I wrote this back in 2017. It will heighten your palate!
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Game Meat from Freezer to Hot Canning to Tenderize and for Longevity. Updated
My wife Susan and I have been vacuum freezing game meat for years. In October 2019 we put 300 pounds of Moose and 150 pounds of wild boar in the freezer. In 2021 we learned the hot-canning method used by many hunting families for stews and such in glass Ball Jars.
If you enjoy eating the game you hunt and like to preserve and tenderize your meat, read on.
We processed and vacuum sealed all the meat at home.
In 2019, we expected large summer 2020 BBQ gatherings, so we made burger patties and put large numbers of patties in vac bags.
And as we all know, COVID changes our lives forever. We still had lots of frozen moose burger and stew meat. What to do?
Part of my reason to continue to hot can was that my stew meat came out-of-the-jar so tender that I could cut it with a fork. And it cuts down mealtime prep. to minutes. Wow!
For stews, I then cooked/steamed or quickly pressure cooked fresh carrots, potato, onion, celery etc., then added the hot canned stew meat. I used the juices to make a flour gravy adding herbs, salt and pepper. Sooo Delicious! Yes you can “can” your veggies too.
This month, October 2022, I booked another Newfoundland Moose hunt as part of my bucket list. What to do with another 300 pounds of moose meat? I still had 20 or so pounds of that frozen moose burger I wrote about at the beginning of this article?
I decided to hot-can the frozen game burger too, like all those patties we froze plus all the burger intended for pasta sauces. The frozen burger would have be ok for longer freezer storage but the meat became so buried in the freezer making it very hard to find.
Accordingly, I gathered all the frozen moose burger, about 20 pounds and hot canned it for use in my delicious pasta sauces, “shepherds pie”, chili recipes, biscuits and gravy, meat pies, meat tacos, mince meat pie, and so much more. Hungry yet? I sure am!
I used a T-fal Pressure Canner below with Pressure Control, 22 Quart volume. But you can use any large canner. You will need Ball jars and lids.
There are other brands and styles, but I like this one because it is so easy to use.
T-fal Pressure Canner
I thawed the moose in large pots meat of cold water. Here is a basic recipe video.
I highly recommend purchasing a canning book like this one below, to become educated for safety and have delicious recipes.
In the past year 2021, I successfully hot canned venison, wild boar, chicken breast, moose and now moose burger.
After canning, you can label like this above with Avery labels.
Enjoy!
Take your Flintlock Out for a Walk
Just like my Labrador retriever, my rifles and especially my 1776 50 cal. Pennsylvania flintlock, needs exercise.
So I took it out for a fun walk at the range recently to ensure all was clean and in working order.
The lock mechanism also needs to be regularly lubed and inspected for rust.
And the barrel needs to be periodically cleaned even if not used. The sulfur residue from black powder is hard to totally remove, and can cause weak sulfuric acid to form, resulting in rust in sufficient quantity to lose accuracy. Unfortunately, many of us learn that cleaning lesson the hard way, including me. I cleaned and swabbed my swamp barrel several times over a year leaving a coating of oil in the barrel. Thus far, I have put a pound of black powder through it, so the barrel, like a frying pan is cured.
Off to the range I went, .and bench rested two shots at 50 yards at 3/4 inch, below.
My Pennsylvania Flintlock amazes me every time. Several years ago, I created this rifle from a very high end Chambers Kit in honor of Jacob Dickert who was the the most prolific Lancaster, PA master rifle maker of the American Revolution.
Below a boar I took with this rifle a few years back.
Good Shooting!
Sporting Dollars Going to China?
In January of this year, New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine sent letters to Bass Pro headquarters and Dick’s Sporting Goods Headquarters urging them to seek alternatives to selling billions of dollars of China made goods.
It is now August and we have never heard back! See my article below.
China Sporting Goods Dollars Sold in USA – Is China an Adversary? Yes! Updated
As a concerned American sportsman I know purchases are helping our adversary, China. It is time to stop feeding money to this Marxist regime.
What can you do? Call your legislators and write to businesses to seek alternatives.
Seek out American made products wherever possible.
Big Game – Max Point Blank Range
Ethics are essential. I stick to my cartridges max point-blank range (MPBR), or often much less. What does that mean?
Accordingly, MPBR is the furthest distance your bullet can go without dropping out of your game animals kill zone and still have sufficient energy for a clean harvest. Example: Your game, a whitetail deer has a kill zone of say six to eight inches or so. If your bullet falls to the bottom of that kill zone at longer distances, then you are at your maximum range without adjusting your scope (MPBR).
In my case, using ballistic software, my MPBR often falls in the 250-to-300-yard range. Really, I have never had to shoot at game beyond 300 yards.
It takes long-range practice with the cartridge and bullet you hunt with and know the effect of wind on your bullet. Hunting ethics are essential!
A book that I have in my hunting library below.
If you are like me, experimentation is fun.
Good Hunting!
Outdoor Camping: New Rockwood Mini-Lite – Made In The USA
My wife and I took the plunge and purchased a new USA Made 2022 RV, the Rockwood Mini-Lite Model 2104S for camping. We tented when we were young but now we will camp and travel in comfort and style.
https://www.rvusa.com/rv-guide/2020-forest-river-rockwood-mini-lite-travel-trailer-floorplan-2104s-tr45035
My 2021 Toyota Tacoma 4×4 tow capability is up to 6800 lbs. and set the stage for RV size. This RV dry weight is 4841 lbs. and can have a payload of up to 1933 lbs. We figure our load will be 600 lbs. or less for most travel. Our murphy bed is a short queen size and can be stowed to increase room. The U-Dinette converts to a long bed and is nearly a queen in width. We have a gas stove, microwave, fridge/freezer, TV, sink, bathroom and lots of storage. And outdoor mountable grill.
