All else being equal, you are successful like we all hope you are, and kill your deer. Congratulations!

Now take it to a deer meat cutter, aka butcher. Or cut it yourself as I have done. What can you expect? There are many ways to estimate the amount of meat you will get. The measuring tape method is widely used at or near the time of kill. A chart (see website below) was produced with data collected by the Pennsylvania State University-Department of Science, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission-Division of Research.

http://uafg.org/deer_weight_tape.html 

By measuring the chest girth you can come up with an estimate of your deer’s live weight. You can use a string too, and then measure the string. Also, if you know the dressed weight, you can come up with the amount of freezer meat as well. Many NH registration stations have a weight scale. If you know the dressed weight then using the chart at the website you know the amount of approximate meat you will get provided your shot or shots did not ruin any quantity of meat.

Some quick stat’s: 40% loss is a round estimate

The Quality question; how fast did the deer succumb to the shot? Immediate? 2 hours? 10 hours? What? How far did it run after the hit? 100 yards? 500 yards?

A deer that succumbs (is killed) immediately within minutes is the best you can possibly achieve and is immediately retrieved and gutted to cool the surrounding meat will produce the best tasting venison. This is so because there was little time for the deer’s system to react to the wound e.g. fever, hormones, adrenaline etc which produce the heavy gamy tastes.

A while back I killed two Pennsylvania deer with bow and arrow that died within a few minutes and the deer ate the best greens and corn later in summer. My wife was so impressed with the lack of gamy flavor and the tenderness of the meat that she demanded I go back and get more the following year. Of course I complied, happily!

In the case of a big older buck that has been chasing does for a month, you are likely to have gamy and tougher meat any way because his body is full of hormones and in some cases loses weight because he is so concentrating on reproduction that he is not eating. Yes all that for a large rack of antlers! You bet and I will eat all of it too!

All that said with a gamy animal; make lots of hamburger and place frozen ground meat or steak  in whole milk (buttermilk is best) overnight in the fridge. This is done to drain away the blood which carries much of the gamy flavor. It even tenderizes the meat as buttermilk has enzymes to tenderize the meat.

It is best to vacuum seal your meat because it lasts the longest in your freezer. Freezing fresh venison for a month or more aids in reducing gamy flavors so I freeze all my meat before cooking.

If cooking venison steak, anything more done than medium rare will be tough as there is little fat in the meat.

Good Hunting! © 2013

For those who own .375 caliber rifles and reload, there are bullets available in the 250 grain class and heavier for most manufacturers. Having said that, Hornady has had the ever popular 220 grain flat nose for deer hunters but is manufacture has been temporarily suspended now in its third year of suspension I believe.

The 225 grain spitzer is also temp suspended.

I suggest you do as I did and write Hornady a note that you are looking for this bullet. http://www.hornady.com/thanks-for-contacting-us

The Sierra 200 grain .375 FN is available on back order from Sierra.

I have developed reduced power reloads for both the 200 grain and the .220 grain in my rifle and you can too if you do some research on .375 Cartridges and use a Chronograph.

The 235 grain Hot Core is also suspended from Speer. Don’t know the reason but was able to stock up a few years ago.

I will share the response from Hornady on the 220 grain in hopes they will make them available again.

Stay Tuned!

The October Cover Image I took on my Moose Hunt near Lake Winnipesaukee in the background is perhaps one of my favorite images and takes me on the hunt whenever I see it.

In just a few weeks I will be on a deer hunt. Nope can’t tell you where just yet. But each day the mornings are cooler and yesterday I had to wear a jacket. Weather and changing color of the leaves is a trigger for me to anticipate the hunt.

My “To Do” hunt list gets serious. I am packed I think, so I go through the list again and oh, maybe add this clothing too or that. Sound like you? It is a labor that has your mind thinking of deer and the woods as much as the stuff you cobble together for your hunt. Fussing over how much ammo to bring, knives sharp and ready, Scope caps if it rains, a shooting stick for long shots, tree stand safety, all that stuff going through your mind is a form of anticipation and readiness of the hunter.

When I reflect on shooting at a wary deer my heart rate climbs a bit as tiny amounts of adrenaline seep into my bloodstream. You too? You bet!  A little giddiness does the heart good as my mind wanders to the hunt. Reading articles and seeing hunting video’s help to relive a hunt so I read quite a lot, perhaps more so than video’s.

The previous article “What’s in my backpack?” was a great primer for me and I hope you as well. Since I am hunting out of state, I am taking a hard, lockable gun case and also when I arrive will use soft cases too.

So your mind wanders from this article to your own list of preparation and anticipation and it certainly is Grand!

So long for now…Good Hunting! © 2015