wolc123

There are quite a few hunters who think that. I am surprised that so many have so little understanding of basic biology. The real test is what do non-hunters, wives, girlfriends etc think about the meat, as far as how it compares to beef, etc. Do you think that venison, a red meat, is not subject to rigor mortis ? Why is beef aged before freezing ? The rule is, the older the animal, the longer it should be aged. Give it a try sometime, if you are able. Those who eat the venison I process and age never know it is not beef they are eating, unless they are told about it. 5 days is probably ok for 1.5 year old deer, but the older ones really benefit from a little more time. Notice all those who claim to like to shoot 1.5 year olds because "they are better eating". That makes sense if they don't age or only age a few days. As I stated earlier, I can not detect any difference in flavor or texture between 1.5 year olds and 3.5 year olds, bucks or does, providing the carcasses were aged appropriately. Rigor mortis peaks about 8 hours after death. A buddy once cleanly killed a 1.5 year old buck on our farm in the morning, processed it that afternoon, and froze it almost exactly 8 hours after it died. He said that was the toughest deer he ever ate. Here is an easy way to tell if a carcass is properly aged: Feel the meat when it is fresh killed. That is how it should feel again, when the rigor mortis has broken down, after proper aging. If it feels like a pencil eraser, then it is going to be tough. Even the burger is tough on an improperly aged deer.

Those definitely look like the "inner tenderloins". Maybe those tougher ones you had earlier were the "hidden tenderloins". If you want to see where those come from, you can check out the Grant Woods Youtube video. Like Fletch says, the inner ones should be cut out and enjoyed right away, because they dry out if the carcass is hung for a while. Also, like he say's, they are subject to contamination from piss or spilled "gut juice". Whenever I kill a deer, the last thing I do in the gutting process is give them tenderloins a quick rinse using the blood that remains in the chest, forward of the diaphram. That fluid is always there in the right place at the right time, unlike water, and is less likely to promote bacteria growth. That fresh blood rinse washes out any piss or gut juice that might have got on the tenderloins. The quicker you get that stuff off, the better they will taste. I can not recall ever having bad tasting or tough tenderloins. Sometimes I share them with the kids (if they are on their best behavior).

Last year was the first in a long time that I punched my buck tag on that day. It had been a long time since one with more than 3 points on a side gave me a chance, otherwise I always like to save my buck tag for Thanksgiving weekend, up in the northern zone. Opening day has been the day when the vast majority of my gun does have been killed however. They mostly go nocturnal around home after that, until muzzleloader opens up in December.

One week in a cooler is cutting it pretty close for a mature buck, especially if he was over 2.5. Two years ago, I aged a 3.5 year old buck for 14 days - skinned, cut in half in my deer fridge (where the temp runs a constant 33 degrees), and it was every bit as tender and tasty as any 1.5 buck, or mature doe that I have had. I only aged last year's 3.5 year old buck for 8-1/2 days. We have eaten just the tenderloins from that one so far, so the jury is still out on if that was long enough. The aging temperature was a bit higher (I left the hide on and hung it in our insulated garage). The temperature inside the garage just broke 45 degrees a few times, but the meat temp stayed in the upper 30's to lower 40's the whole time, when I checked it with a meat thermometer. The higher the aging temperature, the faster rigor mortis breaks down, so I figured 8-1/2 days might be enough. There was no "gameyness" in the tenderloins anyhow. It will be a while until we find out how the rest of it tastes. There is still a few packs of doe fawn grind left in our freezer as well as multiple roasts from that and a button buck, plus a whole (but badly shot-up) 2.5 year old buck my neighbor gave me, that have to be eaten first. My buck from two years ago was killed just before the peak of the rut, and mine and my neighbor's from last year were killed right about at the peak. That had no effect on the taste of the tenderloins, but we will have to see about the rest. I should know about the 2.5 within the next couple weeks. To me, as a "pure" meat hunter, using a buck tag on a 1.5 is sort of a waste, because I notice no difference in taste or texture, compared to a 2.5 or 3.5, but I do notice a big difference in quantity. That is all very dependent on aging time and temperature however. When you drop it of at a processor, you loose any control over that.

