Oh Deer.

DISCLAIMER:  I am well aware that many of my friends and family members are not fans of hunting and killing animals.  So, this is your fair warning to probably not read this post or look at these pictures.  I fully respect those feelings, so I want to give you a heads up before you read on any further and potentially see something that will bother you.

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Giving you time to look away.....

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Okay, here we go......

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I was raised in a hunting family, I grew up with all brothers, and my family never had a lot of money; so any time a deer or a handful of patridge were brought home by my Dad or one of my bro's, this was viewed as a very real gift and provision from the Lord.  Truly.

While everyone did love the thrill of the hunt, I am sure; and while it was always thrilling to bring home a prize to the rest of the family to be excited about - we never hunted for sport, we always showed respect to the animal, and we always used every bit of it that we possibly could - making sure to have the least amount of waste possible.  This is how our Dad raised us, and this is how we are raising our three boys.

In my opinion, any form of wild game is the healthiest and most organic food that we could ever feed our family -- not to mention, quite possibly the most humane method of obtaining our food, as well.  I think if we all really knew how our grocery store meat was treated before it made it to our table, we might all change our opinions a bit on that pre-packaged lovliness that is so easy to buy.

But, that's just my opinion.

My main point, is this post is in no way a glorification of a kill.  It is a story of how one big Daddy brought home meat to feed his family for a winter....

This is our sixth deer, but Kev's very first shot with a bow.
Now, that's hot in my book.
I'm just sayin'....

Getting a deer with a bow is, in my humble opinion anyway, a bit harder than getting one with a gun.  You have to be that much closer and that much quieter for the deer to not see you - AND for you to be sure to not miss.  Kev shot this doe at ten yards, and she pretty much fell right where she was shot.

She weighed in around 120 pounds.  We let her hang for a couple of days, and then began the process of skinning and cutting the meat.  To be honest, this is NOT my most favorite part of the hunt.  It's quite a bit of work, it's messy, and it smells just a wee bit growthy...

However, it's actually kind of cool.  Every year we get a little bit better with learning the anatomy and figuring out what parts are best for roasts or for steaks, for hamburger or for stew meat.  Per our tradition, we cut up and eat the tenderloin the very first day.  It is the absolute best cut of meat I have ever eaten in my life, and I'm really not a huge red meat lover.  This however, is Heaven on a plate.

The deer are healthy this year - so they say... not sure who "they" are - but there was quite a bit of fat on her, so it shows that she was eating well.  Our good friend Brent offered to help with the butchering, so that was a huge gift and blessing.  Otherwise, it would just have been Kev and I, and it would have taken us forever.  But, with the help of a friend, strong coffee, and some solid YouTube videos, we were done in just a few hours.

And now we have meat in our freezer, full bellies, thankful hearts, and one heck of an anatomy/science lesson under our belts.

Until next year.
Or expanded zone...