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Crusader Corner: Islamic Countries BAN Christmas
Posted: December 25, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized12 Reasons Why Your Venison Tastes Like Hell
Posted: December 25, 2015 by gamegetterII in huntingTags: butchering your own deer, deer hunting, hunting, processing your own deer, venison
Is your deer meat tough, dry and gamey-tasting? It shouldn’t be. Check out this list of 12 deer-butchering sins to find out why your venison tastes bad — and how to make it better
In warm weather, deer should be skinned and quartered ASAP. I’ve eaten a lot of good deer meat. But I’ve eaten some really bad deer meat, too. I’m only a self-trained butcher, but I process five or six animals each fall, and have been doing so for a decade or more. I’m no Scott Leysath, either, but my wife and I do eat venison in some form two or three meals per week, year-round. I think we eat pretty good.
Some things consistently make venison really tasty. And some things will ruin the flavor, too. Here are a dozen of the worst offenders.
1. Poor Field Care
In the real world of hunting, things happen. We all make bad shots on occasion. And while we know not to “push” a deer that’s been hit marginally, realize that the longer it takes for the animal to die and the farther it runs, the more adrenaline and lactic acid builds up in the animal’s system and muscles. Ever had a glass of good-tasting acid? I didn’t think so.
The faster a deer hits the ground and can be field-dressed, the better the meat will be. Some of the best-tasting deer I’ve ever had have been shot in the head with a gun. The animal is killed instantly, and the meat is uncontaminated by blood and entrails from the chest cavity. That said, head shots are risky. The lungs remain the best place to aim.
2. Failure to Cool Quickly
Internal bacteria rapidly takes over after death, expelling gases and causing the animal to bloat. That’s the first step in decomposition. This process is accelerated in warm weather. Learn how to field dress a deer, and get to it ASAP. Removing those organs is the first step in cooling the animal down.
On a cold night—in the mid-30s or lower—a deer can be left hanging skin-on overnight. In especially cold weather, some hunters like to age a deer in such a manner for several days (more on aging in a bit). I live in a warm climate, and most of the deer I shoot in a season’s time are during early bow season, so I don’t have that luxury. When I find my deer and get it field-dressed, I plan on having it skinned, quartered and on ice within the hour.
3. Shot the Wrong Deer
Modern deer hunters are in tune with deer herd management. We’ve learned of practices that contribute to the health of a herd, including which deer to shoot. Given the chance, most of us want to shoot a mature buck with big antlers. Me included.
Old bucks are perfectly edible, but rarely the best. Muscles get tougher with use and stringy with age. An old buck that’s spent a full autumn fighting, rubbing, scraping and chasing does will be lean. Expect chewy steaks. Same thing goes for an old doe that’s burned all her summertime calories producing milk to nurse fawns. I usually make hamburger, sausage and jerky out of such animals.
For steaks, you can’t beat a young, crop-fed deer. Deer that spend a summer munching on corn and soybeans have an easier life—and more fattening food sources—than those that spend a lifetime wandering the big timber in search of scattered mast and browse.
The tastiest venison I’ve ever eaten came from a 1 ½-year-old fork horn shot through the neck near a picked corn field during early bow season.
That young deer had nothing to do all summer except get fat. Am I saying to forgo everything the QDMA is teaching and whack every young buck that walks by? No. But I am saying if a deer for the freezer is your goal, young bucks from the early season are usually good eating, and have more meat than does to boot. If you want to shoot one and it’s legal, go for it. You don’t owe anyone an apology.
Field dressing is the first step in cooling a deer down. Get to it fast, especially if the weather is warm.
4. Failure to Age / Purge I’ve been told that aging venison on ice is a mistake, but I don’t buy it. The mercury rises above 50 degrees on most days of deer season in my area. That’s too warm to let a deer hang, so icing them down is my only option. I line the bottom of a cooler with a layer of ice, add my deer quarters on top of that, and then cover them with more ice.
