My wife and I continue our effort in turning our frozen boneless moose parts into vacuum sealed burger, stew meat, steaks and a few roasts.
We began by finding parts to be ground into burger, and found lots of it as you see in our transformed freezer below.
Moose meat has no fat thus we mixed approximately 20 to 25% pork butt in with the burger. Pork butt has pork meat and pork fat to allow burger patties to bind and stick together. Pork is also a key ingredient in making meat balls and pasta sauces.
After around 18 hours of processing we have nearly completed the burger packaging of maybe 130 pounds and 60 pounds of steak and stew meat.
Last night we had moose stroganoff and it was a hit. Meat flavor was excellent with no hint of gamey taste. I prefer steak thin slice 1/4 inch x 2 inches or thinner against the grain for stroganoff as I have made in the past to my families delight.
Most all on-line beef stroganoff recipe’s will work just fine with moose steak, just thin slice it against the grain while raw and partially frozen before you saute it. Just don’t overcook the meat.
Today we cut backstrap butterfly steak, many sirloin steaks,and stew meat.
Note: Some steaks will be made into tips and stews as winter gets here. More to do but it is safe and frozen. We will rearrange the freezers so we have a better inventory. Already we have given some meat to friends and family. Nice!
Processing a moose can be time consuming if you have to quarter and bone the meat too.
Moose quarters headed to the butcher for boning and freezing
Working with a veteran Outfitter like Gander River makes it easy. They know how to;
Gut and quarter your moose
Prep for trophy taxidermy if needed
Get it out of the woods in excellent shape
Skin and hang the quarters to cool
Get it to the butcher in prime shape for boning and freezing for my trip home to New Hampshire
Yes, you pay a premium for these tasks, but worth every penny.
I drove my frozen boned moose meat home (you need an export permit from your outfitter) and it was still frozen solid after 2 days on the road using 2 large coolers. In fact 2 days after arrival my moose meat was still frozen. I have done this before and it works great.
After cleaning/prepping the kitchen and pans/ trays and grinding equipment, I brought around 80 to 100 lbs inside, incrementally and examined the bundles and labels.
I chose to cut some steaks at first but was looking for meat that will become burger and stew meat.
In addition, I purchased 18 pounds of fresh pork butt and cut it up for grinding to add to the moose burger. I boned the pork and saved the meaty bones for a winter stew. I will purchase more pork butt later for mixing.
All big game meat grinders have a rough grind head (right) and a finish grind head (left).
Below my favorite LEM Grinder, meat pan and cutting board.
Use the rough grind for both moose and pork at a ratio of roughly 4 to 1 moose to pork. This adds enough fat for burger to bind together.
Mix the rough grind by hand in a larger stainless tray and regrind with the fine grind head. Then vacuum seal in 1 to 2 pound increments. Label and freeze. It is best to keep your meat cold and near frozen so work as safe and quick as you can. My wife and I work well at this as a team.
Below, my freezers are full of large chunks moose meat to be processed.
If you have enough freezer space, like we have, you can take a break from processing for a few days.
We use a Food Saver™ Vacuum Sealer and heavy seal bags to store our meat in the freezer. Todays freezers can store meat for well over 2 years provided the vacuum is good and you don’t have freezer burn.
Use sharp knives!
Next is to cut more stew meat for pressure canning!
I will cut tenderloin and backstraps later too.
Good Eating!
PS We had this moose burger for lunch and discovered the meat was tender and very flavorful.
Meat from a laboratory? Do you trust big business approved by the federal government to provide lab grown meat for you to eat? They say government approval is coming soon. Is that really beef you are eating? Where is our society going? Where is the connection to the natural world? If you are so dependent, I submit you will lose essential survival and leadership skills essentially becoming sheep.
It was COVID that urged many to try hunting! As a hunter, I like to see the animal that makes my meat rich protein diet. Hunting does that! In fact, hunters must understand the relationship of game and its surrounding field and forest, find the animal, make a clean kill, remove the guts, skin it, package it, and refrigerate or freeze the meat for future meals. The fruit of the hunters labor is celebrated when the game is in hand and at the dining table. You are the provider and you have first hand knowledge of the field care of your meat. Below, a wild pig taken with a crossbow.
