Thread: Getting back to living off the land.....

@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

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@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!

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.
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?

Originally Posted by bumblefoot

@Coote That's one of the reasons why I started the thread

That looks delicious. you got me hankering for liver fry .... . Off to order some

Some nice yearling fallow venison in the fridge.... Courtesy of the old 303

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.

Originally Posted by Coote

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

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?