Baiting, I know this has been discussed and discussed this is just my rant....LOL

[BC Buck]

I waste much time getting 90% of fat, silver skin off meat. I monitor ageing process two weeks. When said and done have way over 8 hours processing 70# of meat. If I did not like venison could justify buying wagyu beef, being cheaper and it is!

 

[BC Buck]

How many pounds of venison per person do you guys use per year? For me and parents I figure no more than 25#.

 

[Telemark]

I probably eat around 100 lbs of deer and moose per year. I expect my freezer contents to drop by about half by the time hunting season starts.

 

[BenA]

We eat about 30lbs/person/year. But, we could do more.

 

[BC Buck]

One year I killed two large bucks. I figured I needed to eat 3 LB ground plus 2LB cut meat per week. Never again.

 

[BenA]

One year I killed two large bucks. I figured I needed to eat 3 LB ground plus 2LB cut meat per week. Never again.

You're getting 130 lbs of meat off of one buck?

 

[Turkish]

I can’t prove it but I’m convinced that the proliferation of baiting is CAUSING hunter decline. They’re a drug for the hunter. Starts out as fun. When that wears off, what’s left if you’re not willing to take some lumps challenging yourself?

PLUS, for those who have no interest in baiting, like me, we’re seeing the quality of our hunting experience diminish.

i tried to keep vibes out of my comments, but…

 

[BenA]

I can’t prove it but I’m convinced that the proliferation of baiting is CAUSING hunter decline. They’re a drug for the hunter. Starts out as fun. When that wears off, what’s left if you’re not willing to take some lumps challenging yourself?

PLUS, for those who have no interest in baiting, like me, we’re seeing the quality of our hunting experience diminish.

i tried to keep vibes out of my comments, but…

I agree, but the same thing goes for foodplots. It's the same hunting experience. You sit in a stand overlooking a place you designated for deer to come eat. You can see interactions between deer, but that gets old to some if it's expected. To a kid, a deer comes out, and they shoot it. Big whoop. Tell me when a deer comes out so I can shoot it. Meanwhile, I'll be on my phone. I know my kids much prefer to be hunting over travel corridors.

 

[Double Creek]

Bait, box blinds, food plots and cell cameras are definitely having an impact on continued hunter recruitment. I witness it with my own kids and with the vast majority of other kids that I know. It's really a catch 22 situation that we are in. With land prices as high as they are, most everyone is hunting on smaller tracts than in years past. Sitting in a box blind over a food plot is one of the least invasive ways to hunt small properties if you want a quality experience. I don't really have the answers.

 

[ksJoe]

I process my own. If my wife wasn't so on board with home processing and helping, I'd probably take them to the processor. But she happily helpss, so we process ourselves.

Two years ago we got a big Vevor grinder. That thing is a huge benefit. The lb/min rating is irrelevant. Meat only needs to be small enough to fit into the 1.5" throat and it will suck in & grind faster than we can feed it. After that we got a 5# sausage stuffer. Another great tool. I've been experimenting with meat stick recipes trying to approximate the nice store bought beef sticks. Not there yet, but I've made some good ones. The start of last season we got a large chamber vac sealer. Much better than the cheap style!

The hunting property is an hour from home. I have off-grid solar power but not water there. I get deer broken down (typically to muscle groups, bringing few bones home) at the hunting property. When I get home my wife helps with the rest of the processing. She has strong opinions on how she wants it bagged and if we have the local processor do it she can't get exactly what she wants. (such as specifically sized vac sealed bags of either 3/4" cubes or strips for stir fry, etc). So she actually prefers to help me rather than pay the processor because she can have it bagged exactly how she wants to use it. Last time she suggested I take a shower while she started (because I was tired and dirty, not because I stank :) ).

2 seasons ago I shot 4 does. Last season just 2. Plenty of shot chances at small bucks both years, but nothing I wanted to take. I would have preferred to get 4 does last season.

The reason I only got 2 does last year is because I didn't want to process 2 in one day. The prior season I shot 2 in one day and it was a long hard day of processing. I have been focusing on tweaking my processing at the remote property to reduce time & effort. My self imposed daily quota is going back up now.

One example (probably obvious to some, but I'm self tought on all this so I had to figure it out myself): we used to spend time carefully removing silverskin from the backstrap at home on a cuttingboard. Then I figured out while the bakcstrap is still on the carcas hanging on a gambrel, I can put a sem-sharp knife under the silverskin and take the silverskin off the backstrap in 3-4 seconds. The backstrap is pulled tight, making it very easy to work on. A sharp knife can work too, but then its very easy to cut the silverskin. A dull knife tends to tear - also bad. But a semi-sharp knife will separate the silverskin without cutting the silverskin.

Next season I'll shoot two in a day without hesitation.

 

[Double Creek]

How many pounds of venison per person do you guys use per year? For me and parents I figure no more than 25#.

It varies year to year, but I like to have 2-3 (does) in the freezer. I make mostly roasts, chili and stews with my meat and 2-3 deer is about all we will eat in any given year.