To deer or not to deer?

[NRA4LIFE]

Steve,

I too do all my own butchering and sausage making. I've found Eldon's to be the best source for casings, especially hog and sheep casings. The Sausagemaker.com site also is great, but a little pricey. I have a copy of Rytek Kutas book "Great Sausage Making Recipes and Meat Curing" available at that site that I have literally almost worn out. I consider it my bible for these activities.

 

[JackOfAllTradesMasterAtNone]

I eat what I shoot...

Or I should say, 'What I shoot, get's eaten'.

I have two refrigerator freezers tween the kitchen and the garage. And there's a standup freezer in the garage too. If I'm successful and my huntin partner isn't, then I share. Visa-versa. My boys hunt too. And with having bought a half butchered beef last summer, that added to two deer and my Whitetail trophy/head that I kept frozen before taking it and the cape to the taxidermist, it was tough to have enough freezer room for the butchered meat.

If I had limited cold storage, then I guess I'd share more, or hunt smaller deer. Doe's maybe. Especially if I wasn't into the trophy mount.

Don't shoot a buck if all you need is a hind quarter or back strap. Take a nice tender doe or two where there's game management need. There are different laws in all states, but I'll bet you can find a situation or permit hunt that will both serve your purpose of limited meat and assist animal population control. If your state allows you to donate to a food bank, then by all means- do it. Don't let low in colesterol venison go to waste. I gave half a deer to a single mother one time. She was very grateful to have that much meat in the freezer. Saved her a bunch of grocery money.

-Steve