Quote:
Originally Posted by HardDrive
Higgins, I think we have talked about this before. When I first got to WA, being a lifelong hunter, I went and picked up the guide to see what the regulations were. Well, first off, why is the guide like 80 pages long? And why are there these insanely detailed maps that show topographical maps, where you are on one side of a ridge, and its all good, and on the other side of the ridge, they confiscate your truck, and you get fined some crazy amount of money. I don't want to have to hire a ******* attorney to figure out where I am suppose to hunt. I'm with ya....no thanks. Another state can get the $$$ I spend on hunting.
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Oh yeah, we have commiserated over this at length. Washington is simply not a "hunter friendly" state. Not only are our regulations vastly over-complicated and our seasons far too short, there is a notable lack of game here anyway. Hell, we can go back and read Lewis and Clark's journals, wherein they commented on the dearth of suitable game. Their party was forced onto "starvation rations" when they crossed the Snake River into this area. So, yeah, most of my hunting has been out of state for the whole of my hunting career. It's sad, and as I get a bit older, I would really like to not have to travel so much just to hunt. Oh well.
Quote:
Originally Posted by juanbenae
my neighbor just took a bear locally and since im not a hunter i had plenty of questions. i was astonished that it's been in an ice bath for a week now and he will be giving it a couple more days before he finishes what he calls the aging process. says he does the same with his venison, although just for a few days, not as long as the bear.
With that said what is you hunters take on this approach? he is off to the store everyday for a couple big bags of ice and drains the water off multiple times a day. he stated that aging the meat does wonder for flavor, texture and tenderness. im surprised at this, although i know aging of beef is not unheard of and apparently is good for the meat and prices reflect such.
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Hoo boy - amongst hunters, this is kind of like the ubiquitous "oil thread" on car forums. There is no agreement, and we actually see some very heated arguments.
Personally, I have never aged any game meat, at least not on purpose. By that I mean if I can get the animal dressed and into a freezer I will. There are times, however, when that is impossible. For example, I have found myself far out in the Alaskan wilderness with caribou down and the bush plane that is going to retrieve us is still a week out. So we hang them and "age" them - there really is no choice.
I will say, however, that bear are different. There is an enzyme in their fat that breaks down very rapidly and permeates the meat, rendering it all but unpalatable for most of us. The bigger the bear and the more fat the worse it gets. There are "eating size" bears and there are "trophy size" bears and never the twain shall meet. Even at that, "eating size" bears need to be very thoroughly butchered with an eye towards removing
all visible fat
before it ever even gets wrapped. And that as soon as possible. Otherwise they just get all stinky and nasty.