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The Fishing and Hunting Thread

Discussion in 'Permanent Threads' started by Nettdata, Oct 25, 2009.

  1. katokoch

    katokoch
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    The pre-wedding charter boat trip on Lake Superior was a success. Everyone got to reel in a fish and I got my first Coho salmon. Looking forward to eating that bad boy and obviously the lake trout too. Biggest fish of the day went to my wife's grandpa, which makes me very happy since for awhile now he has apparently been bragging to his buddies in western Kansas that he was headed up North to "catch some real fish." I'd call an 8 pound laker a real fish.

    [​IMG]

    Time to figure out how to smoke fish on my Weber!

    Also our mourning dove and early goose seasons start in less than a month now and this is how I feel about that. Small game and grouse in just over a month. Need to step up training time with the dog.
     
  2. katokoch

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    So Toddamus wasn't completely full of shit when he said there's fish in here. He caught the trout and I just swore at the fish rising all around me. Was fun to try something different, and high pressure stream trout are definitely a challenge.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  3. toddamus

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    Whoever that guy is, he's got great form
     
  4. katokoch

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    Not many geese were moving last weekend, all local birds, but a few came in close enough to shoot with my brother and a cousin. Buck had a great time on the river, for him its basically the best day ever getting to roll around in mud and retrieve big birds.

    [​IMG]

    Next weekend I'm going to be scouting a property for deer hunting with my brother and will help him put up a stand. I'll be packing my Browning Buckmark to see if I can hit any squirrels or grouse with a pistol. I found an early '70s Winchester 70 .30/06 for him to buy and he put a Leupold 3-9x scope on it so how he has his own rifle to shoot deer with and a great one too.
     
  5. Revengeofthenerds

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    We have a opossum problem. Normally my solution is to shoot the stupid fuckers, except this dude is so damn elusive where every time I see him the fucker turns into Usain Bolt by the time I get my gun. I have a bunch of have-a-heart traps (ha!) but I don't want to trap my outdoor cat instead, whom this shithead vermin is bigger than.

    Any ideas? My son thinks the opossum is a ghost and is now scared of his room at night so I'm *dead* serious on removing this fucker like yesterday. I am open to any and all suggestions.
     
  6. Nettdata

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    Call those reality show guys back... you have a pilot.
     
  7. Revengeofthenerds

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    They called back. Something about "un-editable material" and my sister got like zero to sixty pissed at me so I wasn't privy to the rest of the story (which I'll get later I'm sure; I heard that last night).... we did our job then.
     
  8. toytoy88

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    12 gauge shells filled with 93 octane and Styrofoam.
     
  9. Kubla Kahn

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    You mean napalm?
     
  10. Nettdata

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  11. Revengeofthenerds

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    Bear discovers hunters in treestand, decides to visit.

     
  12. Nettdata

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    It was an amazing 5 days... the lake had a mild winter, so had very good oxygenation and little winter kill-off... all the fish were big and fat, and we averaged about 10 2.5 lbs trout each every day.

    I need to do this more often.

    IMG_5222.jpeg
     
  13. effinshenanigans

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    I have a Cabela's knife that I've used for field dressing, skinning, and butchering deer for a few years. It has a drop point blade, a bone saw, and a hybrid blunt tip skinning/gut hook blade. The latter causes a pretty significant problem because the gut hook portion of the blade extends higher than the body of the knife when that hybrid blade is closed, so when I'm using either the regular knife or the saw, my right pinkie finger inevitably gets lodged down in there, and I've actually cut myself a couple times (I've since dulled the gut hook portion with a file, but even dull it's still uncomfortable). The alternative is to grip the knife body from the outside on the wooden scales, but I lose leverage, especially when using the saw to get through a breast bone of a mature deer.

    My question for you guys is what's a decent alternative? I've looked into and held the Outdoor Edge Swing Blade knife, and it felt solid and seems pretty useful to be able to easily switch blades while still having most of the stability of a fixed blade. If I want to continue to use a saw (which I do like) there's plenty of standalone fixed saws, or Outdoor Edge also sells a folding saw as well.

    Any thoughts on alternatives? I'd like to have something new for this upcoming season to save my hand after years of abuse with an ill-designed knife. I'd prefer if the knife and saw were easy to carry (with sheathes) so I can keep them accessible without having to dig into a bag. I'll also be using the knife to breast out waterfoul as well.
     
  14. Kubla Kahn

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    I bought Outdoor edges stand alone skinner last year after years of seeing it used in the deer butchering dvd I have from them. It really does zipper through skin like butter. Doing the circumference of the wrist/ankles are a bit tough to do since the skin is tight and thin for the puncture preventing bulb to navigate, still nothing too terrible. I really love the skinner. I think their swingarm combo could be a great multi purpose knife for the job. My only concern would be removing the anus with such a blunt blade type. You might spend more time having to cut gingerly around it then jabbing/cutting you do with a pointer end blade.