Chops I cut myself for the table and freezer.
The process of hunting has provided meat for civilization for hundreds of thousands of years and it is family oriented, skill rich, survival rich benefits that nature can provide. Remove the survival instinct to forage and kill for food, and we become sheep, dependent on its master for food and protection.
During two recent episodes we as society were shocked that the grocery stores were closed. First recent episode; Katrina, that storm several years ago, so devastated the landscape that we humans were forced to forage and hunt for meat and have a weapon to protect ourselves and family.
The second event we are living in right now, COVID 19. Remember the meat and pork scare last year? Grocery stores for some meat supplies were bare! Panic meat purchases ensued. I have had such a successful year hunting that I was never really concerned for meat. My freezer was full of lean, organic protein rich game meat.
Making my own ground meat!
Do yourself a favor, learn to hunt, and forage, it is an essential survival tool. Along the way you will learn survival skills and trust in your own abilities.
Decades ago in one of “Outward Bound’s” Colorado ( https://www.cobs.org/)programs, students had to be alone in the woods for three days, called a “solo” and among other things you were given a live chicken. You didn’t have to kill it, but it was there facing you every day. Grass shoots and herb tea for three days or roasted chicken on a spit? Your choice! When your stomach wants food it sort of growls doesn’t it.
When I was 16 years old, I attended the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School (https://www.hiobs.org/) for 28 days, and learned survival skills and more about myself. I “solo’d three days on a small island off the coast of Maine. I did not have a live chicken but had access to mussels and sea urchins and sea weeds such as glasswort, plants bulbs like rose hips, plants like goose tongue, dulse, chicory and wild peas. No it was not manna from heaven but I grew to like it. I forage for wild edibles even today when i am hunting. When I was in Newfoundland a few years ago I had sea urchin eggs and wild peas on the shore. And lots of Codfish!
Some of you are aware that I wrote about dry aging wild game recently in special dry age bags. I used a dry age bag recently for 14 days. I dry aged some moose and venison.
I had intended to dry age some moose and venison steaks for 20 days. Well, the meat darkened and shrank, and shrank. Today, I was thinking of a delicious steak and had to open the dry age bags at day 14. What did I find? I found that there was no odor, and that the surfaces had a hardened cover of dried meat.
Day 1
Day 14
The bag was easily removed. The meat was dry on the outside as you see below
and dark in color.
I used a sharp knife to trim the surface. Below looks like a lot of trim but is very thin shavings. Not a lot of waste.
No mold or odd smells just darker in color. I sandwiched two moose steaks and stacked together and that worked out ok for drying the periphery of the moose meat.
Now for my wife to try it, I Sous Vide a dry aged moose rump steak and venison back strap from this process to a 115 degrees with herbs, salt, pepper and a tablespoon of Worcestershire and olive oil for 1.5 hours and then seared on a hot grill. The center was rare to medium rare. I sliced thin slices for her. She said, flavor was good and tender. I liked flavor, but was not as tender as I had hoped after 14 days of dry aging. The best way to age is with much thicker pieces, like a leg roast, but I only have steaks and back strap. Was it worth the effort? The jury is still testing and hopeful. I did have good luck dry aging without bags for 3 days with moose rump steak. Will try that again! When I use bags again, I will let it age longer.
There is nothing more inviting and satisfying than to come in from the cold outdoors and eat a warm venison stew for dinner. Pressure cooking cuts time and allows you to tenderize the meat to your satisfaction. Tender meat is the key!
Here, I am using modern conveniences that I have access to. But you can use a crock pot or Cast Iron Pot out on an open fire and slow cook it all day if you like till the meat is tender
Today’s Electric Pressure Cookers are very easy to use and designed to brown meat as well as to pressure cook (high pressure) your venison such as deer, moose, elk or even bear meat.
