14 Attachment(s)
Hunting Giving A Lock Down Neighborhood Hand Up
I have been lucky to have been taken under the wing of some God Fathers of Salami & Sausage making ,being retired Italian & German Chefs who l became mates with after taking them on a Tahr & Chammy hunt for ones 50th Birthday around 20 yrs ago. Every year after the freezers are full from the Roar hunts we do a couple of week end Salami & Sausage making sessions, which with the big mates/family get together & feast in the best Italian tradition.
I have come to enjoy & cherish the time as much as l used to love Xmas when the kids were growing up & being the youngest & with our Chiller & Freezer facilities on our farm l have taken on the job of setting up & running around .I enjoy it & the endless learning involved that much, rather than extending the existing farm sheds/garage we are now going to build what my missus calls the Bushy Bastards Tora Bora , on a hill at the back of the farm where we often go to watch the sun set with a cold one .
Spot for the Bushy Bastards Tora Bora
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....ow-mjy0pzn.jpg
This will give me a dedicated Kitchen,Smoke house,BBQ,Pizza Oven & Chillers.I already have a second hand house kitchen from a clear out & my Kids & Lil Bro brought me a complete stainless steel BBQ,Pizza Oven,sink & bench set up for it for my 60th at the end of the year , so l can leave my old built in BBQ & pizza oven back on the farm house pool deck.
Attachment 181468
Just before this lock down , l could see way things were travelling so made the God Fathers a offer they could not refuse, of coming out & staying at the farm & doing a early Salami making session ,going for a Fallow hunt on a local property where l could do most of the transportation in my SxS to save the 70-82 yr olds having to worry about getting up & down the hills. All in a great week end,lots of laughs & great feeds,hunts & successful Salami stock up for the summer,with the boys taking home a load of fresh venison as well .
Attachment 181454
I ended up hunting down a White Fallow stag the property owner wanted removed, after unsuccessfully hunting it for a couple of years & a drone now being used by poachers in the area ,he decided he wanted it gone before it brought unwanted attention to his property. All its meat was used in the cook up mixes apart from the back straps one of the God Fathers claimed .
Attachment 181455
A month or so after l had packed up all the gear ready for our usual summer Sausage making session, the dreaded Lock Down 2.0 came into play,we are lucky to have very good neighbors on the surrounding farms & have our own little system going for years now where me & the missus have been supplying fresh Venison & cooked meals for some of the elderly neighbors & helping out a few others ,in particular a large young family whose house was damaged in the floods a few months back . We are lucky enough to be surprised ourselves , when good seasons permit to receive Honey & Seafood from a couple of those families in return .
So with Lock down dragging on & the never ending Odd Job list of any farm getting whittled down ,combined with some really shitty weather with Antarctic blasts , my missus made the suggestion to get me out of the weather we empty some of our freezers now chock full off Game after a successful Roar period extended hunt ,where we hunted basically every thing available to us lucky Buggers in Gods Country .
One of our home killers l had done & butchered just prior to age it properly for Summer/Xmas BBQ season,that trimmings ended up in the mix .
Attachment 181456
Couple of Tahr & Chammy from this trip went in as well ,Tahr at the back is just folding as the 300 Wby Mag hits in this pic .
Attachment 181459
Attachment 181460
Attachment 181461
I have found the local Venison this year has been some of the best quality l have ever had , the only thing l can put it down to is we were in nearly drought conditions down here in Gods Own & then had the "Get The Bloody Ark " flash floods & wet conditions since ,so they had fasting then clover to their bellies conditions.
Attachment 181462
Nut Job giving me the evil eye for wasting trimmings in them stupid hooman mystery bags, instead of it getting its cut.
Attachment 181463
The normal venison Casseroles we cook & freeze for our elderly neighbors for years now , they get 6 good hearty meals out of each batch .
Attachment 181464
Had a great year on the pigs that were taking full advantage of the rain soaked ground
Attachment 181466
New Custom 284W l blooded on most of this Roars hunting expeditions
Attachment 181465
So in the end we ended up making 45lbs of Venison,Pork,Thar & home killed beef Sausages,14 lbs of hamburgers & 35lbs of Mince.In typical Kiwi fashion what evolved was a Lock Down delivery system where the farm dogs & cats were put in their own Lock Down & parcels of meat were left in the back of their Farm Utes parked out the front & they would then do the same with their neighbors in need so no close contacts were needed,while many good old back of the ute catch ups were had at the ruled 6ft distancing .
In the end hunting provided 14 families with much needed supplies during another shit Lock Down & change from the same old, same old dinner choices & people got to know neighbors & for new friendships to form & they also learnt that properly prepared Game is not the tough, tasteless crap their Latte sipping, Idiot Book mates have been telling them .
Attachment 181467
