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Since this is a 'results' thread I thought I'd follow up with a couple more photos. This year our old FoodSaver vacuum sealers weren't working any more so I got a Cabela's 12" "commercial grade" vacuum sealer to package the meat. I got it on sale and it works great!
Another years worth of fine elk steaks and sausage! Tomorrow we'll be making knapwurst German breakfast sausage, and chorizo Mexican sausage.
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Every year I hang the butchered out backbone and leg sections from trees near the house so that birds can use the fat, meat and marrow. It's an important source of protein and all kinds of birds use and pick it clean by the end of December. We regularly get Steller's and Western Scrub Jays, Black-billed Magpies, Common Ravens and Crows, Clark's Nutcrackers, Hairy, Downy and Lewis's Woodpeckers, Mountain and Black-capped Chickadees, Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Dark-eyed Juncos, White-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, Audubon's Warblers, Wilson's Warblers, and even Red-tailed Hawks and Bald Eagles have used the boned out carcasses. It's great to watch them all up close. Here's one of the Clark's Nutcrackers just a few feet from our dining room window today.
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P.S.: You probably shouldn't try this if your homeowners association would disapprove. [Coffee]
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Today was a sausage making day. We ground 23 lbs of elk and pork shoulder to make Mexican chorizo and Italian sausage, bulk packed in vacuum sealed bags. We also did 3 lbs. of elk jerky using the Cabela's jerky blaster. The blaster works like a caulking gun to lay strips of ground and seasoned meat onto a rack and dry in the oven at 175 degrees. Works neat!
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I had a decent year again, matched my results from last year. 2 of 4 tags filled.
Archery elk was a bust. New area for me this year, too easy to access and too hot. Lots of great exercise and peaceful nights camping but no Wapiti again this year.
Opening weekend of rifle season for Pronghorn in early October, had a real tough time closing within 500 yds of the bucks. Connected on this young buck at 225yds on the second morning, he was alone in a bowl and seemed very surprised by my appearance. Fortunately, he waffled on the decision to run and I had a decent quartering shot. 185gr Berger Hunting VLD HSM ammo from my .300WSM dropped him. I lost some meat with the VLD though - it sure does expand :)
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Later in October, I was able to connect on this young mule deer from 309 yds on a small working corn farm in eastern CO. This was with the new Federal Edge TLR in 200gr, very hard hitting. Best shooting position ever, had to crawl up on top the cab of my buddies International tractor to see the full body on the other side of the irrigation ditch and weeds.
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Last tag was late season antelope, both doe tags for me and my son in the same unit I harvested the buck in October. We spent several days with not even a single sighting. Despite the tag soup, I spent some great hours with my boy in the peaceful quiet of the prairie, breaking in some new boots and stuffing tumbleweeds into every crevice underneath my truck. This about sums up how this hunt went.
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