Sausage Doe
Two hours into my season I passed on a nice buck. It was about the same size as all the other bucks I have shot on that farm, so I thought I’d better wait for bigger. I was hoping bigger would come along, but it didn’t. I was also hoping that if bigger didn’t come along that season, at least that one would have another year to grow. It didn’t, my brother got it a few days later, and he looked a bit bigger once he was laying down.
That said, I can’t be too sad. This season I tried my hand at rattling (using fake antlers to imitate the sound of deer fighting to draw out curious bucks). This worked very well for me and I found myself within 20 yards of small bucks on at least 2 occasions and had others within 50. I also, without a tag, had two close run-ins with a very nice mule deer buck. It was nice to learn a new skill and have it actually work. In general, this season, it was rare for me to go a day without at least seeing a deer or two. This is very encouraging, its positive results that make me feel as though I am getting better as a hunter. This season I really started to wrap my head around two things, first is that deer are endlessly patient, so you have to outsmart it or get it curious. The second is that deer don’t want to waste energy so they won’t run unless you make them, so if spotted, remain motionless until they lose interest or, more likely, come in for a closer look. I had a few make a tight circle around me at a slow pace until they were able to catch my scent. The main lesson is, don’t give them a reason to run and they won’t run… maybe.
These ideas solidified themselves towards the end of the season when I came around a tree-lined trail a little fast and found myself and a mule doe 100 yards apart both out in the open awkwardly making eye contact. I froze and she stood and stared for a few minutes, then turned and slowly walked away. As soon as I was out of her line of sight I walked to where she was. She had gone down a hill, through a thin row of trees, and was standing in a clearing below me with two other, smaller, does. Again, I found myself out in the open, but this time with 3 sets of eyes on me. I slowly crouched down and brought my rifle up. I didn’t have a shot at her, the trees were in the way. I debated trying to push or sneak around, but I am a firm believer that almost all of a deer’s senses are stronger than mine so she would have heard me a mile away. Instead, I stayed as motionless as possible hoping her curiosity would get the best of her. Eventually, they cautiously started walking across the clearing from my left to right. I looked along the tree line and picked a few unobstructed lines of sight. These were my shooting lanes. If she crossed a shooting lane, I had her. She slowly worked her way just along the edges of the first few lanes stopping and dipping her head occasionally. I think deer do this to try and fake out predators, they lower their head as thought to feed and then immediately bring the back up quick and look in the direction of what they’re worried about (I base this on no scientific evidence whatsoever). Eventually, she worked her way to the last possible shooting lane, and I was ready, my .243 and I snuck a shot between two birch trees, right into her vitals and she went down.
I went down, put my tag on her, and did my best to field dress her. I then drug her across the snow-filled clearing to the trail so we could come back with the side-by-side and retrieve her. I walked back to the farm and Darrell and I came back and retrieved the deer with the ATV.
Two weeks later, I came out and we butchered the deer. My mom said she wanted deer sausage, and on the rare occasion my mother asks me for something, I do my best to do it. So, we made sausage. We started by removing the back straps and cutting them into steaks, as they are the choice cuts. The rest Darrell and I cut off the bone, cubed, and ground. We then cubed and ground an equivalent amount of pork and mixed it all together with spices. Venison is very lean meat and without adding pork or beef it makes a very dry sausage. We stuffed the ground meat into casings (we use “natural casings”, which are actually pork intestines). We then ran the sausage in the smoker with a mix of willow, apple, and saskatoon wood. It came out fantastic. Making sausage is one of my favorite things because there is no food better than sausage that’s still warm from the smoker.
We vacuum sealed the sausage and put it in the deep freeze at the farm to be enjoyed later. I also made sure to take a few rings to some friends, because what’s the point of having some of the best food in the world if you’re not going to share it?
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