Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Body Count '13 - #6 - #12

After seein' my favorite field loaded with groundhogs the other day, I pretty much knew how my day off today was gonna go.

The first five... the three small ones were from the same hole.
My long shot for the day... 290 yards, after missin' her once.
And a bonus baby that I walked up on as I was leavin'.

A long time ago, I used to shoot groundhogs with my deer rifle, for lack anythin' else at the time. After awhile, I was able to buy bullets for Dad's ol' .225 Winchester, which helped a bit. I can't even imagine the carnage I could have caused with the farm's groundhog population durin' my youth if I'da had this gun. What a frikkin' tack driver.

I had a damn fine time today, and left plenty to shoot at the next time, whenever that is.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Body Count '13 - #4 & #5

Whacked a few more young'ns after the afternoon milkin'. My phone died before I could git my morbid pics of the third though.

Had a few whiffs at the longer distances though, so I reckon I gotta put the beast on paper past 150 and see for myself, rather than trust the ballistic charts. Gittin' the shits of wastin' ammo missin' perfectly killable hogs.

In good news, one of my favorite fields got cut the other day and was loaded up with whistlepigs when I got there. My last kill and all five whiffs were there, and I saw a dozen more that I didn't shoot for. I reckon I'll have to spend a few more hours there this week and see how much damage I can do.

Body Count '13 - #3

In one ear, and out the other. Typical damn kids.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Homemade Deer Bologna

In my never-endin' quest to be a little more self-sufficient about such things, I decided I was gonna whip up my own batch of deer bologna. I picked up an ol' hand grinder at the auction a few weeks ago, a few ol' pillowcases to use for casin', and most of the ingredients layin' around. All I needed was time to do it.

To start the fracas, I discovered that tryin' to use a grinder with shot knives is pretty much a pain in the ass. I didn't realize the knives were that beat until I was balls deep into the process. Took a lot longer than it shoulda, but I finally got it done. Thankfully I only thawed about five pounds just to experiment with. Reckon I'll have to go about orderin' a new set of knives and plates before I try that again.

I also had a helluva time findin' some cure, as the shit the recipe called for wasn't exactly readily available as I thought it was gonna be. Not a good discovery to make once everythin' is already ground, mixed up and ready to go. A trip to Grander Mountain netted me a different type of cure, so with a few minor recipe adjustments, I got pretty close to what I needed.

And, just to make sure the entire process was an all-around shitshow, the sewin' machine decided it was gonna be a rat bastard commie while I was tryin' to sew up the casings. A lot of help from the girl and her mother got me through that.

So, I'm sittin' here soakin' in the wonderful aroma comin' from the oven and wonderin' if I managed to get a decent end product. I'll let ya know.

*  *  *

Here's the recipe I used. As normal for me, I didn't follow it to a T, but it was a good base to start from. I also used pork instead of beef as an add-in for the higher fat content, since I trim most of the fat offa my scrap durin' the butcherin' process.

4lbs fine ground venison
1lb ground hamburger
1/3 cup Morton Tender Quick (cure)
1 TBsp Black Pepper
1 TBsp Accent
1 TBsp Ground Mustard
1/2 TBsp Onoin Powder
1/2 TBsp Ground Red Pepper (less if you want less spice but 1/2 tbs is not spicy at all)
1/2 TBsp Mace (you dont have to put mace in it. this stuff is like 6 bucks)
1/2 TBsp Garlic Powder
6 TBsp Liquid Smoke
1 Cup Brown Sugar (less if you dont want it to be sweet)
1/2 Cup King Syrup (molasses should work i use king syrup)
 I was a little short on liquid smoke, and didn't feel like runnin' into the store again so I have maybe 2 TBsp. I also scrapped the Mace since I'm cheap like that. My add-ins included Old Bay (of course), dried crushed onions, a dash of cinnamon, some soy and Worcestershire sauce and 2/3 cup of shredded cheddar cheese. Prolly over-seasoned the hell outta it, but oh well.
Mix all ingredients very good by hand in a large bowl. Then place in fridge in a  covered bowl or wrap with saran wrap to keep it from drying out for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Stuff in casing as tight as possible getting all air pockets out. Bake at 200 degrees for around 5 hours or until inside temp is 165 degrees. Ovens vary so a meat thermometer is a must. If the inside temperature don't reach at least 165-170 the meat will be undercooked.