Buck or doe?

I hunt for both. I want the doe for eatting, and a nice set of antlers is always nice. Of course any old buck gets donated to feed the hunger.

Amikee said:

During hunting, what do you go after?
A big buck, whose meat is hard as a rock, but antlers are pretty, or a nice doe, with soft, delicate meat? What are we hunting those days?

Click to expand...

Don't eat venison...I just love to deer hunt...give away anything I kill to a couple of really poor needy families out in the country near where I hunt. Don't even gut them anymore...just drag them out to my truck, drag them up on a 'hitch-haul', stop a mile down the road, ring the doorbell, and slide the deer off in their yard.

I get 2 Buck and 4 Doe tags with my license...then after those 4 Doe tags are used up, additional Doe tags can be bought for $5.00 apiece. Bucks are the prize as far as I'm personally concerned...the older I've gotten the more smaller bucks I pass up in hopes of getting a good mature buck to slip up and get in my sights.
If I'm carrying a new Flintlock I'm itiching to christen, I may impatient and take a smaller buck I should let walk. Does are good because they represent more opportunities to deer hunt and the families I give them to will take all I can bring...and the more I shoot with Flintlocks and PRBs, the more actual hands on experience I gain...win-win for everybody

I have 2 tags for the regular firearms season this year. I'm really wanting a buck. :grin:

I shoot whatever is legal that comes into my sights first. Both at once? I would go for the buck.
Young doe meat is usually very tender, agreed. But other deer meat is nice depending on season. If they are still putting on weight it is good. Later in year when they are losing weighty, not so good. But all of it cooked right is just fine.

I'll take the does all day, there's tons of'em around me...but if the right buck slips in looking for love...I'm probably gonna pop a cap!

I always buy an either-sex tag and an antlerless-only tag for both ML and regular firearm seasons here in IL. Then I can buy as many more antlerless-only tags as I want to for the late-winter seasons. And I only use my MLers even during regular firearm season. They're just more fun.

The first long weekend of firearm season I will usually hold out for a really big buck but I might shoot a doe towards evening of that 3rd day. Second season or ML-only season I will shoot the first doe I get a good shot at. And the second one too. :grin:
My either-sex tags are reserved for mature bucks only. Young bucks get a free pass around me. The way I see it, if you want to shoot a trophy size buck you gotta let the young ones grow up. If I don't shoot 'em they just might live to grow bigger. If I shoot 'em they never will grow. There are plenty of does around here to fill my freezer, not so many big bucks to fill my wall.
Late season is antlerless-only so the choice has been made for me there.

First of all, you take what the law allows you to take. It varies from state to state, and within certain states, from one zone, or area, to another. Hunting is NOT for your pleasure: instead, its a wildlife management TOOL, used by the state to maintain its wild game populations and the habitat in the best possible condition, considering any trends in the overall weather conditions. from year to year. Most state game agencies do a "count" each spring to determine if they will have an "Average" crop of deer, or will the crop be smaller or larger.

Second, you have to learn about how to process wild game to separate the "tough" meat, from the tender, and how to improve its taste, regardless if its a buck taken during the rut, or after its run some. Taste is more affected by where the deer live, and what is available there to eat.

For instance, I live, and have hunted deer here locally, where they get large and fat eating corn, and soybeans all summer. The meat tastes sweet, like Beef, and some people say they can
taste and even smell the corn in the venison.

On the other hand, I killed my first deer in far Southern Illinois, where there is only a little corn grown, and rarely are soybeans grown there. The deer rely on pine bark, and nuts, which give their meat a more bitter taste, IMHO. So, don't think that all deer will taste the same.

If you cut away the bones, and all the white tissues, tendons, ligaments, fat, gristle and connecting tissues, from venison, you will improve the taste of the cooked meat immensely, and have a chance to have good tasting meat. These parts contain Enzymes that continue to work on the muscles even after death- and while frozen-- and cause the meat to sour, and get tough. Cut and pull away all these tissues. I soak the muscle groups in a sink filled with fresh water, and either salt or vinegar, to draw the blood out of the meat. The water gets changed ever 2 hours, a few times, until the meat becomes more Pink, than maroon in color. Then the meat is soaked in clean water, to pull the vinegar or salt out of the meat, for the same time I soaked the meat with salt or vinegar.