All you need to feed 4 is 1.5 lbs meat cut into 1 inch or so cubes (not over 1.5 inches).
You can brown the meat in today’s cookers by selecting the browning setting. Time for prep 15 minutes. Cook Time total 28 minutes in two steps.
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs meat
2 to 3 sliced raw carrots cut to 3/4 inch thick.
4 medium cubed pealed potatoes (you can leave washed skins on if you like) I used mini potatoes in the photo above (12 or so should do-skin on).
2 medium white onions quartered. (if you want to get fancy you can do pearl onions (12 to 15)
1 or 2 turnip quartered (if you like)
2 cups beef stock
2 cups water
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup red wine
2 to 3 minced cloves garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt ( I like kosher salt)
1 tsp Black Pepper (fresh ground if possible)
2 bay leaves
2 to 4 slices of bacon (uncooked or cooked)
1 tbsp parsley (fresh chopped is best)
2 tbsp all purpose flower
1 tsp thyme
Step 1- To brown,use 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Chop up 2 to 4 slices of raw bacon and add in with the oil. When you hear the oil and bacon sizzle then add the cubed venison. Begin the browning and add 2 tbsp flower in with meat and mix with the meat while browning, no more than 10 minutes or so to brown. Then add 2 cups water and 1/2 cup wine and all the spices and fold together for 30 seconds. Now select High Pressure on your Electric Pressure Cooker to cook the meat first for 20 minutes following the instructions on your cooker. More time may be needed for tougher cuts of meat.
When your cooker shuts off you can often release steam with the weighted device that holds the steam on my cooker, but to be safe follow the directions on your pressure cooker.
Step 2- Once you can open your cooker you can test for tenderness of meat. If you approve of the tenderness then add the vegetables to the meat and cook for 8 minutes more. Your stew can then be folded or tossed to mix meat and veggies. If liquid is needed add remaining water or more beef broth. To thicken you can make a roux by mixing 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp butter and saute in a frying pan till mixed. Add 1/2 cup warm water or the stew broth to the roux and mix till absorbed and add to the stew with 1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley. The stew broth should not be thin but have some body and some thickness.
Salt and Pepper and Herb to taste.
You can put your cooker on warm and serve with bread and butter. A french baguette sliced with butter works for me along with a beer or a glass of your favorite red wine such as a Cabernet or Merlot.
Enjoy! You will go back for seconds for sure! It is even better on the second day if you keep it refrigerated overnight.
I have lots of wild meat in my freezer, but even I felt the domestic meat shortage in my gut at a recent visit to the supermarket. It is not really a shortage as it is workers who have contracted COVID-19 and shut meat plants down. It is that sense of loss though that gets families thinking of hunting for their own meat/protein in the wild. I grew up in a hunting family because my mom and dad lived and grew up in the depression era where meat was scarce. My dad in his 20’s was skinny as a rail as was his father. Baked beans was the protein supplement with whatever meat you could get. We are in fact omnivores but require protein for part of our diet. Meat provides the bulk of that protein.
The easiest game to learn to hunt, cook and eat is the Squirrel, particularly the grey squirrel. Hunting them with shotgun or .22. I prefer to hunt them with a .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Later you can hunt deer, moose, bear, ducks, geese etc. as many do and get lots of delicious meat for the table.
I was at the supermarket yesterday amid shopping during the Pandemic and the pork section 20 yards of meat was totally empty, and beef was picky. Woke yet! Those that are woke, are looking to get Hunter Education Certified so they can hunt and harvest for meat.
The whitetail deer, is the animal most sought for food here in America and there are families who consume it as nearly 100% of their meat diet.
Processing a Deer for food? From the hunt to the table, read below.
My twin brother and I with 2 nice New Hampshire bucks taken some years back near the 13 mile woods above Berlin, NH. Ok time to get’em home and start processing.
Below, This “Bowhunting 360” website is excellent for field dressing your deer whether shot with gun or bow/crossbow. In CWD free states such as New Hampshire you are not required by law to de-bone your meat, but many do today.
