Hunting season is filled with moments that you look back on and wish you would have done things differently. That’s hunting hindsight.
Hindsight is most always 20/20 when it comes to hunting.
Especially during bow season.
A couple of evenings ago I had literally just sat down in my stand when I remembered the advice of our youngest son, Tristan. Earlier that day he had told me that the bucks were really responsive to grunts and the ratting horns.
So.
“Rattle, rattle, rattle!”
I’ve never had much luck with the rattling horns but I brought them with me just in case.
Before I got completely situated, I decided to go ahead and put out a couple of grunts and then rattle some in spite of the crazy, gusting wind that was blowing. HARD!
I went back to organizing my little tree stand area for that night’s sit.
No more had I turned my head when BAM! Here come TWO nice bucks charging down the hill, right to the little patch of timber about 50 to 60 yards to my right.
Wow!
That was fast!
Getting overly excited and thrust into “what to do now mode,” the only thing I could think of as I watched them frantically search for the “scrap” they thought they were coming to get in the middle of, was to get out my grunt call.
So I did what I thought would keep them close and come over to me so I could get a shot at one of them.
I grunted lightly.
They looked, of course, but as I raised my arm, to quietly reach for my bow and get into position to possibly shoot, my grunt call fell off my lap (stupid I know) right into the trees below my stand, startling them just enough to run back up the hill from where they came.
To top that off, shortly afterwards one of my gloves dropped into the bushes as well.
If I hadn’t been piddle poking around with my stuff I would have seen them come out of the timberline and I would have been making plans as they charged down to my rattling.
I would have been anticipating their move and been prepared.
Secondly, KEEP CRAP OFF MY LAP!
Put it on hangers or in my pockets. To my defense, though, when I’m wearing my harness it’s hard to really get to my pockets because I’m so bound up.
The moral to this story is this.
Always be ready for ANYTHING and learn from your mistakes.
Be teachable, even if you’re both student and teacher.
Hunting lessons are not just for hunting. They can be applied in day to day real life.
Be ready for anything that might come your way and be looking around and not down. You might miss an opportunity if you’re not ready for it.
It Is Possible To Prepare Deer Meat In A Way That Wildgame Haters Will Love It
Deer meatloaf is one of those dishes that you either really love or really dislike. Actually deer or venison, in general, is something that you either like to eat or you absolutely hate with your whole heart. It’s a little like politics and religion. You choose a side and then you stand on it.
My mother made the BEST meatloaf of anyone. Although she would have NEVER used deer meat. However, because she did make the best meatloaf it stands to reason that I would follow in her footsteps and make the second-best. Mine, though, is hers resurrected. And it’s tweaked with minimal changes with the biggest difference of meat choice. Ground Chuck vs. Ground Deer Burger!
I consider myself to be a good cook just like her. However, when you’re trying to convince a person to try a new recipe it can sometimes be tricky. That being said if you’re trying to convince a “deer meat hater” to try something you’ve cooked you’ve got your work cut out for yourself.
I should know because although I am surrounded by family members that live and breathe to eat anything that includes deer meat, I’ve also got family and friends that refuse to even TOUCH it. I mean absolutely REFUSE to even TRY it.
Deer Meat Is For Even The Pickiest Eaters If Prepared Right
I mean to tell you that I have done everything I know to do to convince them that it truly tastes good. Actually, in some cases, it tastes better than beef. But they hold fast to their misconceptions. And lay down the law that they will NOT ever, and I repeat EVER eat, much less even try one single solitary bite of deer meat.
I’ve even gone so far as to threaten that “one day when you’re starving to death you will surely come knocking on my door for food and I all I’ll have is deer meat. What are you going to do then?”
I have a sister-in-law who assures me that she would die of starvation before she would ever put one bite in her mouth.
I’m waiting for that day and I hope to live to see it. Because I KNOW that when you’re hungry, and I mean really HUNGRY, you WILL eat whatever is there in front of you. And that includes deer meat.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
I have many recipes up my sleeve when it comes to wild game but one I am most proud of and one that I’ve tweaked over the years is my Deer Meatloaf, otherwise known as Venison Meatloaf.
