How to butcher a fawn
Wisconsin
Contributors to this thread:
Keep the judgement to yourself! I got enough bad looks throwing a fawn into the truck on opening rifle day in MI. I don't have the stomach to leave a fawn orphaned in a wolf heavy area with tough winters where there's no such thing as "groups" of deer, but I can sleep at night shooting mom and fawn. ANYWAYS, for those who have killed fawns, how did you butcher and cook?
Obviously keeping backstraps as backstraps, but was thinking of keeping the shoulders and hindquarters whole and just popping them on the smoker. Curious what others do. Maybe keep the shoulders and hindquarters intact but cut off the shanks and treat those like regular shanks, can't imagine shanks breaking down without being braised, even on a fawn.
I’ve often wanted to smoke or have someone smoke a whole hindquarters, I bet it would be awesome
This is how I look at it Vilas. Found myself in that situation in years past. Take what appears to be a lone Doe and 10 minutes later here comes Bambi. I left them be for this reason. If I shoot it the fawn is 100 percent dead. If I don't it's not dead and has a certain percentage of making it. So I give it that chance small as it may be in wolf or heavy snow areas. Not saying you did wrong your intentions were good. I just let it have a chance.
This is how I look at it Vilas. Found myself in that situation in years past. Take what appears to be a lone Doe and 10 minutes later here comes Bambi. I left them be for this reason. If I shoot it the fawn is 100 percent dead. If I don't it's not dead and has a certain percentage of making it. So I give it that chance small as it may be in wolf or heavy snow areas. Not saying you did wrong your intentions were good. I just let it have a chance.
Fawns are great table fair! All 9 lbs of meat you get off of one!
Firsty, I just skinned and quartered her and yes, not much meat compared to an adult deer. But if I boned her out, I would say probably at least 15+ lbs. I get most of the meat. Heart, kidneys, skull, neck, the meat between the hide and layer of back fat, etc. I can feel your sarcasm ooze through the keyboard, but even 9lbs of meat is still 9lbs of meat. Have you not never shot a duck or a squirrel or fished for panfish? You're gonna work a lot harder for 9lbs of squirrel meat than the short time to butcher and freeze a fawn. I also enjoy cutting up a deer, it is oddly relaxing and good practice for a hopeful future solo elk hunt. So I don't consider it a chore.
Trickle, this was my first year ever having acess to doe tags and I gave it a lot of thought and struggled with it. My first thought was I shouldn't be shooting does, there shouldn't be any doe tags, so I didn't buy any tags. Then the snow came and I found the bait piles every five feet and sat over one just to see what it was like. It was ridiculous, I saw maybe 7 does/fawns and one spike that night at sundown (I usually only see a single deer maybe every 5-10 sits and never in my life seen multiple deer that weren't mom and fawns in this area) and realized the hunting was already ruined here by other hunters baiting like crazy (welll over the allowed 2 gallons in MI) and these does were gonna get slaughtered over bait , so I might as well tag one or two for the freezer with some modicum of fair chase (finding bedding and hunting right outside of it). Probably not the best rationale, but I figured better me than the baiters.
My house sits on less than an acre, but there's a decent sized parcel of isolated public land nearby . My neighbors kids shoot a doe most years on youth tags and last year his middle one shot the doe that just so happened to come through my yard a few times a week in the afternoon at 3:30pm like clockwork with her two fawns. I watched her two surviving fawns continue the exact same routine after she was shot. Then it became one fawn. My dog found the dead first fawn the next day, with her rear end eaten out. Didn't even take wolves, just coyotes.
A short time later (less than two weeks) I stopped seeing the second fawn. I did not find a confirmed predator kill (I looked and let the dog roam around), but I can only assume as much. While just one isolated data point, watching both of those fawns disappear one after the other has stuck with me.
Vilas… you sat in someone else’s stand site?
the same way you butcher an adult.
Alwaysright..... Stick it
Make two sandwiches and give one to trickle
Stick it sideways dick move
He was and still is an ass, even though he wanted all to “come together.”
