included, and some seasonings. I also let it get to room temp for 30 minutes pre-cooking. I just find it real hard to hit it "just right" and that is nerve wracking lol. But when done right so far, it's been great.

Every year has its high and low points. Too many to list on either side with 2020. I think that has been the theme - alot going on in the world and our own individual spheres. I'm just appreciative to be able to experience them and I hope I made other people's lives better somehow, someway. On one high note, I did fill up alot of wall space in 2020 and so did my hunting partner. Two claps and a Ric Flair Wooooooooo on that one.

I'll probably get it when the time comes. Ultimately, we don't know what's worse, the long-term ramifications of COVID19 or the vaccine. High survival rates are one thing, taking years off the back-end of one's life is another via complications we don't fully understand yet as time hasn't elapsed. That also doesn't include the value to trying to return to some degree of normalcy, either. Unfortunately none of us know on either side of the fence we may be standing on.

Some of the Wagyu strips. Excellent stuff! Hate to ruin it with shoddy cooking!

I'm not a huge fan of venison steaks or roasts even - but do enjoy it alot in things like chili, sausage, hotdogs, etc. I'll do straps/loins on the grill but that's about it steak wise. I am however a huge fan of beef steak. As my career progressed and traveled alot, I was fortunate enough to spend $$$ on steaks (alot of time at company expense thankfully); eating at some of the premier steakhouses in major US cities. It kind of dampened the basic grocery store steak on the grill Friday nights. Fast forward to now, and I have pair of old high school friends (who got married) and raise American Wagyu and Fullblood Wagyu. With the pandemic, I haven't been traveling for work as much and as a result have been spending more time eating these Wagyu steaks and home-cooking them. I've been moving away from the grill and instead pan-searing with finishing in the oven. I'm much more consistent on the grill and get real nervous when tinkering with the sear/oven method. But, when I nail the sear/oven method, it's 10x better than on a grill. I'm just not consistent enough yet. Anyone have a good sear/oven method/recipe? Specifically, anyone have good options for lower end cuts, like hanger/sirloins/eye of round, etc.? I've stuck with the strips/ribeye/T-bone/Porterhouse Wagyus, but intrigued at trying some of the "lesser" cuts.

I know what I'm getting you for Christmas. Socks.

Sorry for your loss; time is the unbeaten champion.

Keep going. Especially with the support network. If I'm still hunting at 79, things will have gone right, very right.

Nice work Jason. That barnwood paint is starting to be worn down in spots from all of the mount poses.

None of the potential Bills opponents will be easy outs. Cleveland is balling out, Tua has the Dolphins being super competitive and the upcoming game is going to have weird implications I think when all said and done. The Colts seem to be a good team overall with Rivers not making late game mistakes. The two seed matters IMO really for that second game. Assuming CLE or PIT end up as the 3. The Titans might be a team that the BIlls want to play to get revenge, but they just don't have an answer for Henry. He'll get a workhorse load in the playoffs and the only way to beat them IMO is to keep him off the field or simply score TDs every possession to force more passing as early in the game as possible.

He is good, but at least the Bills have the inside track on the #2 seed now. The AFC playoff standings look tough. No easy outs regardless but being able to have two home games is better than being away for one..

My yota is disgusting, my hunting room is disgusting, and I have little desire to organize it lol. I'm penciling it in for this weekend and will get it done. I have a pile of new parts to go on the yota so that will help with motivation.. Totes and the portable wardrobe/closets you can order via Walmart for $30-40 is a good, easy way to stay organized. I use so much gear the interim time in the season is tough to keep up with.

I’m just going to post it here. Don’t want to make a huge deal out of it other than just a facet of the sport.

Yes I can. I debated on it over the weekend but I can.

End of regular and MZ has been fun but somewhat of a disappointment despite filling some tags. My hunting partner and I each put down deer that had been injured from a prior shot - one gun and one bow/xbow. It put a damper on the end of a great, fun season, but in the end we were thankful to be there to do the right thing. I ended up putting down a great up and comer two year old 9 point; after watching him try to cross a plot and me trying process what was going on with him, I had only a few seconds to make the decision due to cover and did. Felt very questionable post-shot (shot was good) if I did the right thing, but upon inspection it verified what I saw and bow/xbow injury. I won't go into detail but the deer was partially paralyzed in the rear legs and the wound site was getting worse with infection. Rough smell, too. Real rough. I'm sure I could have gotten a replacement/salvage tag but it is what it is and I had already had a good season and my desire to take another was all but gone after that. Same property a few days later a BB shows up on cam with a wound that defies logic and biology. A cantaloupe size hole with two exposed parts of the shoulder, one being a big section of the paddle. My hunting partner set up to get him and it only took 30 minutes as this BB was staying tight to a 50 yard area with water/cover/food as we got piles of pics of him overnight and the AM. That deer was hit with a 100% kill shot with a slug or MZ and somehow it just didn't have the energy to get into the chest. The hole was drilled maybe a touch forward but any reasonable hunter would look at that and go, that's a DRT shot. No tracking needed. But, alas, the initial shot tore the hide off to the size of a cantaloupe. The hole from the projectile was clear and the shoulder and leg bone probably had 6-8" sq. of clear exposure to the elements. This little guy was trying his best to make it, even trying to eat, but the bone and meat was turning necrotic. He could only go 20 yards before bedding each time for a few minutes and it took a few of those circuits for it to be clear enough for my partner to get a lane. Neither of us felt great about these encounters and I am impressed with their will to survive. A part of me always wants to give them the chance to make it, but even when you KNOW they won't, it still feels like shit when you do what you have to, removing any of that chance actually happening. Unfortunately, we have a history of encounters with injured deer here and a strong propensity for two year olds being high shot with a bolt or arrow leading me to think it's the same person. This marks the fourth two year old since 2013 with a high bow shot that we have A, put down, B. Found dead shed hunting with the arrow/bolt, and/or C. Got pics of with the bolt/arrow still in it. Add to that this BB and one other doe that was also high shot. On a positive note, we have this one-sided spike with velvet (maybe 4-5 inches). We think it might be a doe. Anyhow, on October 1, when the season began, this was the first deer I saw from the stand. Last evening, for my final sit, I saw only one deer, that one-sided spike with velvet. She/He/It fed on the plot as the sun set and I watched it with the binos for a while. Started and finished the season with the same deer. Doubt that will ever happen again. Pretty neat.

Everyone here needs some Christmas spirit it seems. Buncha damn Grinches we are.

get better soon.

drove home one night in HS with my hand out the car in dead of winter.

Well, let's be honest, deer age makes money on the aging, so they'll have a bias. I've sent in one sample one time and it was "fun" to see but that's all it really was, fun. I realized that at a certain point, it really doesn't matter if he's 3.5 or 4.5 or 6.5 or 8.5, if he makes you go holy shit, then that is what matters. *Edit - I had the fortune to spend a day with Mickey 15-ish years ago; what a brilliant mind and legend in the deer community.

I'll be out of work early to get in a PM hunt today for the last two-ish hours. One of my direct report managers hunts and got a MZ last year so we're taking him out for the PM. He is excited and alot of does and small bucks on cam so far this AM; might be a chance.