wolc123

I am happy that the majority (25) have been able to make up their mind, but I am a little puzzled by the minority (17) who have not. Most likely, most of them missed the "more important" part of the question. It is hard to believe that many would rate meat and antlers as exactly the same. More likely, most (who did see the "more important" part) are just scared to state that publicly, out of fear of gaining a derogatory label as either a "meat hunter" or a "trophy hunter". All of us are somewhere between these extremes and it is nice to see that most have the guts to at least indicate which way they lean. I intended to put a couple of those boxes in there, so folks could check one or the other and the votes would be continually tallied. It is kind of neat the way this has worked out though, because we can all see who voted each way, and give an opportunity for those who are unable or unwilling to make up their mind (such as yourself) an opportunity to state their case. You will not pick one or the other because "it's a silly poll". Does that mean you are not scared ?

In that case I will leave you in the "undecided" category because that math is too difficult for me to follow. Also, if you did decide clearly on one or the other, it would throw the percentage a little off from where I had predicted before the poll. Essentially I did not need a poll, so I do agree that it was "nonsense". Next time, I might skip the poll and simply assume that my pre-conceived notion is correct. But then again, it is fun to talk about something other than turkeys at this time of year, so thanks for your contribution.

It certainly is interchangeable when it is ground. Not only do tacos, spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, stuffed peppers, stuffed cabbage, chili, etc taste as good or better with ground venison, but they are much better for you when you substitute that. I agree that they are not comparable, because the beef is far more likely to help put you in an early grave by America's #1 killer - Heart disease.

Both are important for most if not all, but the question was which is MORE important to YOU as a hunter. I still show seventeen who are unable to make up their minds but we now have seven who say antlers are more important and eighteen who say meat is more important. If you are having trouble making up your mind, ask yourself if you would still hunt deer if they were not edible. How about if they did not have antlers ? Your answers to those questions may help indicate which is more important to you. The purpose of this poll was to eliminate some of the guesswork and it has already accomplished that. 72 % of those who made up their minds said that meat was more important to them.

I am part of the 82 % that finds turkeys harder. That is mostly due to a lack of desire. For me, the main reason for that is wild turkey is pretty close to last place, when it comes to meat that I would want to eat. The second reason, is that I would rather be out on the water fishing in the spring where tics, mosquitoes, and black flies are less of a problem, and I love eating fish. I did pick up some turkey tags this year, while I was renewing my fishing licence, just in case there is a Tom gobbling on every hill around the lake at sunrise. That was the case a couple years ago, up at my in-laws over the Memorial day weekend, but I didn't have tags. I will throw the shotgun and call in the rowboat in the morning and if I can call one down to the waters edge, I will take a crack at him. The breast would not go to waste. I suppose my wife and daughters would eat it, because they do like the store-bought and farm raised stuff.

It looks like FSW is the only one who thinks antlers are more important than meat to most people. The percentage of those who have said meat is more important ion this thread is now getting pretty close to the 78 % that I predicted earlier. Who should you believe ?

This may help bring about a year-round open trapping and hunting season on coyotes in NY. Someone should start a poll on who would support such a measure.

My .50 cal T/C Omega muzzleloader is the most finicky deer weapon I own. I tried a few other bullet and sabot combinations, when I first got it, and none of them approached the accuracy of a small sleeve of T/C ammo that came with it. With those (T/C 240 gr XTP bullet in Mag Express Sabot) it has always held a 1" group at 100 yards. The best I could do with any of the others I tried was 4". Fortunately, they still sell those T/C combos in 30 packs and that is all I have used thru the 20 or so years I have owned it, and it has always put the bullet right on my point of aim on deer.

