Hunting for food (in New Zealand)

[livinglandnz]

Very nice, is that White tail or Mule deer ? We have White Tail here way down the bottom of the country on an Island called Stewart Island, I haven't been there yet. My butchery is fairly basic, Steaks and everything else is processed into sausages which I do myself.

 

[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.

 

[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

 

[wyoDreamer]

Here in NE Wisconsin, we count everything that you can hang a ring on, lol.
I would prefer to shoot a doe than a buck, because the doe tastes better without the rut hormones. My saying is "you don't eat the rack". lol
The one set of horns that I have, I mounted myself and hang in my sewing room. DH says no horns in the living room!

 

[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.

 

[baymule]

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.

 

[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.