wolc123

The problem is, most folks don't have the balls to give them a try.

One of the keys to getting essential vitamins from meat is to not overcook it. Liver is particularly high in vitamin content (even vitamin C). I don't eat it quite raw, but pretty close, especially when it is from a button-buck. I had not saved the liver from a deer more than 6 months old for a long time, until last fall. I saved the one out of my 3.5 year old buck and it was surprisingly good. I still have 1/3 of that one in the freezer, maybe I will fry it up rare next weekend. The key to making it tender, was keeping the raw liver in the fridge for a week before freezing. That tenderizes it by getting it past the rigor mortis stage, which is never an issue with 6 month old livers. As far as the nuts go, it is all about the black pepper. Add enough of that, and they taste similar, but better than oysters from the sea. I got to thank Steve Rinella for that trick. Forget about the butter though. Olive oil works just as good for frying them up and is healthier for you. If you decide to give them a try, don't forget to make a slit through the outer membrane prior to frying, or they will explode in the pan making a big mess.

Well as long as the whitetails are eating some grain, fruits, and vegetables, I guess I am getting some of that indirectly. I believe I could get along just fine on such a straight-meat diet, much like the Inuit have been doing for centuries on reindeer.

1.5 is "middle-aged" in NY. .5's are the best eating though. Fortunately, I am due for one of those this year (killing them has been an every other year thing for me over the past (38) seasons). I think we just finished the last vacuum- sealed roast from the record-sized bb that I killed in 2018. I can't tell the difference in taste between 1.5's and 3.5's. I only target 1.5's after the mid-point of the seasons. They are definitely tastier than unfilled tags. Exactly how much risk is there in hitting a 1 ft diameter kill zone from 50 yards, with a rifle that holds a 1" group at 100 yards ? Did they teach math at your school, or maybe you have forgotten it ? I hunt for meat, not for sport, and I would never want to be known as "a sportsman", so thanks for the compliment.

That was the best possible move in that particular situation (scoped 30/06 rifle, perfectly still deer, 50 yards away, no wind, good rest). Thanks for bringing up what might be the best shot that I ever made on a deer. This delicious Adirondack buck died instantly, guts came out as clean as a whistle, and meat loss was limited to a small neck roast. It is like the gift that keeps on giving, thanks to a few of you fellas.

I can't make out anything in that blurry video, but I think we all agree that torturing animals is wrong. If the utes in that video are found guilty of that then they should pay a steep price and do some time in jail. I think many people do not understand that God created man as a meat-eater. That is why we have the type of teeth that we do, and why our eyes are positioned as they are. It is a simple design issue: form follows function. As meat-eaters, killing of animals is necessary. That said, the faster the animal is dispatched, the better the meat. For me, it all goes together, maximize the quality of the meat, and minimize the suffering of the animal. That also applies to fish. I am against "catch-and-release" fishing for that reason. Most of the fishing I do is for fish I intend to eat. I always get them into the boat, with as little delay as possible, and keep them in good condition in the ICU ( livewell), until they are mercifully dispatched with a small club, prior to filleting. I know that meat is going to taste great, when I can still feel those fillets twitching, as I drop them into the vacuum packs. I have killed a few deer by slitting their throats, but those were first struck by cars and were on the roadsides where the use of a gun may have gotten me into legal trouble. A sharp knife, properly used, can get the job done almost as fast. While hunting, I always carry some "spare" ammunition, to get the job done quick when necessary. Back when fur was worth decent money, I would dispatch trapped animals using a long handled neck-snare, to hold them in place, and a club. After they were "knocked out", I would stand on their chest until they were suffocated. This is how we were taught to kill them in the 4-H trapper training course. Now that fur is practically worthless, for raccoons: I use a .22 fired perpendicular to the head, aimed at the intersection of an "X" between the ears and the eyes., opossums get that and a second one thru the lungs (they have a smaller brain and are prone to playing their name if you miss that). I will release any opossums caught from here on out because I have heard that they eat tics. Skunks get a shotgun blast to the head from 10-15 yards upwind (none has ever sprayed after receiving that treatment). I only trap now to control the local raccoon population. I can't afford to grow enough corn to maintain good deer hunting without raccoon control. I prefer to do my own killing (by eating deer and fish), rather than depending on others to do it by getting meat from the supermarket.

I got busted and made eye-contact with two deer last year, a 3.5 year old buck and a doe. With the buck across an open field, I was 7 ft up in the air and had a 3 foot wall for cover, as I sat in a swivel chair. I won that stare down, from 60 yards away. I remained perfectly still, only blinking my eyes a few times. After what seemed like a half hour, he put his head down and started moving closer. I then moved in super-slow motion and was able to get a bolt thru both lungs when he reached a range of about 20 yards, standing broadside. The doe was a tougher deal though. I was on the ground in the woods, in a swivel chair for her, with no cover other than camo clothes. It was a bit windy, and I did not hear her come in behind me. I looked behind and there she was, broadside at 40 yards. I tried to swivel around slow, but was not slow enough and she bolted. You win some and you loose some.