MjF, yes I climbed up a tree over someone else's bait pile with no intention of arrowing or spooking anything, just wanted to see if the tracks leading to the baitpile were nighttime tracks or daytime tracks. I even waited well after dark for most of the deer to disperse before climbing down. I don't see anything wrong with that. They had an illegal permanent blind on public land and used an ungodly (and illegal) amount of bait, must of been at least a couple hundred pounds of corn and carrots. They also illegally drove their ATV off the trail to their baitpile. I noticed the corn was the hot item, no one touched the carrots. I decided not to call in the violations in fear of retribution and losing that close-to-home hunting area.
I generally don't hunt other people's "spots" on public land if I find a stand or ground blind there, but I also don't approve of people "claiming" obvious public spots with a blind or stand. For example, setting your ground blind up on an obvious narrow strip of hardwood high ground between two swamps and claiming that funnel as your own.
And I definitely don't approve of claiming a bait pile as your own. If you throw out bait, you are creating the hottest food source in the area. No deer is gonna munch on twigs when there is a corn and carrot buffet that can be eaten with the deer expending almost zero energy. You most defnitely don't own that. Granted I would never hunt over the bait anyways.
I know this forum is up in arms over crossbows and I have been convinced and have changed my tune towards crossbows and adopted that sentiment as well. But to me, crossbows pale in comparison to baiting. Crossbows kill more deer and crowd the archery season with rifle hunters. Baiting changes the patterns of literally every deer in the area. So not only does that kill deer, it truly ruins hunting for the entire area. IMO a much bigger scourge than xbows.
"MjF, yes I climbed up a tree over someone else's bait pile with no intention of arrowing or spooking anything, just wanted to see if the tracks leading to the baitpile were nighttime tracks or daytime tracks. I even waited well after dark for most of the deer to disperse before climbing down. I don't see anything wrong with that. They had an illegal permanent blind on public land and used an ungodly (and illegal) amount of bait, must of been at least a couple hundred pounds of corn and carrots. I noticed the corn was the hot item, no one touched the carrots.
I generally don't hunt other people's "spots" on public land if I find a stand or ground blind there, but I also don't approve of people "claiming" obvious public spots with a blind or stand. For example, setting your ground blind up on an obvious narrow strip of high ground between two swamps and claiming that funnel as your own. "
I could be wrong but I think if you're sitting over someone else's illegal bait pile that in itself might not be completely legal. I'd maybe check into it before doing it again.
Hunter, never though about that. I've read the deer section of the hunters digest head to toe and I don't think that gray area was touched. It would be a good question for a warden. I had no intention of shooting anything (I easily could of), but I certainly did have my bow with me. In hind sight, it would of been prudent to leave my bow somewhere else and not climbed up with it.
If you get caught sitting in a illegal bait pile I would think your gonna get cited. That is the same as that car ahead of me was going faster or I don't know that gun was stolen I bought it from a friend of a friend. Also I do not think law enforcement can tell the violator who turned him/her in cause like you say retribution they would be liable for by giving out that info about you. Maybe violator/jackass Alwaysright knows from first hand experience
Vilas and for you to not report it, well, your part of the problem. Sitting over a illegal bait station is the same as placing the bait, DNR officer would have been more than willing to write you a citation. Very unethical if you ask me
You were hunting over an illegal bait. No gray area whatsoever. In WI you can be cited for hunting a trail to an illegal bait. Even if you don't know it's there.
Yep Trick, Hunter and Skook are probably right. Sitting over an illegal bait pile with a weapon is likely illegal, even if you didn't throw out the bait. Could of easily been your buddy or friend or even you who threw it out, for all the warden knows.
Granted, this area of public land was so full of violations (over baiting, permanent structures and driving off the trails), I doubt a warden has ever set foot there. But it's good to keep that info in mind. Thank you guys for pointing that out.
MjF, I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm part of the problem for not reporting it, I feel that is a little harsh. This is the closest over the border parcel of publc land to me by about 30 minutes, I was not about to give that up the opprotunity for some early season pre-baiting hunting if I tag out early in WI. I was on their trail cam, for all I know they had a trail cam at the parking area.
I would agree though, that the MOST ethical and selfless thing to do would be to call it in. I can live with myself and sleep fine at night with not calling it in out of fear of retribution, though. There are no shortage of crazies up here and the parking area for this public is right off the main road, so if you're hunting there, everyone knows.