    I use a small gerber folding knife, t shaped bone saws, and the skinner. Only complaint I have about my set up is the cheap remington bone saw I got at Wal Mart. Its rounded point is too large to get a good perpendicular cut going on the pelvis.
     
    #1294 Kubla Kahn, Aug 5, 2018
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2018
  15. effinshenanigans

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    Good point about getting the anus out. The blade shape would make that more difficult. I've got an old Buck folder that might turn into the dedicated butt knife in that case.

    Thanks for the feedback.
     
  16. TheFarSide

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    The best knife that I have used on deer and other animals is the Original Wyoming Knife, it's sharp fast, and the blades are replaceable. I process a lot of deer at my farm and hunt club (40-50 per year) for family and friends and I find that I only need to change blade after a season. I've tried quite a few knives over the years and this is the best, hands down, that I've used. It's not expensive at all, but get the leather pouch instead of camo for two dollars more.

    http://www.wyomingknife.com/knives.htm
     
  17. taste_my_rainbow

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    I won't be traveling to hunt this year but I shot this guy in Texas last November.
     

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  18. Baboso

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    After four seasons of missed opportunities and learning experiences, I finally harvested my first deer with a bow. Caught him mid stride while he was chasing a doe. This was the first year I really got to observe rut activity too. A perfect evening...

    This one is over at the processor now, but the next one I’d really like to handle myself. For those of you who process your own deer, what are your preferred methods?

    I’m planning on hanging it hide-on for at least 24 hours (up to three days as long as temperatures are correct). I’ll make the skinning cuts right away so it’s easy to do when the time comes. If temps are high I’ll have to break it down sooner and age it all parted out. I don’t have a spare fridge for dry aging, so I’m leaning towards the cooler method where you add ice and a cooling rack to a high quality cooler and swap the melted water for more ice daily. I’ll need a couple coolers and will probably only age it for 3-5 days.

    Any suggestions for a novice?
     

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  19. Nettdata

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    Nice! Congrats! I'm quite jealous, as I haven't been deer hunting in over 3 years now. It's surprisingly hard to find others to go with when you transplant out of your normal are of 30 years. I used to hunt with my dad and a group of guys for almost that 30 years, but they've now pretty well disbanded due to old age and them dying off. The goal right now is to gear up for next year and get out there, even if its solo.

    Step 1: Have a drain in your garage floor. If I ever have a house custom built, this will be on the list of things to have done. A friend of mine who was an avid hunter did this when he built his house... and it was a lifesaver. He could hang his deer in the chilly garage, over the drain, with easy access to a hose. So easy to keep things clean.

    Other than that, there are a couple of good YouTube videos out there that I've seen... it's not that hard, really... just get some butcher paper, a table, a sharp knife, and go to town. Understanding the rough cuts of meat and where they come from on the animal before you start is a huge help, and even if you fuck it up, it shouldn't be a big deal.

    If you're going for the "looks perfect enough to display at a meat counter" level of butchery, yeah, good luck... that takes training and practice. But if you're just looking for something to throw in the crock pot or on the bbq? It's fucking easy... just cut the meat off the bones.

    Other than that, get a meat grinder for the scraps, as there will be a lot of scraps, and there's no reason to let it go to waste.

    You may also want to look into making some sort of summer sausage or pepperettes ... I know venison is my favourite for those.
     
  20. Vaquero

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    One of the best resources I saw about butchering deer was Steven Rinella’s show Meateater, which had an episode (season six, episode six on Netflix currently) about breaking down the deer into major cuts and options for processing and cooking.

    My family has generally brought deer to a game processor, but the last two years I’ve been able to process my friends deer in my garage. Biggest thing that helped us was a good table, and even more importantly cutting boards and good knives. You will burn up the edge frequently, so good carbon steel Dexter knives allow you to more easily break down the bigger portions of the shanks into roasts and such and get touched up more quickly.

    I also don’t recommend getting ambitious about trying to take apart the leg meat by the joint as there is so much cartilage and tendon material it becomes a horrible mess. Rinella’s thoughts on keeping it bone in and whole as a braising item sound more appealing than grinding it for burger and having sinew strands to pick out of the grinding plate.

    Those are a couple of my experiences with the last four deer we’ve broken down. Wood stove also helps keep the right ambiance. Keep a good cast iron pan on the stove and throw a couple fresh cut steaks down and you’ll wonder why you let someone else do the work.