It’s simple to fix and I promise you that your family will request it again and again.
Deer Meatloaf is a family favorite
Just a couple of months ago I had a spurt of energy and decided that I would make one of our sons and his wife a meatloaf for supper. They had just had a baby and I thought it would make things a little easier for them not having to worry about fixing dinner.
Well when our youngest son heard I was making meatloaf for the middle son, well then HE wanted one also. So, okay, now I’ll make TWO.
No problem. I’ll just thaw out ANOTHER pound of deer burger. No big deal.
There’s always a chain reaction no matter what you do. When our second oldest son found out I was making the middle and the youngest sons their own meatloaves, well you can guess what transpired next.
Yep, you guessed it. Another son. Another thawed pound of deer burger. And another meatloaf. I was hoping I had enough crackers and eggs. Thank God I did.
I did make three meatloaves that day. And everyone was happy. But it just proves that when you have a recipe everyone loves, they will request it over and over and truly never get tired of it.
My Deer Meatloaf Recipe is one of those recipes. Your family will make you pull it out time and time again, and although you will get sick of making it, your family won’t. And nothing would make me happier than if you would let me share it with you.
Deer Meatloaf Recipe
Ingredients:
1lb ground deer burger
1.5 sleeves of crushed saltine crackers
1 Cup diced green pepper
1 Cup diced onion
2 eggs
Barbeque sauce
Ketchup
Garlic salt, salt, pepper
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In large bowl, and I mean LARGE, mix burger, onion, green pepper, crackers, eggs, and seasonings together. Put in a couple of squirts (big) of bbq sauce and ketchup.
There’s no easy way to do it but to get your hands right in there and mix it thoroughly.
Shape it and place it in a glass Pyrex dish sprayed with Pam. I usually put a cup of water in the dish with the uncooked meatloaf for moisture. It keeps the meatloaf moist while cooking.
I am told that my meatloaf is the moistest, so listen to me. I’m an expert on this subject. Not really. But through trial and error, I have learned how to make moist meatloaf. Yours won’t be dry and you’ll be glad you did it like that.
Back for an hour.
After 40 minutes take a cup and a half of bbq sauce and brush on top of the meatloaf and let it continue backing for the remaining 20 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before cutting.
Voila!! Yummy! Mash up some potatoes. Throw a little gravy and green beans with it and you’ve got supper.
The extra work will be worth it
Deer meatloaf is a little time consuming with the preparation of cutting the green peppers and onions. Crushing the crackers can be a pain too but you’ll have leftovers to eat on the next day. We make deer meatloaf sandwiches out of what’s left for lunch the following day and grab some potato chips as a side.
No matter what time of day you decide to eat it, your family will thank you and you’ll find that even the ones who don’t like meatloaf will end up having a change of heart on the subject.
And if you’re really lucky you’ll convert an “anti-deer-meat-eater” to join you for a plate of fresh-baked deer meatloaf. If they do, I promise they’ll be back for seconds.
Crock-Pot Meals Are The Easiest And This Slow Cooker Venison Roast Recipe Is No Exception
What mom doesn’t like “easy” when it comes to planning supper for her family? This mom definitely does. It seems like my schedule, and I am sure yours too, is busy and never-ending. Believe me when I say that my Crock-Pot is my most used cooking tool. I used it at LEAST once a week. Just throw and go. My infamous “Slow Cooker Venison Roast Recipe” is not only my favorite. True, that it takes no effort at all to prepare. But it’s also one of my husband’s favorites because it tastes so yummy.
Hunting for our family isn’t about killing. It’s about providing food for our family. It’s about filling our freezer each fall to tide us over until the next hunting season. Our family goes through the meat.
The best part, for me, is when I get to reach into our freezer and pull out a package of deer meat that “I” harvested. I feel like I’ve really contributed when I look inside our freezer and see what God blessed me with for that season. I take pride in it and to be honest, I pull out MY meat first.
My husband will say, “Kelly, it’s ALL of our meat. Not just yours!” But when I’m the one doing the cooking you can bet that I remind them just who’s deer it is with EVERY bite.
