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How many deer

6K views 55 replies 41 participants last post by  Buff 
#1 ·
How many deer does your family go through in a season?

It's just my wife and I at the house, and she won't eat venison unless it's ground up and mixed into something (chili, meatloaf, etc.). She's not opposed to it, but she just doesn't eat much red meat.

I know that I could go through 1-2 a year myself, but I also have a cousin that his entire family eats venison if they're not having chicken. He lives in NY and gets every tag he can, and fills every tag he's given.

Anyone out there eat almost exclusively wild game?
 
#2 ·
When my son lived at home we could consume 4-5 deer over the year with some cook outs..In those days I was regularly hunting 4-5 states. Now days it is just me eating vension along with the 2-4 spring turkeys and one deer is about right for me. However, I took two out of state bucks last year and I am consuming a lot of venison and it is good.....
 
#4 ·
When NYS started with the Decals system in 2002 (I think?), I lived in 9J.

They issued doe tags right at the counter, and I was able to get 2 9J tags. My dad got a 9J and a 9K, and in NY, you can sign the tags over to someone else, giving me 3 9J and a 9K.

Then about a month later, they opened up to a 2nd round, and I was able to get another 2 9J tags...

Along with my regular buck tag, and the either sex tag I got when I bought my archery stamp. My cousin got the same number of tags. we each filled all of our tags, and we were eating venison like crazy that year. The butcher that we used had at the time, a number of families that he knew that could really use the meat and my cousin and I each donated 3 deer for him to butcher and distribute to be used.

The next year, I scaled way back and only got 4 tags. I recognize that shooting a deer, simply because I had the tags was wasteful for me...but I was young and dumb (18 and I knew everything).

However, if I was feeding a family of 3-4, and really wanted to buy little store bought meat, I could realistically see going through 5+ deer.
 
#9 ·
I harvested 7 last year. I dress, skin, quarter, bone, and butcher.

I donate to a couple people who either can use the meat, or are rarely successful on the hunt, everyone in our group gets at least a taste, and a few meals. The parts that many use for grinding I cut into thick stips for dried venison treats for Tessa, my Vizsla, who at four years old has not seen a day without some since she was 6 weeks old.

Also, the farmers get their choice of cuts from each deer in appreciation for the privlege of hunting on their land.

7 deer seems like an awful lot while the work part is going on, but if done right it doesn't go to waste.
 
#10 ·
We killed 14 deer last year between my son and I and the same the year before.We eat it several times per week plus make sausage,sticks,bologna and jerky.A few years ago,someone gave my name to guy that was in a bad spot.He's in his early 40's and on a transplant list for his only kidney.He works when he can but can't work full time.He used to be a butcher by trade and will take All I can give him.He texts me weekly to see if we killed any so I have no issues donating a bunch to him.
 
#13 ·
Family of 5 and we were typically going thru about 10 deer a year as we were eating a lot of it. Last couple years with the kids being older and in a lot of stuff we tend to eat out more or have "quick" meals. I would guess that we will probably put 7 or so in the freezer this year as we will have some left from last.
 
#16 ·
I remember when I was really young my parents used to can vension, but then they got away from it. I have been going to try it, but deer season is such a busy time of the year that there never seems to be time to do it. Maybe once the kids are out of the house.
 
#19 ·
My parents were born in Centre County in the early 1930s. These were Depression Era times, before the age of refrigeration and freezers. Folks survived living on canned venison. Today, people don’t need deer meat for survival. But I’m still glad that my family taught me how to can venison. I make a point to do a canner load every year, just because that’s what my family always did every fall.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Myself 1 is enough, my wife is not a big meat eater and I'm just not a big fan of Venison.
I like the chip steak and the ground. As for a steak not that I won't eat it I just prefer beef.
Don't get me wrong I like the Bologna, the hot dogs, sausage, jerky etc.
But if you get into all of that the butcher bill get's pretty steep and I also don't want any part of someone else Deer
unless it's a close family member or friend.
I love to fish but not a fan of eating it other than Fried Flounder or Pan Fish fish fry.
Guess a lot is based on what you were raised on. My Dad was a Mess Sgt. in the Army during WWII and was a very good cook.
He never hunted and when I started to hunt in my teens he wanted no parts of any wild game and theirs a guy who traveled
all over the world to different counties and Lord knows what he ate during that time.
 
#23 ·
I have a deer jerky addiction so I generally will turn one entire doe into jerky. I try to take 4 deer per year, 3 doe and 1 buck. I rarely ever do, but my family and I could easily eat 4 mature deer per year. I do quite a bit of weight training so it's nothing for me to eat 2-3lbs of some sort of protein per day...

I also butcher all of my own deer so nothing goes to waste....
 
#25 ·
I get almost the entire deer ground up.

If I get 2, it'll be 90% of the first deer will be ground (minus backstraps and tenderloins).

The 2nd deer I'll get chipped, probably sticks and a bologna log or 2...

I just use ground so much more than anything else; meatballs, meatloaf, burgers, tacos, chili, soups, etc...
 
#32 ·
Canned deer meat is the way to go for me. Its nice once in awhile to eat some bologna and sticks but I've been cannin forever. 2 deer is about it for us. Last year I went together with a couple of friends and got hot dogs made. 3 different kinds, everyone but my wife likes them. My wife is an awesome cook but she don't eat any deer meat. She came from a family that didn't hunt. Me, deer meat, thats what I was raised on. We keep the freezer pretty full of beef.
 
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