More About that Deer

If you're interested in reading a bit more about the deer I talked about in my previous post... you can find more here:

This is the second deer I've ever shot, and it was no less an intense experience for me than the first time around. In a way though, I hope that killing an animal, even when I know I'm going to respect it the best I can and waste as little as possible, will never become easy.  

This time was kind of special though since my father got one (his third for the season - he wasn't under nearly the self-imposed pressure that I was!) on the same night.  We were hunting behind my parents house (they have about 40 acres just a few miles from where we live), I in a blind on the ground an my father several hundred yards from me in a tree stand. Literally seconds after I took my shot, I heard another rapport from the direction I knew Dad was. I knew if he shot that he too would have a deer.

My own shot was clean and the deer died only a couple hundred feet from where I was. I know this is a little corny, but I couldn't help but thank the animal for its life and for what it will provide us, before I dragged my deer to where I could dress it and started that process. A while later Dad pulled his over and worked beside me. We got them back to my father's barn and shocked my mother when we told her we BOTH got deer that night!

We are so happy and grateful for our freezers that will be full of meat now. Thanks Dad, for setting such a great example for me and being such a patient teacher; we will enjoy and appreciate the meat of both animals this winter.

Dad and I with our Deer - December 18th, shot with muzzle-loaders.



The long and tedius but fruitful job of butchering (from start to finish took us three full days to do both deer). 
Here, one of the rear legs, with containers of meat set aside for burger and canning of stew pieces.



Doug running the vacuum packer - with bags of steaks that we're sure to enjoy soon!