Got to help a friend on his ranch slaughter a few cattle.

[_Scooter_]

Random questions, but wondering if the beef is organic grass fed and finished? Just curious.

Pretty much exclusively grass fed, hence it being quite lean.

A couple of the cows had fat that was more yellow colored than the other two who had a whiter colored fat. I thought that had to do with a grain fed vs. grass fed cow, but the gentleman who was there slaughtering the cows mentioned something about the color of the fat also having something to do with the type or breed of cow.

 

[SonnyDay]

Great pics! And what a cool opportunity. Will serve you well when you get one... and good luck with that!

Good advice on the mesh gloves...

 

[boom]

Damn friend. You got the good parts!

 

[_Scooter_]

Just made some tacos from the tongue. Cooked the tongue in an Instant Pot with an onion, carrot, salt, pepper and water. Peeled off the skin after cooking and shredded it like pork.

 

[TheGDog]

As someone new to hunting I think my biggest fear is not knowing how to properly field dress an animal and do it justice if I was lucky enough to actually kill an animal in the wild.

I have a friend that owns a 300 acre cattle ranch up near Yosemite and I had mentioned to him a while back that I'd be interested in coming by to observe and help out whenever he slaughtered a few of his cows. I explained to him hat I was getting into hunting and thought this would be a great way to learn how to gut and skin. He said I could come up anytime. Well, a few days ago I went up and got to participate.

Obviously this was a bit different than how it would be done in the wild (I obviously won't have the crane, power saw, winch, etc.) but overall I really thought it was an amazing experience to actually get hands-on practice while being able to ask a ton of questions and learn the anatomy, a few tricks or the trade, etc., and adapt it to when I finally get my first kill in the wild. You can only watch so many YouTube videos and read so much about the subject, but nothing substitutes for the real thing. It's obviously a very tactile skillset.

The cattle that were slaughtered were already sold to friends so I didn't walk away with any good cuts, but I did walk away with a few hears, tongues and tails. Again, another great way to practice preparing these organs and cuts for when I get out there on my own.

So I just thought I'd post a quick take on the experience and really feel a lot more confident about being able to skin and gut an animal on my own now. I'm sure I'll still make mistakes and it will take me longer than it should, but this really was an incredible opportunity to have since I'm someone very new to all of this.

Just search on YouTube for performing the "Gutless Method" ... and Don't forget the Tenderloins!! It's not all that hard. Just be prepared for the tick on the underbelly/crotch, and be prepared for the "Meat Bees" (Yellow Jackets) that will come and want to get at the blood and meat. If you have the Meat Bees come, instead of first skinning the whole side... just skin only the quarter you're currently working on to minimize the exposed amount of blood/flesh for them to pester. Gently brush them away from the area you're working on with your gloved hand. They really don't care about you so much. Be prepared for the arm which you will use to be holding and pulling up on the hide to not be used to that particular type of muscle exertion.

Also if the animal goes down during the bright and hot times of the day, while you're processing you may have to move the animal a number of times as the shadows are moving faster across the terrain at certain times of the day due to the angles being more direct. Bring something thin and light weight to put down underneath like an emergency poncho to help with keeping it clean while you have to drag him over a little bit to get him back into the shade of that tree. Especially important when it's like 90+F

And like everybody will tell you?Remind yourself to SLOW THE <BLEEP> DOWN!" Always be thinking about where the path of that blade will go AFTER it slices thru that tough tendon you are trying to cut thru!!!

My first time at bat I sliced the back of my opposite middle finger at the base knuckle. Quick clean cut, like maybe 2mm deep. I was lucky it didn't end up worse. Just quick clean, slap bandage, new glove on that hand. NOTE: pring at least 3 pair of decent quality Nitrile gloves. Just in case you screw up and nick them. You likely will nick your opposite fingers a little here and there before you truly learn to SLOW THE <BLEEP> DOWN!! Seriously... say it out loud to yourself to SLOW THE <BLEEP> DOWN!!