I would probably flip a coin on that one. The increasing popularity of bowhunting, and waning number of gun hunters has slightly reduced the "big-deal" that opening day once was. Sightings after that day have been a little more common, and sightings on that day are much reduced, compared to the days before bow hunting was so popular. At least that is the case here in WMU 9F.

My favorite rule change, regarding deer hunting in NY, was allowing crossbows to be used for the best two weeks of the season. Second best, was allowing Sunday hunting. Since that change went into effect, I have capitalized with multiple deer and even my first-ever turkey last fall, by doing this: Take the family to church in the morning, then kill the game in the afternoon. That way, not only are you obeying the commandment that says : "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy", you also might get a little help from above in getting the job done. It has gotten to the point where it almost feels like I am cheating sometimes, and I feel sorry for those poor unsuspecting animals, but that only lasts until I take my first bite of them at the dinner table. Few activities position someone better to receive the blessings of God's grace than hunting and fishing do. The switch of opening day from Monday to Saturday was third best. It is great to gain an extra vacation day to be able use for a little more "family time". The good hunting and fishing rules, abundance of "tasty" quarry, and great climate make me very thankful to live and work in NY. I feel sorry for those who have to live in or feel the need to retire in one of the other 49 states, where the game is fewer, the rules and climate are worse, and the traffic is heavier.

I would go along with this. Also, that might be one of them "extra big" does. It don't seem too "weird" to me. I have seen some tiny deer during hunting season, including one little doe fawn that a buddy killed at our place, that would fit in a game bag on the back of a jacket. In a normal winter with lots of snow, the coyotes would likely take out most of those late-born ones. The light and short-lasting snow this winter must have enabled most of them to survive.

My wife made grilled smallmouth bass tacos for dinner yesterday. They were damn good. I polished off the leftovers for lunch today.

Well, since close to half of the overall gun-season deer take in the southern zone happens on that day, I would say it is a pretty important day, almost equal in fact to the rest of the season combined.

It certainly has helped a lot here in NY. I still remember the day that I killed my first antlered buck, early on opening day morning. I was in my first year of college and one of my professors had scheduled an exam that day at around 10:00 am. I barely had time to wash up. I wonder if he appreciated the blood stains on my exam. I can't recall how I did on that test, but I am lucky that I did not get a speeding ticket that day. The problem with the Monday opener is that it unfairly discriminates against the young and the working folks. It sort of reminds me of the vertical bowhunters arguments against the crossbow. Most of those who prefer the Monday opener might have just a little "selfish elitism" backing up their wants to return to "the good old days". Wouldn't it be nice if most of "the competition" had to work or go to school, on the easiest day to kill a deer with a gun ? You may be right about PA though. If they already had opening day Monday off from school then this might actually hurt young hunter recruitment. Here in NY, we never had that luxury so the Saturday opener was a real Godsend.

It is a good time for that for sure. I am especially thankful for the cold this morning because I hope to complete a job that is very physically demanding. Digging post holes by hand thru stone and broken concrete is not easy and I am glad it is not warmer out. It is a great workout, and that cold keeps down the sweat. These are inside the shell of our new pole-barn, so the even the rain won't bother me. That will help with curing the dry concrete that I pour under the posts. Bring on the rain and cold for the rest of the weekend anyhow.

As a natural born killer and meat-eater, fall is definitely my favorite, because that is when most of our family's food is obtained the "fun" way. I like all the seasons here in NY however. Just about the time one starts to wear on you, the next one kicks off. I can definitely take the cold better than the heat and I feel sorry for those folks who live further south than about mid-PA and have to deal with that. Even Gettysburg PA is a little too hot for me in the summer. Those warm days at this time of year feel great. As someone already mentioned, the brown trout fishing is fantastic right now. I miss the sucker spearing a bit, that used to be legal, and was lots of fun after the first warm rain. I think you would be hard pressed to find summer weather conditions anywhere on earth that are better than those to be had here in NY. Take a swim in the St Lawrence river, or in an Adirondack lake on the Fourth of July, and you will see what I mean.

