Saffron is grown in the cold snowy European areas too; it's a type of crocus :)
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Saffron is grown in the cold snowy European areas too; it's a type of crocus :)
I have Saffron growing here in Nelson. I haven't done anything with it, I just wanted to the them flower.
Greetings @bumblefoot and All,
A nice little Vid which has reminded me to plant some fruit trees. While watching it I spotted your birthday hunt video and watched that as well. The second video crystalised a thought that had been buzzing around in my head for a while. I have been doing my mid week grandpa walks (both in the pool and in the bush) to build up strength and mobility. The last few months have been difficult due to a bit of a flare up in the arthritis and progress has been slow to non existant. This, together with your video, has prompted me to focus my bush walks more on hunting and set some much more short term goals for the future. After almost 60 years of pottering around in the Kawekas, often wondering what is off the track, it is time to look harder at the easier stuff. I will let you know how it goes.
Regards Grandpamac.
This sounds like an interesting project. where would I get some seeds to start ? Would you consider selling some ?Quote:
Originally Posted by ROKTOY
I haven't enough to part with sorty.Quote:
Originally Posted by Andygr
There is someone selling the bulbs on trade me. I cant recall where mine came from originally.
Sent from my SM-G990E using Tapatalk
@grandpamac I know many hunters look down their noses at those who hunt goats. I've had more than my fair share of passive aggressive and snide comments but it's like water off a duck's back. I do hunt deer, but I can easily keep the freezer full with lovely goat meat. And; if you're trying to grow/farm/hunt as much as possible you go for the easiest source of protein.
Yes I hunt deer too; have a lot of venison in the freezer. But I'm also thinking of the future. I'll be 60 next year and eventually I'll be too old to climb the steep hills to hunt deer, but I could quite possibly be able to hunt the gentler country for goats. If I can get enjoyment from hunting goats then I can continue hunting and not be an old moany codger sitting around bemoaning the fact tat I can't hunt deer anymore.
Actually; I derive a lot of pleasure out of making nice food from an animal that so many hunters just blow away for the sheer hell of it.... So all hail the mighty goat! ;)
A salutary point to remember: More people on this earth eat goat than eat lamb/hogget/ewe
You will get no arguments from me @bumblefoot. I shot an awful lot of goats when the family was young and we lived in town and it was our staple meat. These days a grazing arangement keeps the freezer filled and the nearest part of the Kawekas is less than 40 km away so that is where I go mostly. I found the easiest way for me to carry goats was to tie the legs together and hook one over each shoulder and cart them back to the Landrover. I posted a picture a while back that showed the next step.Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
Talking about getting older I am about 14 years ahead of you on that front and am needing to think more of the future and how I might manage it. I have a bench here for sighting in and checking zero and had been thinking of some improvements. This has now morphed into a portable bench that is not tied to our current property. A bit of seated F class shooting may be in the future.
Regards Grandpamac.
"I found the easiest way for me to carry goats was to tie the legs together and hook one over each shoulder and cart them back to the Landrover."
Thanks @grandpamac I hadn't thought of that!
lookup th alex gale carry belt method...8feet of seat belt works great and you just tie it in a knot in front of you....do first goat as per normal method and hook 2nd one on just one side...Ive crried two ???2 year old goats easy and 2 pigs adding up to 130ish pounds no big deal either, the beauty of this way is the wide belt is pushing down on top of shoulders,the weight is down across your kidney region....and if you fall arse over tit and end up under the load,you untie strap and wiggle out...try that with old school backpack method!!!
good spread of nosebag right there.
Me and Mrs are slowly working our way to being self sufficient, planted a butt load of fruit trees, the veggie garden will be prepped this spring and currently finding different ways to cook possum whilst waiting on my FAL, after which wallaby and veni will be on t he menu, love putting food on the table through our own efforts
Good on you Zedrex. I've eaten quite a bit of possum and it can be good. I currently have a wee bit of possum in the fridge and I'm trying to cure it like bacon. Actually, the meat is from the back legs so you might call it 'poss-ham'. Dunno how it will turn out, but I figure it is worth a try.
We noticed there's a background taste when used in stew but the pie we made with the leftover stew was our preference, having given it some thought, I think that bleeding the possum as soon as it's shot could change the flavour, currently we're skinning and curing the pelts of the latest batch, as a test bed for curing wallaby hides....... I'd be interested to hear how the possum ham turns out
Possum meat often tastes a bit 'neutral' to me, and if I didn't know it was possum, i'd have difficulty telling you what it was. Some are tougher than others. I enjoy a bit of tender, fried possum.
