Antlers and Long johns

Firearms deer opener this coming wk end. If you get one and eat eat the ribs and neck roast, be sure to drink plenty of hot coffee to melt the wax in your mouth.
Dennis Anderson in the Strib wrote recently of of party hunting to fill buck tags, and suggested that irregardless of legality( party hunting and tagging is legal in Mn), if you want to tag a buck, you should shoot the buck yourself. I agree. It is satisfying to shoot your own buck, and yes, fewer bucks would be shot. Make that deal w/ your hunting party, and consider also a self imposed restriction on bucks w/ 6 ( or 8) tines or less. Manage your hunting land for more and bigger bucks. I personally prefer to shoot yearling deer because they taste so much better, but like most hunters I would not pass on a trophy. There's just something about shooting a nice buck, even if it's dumb luck.
Most of us don't really hunt anymore anyways. We sit in stands high in the air( often enclosed) and shoot. That is shooting, not hunting. There is something to be said about spending time on the ground sneaking and peeking ( still hunting), and building a fire and eating lunch in the woods. A lot of oldtimers shot deer over a fire.
I am thinking of sweet smokey paprika, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, bayleaf and plenty of garlic in a venison stew. Deglaze the saute` w/ red wine. I'll post a recipe soon. In the meantime, pack the liverwurst and onions and hang your long johns outdoors.