Even if you don't change ammo, it is a very good idea to check the zero of your rifle before deer season each year. I always dedicate some time to that task over Labor day weekend. I like to do it then, because it is close to deer season, but far enough ahead to not disrupt archery hunters. I fire at least 2-3 shots from every gun that I intend to hunt deer with at 100 yards, except for a smoothbore slug gun, which I only check at 50 yards. A couple years ago I took a shortcut, trying to save ammo. That cost me a poor hit on a doe, requiring a second shot to finish her off. I would rather have "wasted" that extra shot on the range and had my first shot hit her where I wanted. Instead, it struck high and destroyed a considerable amount of backstrap. Venison is worth a lot more to me than ammo. I do think some people go a bit overboard and fire their deer guns more often than they should, but that is a lot better than not shooting at all. Extra shooting wastes ammo, causes noise pollution, hearing damage, and wears out barrels. The mechanics of shooting can be practiced with a bb or pellet rifle at a fraction of the cost and without the noise. I especially do not like it when neighbors practice with their deer guns, during archery season, because I have seen that practice reduce deer activity.

Happy 32 Bionic. I like red cabbage on fish tacos but lettuce is great on venison ones.

I usually tie the carcass tags to the freezer door handle and leave them there until the last package is gone. The packages in the freezer are marked: "ven, YR, #". If and when a DEC officer comes over to check out our freezer, it would be simple to "connect the dots". The buck carcass tags eventually get stapled to the back of wall mounts or stuck inside the skull of euros. Most often when I give it away, it is a properly tagged whole deer, but it looks like I will have to make sure that I include a little more info on the individual packages that I sometimes distribute. Thanks for the tip.

It may have been many years ago, but I see nothing in the current regs about that. I usually mark the year on the packs and a number to indicate what order the deer were killed in on that season. I try to use that which has been in the freezer the longest first, the exceptions being the grind from the first one each season. That is not vacuum sealed, so it gets used prior to any left-over vacuum sealed stuff from the prior season(s). That is the point we are at right now, having just consumed our last pack of non-vacuum sealed stuff from last fall. Like I mentioned earlier, if you are going to eat it within 6 months, you are wasting your time with vacuum sealing venison. Not so on fish though, as that looses its fresh taste a lot faster, if it is not vacuum sealed.

Light it up for extra propulsion.

Those vacuum sealers are nice. My first one finally crapped out after about 12 years. I thought it went bad (4) years ago, but before tossing it, I took the pump apart and found a little speck of grit on the inside. I cleaned it off, reassembled and it started working again like new for a few more years. I picked up another cheaper model for backup, just in case. I also started using it year-round for fish at that time. Last fall, it finally gave out, so I had to use the backup to finish up the last deer. I tried taking the pump apart and cleaning it again with no success. While good for venison, it is even better for fish. I always used to put fish in zip-loc bags and fill them with water prior to freezing. It tasted ok that way but not as fresh as fresh caught and it was a pain thawing it out to cook, waiting for all the ice to melt. Now I dry the fresh fillets with paper towels, then seal them in vacuum bags and freeze. Up to a year and a half later, they still taste like they were just caught, and they are a snap to thaw out and cook.

I have a good misfire story: A couple of my buddies (brothers) and I were grouse hunting one time and the younger brother shot at one, down in a creek-bottom. He claimed to see it hit the ground, but was not able to find it. We walked a long way down that creek bottom, then turned around and walked back towards the truck, after switching sides. When I got back to the spot where he had shot, I noticed the dead grouse laying below a bush. I aimed my shotgun is a safe direction and fired a shot. It sounded like only the primer and a little powder went off, and the load just made it out of the barrel. The noise was not enough for the brothers to hear over on the other side of the creek. I fired off the other barrel of my side-by-side 16 ga, which went off fine. I yelled across to the brothers: This is how you do it, you see it hit the ground and then you walk over to that spot and pick it up. He had shot a jack-rabbit on that hunt, which tasted pretty bad. I did share some of that delicious grouse with him. When we finished eating, I told him the whole truth. I would have told him prior, but I was not sure if he would have shared. I have also had a couple of misfires with factory loads while shooting trap. I always carried a few extra shells in my jacket for when that occurred.