Simplicity Of Only Four Ingredients
What I love the most about this recipe, one that I’ve tweaked for our family, that it only requires FOUR ingredients. A venison/deer roast. A bag of baby carrots. Five to six potatoes. And a package of Lipton’s Beefy Onion Soup Mix in the packets.
That’s it.
I don’t know about you but I LOVE the smell of something cooking all night in the house. It’s almost as comforting as the turkey cooking all morning on Thanksgiving Day. Something about the aroma of home cooking spread throughout the house that reminds me of being a kid. I love that feeling.
So a lot of times I’ll put the venison/deer roast on late at night so that I can SLEEP with that deer roast fragrance sneaking into my dream state. Nothing puts me to sleep deeper than the smell of something cooking.
My mom passed away in 2009 and anytime I can go down memory lane with her I do. She was a great cook and always prepared HUGE meals. Our home was always filled with the smell of something tasty. Her homemade vegetable soup “smell” on Sundays will forever be my NUMBER ONE favorite though. Go Chiefs!
Slow Cooker Venison (Deer) Roast Recipe
1-deer roast (size depending on the number of people)
1- pkg of baby carrots
1 – a packet of Lipton Beefy Onion Soup Mix
5 – small potatoes quartered (I leave mine unpeeled)
First, I take my thawed venison/deer roast out of the paper and rinse thoroughly. I, then place it at the bottom of the Crock-Pot.
One packet of soup mix and I dump that on top of the roast.
Half of the bag of the baby carrots is usually what works for us. However, you can add as many as you want. I use a smaller Crock-Pot for my husband and me. Whenever I use our larger pot, obviously I will add more. But when it’s just the two of us I keep it light.
Lastly, I add about five quartered potatoes. You don’t have to do it that way. I like chunky potatoes. I’m sure Mom did it that way so, in keeping with tradition, I do also. But it’s really to your preference.
Next, I put enough water to just cover all the ingredients.
Don’t Rush It If You Don’t Have To
Depending on what time of day you put the venison roast on will determine how long you set it for. If I’m doing it overnight I will set it for 8 hours. Actually, even if I get it ready in the morning I still set it for 8 hours.
I NEVER rush it.
There’s something so delicious about venison (deer) roast that just falls apart when you get it out of the Crock-Pot. When it slow cooks all day it just seems to taste better. It’s more tender.
As far as the seasonings go, the soup mix adds the best flavor. I love my garlic powder and garlic salt so in my recipes those two things are just a given.
Once you get everything in and the Crock-Pot set, you’re good to go! Just make sure it’s on a solid counter and pushed back so it can’t be knocked off.
Make Certain Your Crock-Pot Is In A Safe Location
We had our dog get up on the counter once and eat an entire plate of fried deer steaks. My husband has shot a deer during archery season and I had literally just finished frying up supper. He needed me to help him track the deer so I covered and pushed the plate back as far on the counter as it would go.
Although our dog wasn’t that tall she was tall enough to get up on the counter. She pulled the paper towel that the steaks were on down to the floor. Needless to say, when I got back we had NOTHING to eat.
Lesson learned.
If you’re wanting something that takes very little prep time but will be a dish that your family requests, THIS slow cooker venison roast recipe will be one you’ll come to love. It’s quick. It’s cheap. And the cleanup is easy.
But most importantly it will be a recipe that was not only cooked with your two hands but also harvested with your two hands…and your heart.
Why It’s Important To Wait After Executing A Shot In Bowhunting Rather Than Jumping The Gun
I won’t even pretend that I am a quick learner at anything. It’s normally through my vast mistakes that my most rewarding lessons have occurred. This applies to every area of my life.
From dating the wrong guys in high school to choosing a bad hair cut that can’t grow back fast enough, or just simply trusting the wrong person to confide in. I have made my fair share of bad choices against the advice of well-meaning family and friends. But one thing is for sure. I have always received my best hunting advice from the one person I know is an expert in the field. He’s not only my hunting buddy. He’s my hunting husband.
