Porkapolypse 2017 begins today!

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I bring back at least 1 a year while deer hunting.  I really wish I could bring back about three each 180pounds or so live weight.  I just don't have the freezer space because I bring back 5-6 meat deer from an MLD property.  7 Animals is all my freezer space can handle.

My avatar pick is my freezer after hunting season and processing all of my animals form 2016 hunting.  I have to put my extra 30 pounds of venison grind in my indoor freezer to store it all.

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I bring back at least 1 a year while deer hunting.  I really wish I could bring back about three each 180pounds or so live weight.  I just don't have the freezer space because I bring back 5-6 meat deer from an MLD property.  7 Animals is all my freezer space can handle.

My avatar pick is my freezer after hunting season and processing all of my animals form 2016 hunting.  I have to put my extra 30 pounds of venison grind in my indoor freezer to store it all.

View media item 507908
That's the best looking Kirkland maple syrup I've seen--funny, I can't seem to find that particular type in my local Costco.  Do you know on what aisle it may be found, BM?   
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That's the best looking Kirkland maple syrup I've seen--funny, I can't seem to find that particular type in my local Costco.  Do you know on what aisle it may be found, BM?   
th_roflmao.gif
Hahaha!

It is discontinued until October or November of this year ;)

Top shelf is vacuum sealed natural hog casings.

The second shelf is all 100% pork franks using LEM's franks seasoning, it is amazing! (one 180 pound feral hog with store bought trimmed back fat.  80/20 meat to fat ratio)

The third shelf is all fresh venison Brats again using LEM's fresh brat seasoning, best brats ever!  (80/20  venison meat/trimmed pork back fat).

Fourth shelf are mostly venison shanks with a few pounds 100% ground venison stacked on top.  Venison shanks are to die for when using my braised venison shank recipe.  I don't ever add fat to my venison grind.  It is amazing.  If I make burgers I will add a little stuff for binder but I rarely use it for burgers.  Because I don't use the grind for burgers I don't need fat added and it is perfect in spaghetti sauces, taco dishes, etc. etc.

Fifth shelf is all of my top round, bottom round, and chuck roasts.  I like to make venison fajitas out of the top and bottom round roasts.

Not shown but stored in my indoor fridge freezer is 30 pounds of 100% venison grind.

The pork ribs and shanks were devoured before this picture was taken :)

That makes up my 2016 hunting haul!
 
I failed to post the goodies that Huey brought down to us.  Let me tell you, he really knows how to bribe a lady into letting her husband go hunting for a few days.  He brought her a MESS of dungeness crabs, elk roast, elk steaks, and some oysters!  Not all of it is in the picture, but I see a killer meal coming really soon at our place!


The pigs didn't cooperate due to a 15-20 MPH sustained wind all night Tuesday and all day Wednesday, but we did have a great time!

We went to the designated meet up point and met the guide.  The wind was howling, but we had to go try at least.


We were presented with AR-15 style weapons that were fitted with thermal imaging scopes, those things are SWEET!


About an hour into the hunt we saw a hog, stalked it, and it was down!  


We figured since that one came out and moved that we would do pretty well, sadly, that wasn't the case, we only saw one more all night long...  We headed home about 0600 and slept until around 11, then we were back on the road to my bride's grandmother's property which has had hog issues in the past.  

On the way out, we had to stop at Whataburger!  When someone visits Texas for the first time, it's almost a required stop!  I think he enjoyed it!


Upon arrival we were met by "Memaw".  She's 93 years old and still running the day to day activities of the farm!  Before we headed over to the cabin on the south side of the property, Memaw INFORMED us that she would have breakfast ready at 0800.  I looked a Huey and he was grinning a bit, I had already bragged about her cooking!


I guess at some point within the last month I have pissed off the hog gods or something.  Memaw informed us that she hasn't seen a hog or sign of one in several months!  We drove all over the 300+ acres and didn't see any rooting in the creek bottoms or up in the planted fields!  Never in my life did I think I would get mad about a family member NOT having a hog problem!  LOL

But, I had an alternate plan in the event that the hogs weren't going to play nicely, Memaw has 2 ponds that are OVER STOCKED with largemouth bass and bluegills!  Huey had never caught a large mouth, so we headed down to the pond to see if they would cooperate.

Cooperate they did!  Huey's first cast in Texas gained him a nice bass!


We quit counting fish after 40 or so, but we did keep enough for him to have a nice fish fry with his family when he gets back.  We probably caught 60+ fish in a few short hours.