Your deer is home and kept cool. Lets assume you nicked the intestines and some fecal material came out. If not, skip this part. First clean the area affected with a towel then wash with cold water or hose the whole cavity depending on the spread of the material says Wisconsin Edu says a 50/ 50 solution of clean cold fresh water and vinegar is very helpful. See below.
If you do not have time or the inclination to do the deer cutting, then get a good deer cutter/butcher to do that for you! See NH Fish and Game site below
Lets start processing. I have a lift system and spreader gambrel like this.
Now you need to lift your deer so you can skin it. If it is warm out and above 40 degrees then time is of the essence to keep the meat from spoiling. I lift my deer just enough to start skinning around the bone on the legs being careful to remove the tarsal glands on a buck, as they have a powerful odor. There are tools that you can purchase to aid in gripping and pulling the skin off but I have always used my hands or a good set of pliers to grip and pull the hide off as I cut. If you are trying to save the hide then be careful in your skinning not to cut through the hide. And remove any meat on the hide right away. If you are not keeping the hide then it is a faster process.
Once the hide is cut to the base of the skull I use a knife and a bone saw to cut the head from the carcass. Now you can cut out the two tenderloins from the inside of the deer located along the spine inside the cavity.
These are the most tender and flavorful cuts. Next is to remove the back straps or split your deer in half with a saw and make chops like lamb chops. I sometimes freeze the New Hampshire killed deer spine meat and use a band saw to cut the chops bone-in. Below are chops from a wild boar.
Most folks are taking the back strap meat off and away from the bone these days as it is fast. Take time to cut as much meat carefully, as the back straps are supremely delicious. Ribs are often tossed out but some will cook them slowly to get all the meat off.
Be sure to cut around wound sites and bruised meat below as there may be small quantities of lead lurking in that damaged meat.
When in dowbt, cut it out.
I opt for Bonded bullets or all Copper bullets from high power rifles 30-06, 308, .270 etc. to reduce or eliminate the lead question such as the Nosler AccuBond™
where the copper is bonded to the lead and largely stays together or Nosler E-Tip™
a 100% all gilding copper bullet.
There are other companies that make all copper bullets so check them out if you like.
Lead based Shotgun slugs and Muzzleloader slugs are more apt to stay intact as they are slower (around 2000 fps and slower) and heavy (250-300 grains or more) . Today there are all copper bullets and bonded lead/copper bullets for these too.
Back to the deer processing.
Next is to lower your deer carcass to a table where you can remove the hind and front legs with a knife and use the bone saw to cut the feet off. The front legs are good for stew or burger. the rear legs and thigh are great for a multitude of options steak, roasts, venison tips and stew as well as burger.
As you cut, take off as much of the silver skin as possible. There are several muscle groups in the hind legs that can be cut away to make steaks, each will often be sheathed in silver skin.
Most home butchers are deboning this leg meat and tossing the bones.
I have a large LEM grinder for making burger. Bass Pro/Cabela’s has them.
Yes you can mix it with pork fat or a fatty cut of meat in beef or pork to allow the fat to bind or just leave it as it is venison burger. Venison has little fat, is high in protein and delicious when prepared properly.
Vacuum Seal your Meat! It will keep longer and taste better!
The Adventure begins… it was just a few weeks ago… October 2019.
Our Drive from Southern New Hampshire to Newfoundland with my hunt partner,Oliver Ford and his new Chevy Pick-up, went without a hitch. We rotated driving often.
The road trip was very straight forward until we hit the Canadian Border with, Passports in hand, created Gun Ownership Card at US Border, Rifle Import Registry with Canadian Customs forms we had already filled out, and Canada Criminal DB Check by customs officials.
Note; Oliver just turned 80 and I just turned 70 years young. For our age we were in good health for the most part but taking our med’s. Our wives reminded us. Some might say.. “An Old Man’s Moose Hunt”.
We were excited as all-get-out for this hunt with visions of massive antlered moose dancing in our head as if it were Christmas Morning.
