What Did You Do Today?

[Eric Krewson]

We had our fall muzzleloader get together this afternoon, great friends, great food and always fun when these like-minded folk get together and share knowledge about gun building and shooting our relics. The newest reproduction models we shot were probably from around the 1870s, the oldest was a hand cannon designed after one shot in the 13th or 14th century. I brought one that was a replica of a 1750s fowling gun (shotgun) as well as an 1810 version of a Tennessee squirrel rifle. I made both of my guns.

[Pappy]

As you said always fun with friends and like minded folks. 😊 Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

My son and granddaughter came up from Austin for Thanksgiving, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner so my granddaughter could get back to Austin for UT's last home game of before she graduates this spring and heads out into the world to make her fortune.

Everyone in the picture is a great cook so we had some amazing food, I am vacuum sealing and freezing the left over ham and fried turkey today.

My son, granddaughter and my special friend Carol;

[Eric Krewson]

Time to wrap up the part of the garden that can't stand the heavy frost that is coming tonight.

I dug a lot of Daikon radishes, they grow to china and I have found the long spade it the best way to get them out of the ground without breaking them. I ended up with 2 gallon bags packed full of washed and trimmed radishes.





Next I picked spinach, not because the frost will harm it but because I needed some in the frig. My bulging disc back issues wouldn't let me bend over to pick last week, with my old man knee stool I could manage it today, I picked two gallons of really nice spinach. I put up the rabbit fence this year, I tried trapping them in the past but couldn't catch any, they ate all of my spinach last year. This is the patch after I picked, I forgot to take a before picture.



Lastly I pulled my beets, there is a lot I don't know about growing them, this is my first attempt. They germinated very slowly and the grass took over, the beets were small. I wanted to pickle some, again my first attempt, I may have enough to fill a couple of pints.

[Pappy]

Looks like a pretty good late harvest to me .
 Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

I finished up cutting up the small deer I killed a few days ago, I had a little more than 30# of boned out meat not counting the ribs. I vacuum pack everything, with what I have left in the freezer from last year, I am in good shape until next year's season.

I have a friend that wants a deer, any I kill after that will go to hunters feeding the hungry if I can't find someone that wants one.

The last of the burger grinding;

[Pappy]

Looking good Eric, the problem with Feed the hungry around here is you have to have it professionally processed or they won't take it, they won't take some I process or I would do that on 1 or 2 a year, so it cost you 100$ or so to give it away. I just just give some to my friends that haven't been as Blessed as I. They like my processing. 
 Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

Here the hunters feeding the hungry organization pays for the processing, as far as I know only one butcher shop in town is aligned with program. I have donated deer before and it didn't cost me anything. I found that you can keep part of the deer you donate as well and pay a processing fee for the pounds you keep. I think you have to bring the gutted deer in with the hide still on, I don't think they take cooler deer.

This is for Tennessee, looks like donations are free if you use processor that is part of the program.

To donate a deer, hunters bring a field dressed deer to a participating processor free of charge, confirm the harvest confirmation number and other contact information, and the processor takes care of the rest. Deer donations can also be made by the pound or pack (excluding Unit 1).

I found this for Alabama donations.

How Hunters Helping the Hungry Works

Hunters field dress the deer and take it to a participating processor. It does not cost the hunter any money to donate the venison, but hunters may voluntarily pay processing fees to provide more venison for food banks to distribute.
Processors grind the venison then contact their nearest participating food bank. The food bank will pick up the venison. Processors receive $2 per pound from the Alabama Conservation and Natural Resources Foundation.
The food bank will distribute the venison to those in need.

[Eric Krewson]

I made a Deer Drag-a-Matic 3K# to replace my old 2K# model that had developed worn gears.

The new one has bigger gears, hopefully it will stand up better over the long run.

These run off a cordless drill and will pull a deer up a cliff, I get about 50 yards of pulling out a 2ah battery, I can't pull a deer two feet by myself. I put 100ft of 1500# mule tape on the spool.

My first version was a 600# boat winch with a cable, the cable would bird nest and the gear ratio was such that it would overheat my drill motor. The 2k version with mule tape worked just fine until the gears got worn on one side.