Then, I pat the meat dry with paper towles, and put the muscles in pots, and bowls, covered, in a refrigerator for at least one week( 7 days). Rotate and pour out any blood that collects in the bottom of these containers, twice and day, and pat the meat dry before putting it back into the bowls and pots. ( I do this in the morning before going to work, and again after dinner at night). With at least a week's aging, the connecting tissues in the muscles begin to break down, and the meat becomes tender. By removing the blood, you get that iron taste of blood that so many people equate with "gamey", erroneously.

Keep the water in the sink cold, even if you have to put ice cubes in it to do so. Cold water tends to pull more blood out of the meat, than warm or hot water. You also will keep bacteria counts down when the water is at 38 degrees or lower in Temperature.

[Your refrigerator is normally also set at 38 degrees, because this is as close in temperature as you can get to the temperature at which the water molecule is the most dense, and the least hospitable to bacteria. :hmm:] Keeping the meat dry, and cold inhibits bacterial growth, and that in turn prevents spoilage. Spoilage is what makes meat taste terrible.

Finally to insure tender venison, use recipes that allow you to cook the meat with plenty of liquid, and don't cook it more than Medium. Medium Rare is the best condition for preserving both the best flavor, and the most tender cuts for eating. I don't provide knives with my vension, as I expect it to be tender enough to cut with the side of your fork. This comes as a shock, particularly when I serve fresh venison liver to guests, cut in 1/2" steaks, smothered in onions, bacon, wine or apple cider.

Tough meat is not that big a problem when you know what you are doing, beginning in the field when you field dress the animal, and all through the stages of handling it until its placed on the table, cooked, for dining. I once cooked a butt roast from an Old Doe, that weighed about 6 lbs. I wrapped the roast in a thick layer of dough, putting onions, bell pepper, butter, and wine in and around the meat, plus seasoning, before closing the top of the crust. Baked it at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours, or until steam broke out of the crust. What should have been a tough roast to serve, came out as tender as the best Prime Rib steak, and the 8 people we served were thrilled. Most had never eaten venison. Some were reluctant to eat "bambi", but once they tasted how tender, and succulent the meat was, they finished what was on their plate, and came back for seconds.

There are wild game recipes on this forum, and on the internet all over. I tell everyone that if you can cook it using beef in any recipe you have, you can substitute venison for the beef, Provided that you don't overcook the venison. Wet recipes work with most all wild game, because the meat does not have the marbling of fat within the muscles that domestically raised meat has. You can also leave the bones, and fat and sinew on beef, or lamb, or pork, etc. because these animals don't have the same enzymes that deer have. ( that's why these animals were chosen to be domesticated- they taste better with less work!)

Oh, if meat smells acidic( like my Old Doe that had been eating pine nuts), soak it in milk for a couple of days, to help sweeten it. That is what I did with my first wild boar, and my first deer, which were not eating corn and soybeans. :shocked2: :rotf: :thumbsup:

The use of any kind of alcohol in a marinade also helps to tenderize the meat, and remove any bitter taste from what the animal was eating before death. Cooking with a good sweet( white, and some red) wine brightens the flavor of the meat, and compliments any marinade, whether it has alcohol in it or not. :thumbsup:

Amikee said:

In the lovely state of Connecticut, we're allowed to hunt 1 either sex with muzzleloader on state land. I'm not sure on private. With bow, you can do 6. Muzzleloader season is from Dec 7-31, and bowhunting Sept 15-Dec 31. So I do both. I have seen many many does, but only a few younger bucks when I was scouting. I didn't even try to be quiet. Just walked in to the woods about a 100 yards, and voila, right in front of me, at the 5-15 yard distance, three does looking at me like I am crazy, LOL. They did not even bother checking what the hell am I. Just went back to eating. Same way I approach the young buck. I was in the woods 5 days in the row. From early sunshine till noon, and everyday I had the same situation. Ain't no hunting no more. More like grocery shopping, LOL. But more does. Pretty ones too.

