Heartsick

[JW_Halverson]

Thank you all for your posts.  Without exception, you are people that I admire and your input means a great deal to me.  Like I said in the original posting, the idea was to try to purge this from my system, or get it outa my head.  For several nites I dreamt of chasing that doe around the neighborhood with a broken arrow in my hand, never quite catching her.  The dreams have stopped and I feel a good peace about her now.  It also helps that her notch-eared fawn is still hanging around the back door hoping I will spill more birdseed on the way to the birdfeeder!

Thank you all again, I cannot imagine a group of hunters with higher standards and ethics anywhere.

[El Destructo]

J.W....I feed them all year long at my Lease...and take litterally thousands of Pictures each and every Year of them frolicking around...and my Buddy Brad and I feed them in His Backyard...to keep them from going across the Highway to the Hunters Feeders...and getting run over on the Highway...We have Deer in there by the dozens in the hardest part of the Winter...they even Bed Down in his Yard when the North Winds blow...it is really cool to have them around...as long as you don't try to tame them...We won't go near them We just make sure that there is plenty of Milo and Corn for them all Winter long...but no Contact with Us. People can't understand how I can be this way...and still go out and Hunt...and I tell them ...If I have to explain it...you won't Understand...and leave it at that..

And rest assured...You did the right thing.......

[huntertrapper]

big medicine man. well done. you did the right thing. I had to kill a car doe the other week with a knife. it was on the side of the road still breathing and i ahd to finish it with a blade. almost got into a fight with a man in the process but well done man right thing to do

[coyote pup]

Don't mean to change the subject, but Huntertrapper, what was the "almost" fight about?

CP

[huntertrapper]

Two big older guys came up to me and started cussing saying i was disrespecting the deer and i told them i was one to know respect and that they needed to let me do what i had to do. im 18 aint no need for mouth battles between me and 40 year old guys.

[hedgeapple]

Hunter, good for you.  Sounds like you handled the situation with courage and dignity.

[huntertrapper]

yes, sir. aint nobody steppin on my toes. 

[Grunt]

Go back to where she gave up her life so that you and your family could live. When you are at the spot put a little tobacco on the earth and say a prayer to honor the spirit of this doe and thank her for her sacrifice. Her gift to you is life. The difficulty of the kill was probably a test and you passed the test. Posting your heartsickness was probably part of the whole thing, everything is a circle.
Use all the parts of this animal if you can.

[JW_Halverson]

That little doe yeilded 23 lbs of the toughest hamburger God ever let walk the earth!  She's so tough you can't hardly get a fork in the gravy.  I guess it's her way of thumbing her nose at the predator that took her life.  Guess I am going to have to make jerky sticks outa the burger. 

The two cannon bones from the front legs went to a traditional hide tanner who will give them to braintanning class students, she also gets the hide.  What little fat on her has been trimmed and rendered into tallow for making soap later this summer, the sinews were saved for backing a bow, the thigh bones are in the freezer for roasting on a campfire for bone marrow snacks, the other leg bones go to the dog for sheer pleasurable gnawing time, etc.  Yeah, she did not live in vain and I will not let her death be made pointless by waste. 

[huntertrapper]

well done man. exactly why i love this sight. true people using an animal for more than horns and bragging rights. and dido on the tobaco offering and prayer to the great creator

[Tsalagi]

The secret to dealing with tough meat is my jerky recipe!

2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup Yamasa shoyu (Use real shoyu; Kikkoman's will work. La Choy is just a chemical formula. Don't use it.)
1/4 cup Bragg's Unfiltered/Unpastuerized Apple Cider Vinegar
2 tablespoons Wright's Hickory Liquid Smoke
3 tablespoons crushed red pepper

And the secret to tough hamburger is my Russian Shchi recipe!

1 pound hamburger, browned in skillet with Worcestershire sauce
1 large potato, diced fine
1 medium turnip, diced fine
1 jar sauerkraut (Bubbies or Gundelsheim)
2 quarts of beef broth
1 16 ounce can of tomato sauce
Dill, salt, and pepper

You need to get the broth boiling and add the potato, turnip, and browned meat. Then reduce heat and let simmer for an hour. Then add sauerkraut and tomato sauce. Simmer for half an hour. Add dill, salt, and pepper to taste. If you like more liquid, use hot water to rinse out the tomato sauce can and the sauerkraut jar and add to pot. Or add more broth. This soup will make any tough hamburger good.

[El Destructo]

Now Tasalgi...I'll have to try this recipe...I have never had it with Sauer Kraut....always made it with just Boiled Cabbage...and Beef Stock

[Tsalagi]

Yes, Summer Shchi uses fresh cabbage. Winter Shchi uses sauerkraut. It's delicious!

[chasing crow]

You are a good man. I am sure it was a hard task, but good men do what is right even when it is not the easy way to go. You are a prime example of why I find the primitive hunter's mindset most refreshing.
Chasing Crow