Hank & Larry(pic's)

[rattler]

Hay Maker Thank's the first one is the heaviest i have ever killed he feild dressed 215lbs i know that their are a lot bigger deer in other part's but here your lucky to shoot one that heavy.Our gun season don't start till nov 19 but muzzle loader start's monday and run's for a week.Thank you for posting the pic's seeing the sausage made me Hungry i've alway's wanted th build a smoke house like your's some day im going too.


rattler

 

[Jogeephus]

Rattler, I hope you didn't shoot him at the bottom of one of those hills! Would have been a tough drag.

Haymaker, curing meat is a dying art around here very few people do it anymore. Where is your firebox? And with the pork, do you have to freeze it or is it OK like it is?

I make sausage but have never cured/smoked any. I'm still a little scared I'll make a mistake and get everyone sick. Grandaddy used to do it but after the house burned no one rebuilt it and the art got lost. I'm told the tenant farmers used to steal from the house on occasion. Am told, he used to take a burlap needle and stick it thru a rattlesnake's skin and tie him to a peg in the floor to prevent midnight marauders.

 

[Wewild]

Haymaker, curing meat is a dying art around here very few people do it anymore.

Grandaddy used to do it but after the house burned no one rebuilt it and the art got lost. I'm told the tenant farmers used to steal from the house on occasion. Am told, he used to take a burlap needle and stick it thru a rattlesnake's skin and tie him to a peg in the floor to prevent midnight marauders.

We still got a old smoke house and it has had sheds that were added on 3 sides. It got converted way before my time.

I wish I new what and how it went on. The house dates to 1865 .... I don't know about the smoke house.

 

[HAY MAKER]

Rattler, I hope you didn't shoot him at the bottom of one of those hills! Would have been a tough drag.

Haymaker, curing meat is a dying art around here very few people do it anymore. Where is your firebox? And with the pork, do you have to freeze it or is it OK like it is?

I make sausage but have never cured/smoked any. I'm still a little scared I'll make a mistake and get everyone sick. Grandaddy used to do it but after the house burned no one rebuilt it and the art got lost. I'm told the tenant farmers used to steal from the house on occasion. Am told, he used to take a burlap needle and stick it thru a rattlesnake's skin and tie him to a peg in the floor to prevent midnight marauders.

You see that hasp on my smoke house ? when its full of sausage and the hunters are around here and or the neighbor lady I exchange it for a lock,always someone tryin to sample my sausage. :D :D
My firebox is an old antique kettle,about 40 gallon,I keep it going about 3 days,then open up the windows and let the cool
weather dry the sausage,its all in the weather/timing.
I have never made anyone sick,just keep the meat cold and clean till it goes into the smoke house.yes I make sure the pork gets frozen solid before I use it...........good luck & good nite,bout time for me to head upstairs,I planted some oats for the hunters today and had to go to town for seed and liquid feed for the cows,got done bout sun down.

 

[rattler]

joe dident have to drag the firsr one too far till we could get to him with the 4 weeler the second was about 2 hour's from the truck i was lucky my cousin was with me to help.The second buck come off a ridge that i have hunted for year's it seems like their are alway's bucks on that ridge cont tell you how many buck's come off that ridge.

rattler

 

[mnmtranching]

I make some very good smoked sausages of all kinds. I got whats called a big chief brand. Its aluminum top loading, about 16"X24" and about 30" high. Sits on a counter in a shed. Electric coil on the bottom and a pan for chips. I grind the meat, season, put in casings from small hog gut to large 2 1/2 in.

I mostly use the premix stuff that's now available everywhere. However some brands are much better than others and I mostly stick with the proven. I always use the salt cure in my stuff so I don't poison people. I use dry Alder wood for my smoking. Works Great. :D :D

 

[Stepper]

HAY MAKER


That is a good looking smoke house. I have always wanted to try and build one. But i have not done much research into the mechanics of just actually how one works.

