Just got my first deer

C

Cerick

New member
Last weekend I shot my first whitetail. It felt great and I cant wait to get out and get another one. Hopefully next time ill get a buck! It was a pretty good size doe taken with a TC Encore 20ga slug barrel using 3" Federal barnes expander slugs. Took it in Smyrna NY, in Chenango County.
P1010625.jpg
P1010626.jpg

P1010646.jpg

Then a couple of pics of me pheasant hunting yesterday.
P1010651.jpg
P1010654.jpg
 
That's a good sized doe. Bucks are overrated. Age that meat young man. Hang it somewhere just above freezing fer several days before you butcher or pay to have it processed.

Congrats!!!
 
I sure did age it. Shot it saturday, had it hanging from that rope in 10-33 degree weather till i brought it to the butcher on wednesday. Think thats enough?

You cant see it that well from the hanging pic, but coyotes got to it the first night it was hanging out and ate some of its right rear leg. Not too bad though. The night after I stayed outside in a blind facing the deer waiting for those damn 'yotes but they got smart and stayed away
 
The weather was a bit on the cool side to really age well. The ballpark is 34-40 degrees F for as little as 3 days and as much as 10 or even more under very well controlled climes. You might want to consider hanging it in a garage with a tarp around it or skin on in the future. The goal is to allow the meat's natural enzymes to start breaking down the collagen while simultaneously inhibiting bacterial growth. If it freezes too fast rigidity never relaxes and the meat stays tough.

I've got a couple little does (quartered) in coolers sitting on top of ice as I type. I'll change the ice in a couple days and let it sit till perhaps Friday or Saturday. They should stay right around 33-34 degrees. Just remember to keep water off the meat. I have them in plastic bags and keep the ice under the meat not covering them.

Sorry to hear about the 'yotes. I'd rather loose both shoulders than 1/2 a hind.
 
Congrats on the doe! Outstanding!

I got skunked this year (didn't even see one), but a day outside in the timber beats an hour of being stuck inside a cube at work any day of the week.

Now get your crockpot/grill ready, and make sure to read up on how to cook venison, which is pretty easy to screw up if you've never cooked it before. But done properly, venison (especially doe venison) is great. :)
 
Good kill! Fancy shootin' iron too! Nice birds too!
What is the phase the deer are in? Full rut? Our rut is quite a bit off yet.
Brent
 
Good Job! I shot my first deer a couple of weeks ago, in Hamilton NY, a few miles north of Smyrna. Wasn't as big as yours. Nice Shootin!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top