Yum! Deer Jerky

Hunting is a very rewarding sport especially when you cook the deer meat and eat it. My favorite recipe is my dad’s recipe for deer jerky. It taste very good and does not have the wild taste in it which usually turns most people away from eating game. The recipe is listed below with instructions. Try it!

1) In a bowl mix….
¼ cup of soy sauce
1/3 cup of worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon of onion salt
1 teaspoon of garlic salt
1 teaspoon of pepper

2) Cut up 2 lbs. of deer meat into strips that are approximately a ½ inch thick.

3) Place the strips of meat in the bowl of ingredients and put it in the refrigerator to marinate. (The meat should marinate for 24 hrs. and should be stirred occasionally.)

4) Take meat out of the refrigerator and put the strips of meat unto toothpicks.

5) Place the strips of meat into the oven hanging on the rack by the toothpicks.

6) Bake at 150 degrees @ 8 hrs.

7) Take off the toothpicks and enjoy your delicious deer jerky!

My First Year Hunting Whitetail

My father, who was an avid hunter, decided to introduce me into the sport of hunting. Growing up in Northern Pennsylvania, I have seen a countless number of whitetail deer. I figured that taking up hunting would give my dad and I a chance to bond and that is exactly what happened. Everyday after school we went to target shoot. Before I knew it, it was the first day of deer season and my dad was waking me up at 4:30 am. I was really tired however, on the drive to my hunting site my mood changed from tired to extremely energetic.
Two hours later, I began to see a line of deer. I thought that I was seeing thing so I started rubbing my eyes. However, I was not seeing things! There were eight deer in a perfect line one right behind the other. Leading the line was a spiker (2 pointer) followed by several doe (female deer), and bringing up the rear was a 9 point buck. I was very excited and immediately put up my riffle. I shot the buck and he fell down immediately. Then, the other deer began to run around.
All of a sudden the buck stood up and took off. I paged my dad on his phone and he came down to evaluate the scene. At first, he thought that I was going crazy but then, I found the blood trail. We tracked the deer for three hours with no luck. The next week we found the dead deer. I do have the rack but I was upset that all of the deer’s meat went to waste.

My First Black Bear Hunt

Senior year of high school my father invited me to travel to northern Maine with him to go black bear hunting. With little hesitation, I accepted the offer and within the next two weeks I was on my way to a state that I have never seen before. We arrived in Maine after a 7 hour drive. I was able to meet my dad’s long time friend and the owner of the guide service, Russ. He was very welcoming. We followed him to the long cabin where we were going to be staying. I was amazed by the beautiful structure of the cabin and after many pictures, I fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning and we shoot our guns to make sure that the scopes did not get damaged during the travel. That afternoon, Russ showed us some of the sites that we had to choose from. They all looked very promising but, I knew that I had to make a decision. The next day, Russ drove my dad to his site and me to my site. I sat anxiously awaiting a creature that I have never seen in its natural habitat. I became very excited when I heard a twig break. However, it was a group of raccoons. It was amazing to watch the raccoons interact with each other and their environment. Most individuals see them as pests but, seeing them in their natural environment gave me a different perspective on them. Darkness covered the sky and I knew that it was time to go back to the cabin. When I arrived at the cabin, I was surprised to discover that my dad had shot a 160 pound boar (male bear). We took lots of pictures and I knew that I had to be successful the following day.
The following day, I went to a different site. Within a few hours, two black bear came out of the woods simultaneously. I became very nervous. I watched them for a minute trying to decide which black bear I wanted to harvest. Just as I was about to shoot, a larger black bear arrived on the scene. I put up my gun and took the bear down with a shot to neck. I was shaking from head to toe for the next few hours. I discovered that I shot a sow (female bear) and she was 265 pounds. I drove back to Pennsylvania the next day very happy with a sense of accomplishment.

The concept of hunting is a very controversial issue that has split individuals into two distinct sides. First, the hunters of America explain how hunting has been a tradition in lives of many individuals since they were 10 years old. They have looked at hunting as a way to escape the technologies of today. Hunting enables individuals to have the "trill of hunting" while, allowing them to bring home tasty meat for their families. I speak from experience when I say that hunting is an enjoyable sport that can cause an individual to "connect with nature" and let his/ her problems go.

However, many individuals see hunting as a negative activity. People can claim that hunting only hurts the environment and the animals living it yet. Yet, that is not true because hunting helps control the animal population. Also, gun activist to not like the idea of hunters owning guns. They want to get rid of guns to help reduce the number of crimes. Getting rid of guns will only cause angry hunters and enable criminals to get guns through a secret source. In my opionion, taking away guns will only cause them to be more desired.

I think that it is important to remember that the outdoors are here for us to enjoy and hunting is a sport that allows individuals to enjoy and interact with their environment in a positive and healthy way.