Two Deer in the Freezer and Not One Shot Fired

Post 17, Day 24 -- NaBloPoMo

This is the first year in more than twenty that Thomas hasn't been out there hunting on the first day of gun season. And it's the first year in twelve that Eler Beth hasn't been out by the second weekend of gun season.

Thomas has been in Ohio on a job. It keeps getting extended, and that is good, because it pays really well. We had already decided this year that if he didn't go deer hunting at all, that would be ok. And neither we nor Eler Beth was sure her health was going to allow her to go out. But Anthony was SO looking forward to going. He went for the first time last year but didn't get anything. So Thomas had promised that he'll take him this year IF he (Thomas) is free to go at all, and whether Eler Beth gets to go or not.  

We usually have two freezers full of deer, at least, and share with family and friends. Except for ground beef, I haven't bought beef in years. We package our own deer, so it is very clean and has a wonderful flavor. We don't grind up any, except just what I might want, as I want it, for chili or lasagna. It breaks my heart to see nice steaks and roasts ground up. I know someone who grinds up the backstrap (tenderloin), and that just makes no sense to me at all! 

Buuut… even though no one in the family has gone hunting, I still have two deer in the freezer lol.  

A friend of Thomas' likes to hunt with his grown son, but his wife won't let him bring it home or cook any. So he goes with his son and usually Thomas takes the deer from him and packages it and we give it to a family who can use it. One year we gave it to an elderly friend on a limited income, and she shared with her son who was out-of-work at the time. So this year Thomas called me the night before gun season opened and reminded me that Terry might be calling with a deer. My first feeling was panic! But then I assured him I could handle it. The problem was, Terry had never skinned or quartered a deer before. He usually brought them to Thomas field dressed and then Thomas did the skinning and quartering, etc. Eler Beth and Anthony were here for a few days, and Eler Beth knows how to skin a deer, but she would need help with hanging, and she wasn't feeling too well. So Thomas made a few phone calls, and Terry took the deer to our friend Bob's. Bob is in his 70s but still hunts, and Thomas usually goes with him the first day of gun season so he isn't alone. This year Thomas arranged for our mutual friend Mike to go with him. Well, Bob and Mike had got two deer, and Terry brought his and his son's two deer to Bob's as well. Eler Beth and Anthony went over to help skin and clean them, and Thomas called on another friend, Red, to help as well. It's a good thing, too, because neither Bob nor Mike realized how much Thomas usually does, and they were both quite worn out from just getting their deer out of the woods. Turns out Red and Anthony did most of the work. Eler Beth did what she could but was having a bad day, and Mike and Bob just really aren't that fast or good at skinning a deer.  

They brought Terry's two deer back to our house and I put them on ice water. We don't hang our deer. We keep two or three clean, large garbage cans that we bring out of storage every year and put the meat down in, covered in ice water. We keep them on water for two or three days, changing out the water every day.  Then we take it out, butcher it, put it back in water, sans bones, and then that day or the next, depending on what our schedules are like, we put the cuts in freezer bags and then wrap the bags in freezer paper and put them in the freezers. Our meat never tastes game-y, and it is always tender. 

Sooo… I switched the water every day and then began doing the slicing and cutting myself. Then Thomas' job was extended again, and I started packaging deer. 

It isn't the first time I've done it myself. One day in one of the first years Thomas was hunting, he had a doe quartered and in ice water in our kitchen in the apartment we lived in at the time. He had worked late the previous day when he'd intended to cut and package it that evening. When he called to say he'd be late again that night, I decided I was going to at least make a start on it. I was tired of it in my kitchen. So I began with the backstrap, the easiest piece to "butcher." I used a paring knife to remove the sinew and "silver skin" and cut the loin in sections. Then I went ahead and separated the rib cage (with a meat cleaver) into four sections. I packaged three of them and put the other on to cook -- oven BBQ. Then I started on the forelegs. 

I got out some of Thomas' knives that he usually uses for cutting the meat and then realized that the paring knife was as sharp as any of them, and it was more comfortable in my hand. Well, I had cut up almost all of the four legs, the backstrap, and the neck roasts into steaks, roasts, and stew meat, had BBQ ribs ready, a pan of home made biscuits in the oven, and a pot of mashed potatoes on the stove when Thomas came through the door that night. The fourth leg I knew I wasn't going to quite get done. So I had removed the shank meat but left the rest in a whole piece, wrapped it in freezer paper and put the whole thing in the freezer. I figured we could cook it as a big roast or Thomas could cut it up later. 

We'll see if Thomas and Eler Beth and Anthony get to make it out there the second half of the season, but we're good for now. 

Ta for now. 

~~ Lori