Calling all Hunters/Gatherers

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  • beautifulchaos135
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    You know one of the best reasons I love to process my own meat, 'cause "I" can control the quality of it. I can control what goes in it (if I choose to grind deer/hogs to make sausage patties/links) or if just grinding for "ground meat", whether I add any fat to it or not or how much if I choose to add (just ground deer/hog only, no fat added.... grinding for sausage, just a hint added). I get chastised quite often for huntin'/fishin' etc... but there's one thing I can tell you, I know EXACTLY what I'm eatin' and where it came from and how it was processed LOL

    What do most of y'all do, process your own or use a meat locker?

    We had someone process a deer for us. It took two weeks to get it back and the meat looked really dark. Needless to say, we learned how to process our own deer after that. For the same reasons you do.

  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
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    You know one of the best reasons I love to process my own meat, 'cause "I" can control the quality of it. I can control what goes in it (if I choose to grind deer/hogs to make sausage patties/links) or if just grinding for "ground meat", whether I add any fat to it or not or how much if I choose to add (just ground deer/hog only, no fat added.... grinding for sausage, just a hint added). I get chastised quite often for huntin'/fishin' etc... but there's one thing I can tell you, I know EXACTLY what I'm eatin' and where it came from and how it was processed LOL

    What do most of y'all do, process your own or use a meat locker?

    We butcher, make what we can into steaks, roasts, and chunks for stew. Scraps from everything harvested for the season go into a bag in the freezer. When the season is over it goes to guy who makes summer sausage and pepperoni sticks. It's a few hundred dollars to have done but it's divided between those we hunt with so it's not too bad.
  • JDMac82
    JDMac82 Posts: 3,192 Member
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    I process everything from boning to making cuts of meat IE steaks, roasts, chops, stew meat. Front half ground up for jerky.
  • 11Templars
    11Templars Posts: 444 Member
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    We process all our own meat as well. The only red meat our family eats is game meat.

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  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
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    This thread needs more pictures. I live vicariously through hunting pictures. :)
  • Tweaking_Time
    Tweaking_Time Posts: 733 Member
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    CooCooPuff wrote: »
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    This thread needs more pictures. I live vicariously through hunting pictures. :)

    More hunting pictures...hmmm...When both of my kids got out of college, I bought myself a graduation present B)

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  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    You know one of the best reasons I love to process my own meat, 'cause "I" can control the quality of it. I can control what goes in it (if I choose to grind deer/hogs to make sausage patties/links) or if just grinding for "ground meat", whether I add any fat to it or not or how much if I choose to add (just ground deer/hog only, no fat added.... grinding for sausage, just a hint added). I get chastised quite often for huntin'/fishin' etc... but there's one thing I can tell you, I know EXACTLY what I'm eatin' and where it came from and how it was processed LOL

    What do most of y'all do, process your own or use a meat locker?

    I do the same and for the same reason. If I get too busy I have a butcher who I trust, but much prefer to do this myself and get the kids involved for the simple lesson of personal responsibility and self sufficiency.

    I disregard those who chastise as they are always willfully ignorant and uninformed.

    Deer bow season starts Sept. 17th in WI - still have a few weeks to tune it in.
  • camoballerina91
    camoballerina91 Posts: 257 Member
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    You know one of the best reasons I love to process my own meat, 'cause "I" can control the quality of it. I can control what goes in it (if I choose to grind deer/hogs to make sausage patties/links) or if just grinding for "ground meat", whether I add any fat to it or not or how much if I choose to add (just ground deer/hog only, no fat added.... grinding for sausage, just a hint added). I get chastised quite often for huntin'/fishin' etc... but there's one thing I can tell you, I know EXACTLY what I'm eatin' and where it came from and how it was processed LOL

    What do most of y'all do, process your own or use a meat locker?

    My husband and I have a friend, more like family, who processes our meat for us. I do my own cuts: steaks and roasts, and he makes our sausages and jerky.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    You guys must have some huge freezers. Plus a back up power source if the electricity goes down? My apartment building loses power for hours at a time on a fairly regular basis. I can't count how many times I've had to throw away the meats in the freezer. Now I don't stock up too far in advance. The money down the drain - I can't stand to think about it.

    Back on topic though, I love the idea of a family eating its red meat only from the game it's hunted. Cool.

    We actually had to get a second freezer last year. We weren't expecting it to be such a good year or for my mom to get such a large deer. So last minute he's running out to get a freezer while everyone is butchering. Currently there's only a bear head and a deer head, With a few summer sausages and 30lbs of bear meat.

    Our power was out for a whole week last year thankfully before the season. We now have a generator.
  • BackwoodsDarlin
    BackwoodsDarlin Posts: 109 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    You guys must have some huge freezers. Plus a back up power source if the electricity goes down? My apartment building loses power for hours at a time on a fairly regular basis. I can't count how many times I've had to throw away the meats in the freezer. Now I don't stock up too far in advance. The money down the drain - I can't stand to think about it.