I simplified the tree attachment as well and did away with the metal bracket in favor of a couple of hooks on a tiedown that I put through some holes I drilled in the back end of the winch frame.

The last picture is of the old and new version.

[Pappy]

Nice, that should do the trick. Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

I was deer stew day yesterday; I like to keep a stock of individual meals in the freezer for those days that I don't want to cook or go out to eat. I have been the chief cook and bottle washer since my my wife died 12 years ago.

I don't ever use a recipe, I just throw everything I have on hand in the pot and season everything a little at a time until I am happy with it. On the last batch I put white beans in the mix, a bad choice so I left them out this time.

Dale's, soy sauce, lots of onion and garlic salt and pepper; you can't go wrong. I did add several other things that are not in the picture. I thicken my stew with instant mashed potatoes.

I ended up with 8 MREs in the freezer (meals ready to eat).

[Eric Krewson]

Strange year for deer, ours have gone strictly nocturnal, I had 300 pictures of deer in a week on the trail camera I have over my tiny food plot, the same deer over and over, I suspect there were about 15-20 different deer on camera and every picture was nocturnal except one.  I haven't see a deer in almost 2 months and hunted hard several times a week, the season ends on Feb 10th. I am off to a peak of the rut hunt on a management area this afternoon, with a lower stock of deer meat in my freezer than I normally have, I put up my flintlock and went modern.

Earlier I found out that us old or disabled folk could get a permit to retrieve deer from Alabama management areas past the locked gates with a 4 wheeler. It was a long process but I have just such a permit in my hands now, being old (78), and somewhat disabled to the point that I can walk just fine but can't drag a deer two feet because of back issues.

The 4 wheeler permit has me hunting places I haven't been in at least 10 years, everything has changed with clear cutting and replanting, it is a 50 mile drive and I haven't been able to scout and relearn the land. I once knew this land like the back of my hand and will again before the deer season opens next year. This management area has 30K acres, I hunt about 1000 of these, they will lock the gates at the end of Feb but open them again when squirrel season opens next year which will be plenty of time to scout before M/L season opens on Nov 18th.

I am constantly at war with squirrels around my house and kill every one I see to keep them from wrecking my blueberry crop later in the year. If I have the time, I dress them and put them in the freezer year round. If I shoot them up too bad I feed them to the red fox that hangs around my place. I caught one headed to my gas grill to chew on things yesterday, it saw me looking out the window and ran down in the woods about 25 yards away to feed on the abundant acorns, big mistake. I could only see the very top of her head. I have a Rem 541S 22 that I bought in 1974, it is a 22 version of a 700 Rem BDL and has a match barrel on it, I had the action glass bedded a while back. I keep it ready to rock and roll by the back door, the squirrel is in the freezer now.

I have another problem around the house, the migrating crows cluster in the huge oaks around my house at daylight starting in the early spring. Strangely, a group of crows is called a "murder" of crows, after being abruptly woken up at daylight for the last week by their incessant CAW, CAW, CAW, I was ready to murder some.

I do this every spring, I was once a serious groundhog and crow hunter and put a pile of them on the ground, for the last 10 years I don't try to kill them, I just convince them that they need a new daylight gathering place. Crows are smart enough to recognize a gun from a distance, if I whiz a 22 bullet by their head a time or two they won't be back and they tell all of their friends to stay away as well.

The murder gathered like they usually do this morning, I was sleeping so well when their racket woke me up with a start, time for a 22 bullet lesson.

When I opened the garage door most of the crows flew off, I could only see one in the top of a huge oak about 120 yards away, I  put my crosshairs about a foot over it and touched one off. Dang, it spread its wings, quivered and fell out of the tree, a head shot I guess. I have taken this shot a couple dozen times in the past and never hit anything, it wasn't this crows lucky day for sure.

I am going to retrieve this crow later and hang it up from one of the limbs overhanging the field as dire warning to any other crows that have thoughts about gathering outside my window at daylight in the future to sing "here comes the sun". I have hung dead crows up in the past around my garden, I have found that the crows do mourn their fallen comrades, this is one reason I quit trying to kill them.