As it is with everything, the best advice usually comes after the biggest mistake. This stands true with bowhunting as well. One of the greatest pieces of advice my hunting mentor, and my biggest fan, ever gave to me came AFTER one of the most significant mistakes of my bowhunting history.
If I had heard it once I had heard him tell me a hundred times. “If you make a shot WAIT for at least 30 to 45 minutes BEFORE getting down from your treestand to begin tracking your deer.”
You’ve noticed that I capitalized WAIT and BEFORE because I had heard him say that so many times over the years. I KNEW to do this but because I am an impatient soul and have a hard time sitting for long periods in the treestand at all, I needed it tattooed on my forehead to get the point across.
I have always received my best hunting advice from the one person I know is an expert in the field. He’s not only my hunting buddy. He’s my hunting husband.
Not heeding to good, sound advice can sometimes cost you if you don’t take it to heart and put it into practice. By not following my husband’s rule of thumb, it almost cost me finding my buck.
Old Habits Die Hard
It was in the middle of archery season. I had been playing tag with a certain eight-pointer that had shown up on our trail camera multiple times.
Up to that point, I had never had the chance at a shooter buck, and I had my heart set, THIS PARTICULAR SEASON, on him. He was the one. I wanted to harvest HIM.
I would get to my stand early and leave in the dark. In the morning hunts, I would walk out there in the pitch black, feeling my way up the ladder stand with nothing more than my Bushnell headlamp on my head.
I did this every day. I did this for weeks.
Until early one Saturday morning when the stars were aligned just right. He came sashaying up from below my stand with only one thing on his mind. He was trailing a doe.
As it is with everything, the best advice usually comes after the biggest mistake.
I’m not going to lie. When you are in your stand and a deer comes within shooting distance, your heart beats faster than it ever has before. Your adrenaline is in overdrive and you begin to tremble and shake.
Maybe not every hunter feels like that. Personally, I get excited, as well as a little nervous, when I know I’m getting ready to take a shot.
He was about 20 yards in front of me when I stood up to draw my bow. Although my memory says he was broadside, looking back at the trail camera pictures proves otherwise.
In the excitement of the moment, I didn’t realize that he was ACTUALLY quartering TOWARD me a little bit. So when I executed my shot into the “vitals” I didn’t get the penetration as I thought. I did get some penetration. However, I also managed to stick my arrow down around his “buck parts” as well. But, I didn’t know this at the time.
BE PATIENT
It’s Always Better To Wait Than To Push
After I shot and he took off running, I did what any non-seasoned hunter would do. I immediately climbed down from my ladder stand to see if there was any blood. Then, I got back UP into my stand to send my husband a text letting him know I had just shot “the buck.”
After texting me back “Good job” he told me to stay put for about 30 to 45 minutes to let the deer lay down and die. To not push him and make tracking the blood easier. In an investigative, hesitant “texting voice” he asked, “You didn’t get down yet did you?” And of course, my answer was “NO?”
The truth of the matter was that I had climbed down SEVERAL times, and then scurried right back UP again.
Because my stand was fairly close to our house, I actually made several trips back and forth in hopes of seeing my dead buck laying there ready to field dress. But that didn’t happen.
My husband and one of our sons were at another farm hunting. I knew it would be a while before they would get there to help me track my deer. A couple of hours passed before they returned home. The first question my husband asked me was “How long did you stay up in your stand before getting down?”
I wanted to lie, I really did. But the trail camera set up in front of my stand had the proof. I had made multiple treks to and fro looking for blood and looking for my deer.
Busted!
My son, husband and I began the search and started with the first drops of blood I had found. It was slow. A drop here and a couple of drops there but nothing substantial. We tracked small droplets for hours, over barbed wire fences and along creek banks. The trail was winding and sparse with blood.
After several hours we came to the conclusion that we were pushing him. We needed to let him lay and marked the last major blood spot we found. We decided to wait until morning.
LISTEN TO GOOD ADVICE
Sometimes getting caught up in the moment overrides any sound hunting advice we’ve been given
I felt devastated. How could I have been so stupid to have gotten down right after I took the shot? I knew better. My husband taught me better. But that side of me that occasionally takes over my common sense took control that morning. And I had no one to blame but myself if we couldn’t find my buck.
