Friday, November 18, 2011

It's 3:10 AM ....Do You Know Where Your Deer Is?

Very early this AM at 3:10 (or is it very late at night??)I woke to the sound of our phone ringing. Lately,we have been receiving "Private Caller" calls around 3:00 AM,which have been nothing but beeping noises,much to our annoyance. Usually,when a phone rings in the dead of night (or is it dead of morning??) one assumes it's not good news-something terrible has usually happened,which is why these annoying beeping calls are even more frustrating. I heard Rick answer it,and heard him say," Rt 16? Where?" When I heard this,I knew it wasn't bad news.None of our loved ones would be out and about up here,since none of them live near us.Especially that time of night ( or is it morning???)

A deer had been hit,and we are on a call list for any deer or moose. We have friends in the Middleton Police Dept who have let it be known to other Police Depts in the local area that they can call us any time of the day (or night) when they get a call about dead deer or moose,so we are on their call lists. We don't get them often,but we have a couple of times.

This deer was not far from the house-maybe about 10 minutes down the highway.It was a buck,weighing about 140 lbs.


When Zach woke up,Rick told him we got a deer,and he thought Rick had gone out and shot it. He wasn't fully awake yet,and didn't stop to think that it was still dark out. :)

At first,when Rick and I were first married and he got the same kind of call,I thought it was rather...well...weird getting roadkill. I won't lie. The thought of getting something from the side of the road conjured up images of  hillbillies scrounging for food,scraping up possums with a shovel (which I actually saw many years later on "My Big Redneck Wedding"-YUCK!) We weren't hillbillies,and we weren't starving. I mentioned this to Rick,and he replied that we weren't getting an animal that had been there for days.It was fresh,just like he had shot it. Better to get it,and at least not have it's death be in vain,than to just have it rot by the side of the road. Well,that made sense. When I saw the deer,it looked just like it would've looked if it had been hunted. It wasn't gross,and it was fresh. It took a bit,but I got over that mentality.

It's funny that this happened this morning (or is it last night??)because Nephew Brody is coming up after school to spend the night and go hunting with Rick,Brother B,and Zach tomorrow. After Brody gets here,then the deer cutting process will begin. We will vacuum seal the portions. I will actually get to try out my my meat grinder on My Precious (aka the Cuisinart),as well as my sausage maker. They have been lying in their virginal state in a drawer since I got them last year. We are fortunate that they The Menfolk can process and cut up their own deer,and we don't have to bring it to a butcher. I'm not sure if they will cure the pelt or not (another thing that they know how to do).

It's a good thing we invested in a new freezer this past week.

3 comments:

  1. I was reading a FB friends post yesterda and her family had just got home from work and had gone straight out into the bush, they are right on the edge of forest, to go hunting for deer. Not sure of they managed to get any though, she hasn't side. Waste not want not :D

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  2. woo hoo Donna...Fresh venison...yum. My neighbor left to go hunting with his brothers this week. I wished him good luck as he usually shares with us if he gets one.

    We have deer in the woods around us but with all the goats that need butchering I would feel guilty shooting a deer right now.

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  3. Donna - that is awesome! my friend Wendy and her family found a bear that had been hit by a vehicle and they took it home and dressed it and made many meals out of it - wast not, want not! (Wendy is a follower of yours - her blog is Little House in the Big Woods - sound familiar?).

    anyway - her posts are pretty graphic and detailed but nothing you haven't seen before. her post about the bear is a few posts ago so dig through until you find it.

    i am glad that you got your deer...although he sounds a little frisky and drunkard to be out at 3:10am....next year, find a good deer who is home in bed by 10 - bahahahahaha!

    your friend,
    kymber

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