Also? For a front quarter? Be sure NOT to disconnect the shoulder joint until AFTER you've completely removed the hide from it! OMG what a Time-waster on my first deer! Like trying to work on a slippery fish you're just holding freehand trying to then afterward get that hide off that now no longer connected shoulder. Don't Do That!

 

[LightFoot]

Just search on YouTube for performing the "Gutless Method" ... and Don't forget the Tenderloins!! It's not all that hard. Just be prepared for the tick on the underbelly/crotch, and be prepared for the "Meat Bees" (Yellow Jackets) that will come and want to get at the blood and meat. If you have the Meat Bees come, instead of first skinning the whole side... just skin only the quarter you're currently working on to minimize the exposed amount of blood/flesh for them to pester. Gently brush them away from the area you're working on with your gloved hand. They really don't care about you so much. Be prepared for the arm which you will use to be holding and pulling up on the hide to not be used to that particular type of muscle exertion.

Also if the animal goes down during the bright and hot times of the day, while you're processing you may have to move the animal a number of times as the shadows are moving faster across the terrain at certain times of the day due to the angles being more direct. Bring something thin and light weight to put down underneath like an emergency poncho to help with keeping it clean while you have to drag him over a little bit to get him back into the shade of that tree. Especially important when it's like 90+F

And like everybody will tell you?Remind yourself to SLOW THE DOWN!" Always be thinking about where the path of that blade will go AFTER it slices thru that tough tendon you are trying to cut thru!!!

My first time at bat I sliced the back of my opposite middle finger at the base knuckle. Quick clean cut, like maybe 2mm deep. I was lucky it didn't end up worse. Just quick clean, slap bandage, new glove on that hand. NOTE: pring at least 3 pair of decent quality Nitrile gloves. Just in case you screw up and nick them. You likely will nick your opposite fingers a little here and there before you truly learn to SLOW THE DOWN!! Seriously... say it out loud to yourself to SLOW THE DOWN!!

Also? For a front quarter? Be sure NOT to disconnect the shoulder joint until AFTER you've completely removed the hide from it! OMG what a Time-waster on my first deer! Like trying to work on a slippery fish you're just holding freehand trying to then afterward get that hide off that now no longer connected shoulder. Don't Do That!

Great write up.

Good reminder about the tenderloins. I must admit, I have forgotten them.

>>>----JAKE----->

 

[Azone]

If you do gut a animal, be very careful with the removal of the bladder and anus. No one wants that accidentally marinading their meat. It will seem daunting at first but it all comes with time and repetition. Make sure you have para cord or mule tape to tie a animal off to a tree or piece of brush if it dies on a steep slope. Trying to work on a moving dead animal will usually get you a knife were it doesn’t belong. The tacos look killer, a couple places in my area serve some great tongue tacos. The Sierra foothills are awesome, some of my wife’s family use to live there and it was always a great time exploring all over the place.

 

[TheGDog]

Great write up.

Good reminder about the tenderloins. I must admit, I have forgotten them.

>>>----JAKE----->

Hey thanks Man. This is all fresh for me because I finally decided in 2014 at 45yo, that I was going to finally do something about that thought I'd always had about how cool it'd be to get a deer.

So, I did the "Go Big Or Go Home!" way of attacking it and went for deer first... then after I accomplished that goal (Proud to say it only took my 1yr and 13days from when I first started this adventure! In my research when I began I read that typically a beginning hunter in SoCal goes like 3-to-5 years before getting their first buck. But that just shows and reflects how much OCD effort I put into it and into meticulously and methodically plugging away at the problem until that magical evening happened in 2015! Then turned around in 2016 and proved it wasn't a mistake! Then went back in 2017 and did it with a Bow! 2018 gave me a near miss in bow season and that was it. 2019 skunked me, but did have a Bobcat cross my path last day of the season as a consolation prize and me with that Tag in my kill-kit Before the Ban went into affect. Another month or so I should be getting back that bull body mount! Yay!


