Everyone have a great weekend

Joined Jul 2005
3K Posts | 0+
MI
I am out!! Going up to the condo in Northern Michigan for some late season grouse hunting. I packed a ton of sticks, anything from Cameroon labels to Opus to Graycliff Espresso to Preferidos to ...you name it. Everyone have a great weekend, Big is waiting patiently in the truck. Capt
 
Sounds like a lot of fun, Capt! Hope you have a great time, and bring back some pics!
 
I dress and butcher all of my deer. The leftover meet that Im not really interested in eating I take to the local meat processor and have them make summer sausage, deer burger and regular italian style sausage with it.
 
Deer sausage, Mmmmm........... (droooool).

I think I'm going to have some this weekend.
 
I am sooo lucky!! A friend got a BIG moose last month, and he is going to give me a roast, and some stewing moose. Moose stew - yum, yum, yum!!!

By the way Captain, how was the Grouse hunting? Did you blast the little rascals?
 
Moose stew? You eat the raccoons too? :p

When my grandmother passed away last year we all (the family) traded stories. One was about my aunt and one of her pets as a child. She had this pet squirrel that got out one day and took off. Needless to say she was devestated so my uncles and my dad all went out to find her squirrel. They looked all day and eventually they found it (how they knew it was the one I have no idea) but ended up not being able to catch it.

Well, being a kid in the fifties my uncle had this club he made and kept with him. Somehow he got the brilliant idea to club the squirrel with it and stun it long enough to grab it. Well he of course hit it square in the head and killed it. After seeing this, my aunt told my grandmother and went off tho cry in her room. When asked what happed my uncle told my grandmother that it must haved just gotten scared to death. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good squirrel, my grandmother took the squirrel to make for supper.

So my dad's family sat down to dinner that night and my grandmother starts to serve the stew onto the cutting board and for some reason my grandmother never skinned the squirrel. So my aunt sees the squirrel still covered in fur on the table, freaks out and yells at my uncle "I told you you'd never be able to stun him with tht stupid club." and my uncle yelled back "how was I supposed to know it would kill the damn thing!" Now my uncle had his lie outed as well as the fact that he killed my aunt's pet AND swore at the dinner table so my grandmother had my grandpa give my uncle a "whippin."


I still laugh every time I think about that story.
 
Bikeman said:
By the way Captain, how was the Grouse hunting? Did you blast the little rascals?

As much as I would like to say I did, I didn't. Had a little too much snow, and it got windy. Big still found some, but they flushed wild, out of shooting range. It was still an awesome sight to watch Big quater thru the woods, while I smoked my cigars. That dog was treated like a king all weekend. Might go again the end of this week.
 
Yes, it is a good idea to treat our pets like kings once in a while, unless the doggy is small and white and cute, then she gets treated like a princess alll the time.

Back to the hunting thing. NO, I would never eat a racoon, but I certainly will not turn down good moose or deer. I prefer my deer in sausage and a little spicy, and a fellow from work makes it that way. Yummy!!

I have not tried moose before this weekend, and it is very good meat. A little heavier than beef, and with a little more flavor. Once again, yummy!!

Good luck with the grouse. The best part of that is that even if you don't get to shoot anything you get to spend the day tramping around in the bush, and that is NEVER a waste.
 
Bikeman said:
The best part of that is that even if you don't get to shoot anything you get to spend the day tramping around in the bush, and that is NEVER a waste.

Amen to that - I've never been hunting but I'd love to try someday.

And I only wish the wife was more interested in the outdoors...
 
Bikeman said:
By the way Captain, how was the Grouse hunting? Did you blast the little rascals?
Grouse? Can't you just buy that at your local market? I hear it's quite famous.
 
LOL, no, they don't sell grouse at the market. Partridge, aka ruffed grouse is a wild bird that is found in heavy, dense forests. There are several other variations of grouse, but none are sold in markets. Quail on the other hand, can be found in markets. Even if grouse were sold , they would not taste the same raised on a farm. The fact that you are the one that killed the bird, and the bird making the ultimate sacrifice, makes it taste that much better. I am one that believes that EVERYTHING you take from nature should be utilized. I use the wings for training, the feathers for tying trout flies and of course the meat for fabulous meals. I let nothing go to waste.
 
Capt said:
LOL, no, they don't sell grouse at the market. Partridge, aka ruffed grouse is a wild bird that is found in heavy, dense forests. There are several other variations of grouse, but none are sold in markets. Quail on the other hand, can be found in markets. Even if grouse were sold , they would not taste the same raised on a farm. The fact that you are the one that killed the bird, and the bird making the ultimate sacrifice, makes it taste that much better. I am one that believes that EVERYTHING you take from nature should be utilized. I use the wings for training, the feathers for tying trout flies and of course the meat for fabulous meals. I let nothing go to waste.

what do you do with the reproductive organs?

Matt
 
Honestly though, after cleaning the birds outside, I take the "leftovers" and use them to fertilize the herb garden or to feed the scavenging animals.
 
Brenda, you are awesome!!! I was actually expecting game birds. PM me your address, I have someting I am going to send you. I have some packages to send out this week, so I will include yours with them. Ryan
 
Capt said:
Brenda, you are awesome!!! I was actually expecting game birds. PM me your address, I have someting I am going to send you. I have some packages to send out this week, so I will include yours with them. Ryan
It's not meat, is it? This may shock you all but, I'm a vegetarian.