    Back on topic though, I love the idea of a family eating its red meat only from the game it's hunted. Cool.

    I've got 2 large upright freezers, 1 smaller chest freezer and a refrigerator freezer.... my folks have 1 large upright freezer, 2 large chest freezers plus 4 refrigerator freezers. o:)

    Generator as back up electrical source :)

  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    You guys must have some huge freezers. Plus a back up power source if the electricity goes down? My apartment building loses power for hours at a time on a fairly regular basis. I can't count how many times I've had to throw away the meats in the freezer. Now I don't stock up too far in advance. The money down the drain - I can't stand to think about it.

    Back on topic though, I love the idea of a family eating its red meat only from the game it's hunted. Cool.

    1 large chest freezer always full. We're on a priority grid next to a school, so power doesn't go out long, if ever. I do have a back up genny on standby, but never had to use it.
  • Owlie45
    Owlie45 Posts: 806 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    Rottified wrote: »
    newmeadow wrote: »
    You guys must have some huge freezers. Plus a back up power source if the electricity goes down? My apartment building loses power for hours at a time on a fairly regular basis. I can't count how many times I've had to throw away the meats in the freezer. Now I don't stock up too far in advance. The money down the drain - I can't stand to think about it.

    Back on topic though, I love the idea of a family eating its red meat only from the game it's hunted. Cool.

    We actually had to get a second freezer last year. We weren't expecting it to be such a good year or for my mom to get such a large deer. So last minute he's running out to get a freezer while everyone is butchering. Currently there's only a bear head and a deer head, With a few summer sausages and 30lbs of bear meat.

    Our power was out for a whole week last year thankfully before the season. We now have a generator.

    Wait a minute. Bear meat? I honestly didn't know people ate bear meat. I thought it was strictly a languish on a bear fur in front of a crackling fireplace thing. I learned something new today!

    LOL. Oh yeah it's pretty good. But you got to get ALL the fat off. It will develop a funky taste if you dont. And you have to cook it all the way through or you could end up with triginoses sp? The reason pork was to be cooked all the way through.
    My dad shared some meat with this guy that hunted all the time. And he was shocked that he enjoyed it. I guess where he was from you didn't eat bear at all. He actually called his brother and told him he was eating bear and his brother was like "wtf is wrong with you?"
  • camoballerina91
    camoballerina91 Posts: 257 Member
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    newmeadow wrote: »
    You guys must have some huge freezers. Plus a back up power source if the electricity goes down? My apartment building loses power for hours at a time on a fairly regular basis. I can't count how many times I've had to throw away the meats in the freezer. Now I don't stock up too far in advance. The money down the drain - I can't stand to think about it.

    Back on topic though, I love the idea of a family eating its red meat only from the game it's hunted. Cool.

    1 chest freezer and 1 refrigerator freezer. Any extra meat we have (that won't fit in the freezers) we usually give to friends and family, or anyone who needs it. My grandmother always keeps a shelf in her deep freezer empty just in case.

    We keep a generator ready in case the power goes. We've only used it once when someone hit a power pole outside our house but it was fixed within a few hours so I'm sure we really didn't have to use it but we didn't want to take any chances.
  • JDMac82
    JDMac82 Posts: 3,192 Member
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    Deep freeze and a stand up freezer. Generator as well
  • patrickblo13
    patrickblo13 Posts: 831 Member
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    Any waterfowl hunters here?
  • rmfindleyjr
    rmfindleyjr Posts: 529 Member
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    Anyone here hunt gator before? Lol I feel like I may be on my own with that

    I've killed a few...makes a great gumbo.

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  • Tweaking_Time
    Tweaking_Time Posts: 733 Member
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    Any waterfowl hunters here?

    Yup...My oldest son has the black lab and all the gear as he is freaking nuts about it. I go a few times a season for both goose and duck. I need new waders - my old ones leak bad right into my junk.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    Beginning waterfowler here. I don't have a dog, but have several friends with pointers/retrievers for upland and waterfowl. I used to go without the dogs, but it is so much more fun with the four legged friends.

    Never gone for gators, but we did get an opportunity to hunt crocs with the locals along the Zambezi. That was intense!
  • BackwoodsDarlin
    BackwoodsDarlin Posts: 109 Member
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    Anyone here hunt gator before? Lol I feel like I may be on my own with that

    I've killed a few...makes a great gumbo.

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    That's a great lookin' gator! Bet you were on cloud nine! I would have been for sure LOL

  • patrickblo13
    patrickblo13 Posts: 831 Member
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    Any waterfowl hunters here?

    Yup...My oldest son has the black lab and all the gear as he is freaking nuts about it. I go a few times a season for both goose and duck. I need new waders - my old ones leak bad right into my junk.

    I am like your son, I am nuts about it. I grouse and pheasant hunt as well but the majority of my time is spent in the swamps and lakes.