Dont they basicly work like a oven that cooks on a very low heat ? And on your 20 10 10 recipea do you use a fatty type of beef & pork ? And where do you get your casings at ?

 

[Stepper]

Hey mnmtranching ! :D

I have not got to talk with you to see how your bird hunting trip went ? Did you get into alot of birds ?

It should be getting about time for you MT trip should'nt it ?

Hey i saw some elk a couple of weeks ago ! :D When i dropped into the valley where they hang out at. I saw two big, big bulls ! I only had a cheap pair of binoculars and the bulls were probably 500 or 600 yards away so i could not count their points and to it was starting to get dark.

But just guessing i would say one was a 6 x 6 and the other at least that and alot bigger bull rack and body wise.

Then on up the road a mile or so i saw a herd bull with 21 cows and 3 little sitelight bulls hanging out from the rest of the herd about 300 yards or so. The herd bull chased them on off a ways futher.

These elk were our elk that the game & fish along with the Rock Mountain Elk foundation established here about 10 years or so ago.

I think we only have about 600 more or less in our Arkansas elk herd. And the state only issues about 20 permits in all to hunt them. And it is a lottery type of draw to get a permit. They do auction a couple of the permits issued to raise money for the program. And thoes permits usually sale for like $ 30 k or something like that.

I was just reading in the paper where one of the guys who bought the permit killed a 8 x 8 and it weighed 835 lbs.

But my chances of ever being drawn to hunt them would be about as good as me winning the lottery. :lol: But that is ok. If i was ever to get drawn to hunt them i would go try and kill one. But it would be sort of like shooting a tame animal and am not really into hunting high fenced operations or anything like that.

And even though these elk run free range here. They are about as tame as a domesticated animal. Just like thoes we saw a couple weekends ago. The high way had cars stopped all along it watching the elk. And you can get really close to them when they are crossing the high way.

Hey mnmtranching ! I have got to get you to teach me how to make sausage, I am planning on killing a bunch of deer this winter. So i might have to talk you into sending me a pm with the instructions as to what all i need to get to make sausage. ;-)

 

[Jogeephus]

Here is a good source of info, casing, spices etc. Not trying to advertise, its just where I get my stuff.

http://sausagemaker.com/

 

[Stepper]

Hey Jogeephus ! :D

I have not got to talk to you in a while, how has things been going ? Thanks for the link it looks just like what i need to know.

Are you done in the hay for the year ? I finally got mine done a couple weeks ago or anyhow i think i am done for the year unless it keeps raining and the weather stays warm. If it dose that i will have a 4th cutting coming. :lol:

I can always use the grass but boy i am ready for a break and to start hunting. :lol:

I bought me a new climbing stand and been working on my camper. I am ready to get after thoes white tails. ;-)

 

[Jogeephus]

I'm ready for a break too. I think I'm finished with the hay but I got three more fields that might be worth cutting if it stays warm and we get a little rain. I don't think I'll get a break though. We are now getting into harvest season and then it will be time to set out trees so I probably won't get much of a break till April.

 

[mnmtranching]

Hey Stepper, Good to hear from you. Glad your finally out of the hay field, and your thoughts are toward important things 8) [like putting in a Winters meat supply].

Man I hope one day sooner than later you luck out with a AR Elk permit. Don't wait for it though, better head West again next year :D
My little smoker really does work good and easy and cheap. 8) And all types of delicious jerky. I bet you could find all this stuff on line. I will check it out. Let you know.

Gander Mountain sells a good variety of products for home smoking, Cabela's too. Up here the grocery stores carry products also and sporting goods stores.

One thing important is to have your own grinder. My Wife bought me one for Christmas a couple years ago, from Gander, About $120. When you do it all yourself you know you get your own meat. Processors around hear weigh the meat when you drop it off and put it all in big batches. YUK some people don't take care of their game very well.

Yup, getting ready for a trip. I'll put my plans on a thread.