cellini's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Butchering is really, really hard work. Holy shit, I am so exhausted. That was every bit as hard as I thought that it would be. Butchering an entire deer. Never again. Next time, I will just field dress it and take it to a professional butcher. Because that fucking sucked. Also I did a pretty shitty job. I am so sore. Everything aches. It would probably help to have the proper tools. I was working with my hunting knife, a short serrated kitchen knife and a hatchet. The dogs are happy. Since there is zero chance of e. coli and I'd started working on the deer within minutes of killing it, the raw meat is totally safe. So all 3 dogs got to have lots of lovely sashimi grade venison. I'm eating some medallions of venison that I cooked up a few minutes ago. They are a bit tough because I'm still learning about what parts to use in what way. Also I didn't bother to tenderize them at all. The flavor is excellent. It just tastes like very lean beef. Nothing 'gamey' about it. Good thing because I've got about another 50 pounds of this shit in the refrigerator. There was no fat on that deer at all. It's going to be a rough winter for these deer. It's amazing how fast my perspective changed. At first I was wearing rubber gloves and trying to even to touch anything through the gloves. Just trying to use the knives. Eventually the gloves sort of broke and I took them off. By the time I was finished, all squeamishness was gone. I was literally skinning the thing with my bare hands. Peeling it back like a banana. It's amazing what one can get used to. I'm pretty much ok with meat now. I've finally killed and disassembled an entire large animal single handedly. I'd done small game and birds before but never something like this. Now I've got my carnivore bona fides. Put the fucking epalettes on my shoulders or whatever. There's no regret. The emotions I've gone through with regard to this kill are elation, thankfulness, more elation, exhaustion and finally satisfaction. It's kind of a cliche that when someone kills something like a deer for the first time, he or she is supposed to feel all this regret or guilt or something. But that's not how it is. I am literally eating this deer as I type this. This deer has already provided meals for all 3 dogs and myself. We'll be eating it for weeks. That's a pretty good reason for an animal like that to die. I killed it quick and clean and I thanked it afterwards. I've read about how in traditional German hunting culture, when you kill an animal you are supposed to thank it and then you cut two green branches or sprigs of something or other. You put one in the deer's mouth and the other in your own hat. So that is exactly what I did. The German jaegers also have a song that you are supposed to sing at that point, but I didn't know it. So sore. So tired. I'm going to take a long hot shower, drink a glass of wine and go to bed. 12:32 a.m. - 2007-10-20 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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