In Moncton, New Brunswick, just prior to crossing into Nova Scotia, we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop. Oliver and I made a few hunting purchases. We were looking for moose antlers like posted in the image below.
We waited with dozens of other moose hunters below to take the overnight (7 hour) ferry with Marine Atlantic over to Newfoundland, affectionately called “The Rock”. Moose hunters either had coolers or real freezers and gas powered generators with them. The came from all parts of US as far as Indiana and Ohio, eager for a moose hunt. Like Us!
We drove the truck onto the ship Highlander and down a ramp to the bottom of the cargo area 1st Floor (seemed like a football field size room) where most cars were stored for the crossing. We had a small cozy cabin with a bathroom and small shower up on the 8th floor. Nice! We slept…
We ate a delicious eggs and bacon/sausage and bologna breakfast in the ships restaurant an hour before the ship docked. Seems Newfoundlander’s love their fried bologna.
We Landed at Port Au Basques, Newfoundland
Another three hours to drive to Peter Strides lake along RT 480 The Caribou Highway. Note: We saw no Caribou on the highway but later we saw many at our camp. Good Bulls! Just need $11,000 for that hunt!
Morning images as we drove just outside of Port Au Basques.
We arrived at the Helicopter Pad and the Main Lodge of Rock Pond Outfitters three hours later.
The stove was our only heat source. We learned fast to keep it stoked as the wind was blowing 20 to 30 knots outside and hovering around 30 to 40 degrees F.
Spiral Stairs to bunk room above. Nice Caribou Rack!
We arrived on a Sunday. Weather prevented the Helicopter from taking us to the remote camp. And we lost a half day Monday to bad weather and the Helicopter.
We met two other hunters in camp Chris and Jaye from Ohio (both into heavy equipment ownership) , going to an outpost camp even more remote than ours. Both were great to know and have some fun talking about hunts and rifles and growing up. Jaye, I recall, said his Daddy, a very big and solid man, who Jaye loved, had a size 17 ring finger. Jaye said, “When he pointed his big finger into his chest, which was rare, “I knew I better listen up”.
I asked Jaye about his rifle and caliber. He loved his Browning Mountain Rifle in stainless (5 lbs bare) in 300 WSM. The bolt glided like silk. Ill bet it packs a nice kick at that weight but really easy to carry. A great all weather rifle for long range goat hunting at 8000 ft or moose at 1000 ft above sea level like us.
My Rifle, a Ruger M77 African in .375 Ruger with Nosler 300 grain AccuBonds exiting the barrel at 2515 fps and 4200 ft-lbs at the Muzzle with Leupold VX-6 3-18x44mm on top. It weighed in at 10 pounds with the scope.
Oliver is shooting a 7mm Rem Mag with 160 grain X-Barnes bullets. Shoots sub MOA all day long.
Ok time to cut the jabber.
Finally we headed to the Chopper to load and head to the remote camp where our guides and Theresa (the owners wife) and Cassie a cousin did all the cooking.
THE HUNT
Date: October 2, 2019 9:30 AM Area 11 Southwest Newfoundland
Owners: Rock Pond Outfitters run by Trevor Keough and Family. Six days at $5900 each. Paid $1000 to book in December, $1900 by March, and $3000 on arrival.
Hop in the Helicopter with me! Lets Go. It took a few minutes to warm up the Helicopter. It was a longer ride than shown.
This is Rock Pond Camp – Our home base for the hunt. It is in the middle of a million unnamed lakes and ponds and glacial regolith…boulders and rocks.
Kitchen and Dining area below. This cabin is open only for 6 weeks a year, during the Moose and Caribou Hunt season.
In a 50 Square Mile uninhabited valley and 20 miles from the nearest outfitter, we began our Moose hunt ( two guides, two hunters, one 8 track ARGO Avenger).
Low Bush Blueberries were everywhere.
Oliver taking a nap.
Day one – afternoon we saw caribou but no bull moose. We saw a huge female cow on the side of a far off hill. She looked like a walking barn door.