I keep the cooler in the shade with the drain plug open and on a downhill incline. That’s very important. The idea is to let the ice slowly melt and drain from the cooler. This not only keeps the meat cold, but purges an amazing amount of blood from it. Do this for at least two days, checking the ice a couple times per day in especially warm weather. (Note: if you do this without a drain plug, you’ll get the opposite effect; deer quarters that are essentially marinated in bloody, dirty water. Does that sound tasty? Didn’t think so.)
5. Dirty Knives and Power Saws
A deer’s legs are held together just like yours: with ball-and-socket joints and connective tissue. Learn where these are, and you can cut an entire skinned deer apart within minutes with a good pocket knife. Laying into a deer’s legs and spine with a power saw puts bone marrow, bone fragments and whatever mess was on the saw blade into your venison. Would you season your steak with bone fragments and wood shavings? Didn’t think so.
I keep three sharp knives handy when I’m cleaning a deer. One is for field-dressing. This one will be a stout knife with a drop point for prying through bone. Another is for skinning. Though a skinning blade with a gut hook is nice to have, I’ve been using a long-bladed fillet knife the last couple seasons, and it works beautifully. These knives can be honed to a razor’s edge and quickly re-sharpened. Other than quickly dulling a knife’s edge by slicing through hair, skinning is not taxing on a knife’s blade, so a flexible fillet knife works fine. Finally, I swap over to another knife—again, with a heavier blade—for my quartering. The point to take from all this is to keep your knives separate so you reduce contamination of the meat with blood and hair.
6. Poor Trimming
Unlike beef fat, deer fat does not taste good. Neither does the sinew, membranes and other connective tissues holding the various muscle groups together. Venison, whether destined for steaks or hamburger, should be trimmed free of anything that’s not rich, red meat.
For great deer burger, try blending the ground venison with a little cheap bacon.
7. Burger is Too Lean Ironically, because fat needs to be trimmed away for the best flavor, venison often becomes too lean for hamburger purposes. Patties made for grilled double cheeseburgers often fall apart soon after hitting the hot grate. The solution is to add some fat, either beef or pork, when you’re grinding venison. We use cheap bacon, mixed at a rate of 5:1 (5 pounds of venison per pound of bacon). It makes our patties stick together, and the bacon adds a great flavor.
8. Used a Cut-Rate Processor
Some commercial deer processors do a great job. But some do not. I once took a deer to a processor, filled out my paperwork and watched him disappear to the freezer room. He weighed my animal and returned with a corresponding amount of packaged, frozen venison. “We mix all our meat together and package a lot of burger at once,” he said.
For all I knew, the deer I was getting could’ve been gut-shot, left to hang in 90-degree heat, and then dragged along a black-top road en route to the processor. No thanks. That was the last deer I ever took to a processor. Insist on getting your own deer back when you have processing work done. If that’s not possible, I’d advise doing business elsewhere.
9. Marinade Problems
“First, soak for 48 hours in Italian dressing …”
It’s enough to make a venison-lover cringe.
Look, Italian dressing and BBQ sauce taste fine, but you’d better be a ravenous fan of them if you’re using them to soak venison steaks for two days. At the end of those two days, your steaks will taste just like … Italian dressing or BBQ sauce.
There’s nothing wrong with a little splash of flavor enhancement, but try lighter flavors that complement, rather than mask, the flavor of deer meat, and keep the marinade time short. My usual maximum is three or four hours. A favorite marinade for grilled venison steaks is a mixture of olive oil, a spoonful of balsamic vinegar, a spoonful of Worcestershire sauce, some minced garlic (with the juice), a squirt of mustard and salt and pepper to taste.
Good venison needs to age a few days. One good way to age is in a cooler of ice with a drain plug open and pointed down-hill. This purges blood from the meat.
10. Cooked Too Cool, for Too Long Venison recipes, especially grilled recipes, often call for removing the meat after a couple minutes per side. For many, the result of that is, “this is raw and gross.” And so they place it back on the grill. After a while, it turns gray, chewy, dry … and still gross.
