Extreme Wildcrafting - The Hunt

Wildcrafting is nothing more than harvesting and preserving wild edibles, so it seems reasonable that hunting fits nicely into this category.  And hunting, along with our other wildcrafting endeavors, has proven to be a worthy occupation.

Deer and elk season is in full swing in our little neck of the woods, along with grouse, turkey and bear.  Miss Serenity, being quite an accomplished huntress, has been combing our woods for game with which to stock our larder.  She has harvested a number of grouse (which have mostly become appetizing luncheon dishes) and regularly sets up on her bear bait.  Last week deer season began, with a buck-only hunt until the first of November.  Serenity gained the permission of a corporate farming enterprise which operates directly to our west to hunt their vast holdings and commenced the hunt.  Two evenings Serenity checked out the lay of the land, rifle in hand.  She determined the travel pattern of the local deer and found the most likely location from which to take her shot.  The third evening, Serenity set out for the hunt, rifle, pack and radio in hand.  She took up residence in her previously scouted location, lay down prone with her rifle resting on a bipod and waited.  Soon she saw movement.  She tracked the migrating deer through her rifle scope, searching for the buck that she knew was with the group.  Finally her buck appeared.  Once he was within range (100 yards), Serenity whistled, aimed, set the first trigger, breathed out, squeezed the second trigger and sent her bullet downrange.  Down the buck went, Serenity's one and only round hitting his heart.

Miss Serenity and her buck

We love venison, so bagging a deer is a celebrated event in our home.  Serenity radioed and within minutes Sir Knight, Master Hand Grenade and I were in the field helping Serenity gut her kill.  Once home, the deer was hoisted and hung from the roof in our shed and Master Hand Grenade and Miss Serenity had him skinned in short order.

After hanging for two days Sir Knight, Serenity and Hand Grenade began the butchering process.  They set a table up outside (it was crisp and sunny) and went to work.  While they were butchering, Princess Dragon Snack and I readied the kitchen.  We washed canning jars, heated up the pressure canner and began cutting deer meat into stew meat and roasts.  We filled those jars quickly as the outside crew made short work of the entire deer carcass.  Within hours we had butchered and processed the entire deer.

The butchering process begins

Hand Grenade the Butcher

Jars are ready and lined up awaiting venison

Princess Dragon Snack doing her part

She really is handy with a knife

The finished product - truly fast food

We do can most of our venison, however, we save the tender backstraps and cut them into melt-in-your-mouth butterfly steaks.  After spending a day processing meat, we indulge in these special, once-a-year treats (with a few leftover for the freezer).  Butterfly steaks and raw fried potatoes - truly a hunter's delight.

Slicing the backstrap

Creating butterfly steaks

See how they fillet?

And now you know why they are called Butterfly's!

Beautiful

Raw fried potatoes

And dinner is served

Once the deer was processed, Master Hand Grenade and Miss Serenity went to work on the skull.  Miss Serenity wanted to keep the antlers attached to the skull and do a "European" mount with her antlers.  They filled an old stock pot with water, brought it to a boil on the barbecue (outside - it REALLY stinks!) and put the deer head into the water to boil off the skin and muscle.  It took a number of hours before the skin loosened enough to discard and many more hours before the skull could be picked clean.  Once the  skull was "clean", the kids took it out of the water and sprayed water through the cavities to clean the brain matter from the skull.  Yes, it was icky.  The skull, however, turned out beautifully.   After the skull had been thoroughly cleaned, Serenity scrubbed it with hot, soapy water and soaked it in a bowl of peroxide to whiten the skull.  The skull is now ready to be mounted and hung in a place of honor.

Boiling the skull

It takes awhile

Ready to be cleaned out

Hosing out the cavities

Getting every last little bit

Soaking in peroxide

Ready to be mounted!

Master Hand Grenade is now scouting for the perfect spot to harvest his trophy buck.  After tagging bucks, both of the kids are planning on putting in for a youth-only doe tag to be filled in November.  Our shelves will be brimming with venison!