Hunting for food (in New Zealand)

[Medicine Woman]

Sounds like a great spot you are living. I shot two deer a couple of days ago, should see me right for a few weeks.

It’s great until hurricane season. But I put up with the inconvenience for the benefits. As a small child I lived in the southeast of Australia and my father worked as a tugboat captain and worked around New Zealand and Australia. I feel connected in a way to that region, as it was the first home I remember.

 

[MeanCheek]

Wow, that's a lot of good meat!

 

[Hinotori]

Mule deer split, then will split again for more tines.

Both of these were Eastern Oregon mule deer. The one just aged for a decade or 3 on my parents wood pile. I did have a 4x5 skull that I'd painted up and decorated but someone who broke in decided they liked it better than me.


3 point

we couldn't decide if the points were long enough to be considered a 4 point on this one. Brow tines aren't counted normally here. I know deer are counted different on the east side of the US

 

[livinglandnz]

nice antlers. The most common deer here to hunt is red deer, a 12 pointer is considered a trophy. But I have shot a lot of 10 pointers way bigger than my 12's.

 

[livinglandnz]

I've never taken deer to a processor. It is fairly easy to do at home. Since I live in a hot climate, sometimes even in winter, I quarter the carcass and pack in ice in an ice chest. Drain the water daily and add more ice for a few days, then process.

I used to have an old fridge I would quarter and hang meat in, it worked ok. I will be building an insulated chiller shed on my land, I should be able to pick up a large air con unit to cool it.

 

[livinglandnz]

we're not much for eating venison here, but i do like the venison and pork mixed together kind of sausage. that's perfect for me once in a while.

similar to @wyoDreamer Michigan has a "managed" deer herd by the state (EQD/DNR/whatever they're calling themselves this year) but what it comes down to most of the time is that the population is managed by the weather and how many vehicles run them over.

i'd be very happy if the wolves were allowed to come back as then at least there would be a natural predator that would eat the sick and frail ones and also keep the numbers down. humans just cannot do the same thing that wolves can do. we do have coyotes around but they do not take down deer that often.

 

[wyoDreamer]

I believe that is a whitetail rack. Nice rack too.
Whitetail have single points off the beam and most mule deer have forks coming off the main beam.