Studied and processed my own hides and did my own Euro mounts too!

Since then I've done buncha Ground Squirrels, shot one coyote and didn't recover that first one, blood trailed him like 250+yds before trail went cold, so musta been not a good hit, even though he literally barrel rolled mid-air and did a full 360 rotation and initially landed to the ground like a sack of potatoes... but was swaying from side-to-side a lil... then SOB if he didn't get the heck back up... turn and look back at me!.... then... take off running to where I quickly couldn't see him since I was down in a draw and shot him ass he was exiting out of it rapidly.

Then did rabbits. Then did coyotes again and finally got one! Then doves (doves is AWESOME!!! and got a JackRabbit while out there too!) Then did Ducks for the first time and FINALLY got a Pintail at the very end of the afternoon, even though I'd shot at quite a few. Still kind of a n00b with shotgun and leading distances. And I had "Benelli Bite" severely by the end of the day, ouch!

Was hit hard with both Flu and then CoVID for first 4 months of this year. Still recovering in terms of my lower back from the stress all that deep coughing did to it and all the inactivity and what it did to be old tailbone injury.

P.S. if you have success at a place where the distances are within 40yds, you should totally try seeing if you can do it with Bow! A very interesting and different experience!

Next up? Tried to get a .44 Mag lever action, but the copper ammo it wasn't shooting it worth a damn. At first Remington (Marlin) had to replace some parts re: the carrier/rocker assembly when my brand new lever gun got stuck in the open position. Than it came back, then I learned the Copper Barnes XPB's which I researched and read that it should be able to fire them fine, they were printing all over for me. So sent it back... and Remington is taking far longer than ANY Human being would consider reasonable to get it back to me! I've never even shot that gun in the wild yet! And I've owned it for like coming up on two years now! But yeah... they've had it.. I dunno something like 4 months now? And get this! Last time I called? I think they BS'd me talking about it was scheduled to go to the armory/range and be fired/tested. That was greater than a month ago. Not one word from them. AND... I've emailed a reply back to the orig email that has the issue ticket number... and they've now this 2nd time of needing to send it back... not even bothered to reply to my emails replying to that original email! I'll never buy another Remington firearm again.

So... having said all that... think soon here I just might, instead of holding my breath and waiting for them to refund me, which I doubt they are gonna do, I'm sure they'll try to BS their way out of it I'm certain... instead... thinking I'll just in the meantime buy a Ruger 77 / .44mag bolt gun. I was originally gonna get that one, but then handled a Marlin 1894 and it was so light and slender, and I like levers for their quick repeat shot ability, and had good experience with my Marlin 336 .30-30, so figured i'd give that rifle a try as a lighter weight deer gun option for those thicker environments where the shot distances are short due to the thicker habitat, but the hike-in distances or longer, so the weight reduction choice. But now I dunno, curious to maybe pickup a .44 Mag Hunting Revolver now possibly and maybe try to do a pistol kill, since have done the other two now? But was figuring I'd try to save that attempt as a possible 2nd OTC tag if I managed to get lucky with a first OTC tag first... so I at least have a "bird in the hand" already before I try for one with a pistol since it'll probably be a little trickier.

Meanwhile, just been trying to go out for predators more to get better at that. And now my soon to be 13yo I finally broke down and we got him his license. So we're going out to get him on Rabbits good ol' July 1. Hoping I can get him hooked on hunting so he can start to do these adventures with me and build him up some confidence!

So anyhoo, if you guys have any n00b questions, hit me up man because I literally just finished stuffing all this learning into my brain real recent, ya know? And I can offer up my own small amount of observations of gear that sucks/doesn't-suck, and more importantly tell ya why it sucked since it's fresh in my brain.

 

[5MilesBack]

Just made some tacos from the tongue.

I've only had tongue once, and that was in Mexico in burrito's. It was pretty decent, but have never sought it out on its own.