Grilled venison is best when eaten with a medium-rare interior, but the outside needs to be cooked. In order to do that, your grill needs to be hot enough to instantly sear the meat surface and lock in those flavors and juices. Flip your venison steaks one time. If you don’t have nice grill marks after three or four minutes, the grate isn’t hot enough.
11. Improper Packaging and Freezing
Freezer burn doesn’t help the flavor of ice cream or anything else, deer meat included. Modern vacuum packaging systems are handy and save on space, but I’ve used some that resulted in freezer-burned meat after a few months. If you’re buying a vacuum-sealing unit, get a good one.
We package our deer the old-fashioned way, first wrapping our portion in clear plastic wrap, and then covering that with heavy-duty freezer paper. Each package is clearly labeled, not only so we know what cut of meat is inside and when it was killed, but also which deer it came from. If one animal proves especially tough, we know to use that meat for slow-cooking recipes.
12. Getting too Fancy
There’s no big mystery or secret to cooking venison. Treat it as you would treat very lean beef, and you’ll get outstanding results day in and out. We substitute deer burger for beef hamburger in virtually everything—chili, tacos, sloppy Joe’s, burgers on the grill, spaghetti and who knows what else. We never plan on a “wild game night” at the house. We just plan to cook dinner, and that usually means wild game by default.
(Editor’s Note: This Retro Realtree article was originally published in October of 2012)
Dave Barry’s Year in Review: The sad thing is, we’re not making this up!
Posted: December 25, 2015 by gamegetterII in UncategorizedSometimes we are accused — believe it or not — of being overly negative in our annual Year in Review. Critics say we ignore the many positive events in a given year and focus instead on the stupid, the tragic, the evil, the disgusting, the Kardashians.
Okay, critics: We have heard you. This year, instead of dwelling on the negatives, we’re going to start our annual review with a List of the Top Ten Good Things That Happened in 2015. Ready? Here we go:
1. We didn’t hear that much about Honey Boo Boo.
2.
Okay, we’ll have to get back to you on Good Things 2 through 10. We apologize, but 2015 had so many negatives that we’re having trouble seeing the positives. It’s like we’re on the Titanic, and it’s tilting at an 85-degree angle with its propellers way up in the air, and we’re dangling over the cold Atlantic trying to tell ourselves: “At least there’s no waiting for the shuffleboard courts!”
Are we saying that 2015 was the worst year ever? Are we saying it was worse than, for example, 1347, the year when the bubonic plague killed a large part of humanity?
Yes, we are saying that. Because at least the remainder of humanity was not exposed to a solid week in which the news media focused intensively on the question of whether a leading candidate for president of the United States had, or had not, made an explicit reference to a prominent female TV journalist’s biological lady cycle.
That actually happened in 2015, and it was not the only bad thing. This was the year when American sports fans became more excited about their fantasy sports teams — which, for the record, are imaginary — than about sports teams that actually exist. This was the year when the “selfie” epidemic, which was already horrendous, somehow got even worse. Of the 105 billion photographs taken by Americans this year, 104.9 billion consist of a grinning face looming, blimplike, in the foreground, with a tiny image of something — the Grand Canyon, the pope, a 747 crashing — peeking out in the distance behind the person’s left ear.
This was the year of the “man-bun.”
And if all that isn’t bad enough, this was the year they tricked us into thinking Glenn got killed on “The Walking Dead.”
(By the way: spoiler alert.)
At this point you are saying: “Wait a minute! Surely there were some positive developments in 2015! How about the fact that, after so many years of sneering judgmentalism and divisive, overheated rhetoric, we were able to have rational, open-minded conversations about such issues as gun ownership, gay marriage, race relations and abortion, so that, as a nation, we finally began to come together and … whoa! Sorry! Evidently I am high on narcotics.”
