Archery Talk

Backstraps:
We don't have a grill, (not permitted where I live) so I looked around for a few general ideas,
If frozen, take it out and let thaw overnight, day of cooking, when you are ready to go, pat the meat dry.
I used a small bowl with maybe a teaspoon of coconut oil to coat the meat.
Depending on how you keep your herbs, you may need a mortar, but about a teaspoon of Tyme, Rosemary and Sage each, mixed together and ground as fine as you like. From there, rub those spices onto the meat, and throw a skewer through, I used two per piece to ensure it did not drop into the pan I used. In the pan, I put about a half inch of water and dropped in 2 crunched-up bay leaves.

The oven was pre-headed to 375, basically sat on both, with a thermometer for an internal temp of 120 (medium) and 130 (medium - well) once you hit one of those two ranges (I can post the others if needed) Pull the meat out of the oven and let rest for 10 mins, slice and serve.

Potatoes:
I've heard them called Adirondack potatoes, or jewel potatoes, regardless, I grabbed a bag of those tiny little things, sliced them up, coated them in coconut oil, and sprinkled them with salt, oregano, and an "Italian spice" blend. Oven for 350, 20 mins, flip/rotate do another 5-10 mins depending if you are doing these at the same time as the meat (less time due to higher temp for meat)

Carrots:
Honey & Brown Sugar, fresh carrots, sliced, in a pan heat up about 3 to 4 tablespoons of butter, once melted, add carrots and allow them to cook for a bit, and get well coated with butter before adding the honey and brown sugar, when you add the honey, there are several levels of chaos to choose from. (i.e. how diabetic are you or your family members??) I think i did about a cup of brown sugar and half a cup of honey, I went a little overboard with the butter but only because I forgot I had more than 3 carrots when I was cooking.

*Disclaimer* measurements are guestimates... I don't actually use measuring cups and spoons...

 

Not allowed to have a grill??

 

Apartment complexes usually don’t allow grills cause people are dumb and try to grill on balconies and burn the whole building down. That’s how it was at every apartment I lived in

 

i lived in one but they let you grill outback.

 

yep, no grill. Gas or Charcoal. And an Electric is dumb.

 

haha I didnt even realize they made electric grills aside from the George foreman type grills for the kitchen

 

Yeah there’s one or two that I’ve sent in my place, and at work when we’d do apartment inspections.

 

Said goodbye to an old friend today. It wasn’t my old friend’s fault. No, not at all. Just the passing of time and the inevitable changes it brings.

I had mentioned previously how the 1,100 acre farm I’ve hunted the past thirteen years has been sold to the state and is Pennsylvania’s new state park. Almost immediately thins went downhill. Huge influx of people, stolen stands, stolen trail cameras, other hunters walking thru and setting up 30, 40 yards away, dogs running loose. Not at all what was once a perfect, quiet place.

At the end of archery season, I knew I would be pulling all my remaining stands. The cameras were already removed when several went missing. There were six stands and two ladder stands to take down. My son and I were waiting for our schedules to align and get it all done in one day. Which turned out to be today.

The ladder stands and five of the hang-on’s came down relatively quickly. The last hang-on which was also in our favorite and best spot was the last one. My son was taking three hang-on’s back to the truck as I geared up for the last one. It’s in a gnarly skinny white oak. It’s my old friend. I stood there and thought about the previous years and how blessed and fortunate I was to have this friend. My thoughts were of early fall days, leaves still green, sun warm on my face, from stunning sunrises reflecting off the frost and ground fog to purple and orange sunsets against the hills and draws lighting up the fall colors. Of dark overcast November mornings when it’s an hour past sunup and you realize this is as light as it’s going to get today. And pull the fleece turtleneck up a little higher. Watching a good buck working his way in on that cold November morning, seeing his breath with every step. The absolute focus when he stopped 15 yards away and the arrow was on its way, disappearing behind his shoulder. Several years later watching my son’s reaction as the noisy footsteps materialized into a fantastic 8 point at 20 yards. Vitals blocked by a small tree. A couple of years later, watching him take his first archery deer with a perfect shot. Or the following year, when he got it done, all by himself. My 2018 8 point that came into a few grunts, on what was without a doubt the most beautiful fall morning I’ve ever witnessed. In 2020, running late and head to my stand, I spotted a good buck bedded. I was able to slip around, get within 13 yards and arrowed him in his bed.

These and many more memories came flooding back as I packed up my stand, put my harness in my pack, strapped it all on and hoisted it to my shoulders. I took a few steps, placed my hand against the oak, “Good bye old friend…and thank you.”

 

well played my friend...

 

Hands down, best post I have ever read on this website.

 

Well boys it ain’t archery but it’s outdoors. Got on some red and black drum this morning

 

So last season a buddy of mine came to my land in Texas to hunt. While I was pissing he saw a “cull buck” and asked if he should shoot it. I gave him the go ahead without seeing the deer. Turns out he shot a yearling that had a broken antler.

jokes on him cause I know a taxidermist and had that shit mounted. Gonna build a backer board for it and mount it in his house the next time I’m over there.

here’s the pictures of the mount and the taxidermy tag. Enjoy!

 

Ground shrinkage

 

Don’t know if you saw, he scored a whopping 19 7/8ths

and the blind we were in was only about 6’ off the ground

 

First 2 sheds of the year, and a dead head.

 

2 more today, 4 for the year so far.

 

Squirrels found themselves a snack I see

 

Yeah, the bigger one is last year’s shed.

 

Found another one today, number 5.

 

@Dangerdave

https://www.kuiu.com/collections/presidents-day-sale