Busy Day

willy · #1 10-08-2012, 09:39 PM

Took a stand for bow season. My zone allows more than one doe a day if you can get them.
Well first one came in around 3pm, pass through heart shot, while letting my half hour go by, number two walks on in in bow shot. Nice pass through both lungs slightly quartering away.
Well after a blood trail in the rain and thick cover ended up finding both and well after dressing both, dragging both out and then hauling them in it was a two cocktail night.
Nice meat.

tsubaki · #2 10-09-2012, 04:32 AM

Good goin' willy!!

RidgeRunner · #3 10-09-2012, 06:49 AM

Deer in Jersey? Congrats! Living the dream.

step up here · #4 10-09-2012, 06:52 AM

Excellent hits looks like they didn't make more then 50-60yards. Good for you Willy.

willy · #5 10-09-2012, 07:17 AM

About right, thanks.

jasoncooperpcola · #6 10-09-2012, 07:30 AM

Awesome Willy. Yall are killing me with these pics, making me want to join another club. Just with a boat rebuild going on I cannot afford anything else. I enjoy bow hunting more than with a rifle. So much, that on many hunts I take my bow instead. Glad you got a double, did you clean both last night or let them hang?

willy · #7 10-09-2012, 08:24 AM

Too warm, 60's, to hang em. Took them to the local grocery store, they will hang them in their box for me. The butchers there are real good. If I have the time I will get them and bring them home and do them. If not I will have them do them for me.
If we have cool enough weather I always hang them in my garage for three to four days and do them myself.

Kracker Jack · #8 10-09-2012, 08:42 AM

Way to go Robin Hood!!!! Nice shooting!! That should freshen up the freezer.

Blue_Runner · #9 10-09-2012, 08:54 AM

Nice shootin man. Willy when you hang them in the garage do you leave the hide on or off?

willy · #10 10-09-2012, 02:13 PM

Hide on, otherwise you have to trim a dried layer off all your meat. Takes a little longer to get the hide off but it comes off fairly easy.
It used to be that we would get cool enough days late in Oct. for me to hang them but the past five or six years we seem to get too much fluctuation in daytime temps.
What I used to do was pull the hide, quarter the deer and put in big plastic bins whole in the fridge for a few days. But with does like these (around 95-110 lbs) I found it made no difference meat wise aging them or butchering them right away.
For bigger older does (120-150 lbs.) and definitely for larger and older bucks aging them helps quite a bit and the meat is much better.
What I do do is even with those I am going to age or bring to the butcher I pull the tender loins right after dressing them. Had a good snack last night and again today for lunch!
I also like to do the liver and heart. Mostly the liver cause the heart often seems to be a little messy LOL.
But last night with all the tracking, all the dressing and then all the dragging by myself in the rain I just did not have it in me. Plus it is usually just me and the wife now and it has to be done pretty fresh, next day at the most.