Yes, you are. And we intend to join you soon. But first we need to take one last look back at the hideous reality of 2015, which began, as so many ill-fated years have in the past, with …
… which finds the Midwest gripped by unusually frigid weather, raising fears that the bitter cold could threaten the vast herd — estimated in the thousands — of Republican presidential hopefuls roaming around Iowa expressing a newly discovered passion for corn. As temperatures plummet, some candidates are forced to survive by setting fire to lower-ranking consultants.
For most Americans, however, the cold wave is not the pressing issue. The pressing issue — which will be debated for years to come — is how, exactly, did the New England Patriots’ footballs get deflated for the AFC championship game. The most fascinating theory is put forth by Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a man who, at his happiest, looks like irate ferrets are gnawing their way out of his colon. He opines — these are actual quotes — that “atmospheric conditions” could be responsible and also declares that “I’ve handled dozens of balls over the past week.” This will turn out to be the sports highlight of the year.
In Paris, 1.5 million people march in a solidarity rally following the horrific terrorist attack on the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Eyebrows are raised when not a single top U.S. official attends, but several days later, Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrives in France with James Taylor, who — this really happened — performs the song “You’ve Got a Friend.” This bold action strikes fear into the hearts of terrorists, who realize that Secretary Kerry is fully capable, if necessary, of unleashing Barry Manilow.
Meanwhile in Washington, a drone crashes onto the White House lawn and immediately becomes a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination.
In sports, the first-ever NCAA College Football Playoff reaches a surprising climax when the Oregon Ducks are defeated in the championship game, 42-20, by the New England Patriots. Asked how this is possible, given that the Patriots play in the NFL, Coach Belichick opines that it could be a result of “global climate change.”
Speaking of surprises, in …
Read the rest here
Hero Security Guard Diffuses Hostage Situation Only to be Fatally Shot by Late Arriving Cops
Posted: December 24, 2015 by gamegetterII in police state, Police state USSA, UncategorizedTags: police state, police state USSA
Douglas County, GA — Bobby Daniels was a peace officer by trade – a private security guard employed at CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta. When he learned that his emotionally troubled 25-year-old son Bias had suffered a breakdown and was holding a fellow security guard at gunpoint in a mobile home part in Douglasville, Bobby raced to the scene. Using the skills of persuasion and patient de-escalation upon which a private peace officer must rely, Bobby persuaded his son to relinquish his handgun and place it on the hood of a car.
Just seconds later, Daniels was fatally shot – not by his mentally ill son, but by the sheriff’s deputies who had arrived on the scene.
In familiar fashion, law enforcement officials insist that the victim of this police shooting – at least the 960th to occur in 2015 – was to blame, and they have provided contradictory accounts as to how it happened.
“I think that he could have been trying to help the situation instead of hurting it, but when he pointed the gun at the officers, he was shot,” asserted Douglas County Sheriff Phil Miller in remarks to reports at the scene shortly after the December 21 incident.
A different official account provided by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation claims that as Bobby and Bias struggled over control of the gun, deputies attempted to incapacitate the younger man with a taser.
“As the fight continued between Bias and Bobby, the handgun was pointed at the deputies, at which point one of the deputy [sic] fired, striking and killing Bobby,” according to the GBI.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that my officer thought his life was in danger, and he did what he thought he had to do,” insists Sheriff Miller, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/private-peace-officer-defused-hostage-situation-shot-killed-cops-late-help/#4j9RtgQtBVLMb487.99
Via Kenny here
Our friend, reader and commenter Stevienatt unexpectedly passed away on December 18th. A fairly young man, he had not yet arranged provisions for his burial and his family is trying to raise money for his funeral. They’ve set up a gofundme page to raise $5000 they need to complete this sad but necessary task and they’re still short about $1500.
Miss Lisa found about his death when she went to his FB page day before yesterday and saw the many condolences left by friends and loved ones, then went back yesterday and saw the fundraiser and asked me to post it her as she did on her blog.
