Which state has the best Mule Deer? - Page 2

bart · #21 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 06:03 AM

yes we do all of our own processing
we only keep the best steaks (backstraps and tenderloins)
my son, myself and my best friend make a few hundred pounds of bratwurst and italian links and also some bulk style breakfast sausage out of all of our deer
we bbq and grill them year round
we prefer to call them alfalfa rats as that's where they live and feed all summer
we buy a brat spice mix called blue ribbon and it's the best I've ever tasted, we blend our own spices for the italian links and breakfast
we've got heavy duty grinder a 20# capacity stuffer and after hours access to a butcher shop to use their chamber vac sealer

trularin · #22 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 11:47 AM

That is great.

We hang for a day and then, if we have the time, process ours as year long food. We try to harvest at least three deer.

We have a SS table we wash down each time. I use a #32 grinder for burger and we cut steak from the hinds. The burger is the cleanup, ribs, legs, neck, anything that needs a lot of work to remove and gets cut up.

We sausage when we run low, the last was sage breakfast. I have 200 pounds of boar breakfast, so making sage is mostly for a change.

I have not tried the Blue Ribbon Brat, how is it?

DAVID GAGNARD · #23 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trularin

Bart, that is a good cartridge.

We usually butcher steaks, burger and then sausage if we have time.

I like to have Blue Ribbon do my hunter sausage, they are amazingly good.

Do any of you do your own processing?

Yes I do all my own processing.... I don't hunt deer as much as I used to anymore, but, my brother-in-law lives/eats/breathes deer hunting and I usually get a deer every year and then he gives me one.......

I have a Harbor Freight meat saw/grinder combo, actually works well.... Hind quarters go to round steaks for soup and pot roast type cooking which my wife does very well..backstrap and tenderloin are saved pretty much for grilling and the rest is ground and mixed 50/50 with boston butts....(I have an antique sauage stuffer which will hold about 10 to 12 pounds of meat at a time and with a little help from my wife and daughter, we can butcher/cut/grind/make sausage and whatever else on a long saturday morning....) Half goes into sausage and the other half is packed in 3 pound packs of ground meat for burgers and what not....

I have my own recipes for sausage and I usually add a thing or two or try new spices pretty much every batch, so no two are exactly alike......no complaints soo far!!!!!!!!

Deer is the only game my wife/daughter will eat and they love it, so nothing is wasted on a deer carcass.......They used to be happy eating ducks/geese/squirrels/quail/rabbit, but for some unkown reason, they will not even let me cook any of that in the house anymore, much less eat it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David

392cobra · #24 (**permalink**) 10-21-2009, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronbo

392, I hope you gave that dog a good talking to about his necrophilia issue...

He was too focused on The Piece Prize to be worried about such details.

trularin · #25 (**permalink**) 10-22-2009, 06:33 AM

David, that is great to hear.

I have stopped the small game hunting. Too much to hunt for a single meal. My wife makes a great rabbit stew, but it takes a while to make enough to fill the pot.

I have a lot of boar, enough to be good for a couple of years, but I am thinking I should get a good brat mix.

We usually pack in 1 pound packs with the vacuum packer for the burger.

I think Bart has a good setup as he has access to a butcher shop.

So the harbor freight grinder works okay? How long have you had it? Our #32 is 30 years old. I just rebuilt the entire grinder and designed a nice controller for it.

Michigan rifle white tail starts Nov. 15th.

bart · #26 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 05:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trularin

I have not tried the Blue Ribbon Brat, how is it?

it is (IMO) the best brat I've tasted

we order it from central michigan butcher supply

http://www.mycmbs.com/catalog/c81_p1.html

I have not ordered anything from this place that wasn't first rate in flavor/quality

this is how we prepare a 25# batch

60% venison (15#)
20% pork (5#)
20% pork fat (5#)
1 quart buttermilk
1 quart ice water
10 eggs
blue ribbon spice mix
mix and stuff into casings

we'll also add 1/4 cup (total) of cayene and red pepper flakes for a hot brat batch

trularin · #27 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 07:52 AM

SO, I went to the site, got excited and then realized the entire page was brat mix.

Bart, which one do you use?

Have you tried the apple brat mix?

Thanks for the mix, it looks worth trying.

I'm going to try to find the sage mix and post it.

DAVID GAGNARD · #28 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trularin

David, that is great to hear.

I have stopped the small game hunting. Too much to hunt for a single meal. My wife makes a great rabbit stew, but it takes a while to make enough to fill the pot.

I have a lot of boar, enough to be good for a couple of years, but I am thinking I should get a good brat mix.

We usually pack in 1 pound packs with the vacuum packer for the burger.

I think Bart has a good setup as he has access to a butcher shop.

So the harbor freight grinder works okay? How long have you had it? Our #32 is 30 years old. I just rebuilt the entire grinder and designed a nice controller for it.

Michigan rifle white tail starts Nov. 15th.