We will be in training for it next week and take it on our first New Hampshire camping trip soon, up in the NH lakes region.
More soon…
USA Made or China Made?
Some folks, like myself, are trying to avoid purchasing from adversary countries, aka China, and prefer to buy USA goods. Sometimes you can’t.
Looking for USA made Outdoor products can be a daunting task when the majority of outdoor goods are made in Asia/China. If you are concerned and want to buy American then you are in luck for some gear.
Coleman makes some US made goods but majority appears to still be Asia made.
When searching for goods, look to find where it is made.
The truth is USA businesses are still importing from China and you may not be able to avoid buying Asian/China goods. But stay at it. I found some alternatives. You can too.
In your Internet search bar use words like “USA made” does help some.
On Amazon you can read “answered questions” on a product and can give you a “where made”. I was able to sometimes find alternative goods but we are still forced to buy some China goods.
Some US businesses are getting the message to seek other non adversarial manufacturers. Example: I believe it is not “If”China invades Taiwan but “when”. And then we will be forces into change.
Start Now! You can do this!
Good Searching!
Tall Ladder Tree Stands Can Sometimes Be Hard To Put Up- But A Powerful Hand Crank Hoist May be Helpful -Updated
Today tree stands get taller, and I keep getting older. The other day my friend and I beat ourselves up getting my Muddy Excursion 17 ft Stand up, or not so up. The tree was the best of several we observed near a deer trail. We are not as spry deer hunters as days gone by, accordingly we had to work smarter not harder. We left the stand down and I reconnoitered a solution back at home on the internet.
Muddy sells a hand crank hoist and 25 ft strap that can ratchet hoist-up my stand. I bought one. It is on the way so we will have it soon to report on. Below is a helpful video of it but would use two people instead of one. Safety is key.
Update
I used this hoist yesterday and it worked like a charm and made it very easy with 2 people. Some hunters hoist solo (alone). Be safe! Just be sure the ladder is not on a slope because the stand platform and seat will tip forward (not level). Or you can buy a leveler for your ladder base if that tree is your only choice. I like my Muddy tree stand and Muddy hoist. I also purchased snap-on pins for fast disconnect. Tree Stand Snap Pins – Muddy Outdoors (gomuddy.com)
Good Hunting!
Beware! Deer Ticks in Southern New Hampshire Are Very Active
Here in Southern NH it is early June and the deer ticks aka black leg tick that carry several very serious diseases, such as Lyme Disease, are very active. A 15 minute walk on our back lawn near woods produced 5 deer ticks on my wife and dog. My pants were sprayed with permethrin thus none crawled on me.
The primary disease they can carry is Lyme Disease but here in NH the diseases according to NH DHHS include:
- Lyme disease (most common reported tickborne disease)
- Anaplasmosis
- Babesiosis
- Powassan virus and
- Borrelia miyamotoi.
Symptoms (from NH DHHS)
Many tickborne diseases will present, at first, with nonspecific symptoms that may include:
- Fever,
- Chills,
- Malaise (not feeling well),
- Headache,
- Muscle and joint pain, and
- Lymphadenopathy (enlarged lymph nodes).
Some may also present with other systemic (body systems) symptoms, such as:
- Neurological,
- Cardiovascular, and
- Gastrointestinal symptoms.
Powassan virus infection, in particular, can progress to meningoencephalitis (inflammation of the brain and membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord).
- About 10% of Powassan encephalitis cases are fatal (cause death).
- About half of those who survive the clinical disease have permanent neurological sequelae (nervous system injury/damage).
As an Outdoorsman, I am acutely aware, but these ticks are sneaky, and I have been bitten several times. Luckily, I discovered them early or took a prescribed medicine by pill such as Doxycycline to destroy the bacteria.
My primary defense is awareness, and to spray clothing and shoes/sneakers with Permethrin. You can buy it as a spray in the camping section of most department stores. And when inside, change clothes and do a tick check in front of a mirror.
Also you can put suspect clothing in a dryer for say 20 minutes or so to kill the ticks.
Stay Safe!
My 2007 Key West 216 Arrives in New Hampshire – Update
I bought this 21.5 ft boat “The Americana” and trailer on-line via POP-Yachts. They were great.
The process was straight forward, see pictures and boat specs, make a bid. Once accepted, a formal marine survey was performed by an independent expert. Then using an escrow account money was deposited and then closing.
The boat arrived from Florida just as I hoped, in perfect condition. I used Interstate Haulers to haul my boat north. Also great! The driver gave progress reports as the boat was driven north.
I inspected my new boat, and compared identical with the dozens of photos on pop-yachts website. I was so pleased.
The gas tank is 80 gallons and at 5 bucks a gallon that’s an expensive fill-up.
Having registered the boat and trailer, my wife and I took the boat out. She purred like a kitten when I turned the ignition key and the Evinrude 250 hp performed very well at speeds just under 50 mph and at trolling speeds. Going out again to fish with my son in a few days.
More soon…