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MSU Extension Publication Archive Archive copy of publication, do not use for current recommendations. Up-to-date information about many topics can be obtained from your local Extension office. Venison – Upper Peninsula Style Michigan State University Cooperative Extension Service Natural Resource Series Gail E. Bowers, former County Extension Director, Menominee, Michigan (deceased) Reprint November 1983 21 pages The PDF file was provided courtesy of the Michigan State University Library Scroll down to view the publication. VENISON Venison for Food By GAIL E. BOWE RS Former M en ominee County Extension Director, deceased N THE PIONEER DAYS and in the logging camps of I Michigan's Upper Peninsula, venison was one of the main meat dishes. Many youngsters from the backwoods farms took "veal" sandwiches to school in molasses-pail dinner buckets. Today, deer hunting is for rest and recreation. Veni son, however, is just as good today as it was in the pioneer days. If you are lucky enough to kill a deer, proper handling of the animal before it is made up into cuts of venison may determine how well you enjoy eating the trophy of your hunt. The purpose of this booklet is to preserve some of the recipes used by natives of the Upper Peninsula in preparing venison, and to explain the proper handling of deer meat after the game has been shot. BE SAFE AND BE SURE Your rifle is a deadly weapon. Handle it carefully. Never point it at anything you don't expect to kill. Sight in your rifle before going into the woods. That first shot may be all you will get, so make it a good one. The first shot, before the game is scared, is better than all the shots left in the magazine of your rifle. Be sure your target is a deer before you shoot, and make sure it is a legal deer. Nothing makes a good hunter more disgusted than to find illegal deer that have been shot and left in the woods. If you only wound your deer, follow its trail as far as possible and then go another 100 yards. Many deer are lost because the hunter did not follow the trail far enough. A mortally wounded deer will often travel a hundred yards or better and that is a long way, especially in a cedar swamp. One native of the Upper Peninsula summed up deer hunting this way, "Be where he comes through, when he comes through, and shoot straight." WHEN YOU HAVE YOUR DEER DOWN Be sure he is dead-it is better to shoot him again in the neck, than to watch him get up and bound off into the woods. A shot half way between the ear and throat should hit the jugular vein and this will help bleed the deer. If you are going to have the head mounted, pass up this shot. 1 If your shot went through the chest (the shot I like Now slide your sleeves up a little higher and reach up best), chances are the deer will be well bled. into the body cavity until you come to the diaphragm. If the deer is not chest shot or has not been dead That is the thin muscle floor that separates the chest for several minutes before you find him, take time to bleed cavity from the stomach cavity. Cut this muscle out, him. staying close to the ribs. Now reach in farther-whoops! - you got blood on your undershirt-and cut the wind Swing the deer around so the head and shoulders are pipe. The windpipe feels like a good-sized hose with lower than the rump. Stand in back of the deer, close wire rings in it to hold it apart. to the body and reach over the body to do the sticking. Watch those feet, he may not be as dead as you think. A steady pull with the left hand and a cut here and Many a deer hunter has been hit by the flying front feet there with the knife will allow the lungs heart paunch of a "dead" deer. and intestines to roll out of the body ca~ity.' , Quickly insert a knife 4-5 inches at the spot where Before you jerk them clear out of the body cavity, the base of the neck joins the chest. This is along the cut around the anus (there are a lot of supporting cords) side of the windpipe. Cut sidewise to sever the large until it is loose, and draw it into the body cavity. Now arteries that are at the base of the neck. roll out everything. The more blood that drains out, the better your Dressing out a deer is not a messy job unless the venison will be when cooked. animal has been shot up badly. If the deer does not bleed, don't worry about it. It is better to stick a deer and get no blood than not to try to Hang It Right bleed the deer properly. Next, hang the deer in a tree to drain. Hang the deer Okay-your deer is down and stuck. The best thing head up and high enough so blood can drain out of the for you to do right now is to sit down until the ague hole where you removed the anus. (buck fever) has passed. When you can again light a cigarette with one match, it is time to go to work. One man can hang a deer easily with a small set First, tag the deer. Attach the tag to the antler. If it of pulleys and nylon rope carried in his hunting coat. is a spike horn, poke a hole through the ear and attach A good way to hang your deer to drain is as follows: the tag there. Select a hardwood sapling (maple is one of the Take off your hunting coat, roll up your sleeves, put best) 2-3 inches in diameter. Bend the top down and your wrist watch in your pocket, and get that deer dressed tie it to the antlers. You may need to notch the sapling out. near the base so it will bend low enough for tying. Cut two forked sticks, about 8 feet long, and strong enough to support a portion of the weight of the deer. Place Dressing It Out both forked sticks at the point where the deer is attached Roll the deer over on its back. Tie the legs to a tree, to the sapling. The sapling and the two forked sticks form or block the shoulders with chunks of wood to keep the a tripod. Raise the deer by moving the forked sticks belly up. You can also hold him in this position with your closer together (first one stick then the other) until the knees on the inside of his hind legs. deer is clear of the ground. The bigger the bent sapling, the more it will help lift. The first few cuts should be made carefully to avoid poking a hole in the intestines or paunch. Cut along the A hanging deer cools more rapidly than one that is belly line from the pelvic bone to the chest. Be sure in contact witl1 the ground. with this first cut that you cut only the hide. A little time spent now may keep your meat from Now cut through the belly muscles-watch out for the spoiling. Look inside and make sure you have removed intestines and paunch. Once through the muscles, you every last bit of the diaghragm, lungs, intestines, and can hold the intestines back with the back of your hand, loose fat. while guiding the knife between the first two extended If you carry a clean dry cloth with you ( you'd better!) , fingers-cutting edge up. wipe the inside of the cavity until it is clean and dry. Some hunters, after cutting through the muscles, take If you made a gut shot or poked a hole in the in the knife in their fist, with the point of the knife up, and testines or paunch with your knife, use water to clean shove the fist along the belly muscles. The fist is inside the cavity. The water will not do as much damage to the of the body cavity and holds the intestines down while meat as leaving all that foreign matter in there to sour. the knife cuts the muscles. If there is snow on the ground use it to clean the body 2 3 cavity. Large handfuls of snow rubbed in the body the inside out, there will be very little hair on the meat. cavity not only clean the cavity but the snow starts the Pick off the few hairs found on the throat. Keep the cooling process. hair side of the hide from touching the meat. Using Next, cut the heart and liver out of the entrails. your thumb, peel the hide as far as possible. Use the Skewer them onto a small forked stick and take into camp knife wherever cords or meat hold the hide in place. for some good eating. Case skin the front legs. Pull the hide down the leg with Check and make sure the draining hole is open be out splitting the hide on the leg. Splitting the leg skin fore you leave to get help to take the deer into camp. can be done after the hide has been completely removed. When you get the deer to camp, hang it head up, You will have to use your knife around the knees.