HELPFUL TIPS FOR HARVESTING A DEER

HELPFUL TIPS FOR DEER HARVESTING

By: Gail Veley • Sponsored by WOO

While preserve hunting includes the added amenity of processing a deer for you, every hunter still owes it to themselves to be self-sufficient and knowledgeable about the protocol involved in processing a deer. Experienced free-range hunter, deer farmer and Oklahoma native Kyle Herndon, 38, shares the following tips and advice for processing your own deer:

1. You don’t have to be a professional butcher to properly process your deer.

2. Immediately after expiration, gut your deer in the field. This will eliminate approximately 40 to 50 pounds of weight and make it much easier to drag. Within 12 hours coyotes and opossums will have eaten these remains.

3. If the weather is appropriate (between 32 and 40 degrees) let your deer hang inside a shed for three to four days. Or allow them to hang in a walk-in cooler for the same amount of time. Place a tub underneath to catch the blood. Allowing the deer to “rest” for this period of time causes the fat (tallow) and meat to begin to break down and typically makes for more tender steaks.

4. If the weather is not ideal and you do not own a walk-in cooler, plan on processing your deer immediately.

5. Focusing on one quarter of the deer at a time, cut the meat away from the front shoulders for steaks and roasts. Remaining meat that doesn’t lend itself to those types of cuts from the shoulder can then be ground up for hamburgers, spaghetti, tacos, meatloaf or for a variety of other meals.

6. Remove the backstrap and make that into steaks. Then remove the tenderloin from the inside of the rib cage area for steaks. Any remaining meat from that area as well as the neck area can also be ground up and utilized for meals.

7. With each remaining hind quarter, cut the meat into slices and make jerky through a specific process of marinating and dehydrating the meat, and then storing it in sealed plastic. 8. Be sure to buy sizable freezers for storing your deer meat, as you may have quite a bit of it on your hands. Two large freezers are even better, especially if you make a habit out of regularly harvesting deer.

9. If possible, during the hunt (when focusing in for your shot) hit the deer behind their front shoulder. They will typically expire more quickly, and you will not lose the back strap, one of the tastiest parts of a deer. In addition, chose a hunting rifle that will not fragment the bone and cause you to lose any of the meat, regardless of where it is located.

Herndon, who annually harvests six deer, personally feels that older does are the tastiest and most tender, compared to bucks. He never harvests a buck under four years of age. He also shares his hunting passion with his daughter, Kylee, and son, Kolton. And although he has many fond memories hunting with them, this story might be his favorite. “It was Kolton’s first year deer hunting and he was asleep in the blind,” recalls Herndon about Kolton, who was six at the time. “And a deer came out and I nudged him to wake up. I said there was a good buck out there. We got him up and on the gun. We got him lined out and he shot, and the deer just stood there. After a second shot it fell over. His first shot had been in the belly. When I asked him why he shot the deer in the belly he said, ‘you were rushing me!” So perhaps as a final piece of advice, Herndon offers “keep your cool and your poise. Don’t rush your shot. It always pays off.”

By: Gail Veley • Sponsored by KALA U pon venturing forth to build a deer farm, one crucial question needs to be answered first. “How many deer do you plan Next, consider an ideal place for a fawning facility should you include one on your farm. Ideally, it would be nestled amongst pens where expecting does would ultimately reside. Although on raising?” asks veteran deer farmer this may seem obvious “some people

Henry Woodard of Woodard Whitetails have no clue when they set out to in Glasgow, Kentucky. “Most people create deer pens,” said Mike Sulfridge tend to underestimate the amount of of Big Antler Ranch in Annville, deer they are going to end up with. Kentucky. Crucial to the success of a

Always plan for expansion.” deer farm is not only the location and size of deer pens, but their shape as

Having “benchmarks” or clear business well. Considering deer are prey animals, goals and a clear vision of where avoid making your pens too small or you’d like to be in five or ten years can square-shaped but rather make them make designing, building and utilizing long and narrow such as 100 x 300 your deer farm an easier endeavor. feet, Sulfridge said. “This gives them the

Although there are several factors to ability to run from perceived danger take into consideration, first analyze rather than the feeling of being in a the land where you plan to build your fishbowl that a square-shaped pen pens, Woodard advises. Avoid low spots gives them.” that don’t have excellent drainage.

Next, consider an optimum location Within each pen both food and water for a handling facility should you plan sources should be placed within close on having one, and place deer pens proximity of the human gate, for your and crowding alleys in convenient safety. Shade should also be provided proximity. However, don’t think of a either naturally with trees or by artificial handling facility as merely a place to do structures such as carports or lean-to

A.I. procedures. “Think of it as a place to sheds. Ideally, cover would be provided load or unload bucks without having to over food and water sources as well to dart them,” said Woodard, whose 200- make it more palatable for deer to eat acre deer paradise includes a breeding and drink, ensuring proper nutrition farm as well as a hunting preserve. and hydration year-round particularly in summer months. Quantity of deer inside each pen is an important factor as well. In general, allot for 3,000 square feet per deer or about 15-16 deer per acre (an acre measuring in at 43,560 square feet.) Next, take into consideration the type of fencing you wish to use in constructing each pen. Although chain link fence is more expensive compared to game fence, fawns are less likely to get stuck in chain link or escape through it, which can cause immeasurable stress for them and lactating does. Stress is perhaps responsible for claiming more cervid lives than anything else and although Woodard is content with the functionality of his farm begun in 2003, “if I had to do over I would build an observation deck over my deer pens,” he said. “It would give me and my customers a chance to see the deer without having to go into or next to the pens.” An observation deck would also allow Woodard to more easily spot a sick deer.

Spotting and treating sickness is paramount to your overall herd health, along with the awareness that deer tend to hide illnesses as an instinctual form of survival. Spending time in your pens provides you the opportunity to keep your pulse on the health of your charges, Woodard emphasizes. With health and low stress at the forefront of any decision making, stress is also greatly reduced in deer that do not undergo darting. With that in mind, should your farm also include a hunting preserve, design your pens such that bucks can be released directly into it, without first having to dart and transport them, Woodard said. “This obviously makes the transition much smoother and less risky.”

Because successful deer farming requires a considerable investment upfront, ensure you have adequate funds set aside as banks are not especially keen to provide loans for this type of endeavor, Sulfridge said. However, the State of Kentucky could be a viable resource for business loans and grants and doing research is highly recommended. Above all, do your homework and study all the information that is available out there, Woodard added. “Talk to successful breeders to learn their habits and secrets. And always be open to other ideas besides your own.”

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