I'm guessing you will have noticed the gooey scent glands at the base of the tail... and I imagine if this stuff got on the meat your food would taste distinctively possumey. I think that if a possum is not gutted fairly quickly, then there is likely to be a distinctive, 'gamey' gut taint in the meat. This may be to some folks liking, but I think it is best avoided. Possums which die in a kill trap when caught in the evening, may have significant gut taint when collected the next morning.
I cooked some possum bacon / ham this morning. I cut some thin slices from the slab, then soaked them in hot water to remove some salt. I dabbed the slices dry with a paper towel then fried them in oil. They browned nicely and went crisp. To be honest, if I didn't know what it was I could have believed it was lean supermarket bacon. It was a bit too salty still for my liking, so I will try to remedy that in the next batch. I hope I get a fatter possum next time.
How are you curing your hides.... with a store-bought kit or a home-brew recipe?
That looks delicious. you got me hankering for liver fry .... :P. Off to order someQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
Some nice yearling fallow venison in the fridge.... :) Courtesy of the old 303 :)
Attachment 198839
Attachment 198840
Nice. Looks like you have a devoted follower there who might dispose of any bits you drop.
Seems like you have some productive spots to hunt.
This was the 2nd time there. Took my new rifle out; a 106 year old 303 :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Coote
Yup; I agree. Got plenty of goat in the freezer. It's so underrated
When I was still living at home, my Dad bought an old rifle from the rifle club. It had been re-barrelled I think.... and the wood had been reduced....but it was a military Lee-Enfield with '1897' stamped on it. I remember thinking that I would live to see it turn 100 years old. The foresight seemed to be on a bit of a lean, and toward the end of the time that I had it in my possession I had a couple of misfires that seemed to be caused by too weak a strike. But I scored some good hits with it, nearly always with military mk vii ammunition. As I recall, a lot of the ammo was stamped 1954, but it went 'bang' and performed well enough at rifle club shoots. I don't ever recall losing a deer that I shot with this fully jacketed 'army' ammo.
One day Dad informed me that he'd given the rifle (or probably sold it) to someone else. And this was before 1997, so I never did hunt with a hundred year old rifle. I have some new rifles now, but I'm no happier. It is nice, however, not to have to clean them straight after I've fired them.... whereas it was important to clean the old .303 after using military ammo with corrosive primers. I take out my .223 regularly looking for long-range 'varmints'. I haven't cleaned the bore for months, although I keep an eye on it.
What sort of ammo are you using in that .303 Bumblefoot?
We're having goat for dinner tonight. It''s the third time this week and it's only Wednesday!
@Coote Just PPU 180 grain at the moment, but I'll start reloading soon. I've only had this 303 for a couple of weeks. It's a 106-year old (World War 1) BSA 1916 .303 SHTLE III* (FTR) :)
Attachment 198843
Ah. What a nice rifle. Good to see the open sights. If your scope ever fogs up, you can smash it off the mounts with a rock and use the reliable irons.
Seems like your current ammo does the job, although it is nice to have the sense of abundance that reloading can help you attain.
A couple of my relatives have 7mm-08 rifles. They'd like some more ammo. I did a quick Google and saw that one retailer is offering various packets of 20 cartridges from $69 to $99 each. That is gob-smacking. Back in the early days of my rifle club experience, we could buy a case of 750 cartridges of .303Br for around forty dollars. I think we were limited to one case each though. (and I was able to buy a fully-wooded surplus Number 4 .303 coated with grease for $11).
This rifle is an FTR (FTR is the Brit's code for Factory Thorough Repair) and to be honest; I don't think it was used much after that. I wouldn't know when it was repaired. It's in beautiful condition for it's age. Crazy to think it was used when my grandfather was fighting in France during WW1
There'd be a lot of old servicemen and hunters who would smile with satisfaction knowing that you appreciated this rifle. It is part of our heritage.
I love the 303's military history as well as its culling heritage.
