Guns & Outdoors Forum

When I moved back to PA 9 years ago, I didn't know the area or where to hunt. At my age, finding folks to hunt with isn't easy, and most folks have long-established hunting partners and friends having both knees replaced didn't help. Two years ago, I was invited to a piece of public land by my great-nephew. The first year I spent time in a ground blind but didn't get any good opportunities. The next year I built a blind but once again the possibilities were limited. This year I built My GN's father, Tom, the Brown's Town Castle blind. Though it's bow season in Pa they had a three-day Special Senior Citizen Antler-less rifle hunt. Friday the Castle but only saw a few buck. Saturday I hunted my blind and saw a small fork horn. I decided to hunt the Castle with Tom in the afternoon. Tom was hunting with a bow and as the day past we saw three small buck, none legal for him. At 5:30 a small deer antler-less cleared the brush at 50 yards and I immediately dispatched it with my Savage 99, 308. I didn't have time to get excited before the shot, but I was sure juiced as a field dressed it. It was DRT and exactly the animal I was looking for, a small button buck that will be tender and fill my small freezer. I had it in the garage and skinned before the hour was out. Jerky, stew meat, bacon burgers, Bambi Bone Minestrone...I can't wait!
download/file.php?mode=view&id=2551
Sorry no pic of the deer as I was in a hurry to get out before download/file.php?mode=view&id=2551dark ... ew&id=2549

Well done!

Much easier to sit longer in nice digs like that

Congrats

At my age and condition, it sure beats spot and stock in the cold. That was the way I used to hunt in Northern California, I miss it, but this is sure nice! I don't consider this hunting, it is more akin to harvesting.

Sounds like you are going to eat well Congrats

That’s ENTIRELY too comfortable. I’d be snoozing mid afternoon.

Someday soon I’ll be building one of those

When I hunted Blacktail in Northern Ca, we didn't have butchers, I had to teach myself how to dress and process a deer. Since I got at least one buck per year, we couldn't shoot a doe, I got good at it. One thing I decided was to use everything I could. Here in Pa they waste the neck and bones. I couldn't do that, so tonight I have the neck roast in the slow cooker and started a batch of Bambi Bone Minestrone. I have recovered about 5 lb of meat from the bones and two gallons of broth. After removing the fat from the broth, I'll add tomato, Veggies and herbs tomorrow. I also processed 15 lb of hamburger and will turn some into breakfast sausage.

Gosh, this feels good! Hand loading and hunting and processing again! Next comes eating and sharing. Life is good!

Freezer wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 2:52 am When I hunted Blacktail in Northern Ca, we didn't have butchers, I had to teach myself how to dress and process a deer. Since I got at least one buck per year, we couldn't shoot a doe, I got good at it. One thing I decided was to use everything I could. Here in Pa they waste the neck and bones. I couldn't do that, so tonight I have the neck roast in the slow cooker and started a batch of Bambi Bone Minestrone. I have recovered about 5 lb of meat from the bones and two gallons of broth. After removing the fat from the broth, I'll add tomato, Veggies and herbs tomorrow. I also processed 15 lb of hamburger and will turn some into breakfast sausage.

Gosh, this feels good! Hand loading and hunting and processing again! Next comes eating and sharing. Life is good!

Well done

Freezer wrote: ↑Wed Oct 25, 2023 2:52 am When I hunted Blacktail in Northern Ca, we didn't have butchers, I had to teach myself how to dress and process a deer. Since I got at least one buck per year, we couldn't shoot a doe, I got good at it. One thing I decided was to use everything I could. Here in Pa they waste the neck and bones. I couldn't do that, so tonight I have the neck roast in the slow cooker and started a batch of Bambi Bone Minestrone. I have recovered about 5 lb of meat from the bones and two gallons of broth. After removing the fat from the broth, I'll add tomato, Veggies and herbs tomorrow. I also processed 15 lb of hamburger and will turn some into breakfast sausage.

