Let The Harvest Begin (GRAPHIC PHOTOS)

                       WARNING...GRAPHIC PHOTOS OF DEER BEING SKINNED

Like I mentioned in my earlier post,we got a deer that was hit by a car.He hung over night in our tree in the backyard. Saturday morning,The Menfolk,Zach,and nephew Brody went out hunting,but were not out long.They didn't see any deer,but they did see a mink.

This past weekend was mighty busy,as we planned on having Brody up to hunt,then harvest the turkey  that we had sold. Then we got the call about the deer,so that was added to the mix.Saturday-out early hunting,then home to harvest the deer. Some photos of the skinning:

                                                             *GRAPHIC PHOTOS*

He let Nephew Brody try his hand at skinning as well,under his guidance:

                                                       *END GRAPHIC PHOTOS*

After the deer had been skinned,then the real processing began. We have a food vacuum sealer and that keeps the meat nice and fresh.Thankfully,most of the meat was good and not ruined from the accident. The whole process of skinning,butchering,and processing took about four hours or so. We have medallions,roasts,and steaks. I have meat in the fridge that I am going to make into burger today.

The Men were exhausted by Saturday night.Sunday they harvested the turkey that we sold. We let Nephew Brody harvest the turkey,since it's not something he normally does. Zach,who is our turkey harvester,was fine with it because he knows that he will be helping with the rest this week (he has the whole week off from school).

We don't have any fancy scales,so our method of weighing turkeys is to stand on a regular scale,take note of the persons weight,then put the person on the scale with the turkey.The difference in weight is the weight of the turkey. The one we sold was 19 lbs and a Tom. We did sell it for incredibly cheap,on par with frozen at the supermarket.(a mere .75 cents per lb) We had not been keeping track of feed costs,so we really had nothing to gauge it on. Selling one was last minute decision. Our customer,Stephanie,told me she would like to get one from us next year,and I told her that the price would be much more. She seemed pretty pleased at any rate,which was a good thing.

The rest of the turkeys will be taken care of over the next couple of days. We have one for our neighbor,one for Rick's Dad,one for Brother Dale,one that we are trading for some pig meat,one for us,and three that we are donating with food baskets. We only sold the one.No money making venture this year,which is fine.Next year,we plan on keeping track of costs,buying more and selling some at what the price should be. I don't like the thought of charging people I know,though.It's just who I am.

Our neighbor,Kelly got a call about a hit deer.The Menfolk are going to help him harvest it,and he is going to give us some meat in exchange for the help.So we are going to get more venison!!

There won't be much hunting up until Thanksgiving Day. Everyone is going to be busy. 

Today: Menfolk-process Kelly's deer

            Me:make fresh pumpkin puree from two Sugar Pumpkins;finish shopping list and food basket             list. Make venison burger.Begin cleaning house.

Tuesday:Menfolk/Zach:some hunting in the AM.Begin turkey processing.Shop for food basket items.

              Me:Shop for week and Thanksgiving.Make venison sausage.

             Zach :Make up the food baskets

Wednesday: Menfolk/Zach:Process more turkeys. Deliver food baskets.Make my Birthday cake(Rick and Zach insist on it)

                    Me:Iron table cloth,wash china and special glasses/dishes,make gluten free pumpkin pie,stuff turkey with citrus,make venison sausage stuffing,and celery stuffed w/cream cheese and olives.

Plus,there always other goodies that pop up.How do you prepare for Thanksgiving,if you celebrate it?