Some years we do better than others, so I always try to keep some in reserve. That is the best thing about the vacuum sealer. I don't ever remember running out of roasts, but we have ran out of grind a few times. The last time was on October 7th, 2016. Fortunately, I killed a doe a week later, up in the NZ with my ML, and the kids only had to go a couple weeks without tacos. It was extremely warm on that hunt, so I dropped it off at the processors where they had a cooler. I asked them to grind the whole thing, except the backstraps and tenderloins. That turned out to be a record year for us, ending with 5-1/2 deer in the freezer. Last year was not as productive, with just two. For some reason, I always seem to do better every other year. Maybe this year will be real good. I also like to go into hunting season with a near-empty freezer, so if I do have grind left, I give it to my brother in law. He raises beef cattle and makes excellent jerky using a 50/50 mix of ground venison and beef. That combination makes much better jerky than 100 % one or the other. The straight beef is too oily and the straight venison is too dry. p.s., I also like to keep some button buck around for special occasions and they only seem to come around every other year.

I know they get real big ones thru the ice down there.

I always freeze the grind from the first one each fall in zip-lock bags. That is faster and cheaper than vacuum bags. As long as it is eaten within 6 months, it don't make much difference in terms of fresh taste and freezer burn. I vacuum seal all the rest and they have tasted fresh up to 3 years later. We just finished the last zip-locked bag from last fall, so our next tacos will be from an Adirondack buck that has been vacuum sealed for about a year and a half. After that, it will be a southern zone doe from last gun season. It is looking like we will have just about enough to make it until the fresh stuff starts coming in this fall. The girls really love tacos and I love spaghetti with meat sauce, lasagna, stuffed cabbage and peppers, so we usually always run out of grind first. All of that stuff is way better for you, and tastes just as good with ground venison as it does with ground beef. I usually grind about half of every deer, with the rest usually making 6 roasts, the backstraps, and tenderloins. I started getting two extra "hidden tenderloins" from each one last year, thanks to that Grant Woods video that someone posted on here.

There is some dandy smallmouths in Cuba lake. I had a big one pull me around in my canoe a little bit about 6 years ago. Try a weedless bass jig with a plastic craw trailer in the middle of some of those big weedbeds.

When I kill one, the first thing I do is look at the long range weather forecast. If the conditions are favorable for skin-on aging in our insulated garage, that is what I do. The predicted daily high temperatures over the next week (or more) have to be below 50 degrees for me to do that. Leaving the hide on keeps the carcass from drying out and insulates it from temperature extremes. I cover the windows of the garage to keep out the sunlight, and open them at night (when the temperature usually dips into the lower thirties) to let in the colder air. When the predicted temperatures are warmer, they get skinned right away, carcasses cut in half, and placed in a big old fridge, that is only used for that purpose. The racks and shelves are removed. The rear half of the carcass hangs from hooks on the tendons, and the front half rests on the neck on the bottom. The fridge keeps it at 35 degrees, and leaving the door closed keeps the carcass from drying out, even though the skin is off. It is definitely tougher to skin a cold deer, so I usually skin the cold carcasses on one weekday evening and process them on the next, to split up the workload a little. They don't dry out too much after one day. Any daylight time that I have free during hunting season is usually spent hunting. Aging time varies by the age of the deer. 6 month don't need any, 1-1/2 year olds about a week, 2-1/2 year old 10 days, and older about 2 weeks (not that I have to worry about too many of those). Any red meat goes thru rigor mortis and if you do not let it break down prior to freezing you are not getting it as tender as it could be. Even the grind is chewier without aging. The flavor will probably not change much. If you don't believe this by all means don't take my word for it. There is tons of info on it out there on the internet. The real test is if your wife or girlfriend likes your venison. The odds of them liking it would be much better if it was properly aged. It sure is nice when they like it and push you to spend more time hunting.

I agree with you on that part. Many on this site have no clue how much better venison can be if it is properly aged. Processing before rigor mortis has broken down is about tied with over-cooking for the main reason why folks don't like venison. Everybody has different tastes. it sounds like we need a poll to find out who likes venison better than beef. So far it looks like about a 50:50 split. There does seem to be a correlation between the "antlers first" guys and favoring beef.

Our girls love them. So much that my youngest named this year's crossbow buck "Taco".

You are right, we should probably try and keep it a secret. Remember how fast those venison sandwiches sold out when Arby's offered them ?

How do you know that "He" is not a "She" ?