In NY southern zone, the rut usually peaks (chase phase) right at the mid-point of the two week archery season. Some years it peaks about a week earlier and others about a week later. The activity that I saw last fall, indicates that the chase phase peaked just after opening day of gun season, while the year prior it peaked earlier, allowing easier hunting in those two crossbow weeks. I certainly appreciate the two weeks that the crossbow has now however, because that almost always catches the best part of the rut, which is always my favorite time to hunt. The crossbow is also my favorite weapon to hunt deer with, and the only one where my record is 100 % of shots fired and recovered kills within 40 yards. The best two weeks with the best weapon, it just don't get much better than that, at least for us lucky folks who live and hunt in the southern zone. I do feel sorry for the crossbow folks up north however, and their measly three days. Apparently, that NYB tough-guy wields a lot more influence up there. Overall archery numbers were probably up because the weather was nicer early. That skewed things in favor of the verticals. It got pretty cold the last week of crossbow. At least that cold got the chasing going good for gun season. That, coupled with the snow, no doubt contributed to the extra heavy opening weekend of gun take. The bottom line is, that the 8% crossbow drop was most likely caused by weather conditions and rut dynamics. I have eaten wild tom turkey legs in the past, and they sucked compared to those from that fall hen. I was also never a fan of any turkey white meat, so the answer to your second question is no, I would not rather shoot a tom. What good is more meat if I find it barely edible ? If I do manage to kill a spring tom (highly unlikely because I am too scared of ticks to spend much time in the woods then), I will just save he breast for my wife and kids.

Not sure, I only ended up with one (a big button buck) with mine last year. I blew it on a 3.5 year old eight-pointer that probably would have field dressed close to 200 pounds. A week later, when I killed him with my shotgun, he weighed 182 pounds field-dressed, as a busted-up 6 pointer. Nomad might be on to something. Another possibility is that the rut may have peaked a little later in 2018 than it did in 2017. It is always easiest killing them at the peak of the rut. I have grown somewhat content with the current rules on crossbow hunting. Turkey hunting with a shotgun in the fall is cool and is something I would never do if we had full inclusion. Those wild hen turkey drumsticks were wonderful. Ruffed grouse breast was always my favorite bird meat, but now it is a toss up between them and hen turkey legs. The only little tweak I would really like to the crossbow rules would be giving the folks up in the Northern Zone 14 days before the guns come in, rather than just the 3 they got now. That does not seem fair and it costs lots of tourist dollars that a couple weekends of crossbow hunting would bring in.

I know of a handful of others who also preferred the Monday opener (one or two will probably chime in here soon). Monday was not so bad if you are retired or have lots of vacation days. It sucked the worst when I was in school or starting a new job. We really need more young hunters in the sport, so I think it is important for the rules to cater a bit more towards those folks.

Since no one seems to agree on whether or not gly is harmful to humans, it makes sense to minimize its usage. The way I do that, is to only apply it where it is really needed. For me, that is directly on rows of corn. Using a tiny bit of gly there, saves me a lot of money on fertilizer. Every where else (including in between the corn rows), I control the weeds with tillage, or with mowing in perennial clover plots. I find the tillage (especially spring plowing), one of the most enjoyable and stress-free tasks of food plotting. One thing that I really don't like about spraying, is the delay needed before results are seen. There is always a little stress there, wondering if the spray will take effect, plus some more wondering if folks might be harmed eating animals that eat the sprayed "weeds", or that I might be harmed from handling the spray. Cultivating a corn field, turning over sod with a plow, or preparing a seedbed with a spring-tooth harrow, makes it look good and weed-free while the job is being done. There is no delay, nor is there any worry over harmful chemical side-effects. Controlling the weeds in a clover plot by mowing also produces that same "instant satisfaction". Possible harmful side-effects are much more likely from the selective herbicides, often used for weed-control there, than they would be from gly.

