Back w/a Buck!!!

[slydel0kt]

Man, what a great week!
Spent it in SW Ga at our family land, and the pre rut kicked off 'bout Friday morning w this buck followed a doe past my stand. I mouth-grunted him, he whirled, dropped his head and ran to the edge of the stand of pines I was in, and well, the rest is on the table and on the wall.

My parents were able to relocate permanently to thier retirement house in August, and my dad has spent almost all his time since then working in the property, while mom has pert near worn herself out restoring the house.

My best friend since jr high was able to come up and stay w/ us, and he took two nice does home. I put one fat dry doe in the Family freezer, and one in my freezer here at my house.
Forgive my crummy pics, camera crapped out, hadda use a cell phone.

dan

 

[Dr.Rob]

Thick necked deer, nice trophy!

 

[slydel0kt]

Thanks, Doc.
Yeah, I gotta tell ya, he was impressive.
Had a lotta nice compliments from the locals who got a look at him. Fellow that does our processing does a "deer bacon". We got 30lbs of it coming from this ol' boy.

As our food plots and supplementation can now be managed all year round (now that my parents are full time Ga residents), the deer will continue to flourish and provide some great meat and fine racks. Most importantly, it provides a place to pass on traditions and lifetime memories. At one time last year, we had 4 generations in the woods at one time: my Grandfather, my Dad, me, and my two kids. Not many folks are so fortunate.

dan

 

[Jwbfx4]

Great buck, Congrats.

 

[surjimmy]

Man is that a nice deer, how much did he weigh? When I was in the Marines 2 of my buddies were from Georgia, they never shot anything like that and they were hard core hunters. That was back in the late 80's. Here in Oklahoma we are have a success story going bad. 20 years ago you would be hard press to see a deer like that or any deer for that matter. Now they are becoming almost a problem. Is that the same there?

 

[Leverb66]

I'd like to hear more about that "deer bacon"

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Lever, Deer Bacon is actually very good. If it is the same as I used to get in Kentucky, It is 50-50 deer and ham processed together and cut really thin. Kind of like minute steak. Cooks up fast and tastes really good.

 

[slydel0kt]

surjimmy-First and foremost, Thank You for your service. Weight was just over 200lbs based on cheesy scale at processor. My buddy took a 200lbs 8pt off the same property last year in a blowing rain. 2007, I took a really nice 8pt in a stand of pines not too far off from this stand. My dad took a tall 8 on the first day we had the property in '06. In '06 the property had been clear cut for the most part, and we had put stands up on trails following some last minute scouting. Now, we have some cleared areas for food plots, but due to lack of rain, nothings come up.
So, for 230 acres, and very minimal plot management up to this point, the area has produced some really nice animals. Hell, the first doe my best friend ever shot looked more like a llama than a deer. The surrounding area has a lot to do w it, too. Peanuts, soybeans, sorghum, oats are all grown in the surrounding properties as crops in rather large acreages. We have two creeks that make up boundaries and converge to make a pond, so water supply for the animals is always there. It's also a QDM county, and that helps, I'm sure for any bucks that have survived and moved to our area. And, at this point, we are content to let basket 8's and less impressive animals walk. By doing that last year, I think that accounts for the size and condition of the animals we've harvested this season so far.

Leverb66-deer bacon. Yessir, you need ta git ya some. It looks like a course grind combined w pork fat for consistency and adhesive qualities, and formed like thick jerky that you don't smoke down. Bobby (processor) won't tell anyone how he does it. I for one, don't care. Long as he does it.

Thanks for all the kind words, guys. Means a bunch from The High Road.

dan

 

[Dr.Rob]

My dad shot a mule deer that was 'puffed up' like that at the neck, we feared it meant he was still 'in rut' but it tasted great.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Rob, Rutted up doesn't mean it will taste bad. Usually they only taste funky if they just got through with a fight within the past couple of hours of shooting it. Also, if rutted up, you need to be particularly careful of the Tarsal gland area when skinning. One slip and you get all that "yucky" stuff in the meat. Another thing is NEVER hang a rutted buck with skin on as they have "pissed up" their hocks and that will seep into the meat as well.

Some think it is Adrenaline and some think it is Lactic Acid that makes the meat taste funky after it has ran after being shot or after being in a fight soon before the kill. Could be a combination of both or it could be either. Who knows.