Speaking of hunting stories

I was out this weekend and had an interesting day. Bright and early I crawled up into a buddies tree stand. It was one of those kind made for narrow hips and had sides on it (not for me). Just after day break I had a herd of deer walk up on my right. Only problem was I couldn't shift due to the tight fitting pocket I was sitting in. While waiting for them to get out in front of me, my nose starts tickling. I had one doe almost out in front but she was behind a bush and I couldn't shoot an arrow through it. Well needless to say I couldn't stop the sneeze and only managed to confine it partially. When that happened, the lead doe stopped and started looking around. At this point I had her about 15 feet out front just off to the right, one right under me to the right, one about 20 yards off to the right and four more behind me. As she looked back and forth, it was almost like a light went off in her head, she look back my way and right up at me. She stomped her foot, and the other two I could see, looked right up at me. All headed back the way they came.

I figured my day was done, they knew where I was, and climbed down to head home. I decided to stop at a blind we had set to cover a river crossing they just started using this year. I got all set up and called another friend of mine to see if he was coming out. I hung up the phone, laid it down, heard a crunch, looked out the front of the blind, and a doe stuck her head right in the blind opening. Good thing I brushed before leaving, she probably could smell my breath we were maybe three feet apart. Of course my bow is lying on the ground next to me. We both stood there for three or four minutes (felt like hours) neither one of us wanting to move. She finally decided my minty fresh breath, and those funny looking white spots in that tree trunk where harmless, wondered out about 20 yards showing her but to me the whole time. I did manage to get to my bow, turn her around, and do the deed. To date; 1 buck and 2 doe's, and 1 tag left.

I find the end of your story sick there is no way one family will eat 250# of meat I call this greed stay home!!!

Nothing sick about it. Sure can eat that meat. But it won't be 250lbs and even if it was, so what? A freezer or two filled up with deer meat is ok. He did it legal, he has the right to the meat. BUT................BUUUUUUUUUT....to shoot a doe after you've been intimate with her...facey/facey...just low. That's as bad as shooting the buck in the act. Despicable.

So I guess you only want folks to butcher HALF a cow at a time, too?

I killed two medium to small sized doe and ended up with 60 lbs of usable meat out of the two combined. Now I trim mine very closely. I cut most all the fat away as I dont care for deer fat. But 250 lbs might be streatching it. And nobody says you gotta eat it all yourself. I give lots away to family and friends. Besides, the damned things are a pest most places and need to be thinned.

Gene

Do you find donating deer to "Hunters for the Hungry" sick too? DH

# 250 is not that much meat. When my boys were growing up - 10 lb. roast with all the fixens for Sunday dinner and they still would be hungry.

I read the post and reply's, who said he had 250# of meat? He said how many he had shot and 1 tag to go, he didn't say what they dressed out at. Chris

Call it greedy, many do, I “really” don’t care. But I feel compelled to address a couple assumptions.

First being the 250# number. You are actually quite low. There are 3 to 4 of us every year that team up and hunt about 150 acres of woods. It depends on if the old geezer is up to sitting out in his blind. We each strive to fill our tags, we paid for them. Usually we end up in the 800 to 1000# pound range of processed meat.

The second assumption I feel needs to be addressed is the “one family” one. My kids are grown (5 in total). Couple buddies have 3 or more left at home, odd man usually is usually an old geezer, wife long gone (as in dead), but we do occasionally add in a young’n or two now and then. Generally we process out like this;

1/4 harvest is made into summer sausage / trail baloney – lip smackin good stuff.
1/4 harvest is made into hamburger – Used in anything not between buns.
1/4 harvest in stew meat – Well it speaks for itself, stew.
1/4 harvest (if a good age) is made into steaks with the remainder being hamburger that is made into jerky.

That meat is generally divided up between the 3 to 4 of us, a landowner, couple non hunting friends, and quite a few family members. So I (we) are not just hunting for ourselves. We are providing meat to at lest a dozen folks who really like us being greedy.