Yes My Deer I’m Through

Last Wednesday I managed to get a young button buck, antlerless deer not too far from my parent’s home. It was at the top of the hill that my brother and I as well as the neighborhood kids would sled ride. It was the same hill that we would struggle up to meet our friends to go swimming in the summer. There was a closer swimming hole, but the trek to swim with friends sometimes outweighed the heat of the journey.

The first couple of days hunting, the fields and woods seemed void of deer, although there were buck rubs and trails. It didn’t seem to have any deer there. I tried some other areas before heading back to that hilltop. It was a success.

Over the past few days I was able to butcher the deer myself. I learned basic meat cutting at my grandfather Ray Miner’s farm. Each year the family would gather to butcher two hogs and a beef. It was an all hands on deck project with assigned tasks. My uncle Francis Peck and I would strip any meat that clung to the bones for sausage or ground beef. The women clean the natural casings, season the sausage meat, and then stuff the sausage in the casings. They would also sort, wrap, and label the types of meat to put in the freezer. Before the freezer, the meats were canned in Mason jars and stored in the basement. Pork fat was rendered into lard for cooking and baking. The hog hides would be scraped and the beef hide was cleaned to be sold.

There are several reasons that I like to butcher my own deer. If I find a hair on the meat, I know who to blame, I remove the meat from the bones before cutting. I don’t like the splinters and bone “dust” from cutting the meat with a band saw. I know it is my deer and not someone else’s. I know how it was handled and how long it waited to be cut up. The meat I get is all the meat from my deer.

Friday, I used some of the meat to make jerky. I put the strips to marinate for several days, then I placed it on trays to dehydrate. My house quickly filled with that spicy, mouth-watering aroma. I usually have to hide it to save some for myself when my kids visit.

Monday, I removed the last of the meat and took it to my brother’s house to grind, season, and fill the casings to make salami. Coming home, I placed the salamis in a roaster. After cooking, I hung them to cool. I finished wrapping the steaks bound for the freezer.