Epic Hunt but Messy

[HERNE]

'Magoo'. 'Adamjp' another avid Deer hunter from here, did a write up on cleaning up a skull... If you look into his profile you will be able to pull up the write up he did.

I wait for reports of your butchering and skull prep.

[magoo]

Thanks Herne, will check out Adamjp's head article, he used to do some good write-ups.

I just hacked in and used a thin fish filleting knife to cut out the eyes and as much inner bits as possible.
Had to get it while fresh.

The head just fitted nice in a big crab boiling pot I found that never gets used any more.
Boiled for about 2hrs and attacked it with the gerni.
Too late to check how it worked out.

Have to attack the rutty buck hide that has way too much flesh and the gerni could help it as my hands stunk for the 2hr drive home despite 2 washings with those cheap crap wet wipes and heaps of covid sanitizer, still felt suss eating sangas for lunch while driving.
The holy doe hide has come out before the final tanning so both can share the last half bottle of my Leders kit.

Unless it is to do with the neck shot doe bleeding out well, I can see the difference straight off, even when cutting out the straps.
Bucks seem to be full of blood giving that very dark meat.
The doe is much lighter and no real excess blood to remove and re-vacpack.
I bet the buck meat needs doing.

Only took the big straps as an old rutty buck is not really the choice cut bro.
Discussed it on the phone and some of the buck meat is fine and others recon theirs stinks and prob won't eat it.
A lot of that smell can be just blood but I will find out if there is more to it as I have not even done the first trimming of the silver skin yet.
Big straps will be easy, just slice it all off.
After a wash or 2 and all the tanning solutions, saving his skin will be enough work to make up for not much meat work.
Catch 22, my full skinning first may taint the meat from my hands in his pissy fur.

You may miss this rut unless you just rough camp a night, but as you shot a fair few it shouldn't matter.

My yard hasn't even dried yet so I can't cut loose with water or it will never dry.

[magoo]

[Sparta]

Cracker looks great Magoo

[magoo]

Thanks Sparts, it turned out fine for my first head job of that kind LOL

The hide should work out as its holding up well and been in the half bottle of the Leders kit that has waited years to get used again for some days now.
I wrecked the doe hide by leaving it wet for too long.
The hair slip started and I was going to pluck it and just chuck it in as leather for the experience.
Decided to try and comb the hair out with the little Puma knife that did most of the work on the 2 deer.
The skin started breaking off as it must have gone soft.

Seems that to keep hides you have to salt them and re-do it after a few days,
Freeze them fresh, or pin them on a board and dry them as the Acubra hats company used to suggest blokes do when they paid for skins.
I think a wire coat hanger fitted well to hold a bunny skin flat to dry.
Then you just tied up a pile of flat hard skins and sent them in.

[magoo]

Everything has been finished and the hide is just airing out as much as possible.
The big male cat may mark it by pissing on it with fresh animal scent.

It's not great as I just trimmed off the bits with big holes and damage from rough skinning and fleshing.
Also just use scissors rather than the proper way, a blade cutting from the leather side.
Would get the natural look like around the tail rather than a sharp cut through the fur.

Not sure how I did such a shit job as my first one turned out well and I had no experience at all, prob just putting in the time and it takes a lot.
For me it's just to look at and bring back the hunt memories in an instant.

Will do a real good job when I shoot a nice diff colour like a Chocholate, White or Black.

Will look OK in possie as the curtains draw over the small side and you won't see the un-balanced shape.

[SPRINT-GTO]

Looks alright to me Magog!!

[magoo]

Thanks Sprint, they look better trimmed to me, rather then left rough, and you can even up the shapes but this one had heaps of holes so I just cut out the worse bigger ones.

Got some character as the older bucks get the gray to distinguish themselves a bit from the younger ones.

[magoo]

The last stage of the story with the bit I was a bit suss about, eating rutty buck meat.
It was pretty much the start, croaking but in good condition.

I could smell it on my hands every minute of the drive home from skinning him despite heaps of wet wipes and hand sanitizer.

After 2 tries, I can honestly say there is nothing wrong with the meat, prime backstrap cuts anyway.
Not as tender as a doe or young deer but nothing bad or rutty.

First try the other week, I messed up a bit as the much thicker and bigger piece of strap needed extra oven time,
was a bit too rare and had to go back in, was a touch chewy.

Today's lunch was the proof though, pulled out a bag of cut chunks and did a paper towel de-blood wipe,
massage in olive oil, good salt and pepper ground on, an added extra this time as I found garlic and dried onion in the cook's spice rack.
Re-vac pack and fridged for about 24hrs.

Simple pan-fried with some rice and nothing but BBQ sauce.
No oven and no real toughness, just normal veno.

Was cooked pretty well perfect where you can only just see ever so slight pink in the middle but when resting, a medium amount of blood juice in the foil pack to drain.

Next week or fortnight will be another big piece that gets seared and finished in the oven.
Classic steak sangas with onions.
This time done right and got new batteries for the meat thermometer as well to be sure.

Nuked cold meat sangas next day is the test, if it's not too tough, it can't be complained about.