Lots of good advice here so far. Vacuum sealing helps a lot and so does skipping the added pork. I can't believe all the people who taint their venison with pork. I have often let vacuum-sealed venison go for three years in the freezer, with no off-taste developing. We use lots of grind, and I always package that from the first deer each year in zip-lock bags. That is consumed in less than 6-months, so vacuum-sealing that first one would be a big waste of time and money. All of the meat from the rest of the deer each season gets vacuum-sealed. The fresh "zip-locked" stuff always gets eaten before the "left-over" vacuum-sealed stuff, which is why three years is not uncommon. At this point, our family of four goes thru about 200 pounds of venison a year. It is always nice to go into a season with some vacuum-sealed stuff left in the freezer. That really helps out on the years when the hunting ain't so good. Years ago, there may have been a written NY state law, that venison had to be consumed within a certain time. I am glad they did away with that one. Since button bucks usually only come-along for me, every other year, that is often the meat that stays the longest in the freezer. It is of so much higher quality (taste and texture) than older deer, that I like to save it for "special occasions". I still have a few packs left from the last one that I killed in 2018. The nuts, tenderloins , and livers from those never make it into the freezer. You got to eat the very best stuff fresh.

Rinehart's in Middleport, $ 8.00 for a 50 lb bag.

If only they were 16 ga.

Canadian bacon is a little better. Ain't that ham ? Corned beef is similar to ham but I like it more. Something about all that fat in the bacon, that just turns my stomach. Also, it is usually way too salty for me.

I just don't care for the taste of pork. I would rate it a notch below chicken and two below turkey. I can handle it about once a month, but that is about it. I don't even like bacon. I don't know squat about Islam, but the Bibles old Testament clearly puts pork on the "do not eat" list. Of course Jesus took away all those rules, leaving just one, so there is no religious argument against my eating pork now. I simply would pick almost any other meat first, if given the choice. If my deer-meat supply were ever cut off, I would be ok with eating beef and baked or broiled fish every other day. Fish is the only white meat that I really like, especially bass. Whenever I go to a pig-roast, I always try talking the host into putting a hind quarter of venison inside the pig before it goes on the spit. That is way better to me than the roasted pig. During a Bill's game party, on the last weekend of ML season, our host took a plate full of rare button buck chops off the grill for me, before he wrapped the rest with bacon for the other guests. They were awesome, and it was a meal that I will never forget. I tried one of the leftover charred ones with the bacon later, and it sucked in comparison.

18 years is pretty good. We had to put down a pair of cats that were brothers at 12 and 13 years of age, over the last year. Our 15 and 16 year old daughters got them when they were kittens and they really took it hard. The vet gave them little boxes with the ashes inside and their names on brass plates on the outside. I think there is truth in the "Rainbow bridge" deal but the best cure for our girls was new kittens. Now we have (2) female cats, one 12 months old and the other 2 months old, and everyone is happy again. I always preferred dogs, but the good thing about cats is that they are self-sufficient, and can be left in the house for long weekends with no issues, with plenty of water, and automatic feeder, and a big litter-box. You cant get away like that with a dog.

What if the steel was badly rusted ? Here is some advice for you: Think before you type.

Treated lumber can be safer than metal, because it will not corrode. What if the deer show up on your right side (assuming you are right handed)? It dont look like that seat swivels. I had that issue in a hang-on with a fixed seat last opening day. If I had a swivel seat, I would have been able to take a button buck to my right with a chip shot at 40 yards. Instead, I had to wait for the group of (3) antlerless deer to come back around to my left. They only closed to within 80 yards and switched positions (unnoticed by me), resulting in my killing of the mature doe (by accident). That mistake put an end to my deer sighting during gun season on that property last year. U-bolts are in the shape of a "U" with a piece of metal spanning the gap.

What I have done in that situation is to remove the lower section (usually about 8 ft long). That makes a nice camoflaged ladder to use somewhere else (actually is what I now use to get up to the second deck of the two-story blind that I killed my crossbow buck out of last season). Removing 8 ft, left the metal ladder stand platform a little too low at about 5 ft. The situation was easily corrected with a ladder extension made from treated wood 2x4's, and attached to the bottom with (4) metal u-clamps. Now the ladder stand is at the near-perfect (for me) 8 ft height. The wood extension can be made to any height necessary. Another option would be to cut a part off the lower section with a hacksaw or torch.

