The big hunt

First, some more Little Helping Hands volunteer work -- cleaning up Mayfield park by doing some mulching and rock-carrying (Louis was REALLY into this and was actually helpful -- can't honestly the same for my daughter).

 

 

 

And then it was time for the big hunt! We left early on a Friday morning, pretty excited and maybe a little nervous as we had no idea what to expect. I was also nervous about leaving Louis when it seemed like he was getting sick (and it turns out he was), but figured my parents could handle it (which they did). The drive out was typical hill country, or what I knew of it, until we passed Kerrville and then it became exceptionally hilly and exceptionally BEAUTIFUL! Even in winter, without the green of the trees, the landscape it was filled with crystal blue and green streams and lakes -- particularly on Madrono Ranch itself.

 

 

When we arrived at the ranch, we spent some time exploring -- they had a large chicken coop filled with interesting looking chickens (and, hilariously, a self-domesticated wild turkey that had chosen 'life on the inside' over freedom for the past three years), a beautiful river to sit by, a fishing pond. And of course, the eating began -- we were greeted with delicious coffee and a wonderful smoked duck gumbo. After about an hour or two to relax and meet our fellow students (all a very nice group of first-time hunters -- because of the application process, everyone was in it for the food/nature aspect rather than killing animals or guns), it was time to site in the rifles, do a safety talk (which was pretty thorough, I was impressed) and show the guides we knew how to shoot (I am saying "we" but I was just there to observe). The picture below is kind of washed out, but there was a huge limestone cliff  and creek to the side of the range, it was a gorgeous site. James did very well -- only had to take three shots to get the bulls eye.

Then we were off to the first evening hunt. On the way, we dropped off our new companions at the only "brush blind" fashioned out of sticks and brush (you can barely see it ahead). They had to sit in it for three hours, with their backs to the sun and then in the cold and dark! 

 

James setting up in our hunting blind.

Basically you have to sit there for three hours, doing nothing but occasionally whispering very quietly to each other. Which was OK, as our guide, Josh, was a really cool guy, but it was also pretty boring at times! Haven't done that... ever. It was a very beautiful view, however, and it was exciting when we got a glimpse of several exotic antelopes that have roamed the property for ages. We did not see one hog or deer, unfortunately. 

We were disappointed, but it was pretty exciting when we picked up our fellow hunters to see that they had shot a HUGE sow, and another had shot a HUGE boar. This was coupled by some excitement when the truck broke down on the way home.

Everyone else gathered for the first field dressing lesson and I went back to the Ranch to see what was going on with Louis (fortunately his breathing was OK or we would have had to head home the next morning). See below -- a crazy amount of meat!

Saturday I elected NOT to get up at 5AM and sit in the dark and cold for three hours, so James went off with his guide. I knew as soon as I went up to the field dressing station that he hadn't taken any animals, as he looked so disappointed. Still, we watched with interest as our fellow hunters cleaned their pigs (and we were especially happy that Stacy, fellow student who had grown up in Texas and never been invited to hunt with her dad and brothers, took a hog).

After lunch, which was some crazy delicious thing, we had a SIX hour class on butchery -- went through a deer and a hog -- and sausage-making (which is very technical -- very interesting!). Jesse has a great sense of humor and we learned all kinds of things we would never have known, like how to make pate, how delicious a venison heart tastes, what to do with caul fat, the right ratio of fat to salt in sausages, etc. After the class, we had a brief break, and then it was time for the umpteen course feast of wild game -- honestly it was all spectacular and we got to watch and smell it being prepared all day, and of course we knew the animals before we ate them. The owners of the ranch said a very nice blessing before we ate, being thankful for the beautiful land and area that provided for the meal, and for the WONDERFUL people who put on this course (and worked pretty much nonstop for three days).

Then came our LAST chance -- Sunday morning. I decided to go on this last hunt, and we had to wake at 5:15 and settle in before first light. We were both really excited and nervous when we left. Our guide was Jesse, which was awesome. I was REALLY hoping James would get something. I can't remember wanting something so badly in a long time that I had absolutely no control over, I don't really believe in praying or bargaining with the forces of the universe, but even I, as I sat in the blind, was  trying to come up with some sort of deal. It's kind of funny -- the first day, Jesse talked about how most first-time hunters have this intense sense of wonder at having no control over the outcome, which we aren't used to in the modern world -- basically all we can try to do is track animal movements and hope they show up -- and I thought, "you haven't given birth." Probably not a comparison that is oft-made -- birthing an animal and killing an animal, but there you go, that's what went through my mind.

We waited until dawn broke, sitting mostly silently in the blind, and I was starting to give up hope -- we hadn't seen or heard anything except a couple of wild turkeys. Then Jesse whispered that a deer was coming in from the right. I have good vision/perception but I honestly didn't see it at first. We saw one approaching and then three others, and Jesse whispered that they were too small to take. But finally there came a fourth, about two to three years old, who was big enough. He told James to take in a deep breath and fire on the exhale (I thought it was a Zen master trick but turns out its so your hands don't shake, but probably does both) and he did. James didn't see what happened and thought he missed, but we saw her fall -- instantly dead. It was a really powerful moment -- I cried a little. Jesse says he never forgets people's first deer, even more than his own.

At the end of the day, I have to say I really did feel pretty OK about the whole process -- it felt very respectful of the animals (we literally only threw away one handful of parts from the animal -- we used every other part for meat or stock or hide), they lived an incredibly great life in peace on Madrono, and both the deer and hogs are pretty much an unlimited food source since they reproduce so quickly with few natural predators left (and the deer are so abundant that many of them starve to death in the winter due to competition from resources). One thing that WAS awkward, though, was that they had a few semi-domesticated pet deer that roamed around the Ranch-keepers house, one was named Rose, who let me pet her and was pretty affectionate. We didn't like Rose watching us skin and butcher OUR deer! 
 

 

We weren't sure how much all this would bother the kids, but we tend to be pretty upfront with them so we didn't hide the fact that we were bringing home meat, and it was from a deer. Turns out, it didn't bother Rosemary at all, and, in fact, she followed right along with Jesse's book step-by-step as James butchered the deer into delicious loin chops, ground, stew meat, ribs, stock, etc. I think it's probably still pretty abstract to her, seems like kids enter their vegetarian phase (not to sound condescending about it, obviously its a choice some continue to make into adulthood) a little later in life. For myself, I will say that, after this experience, I don't think I can bring myself to buy factory farmed meat any longer.

Last night, we had a dinner outside in our yard that was quite spectacular, because we almost grew or harvested the whole thing ourselves -- venison loin and roasted kale/spinach/swiss chard/broccoli leaves we grew ourselves. We did buy the rutabega/potatoes for the mash, but I enhanced it with chives from our garden. Wow! And we did think quite a deal about the excitement of the hunt when we ate the venison, and about how beautiful the animal was that we were eating, and it made it seem all that more nourishing and delicious.