Product Description

You've braved the elements, spent hours lying in wait, and had your share of near misses, but you've finally bagged that prize whitetail or mule deer. Now what? In this wide-ranging guide, Dennis Walrod tells you everything you need to know to maximize the use of your deer. In addition to essential instruction on field dressing and transport, the author goes on to cover salting and tanning hides, aging venison, leathercrafting, soapmaking, trophy mounting, and creating home furnishings and decorations. Also included is a selection of mouthwatering venison recipes, making this an indispensable resource for any hunter looking to extend the hunting experience beyond the moment of the kill.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #219616 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 252 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780811731621
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Experienced deer hunter Walrod delivers a thoughtful, well-written and clearly illustrated look at the full range of do-it-yourself ways that a hunter can utilize a deer after it has been killed. The scope of Walrod's topics, from field dressing and venison preparation to handicrafts and taxidermy, makes this a must-have for hunters. It helps that Walrod's attention to detail is motivated by the philosophic view that if hunters "are able to realize that within us is a responsibility to use a deer to the fullest advantage and value, we will have enhanced not only the worth of a deer, but our own worth as well." This means that along with such helpful tips as proving that "a five-inch blade knife of good cutting steel" is the minimum required for venison butchering and showing the best technique for removing a deer's "guts" as a single package, he also offers tips on how to donate deer to one of several charitable programs, such as Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry. A chapter on "Venison and How to Butcher It" breaks down this intricate process into simple steps, using clear and often entertaining descriptions to show how, with a little practice, "you should be able to completely butcher, cut, and wrap a skinned deer within two or three hours." He also offers a number of helpful photos and excellent tips and recipes for cooking venison.
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About the Author
Dennis Walrod has written for a number of outdoor magazines, including Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and Gray's Sporting Journal, and is also the author of Grouse Hunter's Guide, Second Edition (0811728897). He lives in western New York State, where he and his wife Peg have raised five children and various animals.

Customer Reviews

This book pays for itself
I'm a reasonably successful deer hunter and we eat a lot of venison at our house, but I have always paid to have the deer butchered. From now on, I'll be doing it myself the easy way Walrod describes...and that will save me about $50. I've also learned things about aging meat for tenderness, making sausage, and there is some really interesting information about how to improve the flavor of venison. Also how to tan the hide myself, taxidermy, mounting antlers, and antler-craft. Even how to make soap (yes, soap, not soup) from the fat on a deer. This is a good book for any deer hunter.

Not for beginners
This book looked thorough, and there are lots of 5-star reviews so I bought it, hoping to learn at least how to field dress a deer, and about how the animal can be used.

It is informative and interesting. Walrod writes well. But, after reading it (and the field dressing chapter several times), I still don't feel that I know how to gut a deer. It lacks the necessary descriptiveness or detail that I was looking for. For example, "...insert the knife at least four inches..." WHERE? In the anus? Four inches from the anus? Two inches? How doesn't that butcher the colon? I was left with as many questions as I had to begin with. The pictures didn't help. They're black & white and not very clear. Not enough either.

It's not without redemption though. I learned about the different cuts of meat, uses for them, etc. That was informative. (There are lots of recipies - but you can just search the internet for recipies.)

Can't help feeling a little let down by this book.

Making the Most of your Deer
Clear, cold--more than a little frosty, a good morning to hunt, and it just got better. A nice eight point cautiously makes his way along the edge of the woods. All the fatigue from the long hours of waiting washes away in a rush of adrenalin. I raise my rifle for the killing shot. I squeeze the trigger and the buck crumples. Silence fills the air. The hunt is over, but the hunting experience has just begun.

You got up a 4AM, had your wife call in sick for you, braved the cold, spent hours lying in wait, saw a twelve point while taking a leak, missed an easy shot, but finally you bagged that whitetail. Now what? Now is when you wish you had picked up Making the Most of Your Deer written by Dennis Walrod and published by Stackpole books.

Dennis is an experienced deer hunter who has written for a number of outdoor magazines, including Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, and Gray's Sporting Journal. In these tough economic times, you want to get the most bang for your buck, and this book will show you how.

Dennis starts with the basics of field dressing and getting your deer out of the woods. First, make sure the deer is dead. There's more than one hunting story about a "dead" deer springing to life on an unsuspecting hunter. If you approach a deer, and the eyes are closed, that is almost a sure sign that the deer is still alive. Shoot again aiming for the heart or the base of the neck, then unload your gun and get that deer tagged.

Field dressing can appear very complicated to a beginner, but there is more margin of error than many veteran hunters will lead you to believe, and it's really no more difficult than changing a tire, and even a botched field dressing job will leave the venison in better condition than if the deer was left unattended. You want the carcass to cool as quickly as possible. Dennis covers four basic methods from the involved "ream-and-tie" to the "quick and dirty", usually performed when the sun is going down, and you are still a long way from the road.

Yep, you have to get the deer back to camp, and there are several methods. The most conventional is to grab it by the antlers and start walking. Sounds easy, but it isn't, especially if it's doe season, and the way back is almost always uphill. You can bet on it, and don't pull the deer backwards; you'll just end up deeper in the woods. You did remember to bring rope?

You have the deer home, and you've decided to save some money and butcher the deer yourself, but it's a little intimidating. A commercial butcher has an array of cleavers, chopping blocks, and band saws. But venison butchering can be done with far fewer tools than butchering domestic animals. Often using the same five inch blade you used for field dressing and skinning. Native Americans were able to butcher a deer with no more than a sharpened rock. Do you really need an electric knife? Dennis goes on to cover why home butchering can be the better choice for you, what tools you will find the most useful, as well as aging meat for tenderness and preserving the meat.

The meat is my personal favorite part of the deer, and Dennis includes some great venison recipes as well as information on making sausage, and some useful information on how to improve the flavor of venison. He also goes on to cover a wide range of topics including salting and tanning hides, basic leathercraft, soapmaking, trophy mounting, and whitetail deer handicraft--such as fishing lures, and that deer leg lamp that uncle Earl has in his workshop.

The hunting experience doesn't have to end with the moment of the kill. Native Americans utilized the entire deer, from the meat for eating, to the tendons and intestines for bowstrings, and even the ribs were used to add rigidity to baskets. Such complete use may no longer be practical, but if modern hunters acknowledge the responsibility to use a deer to the fullest value, we increase not only the value of the deer, but of ourselves...