I definitely don't want to tangle with anyone who so clearly has such a lack of moral compass that they are driving off the trails, building structures on public land, over baiting and killing deer like that. No telling what someone like that would do. Realistically, I was not afraid I was gonna get shot. But I could definitely see my tires getting slashed and my windows smashed. That would be a long walk back to cell service.
If you make a direct complaint to the warden he is obligated to check it out. Like MJf says if you don't you certainly are part of the problem and just griping about it does no good. Your not being a rat you are protecting a resource we all care about and we all should do our best to protect. Not just the deer but the forest damage also
I have no issue being a rat on game and fish violations. I just don't want to lose access to that hunting area. I respectfully disagree that I'm part of the problem, but I definitely see where you guys are coming from. If someone wants to put up cash for 4 new tires, I'll call it in!!
I don't know that a warden has an obligation to check it out. They are stretched too thin. I've stopped calling in walleye slot limit violations beacuse not once has a warden ever showed up. To be clear, I'm certainly not blaming the wardens, they are just stretched so thin.
Granted, an ilelgal permanent structure isn't going anywhere, so they would probably get around to that.
They are required in Wisconsin to check out any and all violations reported to them. They do go on alot of wild goose chases but they do in one way or another check it out and file a incident report. I know this because a very good friend of my family was a DNR Warden for his career. He has passed now so I guess I can state his name. Gerald "Jerry" Mhyre
"I definitely don't want to tangle with anyone who so clearly has such a lack of moral compass that they are driving off the trails, building structures on public land, over baiting and killing deer like that. No telling what someone like that would do. Realistically, I was not afraid I was gonna get shot. But I could definitely see my tires getting slashed and my windows smashed. That would be a long walk back to cell service."
Are you saying the people you wouldn't want to tangle with are the same ones whose stand you were sitting in? Maybe I'm not following along correctly.
And I bet your rifle was still loaded while you waited well after dark for the deer to leave. What do you think these hunters or hunter would have done if they came walking in while you were there? Sorry Vilas I don’t get it, you take a chance sitting over these bad a$$ hunters illegal bait station but you have a problem with turning them in.
I was not sitting in their stand. I was in my own climber over their bait pile. I would never hop into someone else's stand,or blind, granted that is totally legal to do so, at least in MI. But yes, they are the ones that I don't want to tangle with.
They have me on trail cam waving to them with my bow and I have never once seen a person bow hunt there, just rifle. It's not a stretch for them to put it together if they see me bowhunting there next year. There is only one parking area and it's right off the main road. Very obvious to see that someone new is hunting there during archery.
I was fishing Walleye below a dam once and our family friend Jerry approached all fisherman to check for valid licenses. When he got to me I said geez Jerry you know I have one. His response was I do not know any such thing and I had to produce it. Most of the good Wardens play no favorites or games
Your own climber, I had missed that part. Thanks for the clarification.
"You were hunting over an illegal bait. No gray area whatsoever. In WI you can be cited for hunting a trail to an illegal bait. Even if you don't know it's there. "
That doesn't sound right, even if you didn't know it was there? So a public land hunter would basically need to scout every inch of the land he's on or fly a drone over daily to make sure no one has an illegal bait site anywhere nearby? I've dealt with a handful of wardens in my time, and none of them were into writing stupid tickets that won't hold up in court, in fact, all of them were quite professional. I'm thinking the trail part would have to be pretty obvious, like a trail super close to the illegal bait pile.
Trickle, thanks for the info on wardens. Again, I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. And the few run-ins I've had with them (license checks in Door County ice fishing) have all been great. I would wager that someone becomes a warden because of a passion for hunting, fishing and the outdoors.
They have to prioritize their time and driving to the far corner of the county to address a walleye violater that may be gone by the time they get there is probably not the best use of their time.
I don't doubt that illegal structure + illegal atv driving + illegal baiting would get their attention, though. As the bait pile, atv tracks and structure are not going anywhere and they could of predictably shown up on opening day and busted the person for three violations.
I'm just not selfless enough to call it in and risk losing access to a good spot or have to spend my time in my stand there worrying if my truck is one piece when I walk back. I can live with that and sleep okay while acknowledging that it is my own selfish desire to hunt there worry free at the expense of the damage that violation is causing. I consider myself a decent human being, but not a saint!