Tru:

I can't find it on the Harbor Freight site, but here is the same one at Northern Hydraulics...

http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...s%2Bmeat%2Bsaw

I have been having mine for at least 10 years now, maybe longer...when I bought it,it was about 175 bucks. it's not the best made unit (China,I'm sure), but for my use, does the job, the meat grinder works exceptionally well as the motor is a 1 hp unit. the grinder attaches to the side as seen in the photo and runs directly off the motor. You can drop fist size hunks of meat in it and it will not slow down..... About the largest thing you would want to cut up on the meat saw would be deer size hind quarters and it does it pretty good, it's not really big enough for anything much bigger..........

I use the meat grinder more than the saw part and love it, it would take a good size peice of bone to choke it down............I think it also comes with the sausage stuffer, not sure, but I don't like making my sausage with the grinder part, I find it re-grinds the meat too much and makes it into a semi-paste, we like our sausage coursely ground as our ground meat... The grinder comes with 2 or 3 different size grinding attachements and I only use the most course one..........

The grinder attaches to the side with a set screw and is easily removed and taken apart for washing, the rest of the unit, I just hose off after use with the water hose to get the biggest part of stuff out of it, then wash by hand with soap and water..........

David

bart · #29 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 08:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trularin

SO, I went to the site, got excited and then realized the entire page was brat mix.

Bart, which one do you use?

Have you tried the apple brat mix?

Thanks for the mix, it looks worth trying.

I'm going to try to find the sage mix and post it.

yes, the whole page is brat spice mixes
I use the "blue ribbon" mix
we've tried the apple, the wisconsin, the tomato basil, W and the munich
all are tasty and I wouldn't hesitate to try anything on that page
based on reviews and praise from friends and guests at BBQ's we stick with the blue ribbon blend for our brats

trularin · #30 (**permalink**) 10-24-2009, 07:22 PM

David, that is an awesome grinder.

Bart, thanks for the direction there, we are going to try the Blue Ribbon this year.

It rained most of the day, so I decided not to hunt. I fixed the tractor instead.

Is the season open for you guys?

DAVID GAGNARD · #31 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trularin

David, that is an awesome grinder.

Bart, thanks for the direction there, we are going to try the Blue Ribbon this year.

It rained most of the day, so I decided not to hunt. I fixed the tractor instead.

Is the season open for you guys?

Bow season opens Oct. 1st, traditionally gun season opens Thanksgiving weekend.............

David

bermblaster41 · #32 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 11:15 AM

I thought I would throw in a vote for Idaho. We still have alot of open hunts. This is a buck taken by a guy I went to high school with. This nice buck was taken on public land on an open hunt. Still lots of nice deer. Berm

Silverback51 · #33 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bermblaster41

I thought I would throw in a vote for Idaho. We still have alot of open hunts. This is a buck taken by a guy I went to high school with. This nice buck was taken on public land on an open hunt. Still lots of nice deer. Berm

That is one fine deer sir.

Buzz · #34 (**permalink**) 10-25-2009, 06:31 PM

Yup - the dog would have a grand ol' time with that sucker.

trularin · #35 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 07:48 AM

Berm, is this 'open hunt' open to people out of state?

bermblaster41 · #36 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 08:58 AM

Trularin here is the link to the regs. Not sure on the non resident open hunts. Hope this helps. http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/licenses/ Berm zone 56 is where he got that buck.

Scott S · #37 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 08:40 PM

The last big deer I killed with a rifle was a 7 point in Eastern Oregon, the last deer I killed in the woods was one I fell a tree on (no kidding)!

It's deer season here in the great NW, I wonder why so many hunter have such lousy marksmanship that I end up with at least one or more windows shot out of my equipment every year.

I HATE hunting season...

bermblaster41 · #38 (**permalink**) 10-26-2009, 08:55 PM

Scott that really sucks.. The places I hunt are miles away from civilization and any logging. A$$holes like that ruin it for the responsible hunters. Berm

trularin · #39 (**permalink**) 10-27-2009, 10:30 AM

Scott, that is just stupid or mean.

Maybe you should put up game cameras. Then you can take the pictures to the sheriff.

Dang, that sucks.

Berm, thanks for the link.

Wes Tausend · #40 (**permalink**) 10-29-2009, 03:29 AM

...

Tru,

I would vote Montana too. It's probably about as close to home as you can get and still see good Muley numbers. Might as well get a 'lope license right away too. Antelope don't taste as good, but then there isn't as much to eat anyway. The word goat comes to mind.

We have Mule Deer in ND too (opens Nov 6) and a lot of guys hunt them in the rugged Badlands in the western part of the state. However, most of the guys, and their dogs, are too tired to do much of anything after walking those Badland hills. Normally Whitetail (Heh, heh, he said 'tail) range east of the Missouri and Mule Deer west. I'm partial to the corn-fed flavor and hunting ease of Whitetail doe.

I should probably mention that North Dakota Mule deer are actually crossed with mules. Whereas that might sound like "horse hockey" to start with, there is a heck of an advantage to it.
The darn critters will pack themselves out.
Of course you gotta tag them first, get 'em to follow ...then shoot them beside your truck later. They taste better if you let them rest a while first.

Wes

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