To say I didn’t sleep that night would have been an understatement. I tossed and turned worrying about him injured and laying out there dying a slow, painful death. Replaying the morning’s events, in my mind, from beginning to end, made me sick from the whole ordeal. I wanted to quit hunting. It upset me that much.
The next morning we all went out looking again but couldn’t even find a tiny blood trail. We ended up calling a friend, who had a tracking dog for help. Bruiser led us straight to my buck in a matter of minutes. By the time we found him, he had managed to make it to the water’s edge by the lake. Coyotes had eaten his back end so the only thing left to salvage was, thankfully, the backstraps.
It was a horrible experience and it’s one that I will never forget. I could have avoided it if I had just listened to some of the best hunting advice I’ve ever received.
Not only did that hunt have a great impact on me but my husband’s unyielding wisdom did as well.
Since then I have branded his advice of WAITING on my heart. I will never forget the lesson that came along making that one crucial mistake. I am now more concise and conscientious as a hunter.
LEARN FROM IT
Every Silver Lining Has A Lesson Attached To It
What I learned, as a result of not listening to my husband’s advice is to WAIT before tracking a deer. Hunting is all about patience. It doesn’t hurry or rush. Nature is the same. It doesn’t hurry either.
Also, that hard lesson reminded me of the importance of regular and consistent shooting practice. The more time you set aside for practice, the better your accuracy will be.
Another incite I gained from this experience was to pay attention to your surroundings and always be ready. Deer move very quickly and can be quiet in front of you before you even realize it.
However, the most critical thing I learned as a result of ignoring what I knew to be true, is that NOT putting solid hunting advice into play could sacrifice the very thing you’ve worked hard to achieve. Not only could it cost you a successful harvest. But even worse, not heeding to good instruction could cost you your life.
Why Is It So Hard To Step Out From The Comfort Zone
I have always been somewhat afraid of heights. Hunting has forced me to challenge that comfort zone and actually step out in order to face fear and overcome it.
How many of us have felt a little uneasy while walking out to our stands in the dark? What about climbing higher than you did last season in your stand? The answer is probably more times than we are willing to admit. Our fears and our comfort zone are at the continual battle against each other.
For me, I live in a household full of testosterone. The mantra at my house is “suck it up.”
Growing up as an only child, my parents didn’t teach me to push past my fears.
At an early age, I learned that if you were too scared to try something new you didn’t have to. I was taught it was okay to settle into the place that I call your “comfort zone.”
Hunting for me didn’t start until I was in my mid 40’s. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it. It wasn’t that I was against it or didn’t believe in it. My dad was a hunter, but a gun hunter only. So although it was a long tradition in my family, I just didn’t carry any interest in it.
When I got married, to my children’s dad, I married into a bow hunting family. My mom cooked all the wild game Dad brought home. When I became the wife of a hunter I learned how to do the same. Hunting was all around me yet it wasn’t something my tender heart was comfortable with.
Sometimes Life Will Give You A Hard Push Out Of Your Safe Place
In the fall of 2009, my mom passed away from lung cancer. My dad had previously died from heart problems two years prior thus leaving me without any parents.
When you wake up one morning and you’re basically an adult orphan, you begin to contemplate and question many things. Your capabilities for one.
It was an odd time in my life. What sparked my interest in hunting was the one question that kept running through my head. Would I be able to take care of my family if I needed to? Would I be able to kill our food if we were starving?
Turns out that the answer to those questions would end up being YES! It’s here that I want to give all the credit to the man I NOW call me husband. It was his influence and passion for hunting that led me on the hunting journey I am now on. He helped lead me OUT of my comfort zone.
It wasn’t until the fall of 2010 that I actually pulled the trigger of my dad’s Winchester .243. It just so happened to be the first snow of that season. I had been out EVERY day up until that point. I don’t sit still well and I will admit that I had begun to get discouraged. It was a waiting game. Both of patience, to finally see a shooter, and the discipline of waiting for a clear, ethical shot. I had both physically and mentally prepared for that moment.