In areas of low hunter density (like most of the northern zone), this is my favorite hunting seat. It is super comfortable and you can shoot 360 degrees around relatively easy (biggest drawback to the one Jay posted that I see is that you can not do that). The only problem I found with the "tree hammock" is that it is bad in the rain because it fills up with water that runs off the tree, leaving you with a wet behind. The "tree hammock" seat is light and stows very compact, making it easy to carry. It is also quick to set up and take down. There are several manufacturers and cost is about $ 30.

With a bow, you make a good point. A gun or crossbow is a whole different deal however, because no sudden "draw" motion is necessary. This year's crossbow buck had me dead to rights for sure. He seemed to have some concern over that blind that had been there so many years. I am sure that he saw my head and shoulders, sticking out over the 3 ft wall, before I saw him. My feet were 7 ft off the ground on the upper deck. He was about 60 yards away and staring right at me, across an open field. We had locked eye-contact and I was literally afraid to blink. The stare-down lasted what seemed like a half hour. I blinked and he kept staring. Finally, he lowered his head and started walking closer. As he did that, I started moving my head down towards my scope in super slow motion. The crossbow was already up on the 3 foot wall and pointed in the right direction. I got my head down to it just as he entered the scopes field of view. He was now broadside, less than 20 yards away and the only thing I needed to move was my trigger finger. He never had a clue what hit him.

I no longer have any stands higher than 8 ft. Lots of rookies and inexperienced hunters tend to go up real high, to make up for the lack of experience and know-how. You will find that the longer you hunt, the easier it gets to kill deer from the ground, or at least closer to it. Both of my southern-zone locations are as flat as a pancake. In that situation, I am most comfortable hunting, when I am 6 to 8 feet above ground level. That is high enough to get me out of the crossfire, from shots by neighbors, and to let the ground act as a back-stop for my own shots. Comfort and safety are the primary concerns with keeping the stands that low. Like yourself, I am not comfortable hunting from the ground in areas high hunter density due to a few "close-calls", when I was on the receiving end of some bad shots by neighbors. I am even more concerned with where my own shots end up and getting a bit off the ground eliminates those concerns. Slightly more than half of my kills have been "one-shot" deals, but I am not afraid to empty the magazine if need be. Bullets or arrows are cheap compared to the value of venison. Except for a couple of hang-on stands, all of my ladder types and raised blinds have three foot high walls that are sided with weathered barn wood. That three foot high wall does three things. The most important is cover, so that I can get away with some movement. That is very important down low. Secondary functions are: gun or crossbow rest, and acts as a safety rail. You are mistaken in your belief that mature bucks can not be taken from permanent stands that have been in place for a long time. Check out the first buck in last season's crossbow harvest thread, for some proof of that. That particular 3.5 year old 8-point was killed from the 7 ft high upper deck (with a 3-ft barn wood wall) of a big 2-story blind, that had been in place for 15 seasons. A 2.5 year old buck was taken from the same spot 3 years before that, and another 3.5 (probably my heaviest buck ever) was taken from a similar two-story upper deck at another location in 2017. That blind had been in place 10 seasons. I

I think I was bitten by a brown-recluse spider in my western NY pop-up blind in 2018. I have not hunted out of that since. Snakes don't scare me much. Hogs are the biggest reason I like the deer hunting better up north. I have little use for pork on the table, but I love venison. I am thankful that those hogs don't make out very well in the cold. They are very easy to keep under control when the climate limits them to one litter a year. That is why we do not see much of them up here.

If they would go for that, it seems like a fair offer. My guess is that they would not, and that a bidding war will start. If someone else wins that, your situation may worsen. If you win it, your venison is going to get a a lot more expensive. A better option might be to work directly with the tenant. Maybe you could reach some type of mutually beneficial understanding whereby you and him would post the sons property, cutting off the "road-hunters". He would gain a bit more access your property (recovery rights with a phone call, etc.). That way, you really are not loosing much, but stand to gain something.

Whichever crossbow you choose, I would hunt deer only with a mechanical broad head. Culver recently posted a non-biased study that showed a significant advantage, in carcass recovery percentage, with a crossbow and mechanical broad head, compared to a crossbow with a fixed broad head or any type of broad head with a vertical bow. My own personal recovery percentage with a crossbow on deer has been 100 % (5 for 5) so I certainly can not dispute the results of that study. I have never tried a fixed broad head for deer in my crossbow (Barnett Recruit), and it is not likely that I ever will. Good luck with your crossbow. I have heard good things about the Centerpoints and I will probably buy one myself if and when full inclusion occurs, I fail to recover a deer with my Barnett, or if it breaks. Hopefully, I can get another season or two out of it anyhow.

HNY

Finally, someone has captured a photo of Stormy. Congrats .