Gosh, this feels good! Hand loading and hunting and processing again! Next comes eating and sharing. Life is good!

Not sure what it is with folks wasting neck roasts...they do it here in MI too....probably some of the best meat on a deer...

IMHO, they don't respect the animal and don't know how to cook. Neck muscle is long and stringy, but in a slow cooker the meat falls off the bone and the bone itself releases a lot of flavor and protein. After removing the bones and meat, I chill the broth and remove the fat. I return the meat to the broth after shredding, then season to taste.

My in-laws thought I was crazy because I wanted the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving. It produced a large casserole and big pot of soup. The deer bones are a great source of protein and meat. They take some time to cook, but with a little beef bullion, veggies and herbs it makes a lot of very healthy stick to your ribs soup. My GSP loves the cooked bones.

Is it work? Heck ya! But it is so worth it. The amount of deer I didn't use fit into a small trash can liner. Next year when I'm retired I will process the hide to leather. Why? Because I've always wanted to and I can.

The neck grinds up nicely. Just like the rest of the meat.

Mine normally is ruined by a bullet. I prefer wasting that small amount of meat to anchor the rest "right there"

I prefer chest shots behind the shoulder. Yea, there's a lot of blood in the chest cavity when you field dress, but I want that! Less blood in the muscle tissue. I hit this buck just below the heart, and lost three ribs, no meat.

I was referring to the risk of losing the deer in the thick woods. Neck shots drop them in the field where you can still see them.

The creature comforts are definitely becoming desirable. I've been stashing a folding lawn chair in the primary hide a couple weeks before season opener. The tent back at the campsite got a Mr. Heater to sit in the rain fly's vestibule a few years back, and this year we added a shower with an inline heater. Makes the two-week stay a lot more do-able.

Your blind could very easily be insulated and that insulation could then be covered up with peg board for hanging all kinds of things. Something to ponder.

Bigslug wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2023 2:31 pm The creature comforts are definitely becoming desirable. I've been stashing a folding lawn chair in the primary hide a couple weeks before season opener. The tent back at the campsite got a Mr. Heater to sit in the rain fly's vestibule a few years back, and this year we added a shower with an inline heater. Makes the two-week stay a lot more do-able.

Your blind could very easily be insulated and that insulation could then be covered up with peg board for hanging all kinds of things. Something to ponder.

Blackout swivel chair. Best $59 I’ve spent on hunting equipment.

Bigslug wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2023 2:31 pm The creature comforts are definitely becoming desirable. I've been stashing a folding lawn chair in the primary hide a couple weeks before season opener. The tent back at the campsite got a Mr. Heater to sit in the rain fly's vestibule a few years back, and this year we added a shower with an inline heater. Makes the two-week stay a lot more do-able.

Your blind could very easily be insulated and that insulation could then be covered up with peg board for hanging all kinds of things. Something to ponder.

We talked about it, but the wasps and hornets would infest the place and be hard to eliminate, they're abd enough as it is in the early season. The heater is large enough to keep the castle warm on the coldest day. My small blind also has a wall heater now and 20 lb tank.

Freezer wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2023 2:58 pm

Bigslug wrote: ↑Sat Oct 28, 2023 2:31 pm The creature comforts are definitely becoming desirable. I've been stashing a folding lawn chair in the primary hide a couple weeks before season opener. The tent back at the campsite got a Mr. Heater to sit in the rain fly's vestibule a few years back, and this year we added a shower with an inline heater. Makes the two-week stay a lot more do-able.

Your blind could very easily be insulated and that insulation could then be covered up with peg board for hanging all kinds of things. Something to ponder.

We talked about it, but the wasps and hornets would infest the place and be hard to eliminate, they're and enough as it is in the early season. The heater is large enough to keep the castle warm on the coldest day. My small blind also has a wall heater now and 20 lb tank.

I'm trying to talk Tom into a portable toilet surrounded by camo under the castle for the women, but I think he's trying to discourage them. As for my blind, I want my wife comfortable and a place to go for a morning constitutional.