This is a strong reminder that we
need to update our deer harvesting practices rather badly. They were put in place when it looked like
the local farm boys were going to drive the deer into extinction. Today, they truly need to be harvested and
the meat needs to be properly hung and ultimately butchered. This means it is time to simply allow a
formal commercial harvest aimed at managing the stock and providing a true
market supply.
Doing that, we may even begin to
take good care of the herds and possibly introduce more commercially valuable
deer. The woodlands and yes the fields
do provide ample fodder for a substantial whose damage is manageable provided
one harvests over a set level.
The same system needs to be
applied to wild turkeys as well.
All in there is plenty of
potential game meat that can be sustainable harvested and which needs now to be
harvested as we are unlikely to invite wolves and bears back unto our school
yards and back yards.
Doe, a deer, a sustainable protein source to last all winter
BY STEPH LARSEN
30 DEC 2011 3:44 PM
Oh, deer.Photo: I am not a hunter. I don't (and
will not) own a gun and, though I've toyed with the idea of bow hunting in
the past, my aim really stinks. Even so, the deer population where I live does
need to be thinned, since we've taken their natural predators away.
And I sure do appreciate a good venison steak.
So while chatting with our neighbors who hunt this fall, my partner,
Brian, and I hatched a plan. Two of our ewes were being culled because they had
health issues that were impacting their abilities to be good mothers, but would
not impact the quality of their meat. We decided to trade the meat from one of
the ewes for some venison.
Here in Nebraska does are not in short supply -- in fact, many hunters
are after a trophy buck and the state has to push hunters to shoot their female
counterparts. Having many more does than bucks is not only bad for the raw
population numbers -- because one buck can sire many offspring in a season -- it's
also bad for the genetics of the wild herd. This year, the Nebraska
The opening day of deer season arrived, and by noon my neighbor had
bagged a huge doe. Many laborious hours later, he had steaks and ground meat
waiting in the freezer for his family to eat this winter. We stopped by as he
was finishing up, and he told us he was headed out again the following morning,
and would call me if he shot another doe.
Sure enough, my phone rang the next day before noon, and he let me know
he had another deer in his truck and was coming home from the courthouse where
he'd registered her. I was to meet him in a half hour in his dad's machine shed
so I could learn for myself how a deer becomes venison.
I arrived to find the truck already in the shed, and I'll admit I was a
little apprehensive. When it comes time to handle raw meat in my house, it's
rarely me who volunteers. I was a vegetarian for many years, and there is
definitely something a little unpleasant about the sensation. But I'm not one
to shy away from the task at hand, especially when it comes to harvesting my
own food. So I came prepared -- with a small hunting blade and my newly honed
kitchen knives.
I peered in the back and saw a smaller doe, field dressed with dark
eyes that reminded me of the many trophy heads I'd seen decorating country
bars. I was expecting to feel guilt or sadness -- but instead I felt
gratitude. I touched her head briefly, closed my eyes, and thanked her. The
deer's sacrifice would feed us well all winter, perhaps longer.
Through the next four hours, I lost all the squeamishness I've ever had
for handling meat. And I learned a few of the skills that hunters have been
perfecting for millennia, such as: where to cut so that the deer can hang
evenly, how to skin the animal, how to use an animal's anatomy to make the
carving job easier. I'll be frank -- my inner scientist came out to play.
Mammalian bodies are fascinating, and I got very familiar with how muscles
look, feel, and behave. I also learned what muscle looks like when it gets
pulverized by a bullet, and how to avoid tainting meat with spinal tissue
(which can be dangerous because it can be the source of Chronic Wasting
Disease, a relative of Mad Cow). It took two of us four hours to carve the
deer, and another couple hours to grind the meat with the help of a KitchenAid.
Brian and I have already had some venison in a pasta casserole that was
quite tasty, as were the burgers I made when my parents visited -- per usual, I
put too much garlic in them. The tenderloin steaks we grilled that first night
weren't very good. Perhaps it's because of the way it was killed -- one of the
benefits of gun vs. bow hunting is that guns can be faster, but unless the
death is instantaneous, the adrenaline that pumps through the deer can affect
the quality and taste of the meat. Arrows, on the other hand, though more
difficult to achieve a kill, are much quieter. A skilled hunter can down a deer
without scaring the animal.
Either way, I'm thankful for the sustenance and hopeful that, because
of the record hunting season, I'll see fewer deer dead on the side of the road
this winter.
Steph Larsen lives in Lyons, Nebraska, where she and her partner are
"part-time farmers," growing food for themselves and their community.
Steph holds a master's degree in geography from her home state of Wisconsin and
serves on the board of the Women, Food and Agriculture Network.
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