Now to make a long story short, when the 70-yard moment arose I took it. A little “unicorn” spike came in about 15 minutes after I got to my hunting spot and I dropped him. Funny, he looked A LOT bigger from 70 yards away!
That moment was bittersweet for me because I had never killed anything in my life. Anyone who knows me, even today, knows that I am a tender heart. Killing something is always a little hard for me to do. But at that historic moment, I was both sad and proud.
I think my dad would have REALLY been proud. My mom, on the other hand, would have wondered what on earth had happened to her baby girl. For me, it was a coming of age, almost middle age. I did it by stepping out of my comfort zone.
Over the years there have been many times I have been afraid while hunting. I have had to push past my own fears. One example is learning to use a climbing tree stand. I’m somewhat afraid of heights. However, I am REALLY afraid of falling out of a tree and breaking my neck or back or all of the above.
There’s something a little unsettling about inching yourself up a tree to over 20 feet. Then once you’re up you must twist your bow hanger into the bark. All the while hoisting your bow up in hopes of not falling out.
I’ll admit, that the whole scenario has frightened me many times. However, I continue to do it and continue to push past the fear. Am I better than I was at first? You bet I am. Do I still sweat profusely? Yes, I do.
But I refuse to let fear take hold of me. I refuse to let it keep me from learning further into something I love to do.
This past season I climbed into a hang-on stand that was a little higher than I normally go. I wouldn’t have attempted it had my son not secured it. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that the stand was completely safe. Also, I was wearing my harness, so in the event, I was to fall I was secure.
Once I got up into the stand and my stomach stopped hurting. I calmed down a bit and relaxed into the hunt. As I sat there, looking down, I realized that it wasn’t that high and I was okay. And the best part was that I was looking at deer from a new view. It was really pretty awesome and again I had the “proud of myself” moment.
Take That First Step Out Of Your Comfort Zone
Every time I walk out in the dark, to go to my stand, I am stepping out of my comfort zone.
I don’t know about you but walking in the pitch black is a little unnerving. Every time, I am basically blindly feeling my way to the ladder stand. I know that path like the back of my hand and have made the trek a million times, in the daylight and the dark.
There’s just something about total darkness that I think makes us all a little uneasy.
Funny the things we think about in the stand. As I was looking up at all the beautiful stars in the sky this morning, an airplane light heading north caught my attention. I thought about all the people who must have gotten up early to board that flight and I wondered if they were looking down out from their window seat while I was looking up! Life is a beautiful place if you just stop and realize it.
Am I afraid of running into another person? Absolutely not! Am I afraid of running into a skunk and getting sprayed? Or having a wild boar growl at me? YES! I’ve been out there many a morning and hear deer blow at me and I’m okay with that. Tripping over a skunk and getting sprayed is just something I am not interested in doing.
This year I’ve started strapping a light on my cap when I head out before first light. I hate it because it’s cumbersome but I do it anyway. I’ve seen several skunks, and even had one hang out under my stand. But to date I’ve been lucky to have not ever been “skunked.”
It’s Actually Healthy To Push Past Your Fears
To push past your fears and step out of secure places applies to all areas of your life. It’s not confined to just hunting.
I think it’s healthy to push past your fears when you’re afraid to do something that you want to do. It’s a must when it comes to doing something that you NEED to do.
Like when I held my mother’s hand, as she took her last breath. That was waaaaaaaay out of my comfort zone. I had to literally force myself to push back against my fears. To be in the moment to comfort her, as she was about to make that transition.
Also, having run a half marathon TWICE was way out of my comfort zone because I was afraid of failure. But I “sucked it up” and crossed that finish line TWICE and improved my time the second time around.
“ I think it’s healthy to push past your fears when you’re afraid to do something that you want to do.”
We all have times in our lives when we need to take a step forward in faith. That’s why we call it faith. But we’ve got to trust that God will be there with us and he’ll work it out to our good. If we don’t, our fears will put a chokehold on us. We’ll live from a place of being afraid instead of a place of truly living. Life is meant to be lived.