Greetings All,
Like many of my age I have been having a poke around in the ancestral cupboard and have discovered NZ ancestors or close relations who have served in conflicts from the Land Wars to Korea. In all but the first they would have been familiar with the Lee Enfield in it's variations. A good case can be made for the Lee Enfield as the best of all of the bolt action battle rifles. Some may bag the Lee Enfield for its cock on closing action and moderate accuracy but its smooth short stroke action and 10 shot mag more than made up for that with its fire power. Fortunately heaps of them were made so all of us that wish to can own one without breaking the bank.
Regards Grandpamac.
I spent $500 on the one in the pic above. Expensive? Maybe. But it was in such good condition I feel it was worth it. One thing I have noticed on TM that people are starting to want good money for old sh%tter rifles! So I feel that $500 was well spent.
It probably sounds stupid... But who knows? Someone may have walked past my grandad with it in WW1. Or someone in his unit may have had it. Hugely doubtful I know. I know it's millions to one that it happened, but stranger coincidences have occurred. He passed away in 1968 from a stroke from a blood clot caused by a WW1 shrapnel wound. My last memory of him was going to his bed on my 5th birthday and he gave me a leather school satchel with a bag of hard jube lollies in it. He passed away 3 days later....
As an aside; here's part of his war records and he enlisted under a false name. So maybe under age?
Attachment 199230
Greetings,Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
$500.00 is by no means expensive for a .303 Lee Enfield in good condition with a minimal conversion to a sporter. With the right bits these can be converted back to original and command many times the price or they can just be used and enjoyed as they are.
Regards Grandpamac.
@grandpamac I think it was good value considering the lovely condition and the age of the old girl. Sure I could have bought a scoped, new Howa for $899, but there's something about the character, and NZ history of the old girl. There are some absolute crappy, cut down 303 rifles out there that people want $400+ for. As soon as I saw the old girl on TM I was pretty certain that I'd buy it. It sounds silly, but I had a real gut feeling about it. One thing I've learnt over the years is that gut feelings are often right!
I was a bit uncertain about the police form process, but that went sweet as. The only hassle was that the South Island H&F store wanted the police form to come direct to them rather than via the vendor. Central Districts police firearms dept had never had a store want that but they presumed it was because H&F were being ultra cautious. Anyway, a quick phone call to the CD police and the re-emailed it wile I was on the phone. Full kudos for their snappy service. I suppose I was a bit more nervous about buying on TM compared to using the forum buy/sell
The rifle remins me of my first one. It was a Parker Hale conversion of a No 1 about the same age as yours. The fore end was cut down but otherwise it was standard. In the late 1960's it cost me $29.00 of which I paid an extra two dollars to have a new rather than used barrel. It was sold about 10 years later to finance a new Remington 700 which I still have.Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
Grandpamac.
One leg from last week's deer cut into steaks... Aged for 10 days in the fridge...
Attachment 199449
Venison bones in the crockpot for a soup. Add cold water, a little vinegar (to extract calcium from the bones) and slow cook for 24hrs... Trying to use as much as possible from the deer. The blood that drained from the deer into a bucket when it was hung overnight was diluted with water and given to the wasabi plants as fertiliser
Attachment 199450
A venison shoulder about to go on the oven to slow cook at 150°C for about 3 hours. Flavoured with garlic cloves, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, cinnamon and olive oil. A little butter on top and 1/2 a cup of water to stop it drying out. Sitting on onions and leeks...
Attachment 199483
Venison stock that has been cooked for 36 hours to release the collagen and chondroitin from the bones. It's now been strained twice and ready to be made into soup :)
Attachment 199556
I was away from my property caring for ill parents for about 6 years. Used to travel back and forth from New Plymouth each day. Now I've finally got the boundary fence secured and am able to let the pigs into the front paddock to clear the convolvulus that has gone nuts in it. Hopefully I'll be getting some sheep soon, so will have another supply of meat.
"Using pigs to help clear convolvulus" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTvnTSgNkfA
How well do you think the collagen hydrolizes ? It is not really possible to mimic the industrial process at home. I have not tried acetic acid (vinegar) myself - good ideaQuote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
I can only go by what I've read. But it sure makes good stock. I often simmer the bones for 36 hours; then throw them to the chooks. The bones crumble like chalk
Post another vid once they have finished in there. I would like to see how well they clean it up. Cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
@Tahr I'm still going to have to selectively spot spray the new growth with Banvine as the roots will still be there. But the mass growth has ben knocked down. It'll be interesting to see how much sprouts in spring