They got to be running low on fracking dollars now, so you would think they would do it just to bring in some more tourism cash.

I don't care for it, mostly because it don't look natural. A tongue hanging out (like this "real" fresh kill) would improve it. To me, it looks like a regular mount fell off the wall and landed there. Good beer choice though. That is what I usually go with at joints that do not have Genny.

Good for PA. Hopefully they will soon allow Sunday hunting there also. I loved it when NY moved the opener from Monday to Saturday. It sucked having to burn a vacation day or skip school for that.

The scrumptious Genesee "Ruby Red Kolsch" was 12 oz. That Lake Erie Walleye probably was about 6 pounds, but we did not weigh or measure it. I rarely target Walleye out there, because they start tasting like zoo plankton smells around mid-summer every year, especially the big ones. That was in mid May though, prior to them suspending under that crap, and it was still pretty tasty. We catch some of them by accident, while trying for smallmouth bass.

My favorite line in any movie was "I will take a Genny cream". Vitto Mortgenson said that to the bar tender in Philadelphia PA, in the movie "A History of Violence". There was a big Yuengling poster on the wall above the bar. Ed Harris played a bad guy in that movie. It is definitely one of my "top five" movies, mostly because of the line mentioned. Apparently, that actor was a big fan of that particular brew. Personally, I cant wait for the current hoppy/craft fad to end and for beer to get back to what it used to be. Genny cream ale is a fine example of what that should be, an ale that is smooth like a lager.

Genny is my favorite beer. Nothing washes down a raw walleye cheek, eaten right off the fillet knife, better than a Genny cream ale. I usually have a Genny light with my dinner every day. They came out with something in a yellow can last year, that tasted good out in the sun, and seemed to bring us luck with the walleyes. I think I even posted a picture with a big one and a can in the the "live from the water" thread. I do remember that contest while growing up, and I think I have one of them booklets around somewhere.

One of the best things about processing them yourself is that you are always certain it is your own deer. If the meat was tough, it probably was not aged long enough, prior to freezing, such that the rigor mortis did not have time to break down. A 2-1/2 year old deer takes about 10 days at 33-43 F, for that to happen. A 1-1/2 year old deer (buck or doe) takes about a week. 6 month olds can be processed immediately, but even those benefit from a couple days aging prior to freezing. I have only had two processed by others over the last 15 years. (3) years ago, I dropped a 1-1/2 year old doe off at a processor, up in the Adirondacks, because it was 80 degrees on the day I killed her (early ML season) and I had no way to cool the carcass up there myself. Nolt's in Lowville did a great job, had my meat back in a week, charged just $ 48, freezer wrapped, and I am 95 % sure it was all my deer. (15) years ago, I dropped a thin, rutted-out, 2-1/2 year old 10-point buck off a a big local processor in Western NY. It seemed like the amount of meat they gave me back, which included 10 pounds of excellent pepper sticks and a huge box of grind, exceeded the carcass weight of that deer. I think it must have included at least some from other deer. It was almost like they looked at the tag, saw "ten-points", and heaped up the box. I wonder what the folks with does, spikes and 4 pointers got. There is no way I would drop a button buck of at a processor. The odds of you getting your own deer back if you do that would be low, unless you have a very good relationship with them. Also, I have never and would never leave the inner tenderloins in a deer when I took it to the processor. It takes under a minute to cut them out. They fit easy in the fridge, if it is too warm to hang the carcass outside. They also never seem to get rigor mortis. I usually eat them, cooked rare, with my eggs for breakfast the day after the kill.

Those look great. Everywhere I try fish tacos in NY state fries the fish and I don't like fish cooked that way. The best I have had, north of the border, is at the South Beach bar in Ocean Beach SanDiego CA.. About a month ago, we were down in Cozumel Mexico for some "real" ones and they were awesome - made with grilled mahi-mahi (those are also my favorites at South Beach). My wife makes them with grilled NY smallmouth bass and they are pretty good, much better than any others I have had in NY.