For most of us, the various deer seasons here in the Lone Star State have come to close. Granted, hunting is still available on select ranches under Texas Parks and Wildlife management plans but for the majority of us, it’s a wrap.
This past fall will remain etched in my mind, not for big bucks harvested. I actually didn’t take a single buck but did manage to put plenty of excellent meat in the freezer with the does I harvested. Oh, I did pass on a multitude of bucks and missed a big seven pointer out in West Texas but that is a story in itself. It seems the older I get the pickier I get when it comes to shooting bucks! I’ll remember this season for all the great times at several hunting camps with fine companions. I’ll remember all the tasty camp meals that ranged from fried fish to venison stew to Vienna Sausage, cheese and crackers and the gallons of strong black coffee consumed in the early morning hours before the hunts. I’ll remember the fun times spent with my buddies transforming the harvested deer into cuts of prime venison around the skinning racks. I remember a couple of nights I stayed up a bit too late with my buddies talking about past hunts and making plans for future hunts. A man my age needs his rest, you know!
This year’s deer season ended very much as it began, hunting the same food plot in Wood County from the same blind with the same good friend. Jeff Rice and I opened the general deer season with a big bore air rifle hunt on a food plot on his property. When I asked Jeff if he might wish to use one of my muzzleloaders to try for a mature buck or doe during the late muzzleloader season, he jumped at the opportunity. My buddy has hunted, fished and trapped his entire life and even taken wild hogs with a spear. I knew he would be up for hunting with a muzzleloader!
A bit of instruction and a few ‘test’ shots and we were ready to head out to hunt. Back in the summer I removed the scope from my muzzleloader to use on another rifle but the factory sights were good enough for the ‘bow range’ shots we expected on the food plot. Our plan was to hopefully shoot a deer inside 40 yards.
On the afternoon hunt, a couple of does came into the food plot and the smaller one walked right toward the blind. The mature doe stayed out a bit farther and walked off to our right. I was sitting in the right side of the blind. The doe presented a broadside shot at about 40 yards and Jeff had to move the rifle to the window I was looking out of, on the right side of the blind. It was a bit of an awkward position to shoot from but Jeff had a solid rest and settled the sights on the deer. At the last moment the big doe turned a bit and presented a slightly quartering shot. It was a clean miss which is what every ethical hunter wishes for rather than wounded game. Back at camp, we enjoyed a stew I had made from all sorts of veggies and smoked pork and chicken. We both concurred it was the best stew we had eaten but an afternoon in the cold woods might have put an edge on our appetite and biased our judgment a bit!
We were up well before daylight the next morning and enjoyed a quick breakfast of eggs and cured smoked pork loin, washed down with enough strong black coffee to stoke the inner fires and ready us for a chilly set in the winter woods. The shot was close this time and after thirty minutes in the stand, Jeff had his first muzzleloader harvest on the ground, a big whitetail doe. My buddy had to head back to civilization for work around mid morning and I had the entire day to spend at camp before returning home that evening. I leisurely quartered the meat and placed in a cooler for the trip to Kuby’s Game Processing where much of it would be transformed into tasty sausage of several varieties and steaks.
I did remove the backstraps and the more I looked at these most delicious cuts of venison, the hungrier I became. I sliced a couple of thick steaks and seasoned them with salt, garlic and black pepper. Around noon, I was getting a bit hungry and began thinking about lunch. Venison backstrap cooked in a cast iron skillet with butter infused with jalapeno was decided upon but what sides to go with my steak? I found a can of butter beans in the cabinet and my sister had given me a jar of pickled beets that was out in the truck. Venison steak, butter beans and pickled beets! Probably a combination that one won’t see on the menu of a favorite restaurant but let me tell you, it was a meal I won’t soon forget. I reserved the natural gravy from the steak and butter and drizzled it over the venison fillets which I sliced into thin pieces. Deer season is indeed a wrap but there’s much more to do in the outdoors until spring turkey season!
SPRING RON DE VOUX IN GREENVILLE- We’re making plans for the third annual Spring Ron De Voux to be held March 12 this year. Barbecue, fried fish, campfire cooking, live music on 12 wooded acres. Everyone is invited! More details next week after we firm up the details.
Contact outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio.org
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