Sunrise at Camp.
Day Two – Tuesday at 6:30 AM we had breakfast of eggs and bacon and toast and tea and coffee and headed out to a site that had promise but saw no moose but lots of Caribou.
I set up my rifle on BOG’s new “Death Grip®” tripod. I promised to test it and I was very pleased with it. It was on the heavy side to lug around, but in the ARGO, it was easy and nearby. I had that whole valley covered to 250 yards MPBR with the Death Grip which is more like a “Bench Rest” on a Swivel. What a great tripod!! See below.
Day Three – We woke to Snow and Wind!
It was 30º F snowing sideways at times on day three, and windy ( wind-chill at 20 mph wind is 17 degrees F) as we approached our first Moose stand in the Argo Avenger 8 track. The wind cuts like a knife as Oliver tries to stay warm.
My camo face mask worked great!!
Age? It’s just a number!
The ARGO was essential to our success and essential in beating the tar out of us at every venture sitting in the back and sideways to the direction of travel. Next time, if there is one, I will take the front seat!
We found out that this area according to guides Germain and Chris is known for smaller horned bulls but that was not in the outfitter literature when we booked. Yes some big racks show in the literature along with smaller racks.
I prefer to believe that these are younger bulls, but at at age 5 to 6 would have much larger racks just like a mature whitetail buck would.
But I am not willing to let the moose pass given the time, effort and expenditure. As they say in the Arbys TV commercials. “WE HAVE THE MEAT!” All 300 pounds of it. Each!
Here I am all smiles with this 4 point bull. Not what I came for but happy to be successful from a meat standpoint.
The wind blew at us as if to say “So you want to hunt Moose in Newfoundland, eh!”
The wind cut like a knife into our lighter camo jackets, robbing us of necessary body heat. Below the moose approaches but the guide shut of the camera when it began to blizzard. All the guide saw was white!
Video above – Our guides spotted a bull on a far hillside more than a mile away. We began a loud electronic caller which mimicked a mating Cow Call. It sounds like a loud cow moan. As soon as the Cow call was started, one of the guides shouts, “he’s coming”! The guide stopped filming with my camera when all he could see was white!
I was disappointed, I have no shot footage to share.
It was a text book single 100 yard shot, front quartering on a moving target with my 375 Ruger with Nosler 300 grain heads. He was trotting facing us when he veered to the right, thus giving me that quartering shot. The rifle was mounted on the BOG Death Grip and it was easy to get a solid bead on the moving bull. Boom! went the 375 rifle!
The bull stood for just a few seconds, wondering what had just happened and then fell “dead as a door nail” with a resounding thud! Congratulations said Chris and Germain and Oliver.
Oliver hunted the next day with the two guides and saw no bulls but when a big cow showed up in a gnarly patch of black spruce he changed his mind for meat instead and shot her at 200 yards in the spine and she went down in the midst of the spruce.
It took axes to cut her from the tangled spruce.
He too was successful in taking an adult moose.
Both of us kept the hides and sent them for tanning with fur on.
The guides made fast work of removing the meat, and hide below.
The Chopper took us back with part of our game meat and had to stay another day for them to retrieve it all.
Sunset at Camp
We drove back to take the midnight ferry to Nova Scotia. We slept in large reclining chairs.
We stopped for gas and bathroom breaks but made it back home in time to start the butchering process.
What you see for meat below, we did for each quarter of the moose in our kitchen. My wife helped, but she admitted that she never saw that much meat in one place in her whole life. I kept some of the last of it in the freezer so it was cold and fresh to cut. We added 20 pounds of beef pot roast full of fat to help bind the burger as it had no fat.
It took 4 full days for us to process, cut, and grind and vacuum seal steaks,back strap,moose tips, stew meat and over 100 pounds of moose burger.
If you are after a big Moose rack, I do not recommend this area to hunt.
But if you are after adventure and lots of meat, this hunt does that well and it was great family fun!
Recently I hunted boar again in Maine as you can see from recent articles. These were mixed breeds that are part Russian Boar.