Sadly enough, writing this out I realized just how little I knew of him. Most of our conversations were of a political nature (he was a hardcore Constitutionalist) and not about personal things. I do know he was an avid outdoorsman and an absolute baseball nut, not only as a spectator but as a player even in middle age.
The last conversation I had with Stevienatt was just before Veteran’s Day when he asked if I would honor his father who had just passed away the month before with a post. Well, of course I would. Not only would I be honoring somebody that served our Nation, but I had a strong feeling it would help Stevienatt with the grieving process for his father, something I had gone through just a couple years before.
Now his children are grieving, and the time of year doesn’t help. If you’d like to help give them some piece of mind concerning the funeral expenses, follow the link below. Thanks.
https://www.gofundme.com/zng47s2s
The Second Amendment Was About ‘Assault Rifles’
Posted: December 24, 2015 by gamegetterII in Uncategorized
Letters to the AmmoLand Editor
USA – -(Ammoland.com)- In my opinion, the Second Amendment is about National Security and only guarantees the right to keep and bear Assault Rifles.
The Constitution ratified in 1788 contains The Army Clause, the Militia Clause and the Organizing the Militia Clause.
The lack of a standing army and small state-controlled militias left the nation vulnerable. And, many Founding Fathers believed an armed citizenry was the best defense against tyranny. I deduce that the intent of the Second Amendment was to solve those two issues. An armed citizenry to aid the militia in defense of the nation in the event of insurrection or invasion and to join with fellow citizens to defend the nation against tyranny.
Explicit is the right to keep and bear arms. Implicit is the kind of arms. To aid the militia, and to defend against tyranny, the arms that citizens keep and bear arms. must be compatible with arms carried by soldiers, not robbers. That right encompasses current arms and arms for individual soldiers that may be created by new technology. In 1791, soldiers were armed with muskets. Today, individual soldiers are armed with Assault Rifles.
Technology does not mitigate any constitutionally guaranteed right. The right to keep and bear is not limited to arms technology in common use in 1791 when the Bill of Rights was approved any more than a free press is limited to printing technology at that time.
Regarding the Bill of Rights, absent is an explicit right to self-defense. That Right is implicit in the Declaration of Independence.
Regarding the Second Amendment, I do not recall any consideration of licensing to purchase or carry, hunting for food or for sport, stand your ground, registration, private militias, castle doctrine, survival prepping, home defense, background checks or competitive shooting.
The Second Amendment intent is to guarantee an armed citizenry to aid the militia in defense of the nation, and to defend the nation against tyranny. To perform those tasks, the citizenry must keep and bear current technology arms.
Today, that would be the “Assault Rifles”.
NBA’s Anti-Gun Propaganda
Posted: December 24, 2015 by gamegetterII in anti-gun asshatteryTags: 2nd amendment, anti-gun asshattery, Bloomberg, Gun Control, Gun Rights, police state USSA, second amendment
Bloomberg sponsored anti-gun bullshit to air 5 times during NBA Christmas day games…
Merry Christmas to all my readers,hope you all have a great Christmas,with family and friends,good food,and don’t forget the reason we celebrate Christmas- in case you think food,drink and presents are what the holiday is all about.
h/t S31.
Simple, cheap, effective.
Can’t wrap the brain around why this is worth your time?
German Techs indirectly helping Salafists
“The group has been training journalists in conflict zones for more than a decade and often relies on FM radio to reach populations in far-flung areas that don’t have access to the Internet or smartphones. But when the group realized that shifting front lines and the brutal treatment of journalists meant operating large broadcast antenna could become too cumbersome or risky, it developed PocketFM.
It’s now being used to covertly broadcast in nine locations, including two that are controlled by the Islamic State group, said Hochleichter. Connected to a solar panel, a PocketFM transmitter can theoretically work autonomously for long periods of time…”
“…The project, which also includes compiling a daily best-of from nine cooperating radio stations that is beamed down by satellite, is financed by…
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Starvin Larry 