Sunday, December 13, 2009

Boom Boom

I guess after this, I can't ever rag FloridaCracker about his crazy-ass ladder stunts. Now, it is secure. Everything is clamped and braced off but I don't recommend or advocate standing a ladder on anything but the ground or actual building structure, like a deck or so. I've just got a little painting to do up there and then I can take all this down and be done with all this really high stuff. I would like to finish this before Allen leaves on Tuesday, just in case I, in a fit of clumsiness, decide to fling myself off this structure.
I was woken late last night by some really strong lightning strikes (thus the Boom, Boom) and the first thought to hit my groggy mind was, 'oh Lord, don't let that lightning hit all that metal sticking up in the air, leaning against the outside of my bedroom wall.' Wouldn't that be a pisser?

I got to thinking about that last post and I hope no one got the idea that I just go around blasting animals. Now, I have no problem with hunting if done legally, responsibly and conservatively. In fact, in many situations, such as this area, the deer must be harvested or they will become over populated and suffer. Since we have screwed with the natural balance of things and removed so many natural predators, we must now manage these species.
The guys at work have encouraged me to hunt and my father often took me hunting when I was younger and taught me how to use a variety of guns but I have never really gotten into it myself. And yes, I keep a couple of guns and a recurve bow, which I really enjoy shooting but wouldn't use to hunt with.
I had been working outside all day, with Lika there with me, when he heard some other dogs in the distance and ran to see what was going on. They got really close and I heard Lika's bark, very urgent. I knew something was up and walked up the hill just a short distance to where Allen had cleared an area for a pole barn. There was a group of dogs on the hill, in the brush, and when they saw me they all took off. All except Lika who stood there looking at something and barking occasionally. He wanted me to come look. When I got there I saw a large 6-point buck on the ground and actually wedged between the forks of a small twin tree. It didn't' respond at all when I walked up and one of my buddies told me later this probably indicated that the deer was already in shock. I could see blood on the ground leading up to the deer and assumed someone had got a bad shot off and only wounded the deer, it having run over to my land. I told Lika to hush and stay with it, to which he laid down next to the deer and put his head on it's rump. It didn't respond to that either. So, I walked back to the house, got the .38 my daddy gave me and called Allen to ask him to come down and help me get the animal out of the brush and hung up. I wasn't going to waste the poor thing. Lika was still laying quietly next to the buck when I got back and I had to make him move away; I didn't want to risk him jumping in front of me or something like that. I only tried to think that the animal was suffering and to hurry so I just quickly placed one shot to the back of it's head and after a few seconds it laid it's head down and died. About that time Allen arrived and we drug it out and down to a clearing where we could hang it. I called Daddy Rabbit in a panic; this thing was Big and I had never dismantled an animal this large. He talked me through it though and Allen helped hold, so I guess in about an hour I had it quartered and ready to go in the fridge. I'm not going to go into details but I think I did very well; I didn't split any internal parts I wasn't supposed to and I didn't barf. I realized the deer had not been shot but the stump of a leg was where the blood was coming from as the deer had apparently fell numerous times on it. It showed no signs of infection or anything of the sort but I did discard most of that area anyway.
I washed everything really well and stored in the fridge until the next day when I packed the quarters in ice and salt for 5 days before cutting everything up the way I wanted it. Now, several guys told me that the state of the deer (of having been run by the dogs) could affect the taste of the meat but I couldn't bear the thought of wasting this animal so I was willing to try. It came out fine and the meat is wonderful; no gamey taste at all. So, I thanked the deer for his gift and tried to be efficient and careful with him. He will come in very handy to me since I'm out of work and things are looking really slim right now. As one of the older carpenters, I could ask that I be put back to work as soon as something is available but knowing that we have young men with children out of work, I told the personnel director to take them first. I can fend for myself until work picks up. And by the way, deer tacos are really good.

*Big Head Todd and The Monsters

13 comments:

Aunty Belle said...

What a wonderful post, Edi-Rex.

Uncle is a hunter, an we eats a whole lotta venison durin' the year. Of coursem CHristmas mornin' we feast on venison sausage.

Youse right! The deer is a gift--orangic, untainted and not gamy--an how well ya done cuttin' it up an' all. Pretty cleveah lady ya is.

Thanky fer yore visit an' kind words.

I'se grateful enough to share:

Venison scallopini:

Cut 3 ounce rounds from the heavy end of the tenderloin. Dredge lightly in flour seasoned wif' salt, white pepper (black will do too) an' a mere hint of thyme.

Then place each round (one at a time) a'tween waxed paper and pound until the round is double in size and quite thin. Re-dredge then shake off any excess.

Saute in olive oil on medium heat until jes' golden (3 minutes or so), flip an cook one minute only! remove to warm plate--

When all the scallopinis is cooked an et out on warm plate, add 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice to the pan, then 1/2 cup of white wine, turn low, as meat back to pan an' sprinkle wif' chopped parsley iffin' ya like --cook about 2 minutes then place scallops of venison over a serving plate of fresh cooked linguine, then pout wine lemon pan sauce over all, sprinkle with grated Parmesan or Reggiano cheese-- NO RED SAUCE in this dish.

sauteed mushrooms kick this dish up a notch. I promise--most folks cain't tell it is venison, an after they praise ya fer the delicious veal scallopini, ya can tell 'em yore secret!!

R.Powers said...

Hey, I resemble that remark!
LOL! Your ladder arrangement is a thing of beauty.

And good job salvaging the deer.

Beau said...

Holy moly that is some ladder contraption! Kind of nice to have someone around in case of whatever... I'm usually out fiddling by myself and always wonder. Glad you put up the venison- not easy to do.

MamaHen said...

Hey Aunty! thanks so much for your words and the wonderful recipe! I will try it! I have cooked some of the tenderloin already and it is sooo good; this will be delightful.
thank you!

Hey FC! ha! i thought you would appreciate that creation!

Hey Beau! it'd it!? contraption is a good word for it.
it was hard to put up all that meat but i'm glad i did.

Ed said...

Not sure on Alabama laws but in most states, you need to call the local DNR office to get a salvage tag otherwise you can get into trouble should someone reading your blog report you.

I've cooked a lot of deer and never had one that I would say tasted gamey. I've even had people not even know it was deer until after I told them but I don't eat too much deer directly outside of deer sticks. Mostly I just replace beef in other recipes with it.

MamaHen said...

Hey Ed! Alabama law allows hunting on your own property with no license or many other restrictions. Still have to observe the game limits and season dates, which I was well within. But good point tho.
I've just been replacing the beef in recipes like you say, and it's great.

Linda said...

I know you generally eat healthier than we do, but I made bacon cheeseburger meatloaf with some venison someone gave us. It was pretty good. I have a hard time eating deer, but it's the thought more than anything.

I'm sure he was thankful for your mercy.

By the way, Sammy saw Allen Saturday...he said his beard made him look almost like an Amish man : )

MamaHen said...

Hey Linda! well, I ragged Allen until he trimmed that thing before going back over to England.
I had to wait a little while before I could eat any of the deer; just had to get certain images out of my head. And smells.
Meatloaf with it probably would be good.

Omelay said...

great post, interesting, surprising and insightful.

MamaHen said...

Hey karl! thanks!!

Shannon said...

Meatloaf with it is good. Our favorite? Lasagne.

countrypeapie said...

Jeez Annie -- is there anything you DON'T know how to do?!? Come end times, I'm runnin' to your house!!! ;)

MamaHen said...

Hey Shannon! i've heard others say the lasagna is very good.

Hey Pea! oh, there's plenty I can't do!