2024 Hunting Season!

[sunknife]

It's a beautiful piece, do you have a page for your work?

I cheat and mostly hunt with flintlocks, once a year take the centrefire for a walk. I do stick to iron sights, but its still not the same as a bow.
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No I don't have a page on social media of my work. I have made roughly 150+ primitive bows over the years. I've given away about 60-70, donated a dozen or so for club raffles, traded away about a dozen and still have about 60 about the house. I guess the bow building and hunting bug hit me hard as I always have another in the works.

I think flintlock hunting is very cool and a pretty primitive way to hunt in my book. Nothing wrong with a center fire rifle either for that matter. Blackpowder is something I could really get into, I just have to many hobbies taking up my free time already to start another.
That's a beautiful stag you harvested there and a beauty of a rifle to boot! A trophy animal like that doesn't come easy and if it's anything like our elk over here it is
simply outstanding table fare. Nicely done, my friend!

 

[lambertiana]

Got out again 3 weeks ago for a four day camp and hunt. This doe offered me a 12 yard broadside shot on the third morning that was a gift I couldn't pass up. We're enjoying
more venison meals than usual this fall/winter and thankful for that.
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Nice Osage bow!

It's a beautiful piece, do you have a page for your work?

I cheat and mostly hunt with flintlocks, once a year take the centrefire for a walk. I do stick to iron sights, but its still not the same as a bow.
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How is red deer for eating? My experience with North American deer (whitetail and mule) is that it depends heavily on what they have been eating. I have had very gamey venison and very tasty venison. The only one I have tried that has been consistently good is elk, and red deer are similar to elk in size and appearance.

 

[Hatchet_Jack]

How is red deer for eating? My experience with North American deer (whitetail and mule) is that it depends heavily on what they have been eating. I have had very gamey venison and very tasty venison. The only one I have tried that has been consistently good is elk, and red deer are similar to elk in size and appearance.

There's definitely a difference in species regarding taste. I find the biggest difference comes from when it was shot, how it died and how it was treated after death.

Rutting stags don't really do it for me, too rank so I grind it into mince.

The same stag in late summer while in velvet is about as good as it gets for anything you please.

The good thing about flintlock and round ball is that you have to get pretty close so I've rarely stuffed up a shot. Most animals go down instantly or very quickly, I get it butchered and cooled as fast as I can and that makes the biggest difference.

Having said that, I'd rate the Australian six deer in this order

1 - Chital/axis - mild flavour and very tender
2 - Hog Deer - similar to chital with a little more gamey flavour
3 - Red Deer - very good with a young animal or fat stag
4 - Fallow - Usually very good, occasionally gamey
5 - Sambar - a bit gamey, much tougher eating than others.
6 - ? Never eaten a Rusa but they're meant to be similar to sambar.

 

[sunknife]

Nice Osage bow!

Thanks for the compliment friend, greatly appreciated.