Well Vilas in a nutshell you have two choices. Report it and clear the area and hunt elsewhere or stop griping about it. There is no grey area
Okay back on topic here. When cutting up a hind quarter, there is that gland between the top and bottom round , the youtube videos I've watched mentioned that it"taints" the meat. Is cooking the hindquarter intact, with that gland inside OK from a taste perspective? I have sniffed that gland and it never smelled off to me.
Vilas, it’s certainly your choice to do what makes sense for you. However, with such blatant violations it sounds to me like this should be reported. That type of total disregard for the law is not good for the hunting community at all. If you need to avoid hunting the area for a season that might be best since it sounds like the baiting is causing problems anyway. However it also sounds like you might be benefitting from their baiting by the deer being concentrated and even though you aren’t hunting the piles directly you are still hunting the deer that are going to and from those piles. In regards to butchering a fawn I find no reason to shoot them intentionally. You also have no leg to stand on regarding complaining about low deer density if you do. Let the fawns go and nature will take its course one way or another. It simply is not worth 15 lbs of meat.
I am not judging, it is your choice what you shoot. It just seems a little hypocriticle to complain about lack of deer sighting and be on a mission to shoot whatever you see. A fawn by itself doesn't mean it doesn't have a mother around. I have seen mothers leave feeding areas and the fawn stayed another 20 min. I have seen them take naps before leaving. Any hunter knows that. If you need as many deer as possible to feed the family then more power to you, I get that. For some reason I don't think that is the case here though. If that is not the case then you have no reason complaining about low deer numbers.
I’m not one to put down anything someone decides to legally shoot (if you were hunting an illegal bait made by someone else, they would ticket you, no real gray area to them on that). But, there just isn’t enough meat when your done for me to deal with.
I know a few guys who still hunt the north. They complain about seeing little or no deer, then shoot the first legal deer they see. I just shake my head. This thinking is difficult for me to comprehend.
In my neighborhood in northern Iron county shooting a doe would not be looked at favorably. Between the predators and the winters we barely have a deer herd, only 32 bucks shot with vertical bows so far in our county.
The use of vertical bows is plummeting.
Many moons ago my hunting partner shot a Fawn by accident while aiming at Mom. One of his specialty 's is cooking whole pigs .
We skinned , cut , & trimmed . Hand rubbed the entire Deer with cooking oil, salt, pepper , garlic , & onion salt . Wrapped it in aluminum & put it in the fire pit . After about 4 beers we turned it over , 4 Beers later we layed it on a table . Unwrapped it & started cutting slices off . It was awesome , Eventhe women thought it was great .
Gileguy 32?? The whole friggin county? How many crossbow?
Where are you guys getting Michigan harvest numbers? Unless I read the digest wrong, registering your deer is completely optional. How could they possibly know how many deer were killed with what weapon?
"When cutting up a hind quarter, there is that gland between the top and bottom round , the youtube videos I've watched mentioned that it"taints" the meat. Is cooking the hindquarter intact, with that gland inside OK from a taste perspective? I have sniffed that gland and it never smelled off to me."
Good question, hopefully people will share their thoughts on this gland you speak of.
The eye of round is on that exact gland you speak of, (right between the top and bottom round), and because of it, I grind the eye. It most certainly has an off smell, as well as off flavor, and I don't care what anyone else has to say about it, that fatty gland should be removed before cooking it whole. I've heard the eye of round referred to as the tenderloin you feed to your in laws, so they don't come back for dinner.
That’s pretty ignorant, the gland Vilas is referring to is in in the fat in the middle of the round. I about wet myself on that one.
I seperated the shank ( including that small tough ovally piece of meat connected to the shank) from the ham. After that, it was pretty easy to get in there and remove the gland and surrounding fat without needing to separate the muscles. I plan on wet curing + smoking the remaining ham just as you would with a pig. Eat hot and leftovers sliced thin for sandwiches.
Trickle, it looks like 98 bucks killed by xbow so 3x the amount killed with vertical bows. My wife has 1 of the 32 even though at 64 yrs old the bow doesn't come back as easy as it used too.