Click to expand...

Where is this "grocery shopping" state land?
Sounds pretty easy, this deer hunting thing. :shocked2:
Might have to try it this year.

Quote from Virginia hunting reg's..
East of the Blue Ridge (except on National Forest lands in Amherst, Bedford, and Nelson counties).The bag limit for deer shall be two a day, six a license year. Of the six deer limit, no more than three may be antlered deer and at least three must be antlerless deer (unless noted in the exception below). ---------------------------ӢThe daily bag limit for deer shall be unlimited :shocked2: in Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties. However, no more than three antlered deer may be killed in a license year.
:hmm: I live in Prince William county.
I'm usually in the woods in two of the listed counties two or three days a week. While there are plenty of deer, I've seen what seemed(unscientific) more in many other places. :idunno:

My dad grew me up with the theroy that you only shoot bucks. Of course the state law back then in Nebr. was you shot whatever your tag said and there were only so many tags issued per county!

So it took me a long time to truly understand a buck doe ratio thinking. Here in Fl. I will take a doe whenever allowed. I have come to the conclusion those horns don't flavor the soup to well! :rotf:

That and I remember a big ole baron doe that just walked in front of my Dad's rifle one year on the last day of the season. When my dad brought her in that evening I gave him a puzzled look, like you shot a doe!
But every time we had venison meat that year, he would say "tastes better than the horns, now don't it", and actually she was quite tender as I remember her! :idunno: :haha: :rotf: :rotf:

Naugatuck State Forest. Also plenty of woods down south like Westport, Old Lyme, Greenwich. Just pick up hunting guide from walmart. It'll show you where you can do BP. Guys in DEP thought of us when they scheduled our season.

Any and all legal deer hunting is prohibited in Westport.

Probably I confused it with some other place. Anyhow, get 2011 CT hunting and trapping guide from walmart for free and you'll find many places. Where in CT are you? I'm in Ansonia near New Haven.

Amikee, I'm sure Bucktales could show you a thing or two about hunting in Conn.

And for all the out-of-town folks, a few years ago they shot more deer in Connecticut than Vermont, given the fact Vermont is rural and 4 times larger in size- that's pretty incredible. What about ticks/Lime Disease? Big problem?

crockett said:

And for all the out-of-town folks, a few years ago they shot more deer in Connecticut than Vermont, given the fact Vermont is rural and 4 times larger in size- that's pretty incredible.
My uneducated guess (hunted 25 yrs in Vt and close to 40 in Ct, would say easier living in Ct. i.e., milder winters, less predators, not counting motor vehicles,, more food

What about ticks/Lime Disease? Big problem?
Lots of ticks, lots of lyme, big problem.. yes. Co worker died from complications of lyme a few years back. Always get tested and be aware of it.

Click to expand...

Deer densities in my part of the state are very high. Problem is getting access to hunt those areas. Most land here is either densely populated by people, locked up already or off limits.
This bruiser in my yard 2 years ago was killed by a local poacher with a high velocity air rifle..

Im going after a buck in Colorado and then New Mexico this year.

Buck hard as a rock? Im not sure whos doing your cooking but i'd find a new wife :rotf:

Let them hang for about 5 to 7 days in a cooler and they are just as tender as any doe out there. Same goes for a doe.

I like the bucks when I'm getting low on horn to hack up for projects. If there's enuff horn on the shelf, I take whichever presents itself. If I've found plenty of sheds the previous spring, then I'm just looking at size of body and comparing that with freezer space.

I jumped a huge buck out of his bed this a.m., at about 9500 ft. He was in the dark timber hiding from all the hikers. So I just got off the trail...and walked right up on a yearling moose. I wasn't being quiet at all, just walking normally, and wearing a bright blue shirt and shorts.
We used to let them hang for about four days, shorter if warmer. But the key is to get the skin off as soon as possible, and those glands on the rear hocks.

I've never cooked buck so I have no idea, just saying what I heard. As far as wifee goes, just got a first, brand new one and she's a great cook :grin: thanks for advice