The piece of siding that the fish are laying on is 18" from bottom to top, so you can see that several of these bass were really good sized, and the bluegills at the top of the board are good sized as well!


It started getting dark, so we figured we should clean some fish and then get ourselves cleaned up as well.


Out of all the planning he and I did on the phone and after his arrival, there was one thing we didn't pack with us for the trip to East Texas, a damned filet knife!  Have you ever tried to filet a fish with a Buck hunting knife?  It can be done, but boy is it a PITA!


We turned in around midnight and got up about 0700 so we could be over at the main house by 8 for breakfast.  Memaw didn't disappoint!

Ham, bacon, scrambled eggs (fresh from the coop!), homemade biscuits, bacon gravy, and fresh fruit!  She went all out and definitely put on the feed bag for us!






We departed the farm around 11 yesterday morning and made the trip back to the Plano area.  We didn't pack up as much meat as we wanted to, but he left with around 60 pounds all total.  Pork, fish, some of my sausage and sticks, and a few smoked cheeses.  Didn't get pics of the stuff before we boxed it up, but we did doll up the box a bit.  Now, disclaimer, my bride and I both are aTm grads, but we have longhorn tape for when we send care packages to our nieces who go to UT.


After getting everything PACKED into his suitcase and ammo box, we realized that he had 3 other items that needed to be packed, but there wasn't any room left!  So, the Texas pecans and the 18" AMAZEN smoke tube had to be put into the gun case!  We figured that would make a TSA dude giggle a bit if they opened it up!


Overall, we had a GREAT visit, ate REALLY well, and we have begun planning my trip to Forks for the salmon run and his 2018 trip back to Texas!

Thanks for following along, and sorry there weren't more pics of the pork, on or OFF the hoof!
 
 
That looks like it one heck of a fun trip. Memaw doesn't look a day over 60. I do need an invite for the next breakfast though. That looks delicious.
She really is holding her age well!  

If you showed up, she'd cook!
 
Charlie, I'm overdue to have a time like this, let's say I drop by next weekend? 
It's a LOT warmer here than where you are!  

I forgot to mention, we have a few critters in East Texas that he had never seen before, other than the bass!


For some reason, he didn't want to attempt a selfie with them!
 
Hey Charlie CONGRATS on what looked like a wonderful time with a friend. Great Pics too. You can tell your Memaw she doesn't look a day over 70.

Hog hunting Bass Fishing Good eats, just doesn't any better than that. You Buddy will have some great memories and stories to tell.

Where were the Gators, at the Farm?   I have a friend who lives between Hawkins and Mineola north of 80 they have about a 20 acre lake that has a few

nice size gators
 
 
Hey Charlie CONGRATS on what looked like a wonderful time with a friend. Great Pics too. You can tell your Memaw she doesn't look a day over 70.

Hog hunting Bass Fishing Good eats, just doesn't any better than that. You Buddy will have some great memories and stories to tell.

Where were the Gators, at the Farm?   I have a friend who lives between Hawkins and Mineola north of 80 they have about a 20 acre lake that has a few

nice size gators
They were at the GATOR FARM!  
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Between Mineola and Van there is a gator farm that has lots of them and quite a few other critters from Texas and surrounding states.  Mostly gators that have been removed due to nuisance and rescued exotic animals.

I'll let her know what folks think, it'll make her day!
 
Getting to be more and more around here. Not to long ago me and one of my grandsons were over at Lake Palestine at the Marina and they had about a 6 footer there someone had caught.

Been a few seen over at Lake Tyler too that's about 5 min. from me.

Gary
 
Looks like a good time anyway, CB:  may want to keep it on the QT next year , so as Porky & Co. don't catch wind of you coming and go running next door into AR, where the damn things are revered. Ditto on what's been said about Memaw:  great to see a lady with her "expertise" so young and vibrant.  Love those stock tanks with slabs of largemouth in them:  nothing like watching the water explode when a buzz bait gets dragged across it.  You had me going for a bit though--thought you were going to have some pics of smoked gator too, complete with the bacon mummification:

 
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Looks like a good time anyway, CB:  may want to keep it on the QT next year , so as Porky & Co. don't catch wind of you coming and go running next door into AR, where the damn things are revered. Ditto on what's been said about Memaw:  great to see a lady with her "expertise" so young and vibrant.  Love those stock tanks with slabs of largemouth in them:  nothing like watching the water explode when a buzz bait gets dragged across it.  You had me going for a bit though--thought you were going to have some pics of smoked gator too, complete with the bacon mummification:

OMG! Is that thing real???? 
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