Processing a Deer

The idea of this post is to show you another side of what we do.  Dad is a huge hunter and as is the rest of the family, so around this time of year, we get to process a few deer and/or antelope and elk.  
 
This deer was shot by Big J. last Monday. 
 

Photo credit goes to Dad

After we get the deer home, we gut it (also called field dressing because sometimes this is done in the field).  All the inner parts are removed, the deer is washed out with a water hose if one's nearby, and frozen water bottles go where the guts once were.  We wrap the whole deer in a tarp or sheet and keep it in a horse trailer for a couple of days.  And it's usually cold out, so it doesn't spoil, plus the bottles keep it cool.

 

When it's done aging, we bring the deer inside the shop and hang it by the hind legs.  The skinning process is then started.  All hide is pulled or cut off the deer, exposing the meat.  In this picture below, you can see the "back strap" being cut off the back, near the spine.  This piece of meat is used for steaks.

  

 
Dad, with his many years of practice and knowledge, continues to cut off good parts of the deer for us to eat.
 
In this picture you can see a few piles of good meat that we will eat in the near future.
 

 
Once the meat is off the carcass, we three kids and Dad head into the kitchen to trim off any fat and other bad parts, along with cleaning off any hair.  At this stage, we turn on the Carpenters or Christmas music, it's a tradition...

And yes, the cats think they need to help in the step.  They swarm around the our feet and clean up any fallen scraps.  Here in this pic. BingBong is licking his lips as he moves from one scrap bucket to the other.
 

 

Dad is trimming this back strap

 And when all of the trimming and cleaning is done to the meat, it's time to pull out the meat grinder!  We use a meat grinder in order to make hamburger.  But remember, the back strap is kept separate, to be cut into steaks.  Also, we make a lot of stew meat, and that is hand cut as well.  But in this case, we mainly used the grinder. 
 
The chunks of meat are pushed into the machine.  Big J. and Little J. are both very good at this and help out, as shown in this picture.
 

 
The ground meat comes out looking just like hamburger you'd buy at the store, only this would be venison.
  

 

 
And we don't leave anyone out in this job!  Mom is the head of wrapping.  She takes the ground hamburger and other cuts (steaks, stew...) and wraps it, first in plastic wrap, and second in newspaper.
Apparently, her time working at Subway was a good thing since she now wraps all of our meat the same way as the subs.
 

 

When everything is wrapped, we label the package with a marker.  As this picture shows, we put the initials of the hunter (JB in this case), the animal (buck this time), date, and what cut (loin).   

 

Front

 

Back

 

 
Once we've wrapped and labeled every one of the packages, it's off to the deep freeze.  And I bet you can guess what happens after that. 

 
Now, this is just how we do it.  Other people have different ways, different cuts, and different wrapping ways.  But, this is the best way we've found and we like it.  : ) 

It's Thanksgiving Day

Hello!  It's a chilly, drippy day in Kansas.

Hope you enjoy and have a wonderful, blessed Thanksgiving!

~

Monday, Nov. 23rd  11:46 am

This year you'd find that our Thanksgiving is a little different from our traditional holiday, at least at the moment.  As I write this, I'm actually in a car, headed to Somerset, Kentucky.  There will be a funeral tomorrow (Tuesday, 24^th) for my great aunt.  So, now it's a road trip with my grandma, aunt, and cousin.  We are having a good time.

 

Right now, as we cross into Indiana, there is a brown field to the right of us, the road and lots of trees on the left.  Most of the trees have lost their leaves already, but some are still hanging on.  We've passed a lot of firework warehouses and many, many antique places. (OH! How I wish we had time to go antiquing!)

So far, it's a beautiful November morning.

Wednesday, Nov. 25th  11:56 am

We're on the road again.  For my birthday, I was able to go to a couple of antique shops!  (Yay!)  I bought a little photograph and a dress for Ambrosia. (Lucky girl. Ambrosia almost always gets a new outfit when I travel.)  But it was a pure pleasure to get to shop a while.  Next stop is Kansas City for a “birthday” meal. 

