Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Oh, Deer! (Not for the squeamish...)

Some days just don't turn out how you expected at all. Today was slated to be a routine day of food arrival and storage for a big gathering that starts tomorrow.

On one trip, the driver saw a deer hanging out near the road, alive. On the way back, she was on the side of the road, dead. They brought the groceries home and went back to get her. She was still limp when they got there, and just had traces of rigor mortis when they got home again.

Our friend, Badger, is able to dress a deer in just a few minutes without getting any blood on himself. I stepped in to help and spilled a cup of blood down my leg and into my shoe.

In all fairness, this was my first time helping to dress a deer. I'm not good at it, but it was way easier than I thought it would be. It wasn't gross or weird, just completely natural. Two hours after she arrived here, this animal that would have rotted by the road had been transformed into delicious food.

We ate the liver and heart tonight. The rest of the meat has to brine for a couple of days before we can eat it, but then we'll be having a feast. And it's a good thing, too, with 175 of our friends visiting for the week!

Of course I didn't take any pictures with blood and tallow all over my hands. These were taken immediately after we were done...



[Deer head and skin (in headlights)]




[Ribcage, guts, water for cleaning]




[two of the meat trays]

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