A few years back I took a larger boar (female) that was said to be Russian.
Below the meat of the Russian boar was more beef like with fat marbled throughout.
These Russian pork chops when grilled were the finest tasting meat my wife and I have ever experienced in our lives. OMG, my wife went bananas over the meat which is why she sent me off to get another one. The meat of the latest boar was not as fatty as this one and it tastes great but not quite as good as the first.
We think that it is the fat marbling that drove our taste buds insane when fire grilled to a blackened crust below.
For my wife and I, pork will never be the same. This wild boar meat was a true culinary experience. My latest boar meat is still over the top as compared to domestic pig. So I will go hunt one up instead of the pork at the grocery store. Just shoot a fat one!
I harvested three deer, a Trophy Buck and two does just several days ago. The meat was boned (due to NHFG CWD Reg’s) by a local Texas wild game processor and shipped via UPS and guaranteed to arrive in three days. There were 2 large boxes with insulation foam inserts that shipped with 113 lbs of unprocessed venison parts and sealed in vacuum bags with notations of parts such as hams, loins, back-straps etc.. Cost of three deer prep and ship was over $500. I could have risked a one week ground ship but the risk of loss was too great having made such a large investment in the first place. I share this with you, in case you must do this as well.
I hunted Texas because, my research found there was a high probability to see and harvest a mature 4 1/2 year old buck (on a 40 square mile “low fence” Cattle Ranch and Hunt run by Wildlife Systems, Inc.) with antlers that were fully developed. Yea Baby! My guide Pete, driving us in a 4 wheel ORV in some cases 10 to 15 miles off road around this wild cactus, juniper and mesquite like chaparral (part of the Edwards Plateau) to a blind in the pitch black of night or on an afternoon stand… we hit the trail hard.
It was adventure! And it paid off Big Time with this 144 3/8 Boone and Crockett buck of a lifetime! And two conservation does for the freezer. I have eight grandkids and friends who love my mouth watering venison creations.
Venison Arrived still partially frozen but thawed enough to begin processing.
My Kitchen Grinder set up with a LEM Grinder from Bass Pro.
The sanitary cutting boards, knives and sharpening stone.
I started with the larger hams by carving out major muscle groups and cutting larger muscle groups into steak and smaller muscles into tips, stew meat and for burger.
Below this meat is for venison burger using the LEM Grinder. I purchased a small amount of top round Angus beef roast with some fat to add to the burger as venison has very little.
Below are two back straps. The one I am pointing to has had the tough silver skin removed.
Below using a sharp knife this silver skin membrane is easily removed.
Let the LEM Grinder do the grinding. I used the rough (large hole) and finish (small hole) disc’s to create a nice burger. It is vital to have refrigeration was available throughout the process to keep the meat cold.
Below is half done for the burger. This container was mounded by the time I was done. I processed perhaps 35 lbs of burger. My wife and I had venison burgers for dinner. Wow! They were just delicious! OMG!
Next came the vacuum sealing in meal size portions. I date the seal-a-meal packing and note the contents. My wife and grand daughters helped to vacuum seal and freeze it. We can enjoy the Venison for the next year or two. I gave my two tween young grandsons and I a lunch of grilled back-strap and steaks with crispy browned potato medallions with some bacon fat and Olive Oil just moment ago. They inhaled it! The meat was exceptionally flavorful with wild “hints” that identify venison. I added a 5 minute marinade, a bit of Worcester Sauce, salt and fresh cracked pepper. The texture of the meat was delightful. I got my grill up to 400º F before putting the meat on. I seared each side leaving the meat rare to medium rare.
I was gonna take a picture of the lunch but since it was hot off the grill we ate it straight away. Sorry maybe a photo at a later meal. 🙂
Today November 13th, 2018 and it is pouring cold rain outside here in New Hampshire. What a great way to warm up with grilled venison and fried potato medallions.
Use the rough grind for both moose and pork at a ratio of roughly 4 to 1 moose to pork. This adds enough fat for burger to bind together. 