4:18 pm

Cheddar's is where we ate my birthday meal, and it was so good!  But that was a couple of hours ago.  Now we're driving west, headed to Dodge City. My cousin and I are in the back seat, laptops are open, as we work on our projects; editing photos and typing blog posts.  Such fun, right?

 

 

Here are some things I thought were neat about the trip.

We got to see the Kansas City Royals stadium!  I was instantly back in the mood for some baseball. 

Also, we saw an Amish Buffet and I thought that was pretty neat.

And there were so many beautiful barns back east.  Oh, the photos a person could capture!

 

Though the reason for going back east was a sad one, the little time we got to spend with family was so much fun and good for us.  I got to see a lot of people I hadn't seen since I was eight or nine, so that was great.

 

~

 

Thursday Morning

Now we're in Dodge, and I'm in my cousin's home office typing this post.  The rest of the fam. is in the kitchen talking and cooking the Thanksgiving meal.  We'll be having the turkey and stuffing/dressing, potatoes, salad, ham, and pies.  How tasty will that be!

 

3:06 pm

We are stuffed!  The meal was great.  And it sleeted outside as we finished up eating.  Now for the afternoon we'll visit, listen to Christmas music, and eventually head back to the ranch.   

 

Happy Thanksgiving!   : )

More from Today

We had to move our replacement heifers today.  It was pretty chilly with the wind, but what a beautiful day! 

We three kids rode the horses (led Dad's) to a gate north east of the house and met Daddy there.  From that spot, the four of us rode and gathered the heifers and two bulls in the pasture.  The move was easy like nearly all of ours and mostly uneventful.  Big J., however, spotted a live rattlesnake and Dad took care of it.  That is kind of crazy to see a snake this late in the year, but then we have had some nice days, so they, apparently, are putting off going and hibernating.

And after we finished pushing the cattle to the watering tank, we rode home, leading Dad's horse as he took the pickup to continue to check stuff.  : )

Picture Post, Nov. 19

Monday was one stormy night.  We could see huge clouds and lightning in the north and south, and tornadoes were touching down in both directions.  The radios were blaring with warnings, updates, and what to do in the case of a twister.  It was said, "it's spring out there, even though it's almost Thanksgiving."

The next day was clear, at least in the morning.  This picture, taken while walking the dogs, is of these clouds moving in, bringing wind and chilly temps.  Some areas around us even got snow.  

Yesterday... temps were in the 60's and it wasn't too windy. 

In Oklahoma, you just never can tell what the weather is going to do.  : ) 

Picture Post, Nov. 12

Hello once again.

It's time for another picture post and this week's photo is of two calves.  They were very cooperative and stood perfectly for their pictures. 

~

Yesterday, Little J. and I came in from picking the last of the garden.

So, yes, we had a garden this year, and yes, it was one of the best we've ever had.  The rains in April and May really jump started it and the rains after that helped keep it going.  It didn't get hot like some years in the past, and what a huge blessing that was as well.    : ) 

Thursday Morn

If you were to walk into our home today, you'd get a mixture of aromas; pumpkin cooking on the stove top, pears and pumpkin seeds drying in the oven, a sweet and salty smell of fruit and seasonings.

School books are scattered on the table while we prevent falling behind in our education.  One or two of the house kittens go pouncing in the sunrays of the late morning sun.  The wind howls outside, keeping it in our mind that a front moved in last night.

The leaves are getting ripped from the branches and I bet it'll be like any other fall--we won't be using that rake this year.  The grass is losing its green (we're surprised it even lasted this long), the air is getting crisp.  We are getting into that spirit which comes along this time of year.

Thanksgiving, time with friends and family, looking at what we're blessed with. 

It's a "typical" morning at the ranch.  : )