Oh My Deer!
Recently I was visiting a couple friends when the phone of the guy's place we were at rang. It was a neighbor. "A Mercedes just hit a deer in front of my house, it is a big one. I talked to the cop and was able to get a permit to keep it. You want to come pick it up?"
I imagine I should have considered this a surprising turn of events for the evening, but I've come to expect this sort of thing when hanging out with these guys. "Sure! I'll be right over!" he said hurriedly as he hung up the phone. He was clearly more than just excited.
We jumped into a large conversion van and drove off into the night towards our next meal, which was patiently waiting for us in a nearby ditch. When we arrived at the site we had little trouble locating it. It was a fairly large buck, 13 point, and had to have weighed a couple hundred pounds. After a few proud pictures with our find (posing with a rifle to make it look official), the three of us dragged it across the street and somehow managed to throw it on a tarp in the back of the van. The body was still warm and but luckily it wasn't bleeding too bad.
The trip back to his place wasn't pretty. We had the windows open trying to rid the vehicle of the stench of roadkill dead deer, luckily it was a big van, had a lot of windows, and it was a short ride.
When we returned back we called another friend who knew something about cleaning deer and asked him to come over to give us a midnight lesson in gutting. It was amazing. I have some pictures I could post, but for our weaker stomached readers, I'll leave you with your lunch intact. I have never seen so much blood in my life. I have also never seen such skill at removing organs. I gained a lot of respect for those that clean deer that night. There is a real art to carving a deer to remove skin and organs. I once thought it was as simple as slicing down the belly and pulling everything out, but in order to make sure it all separates properly, there is an order and special cuts which must be done. You almost need to be a surgeon to do it properly.
When it was all said and done, there we had nearly 80 lbs. of meat and a big mess in my friend's front yard. Good thing he lives somewhat out of the city.
I imagine I should have considered this a surprising turn of events for the evening, but I've come to expect this sort of thing when hanging out with these guys. "Sure! I'll be right over!" he said hurriedly as he hung up the phone. He was clearly more than just excited.
We jumped into a large conversion van and drove off into the night towards our next meal, which was patiently waiting for us in a nearby ditch. When we arrived at the site we had little trouble locating it. It was a fairly large buck, 13 point, and had to have weighed a couple hundred pounds. After a few proud pictures with our find (posing with a rifle to make it look official), the three of us dragged it across the street and somehow managed to throw it on a tarp in the back of the van. The body was still warm and but luckily it wasn't bleeding too bad.
The trip back to his place wasn't pretty. We had the windows open trying to rid the vehicle of the stench of roadkill dead deer, luckily it was a big van, had a lot of windows, and it was a short ride.
When we returned back we called another friend who knew something about cleaning deer and asked him to come over to give us a midnight lesson in gutting. It was amazing. I have some pictures I could post, but for our weaker stomached readers, I'll leave you with your lunch intact. I have never seen so much blood in my life. I have also never seen such skill at removing organs. I gained a lot of respect for those that clean deer that night. There is a real art to carving a deer to remove skin and organs. I once thought it was as simple as slicing down the belly and pulling everything out, but in order to make sure it all separates properly, there is an order and special cuts which must be done. You almost need to be a surgeon to do it properly.
When it was all said and done, there we had nearly 80 lbs. of meat and a big mess in my friend's front yard. Good thing he lives somewhat out of the city.
posted by david at Sunday, January 07, 2007
3 Comments:
This is hilarious! What a typical rural story. And I would like to see pictures sometime..... :)
seeing pictures would be great~
that's a helluva lota deer! :)
Very classic rual MN! I'll have to get photos for you!
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