I shot my first Texas deer this past weekend and was lucky to have some friendly neighbors that told me this odd requirement. I normally de-bone all my meat in the field and just bring home boneless meat.
Per the Texas hunting regulations you are REQUIRED to keep the meat attached to the front shoulder bones and hindquarters from the knee up until you get to your final processing destination (which would be my house).
Here is the regulation.
If there is a cold storage or processing facility (record book required, see below) established on property where hunting occurs, a person may process a deer or antelope beyond quarters. If there is not a facility, a deer or antelope may not be cut into smaller portions than a quartered carcass as defined below before the carcass reaches its final destination.
You are allowed to prepare for immediate consumption and eat all or a part of a properly tagged wildlife resource while in camp; however, all tagging and proof of sex regulations apply to remaining parts.
A quartered carcass is:
[ul][*]Not more than 2 forequarters, leg portion (down to the knee) attached to the shoulder blade;[*]2 hindquarters (leg bones down to the hock must remain attached); and[*]2 backstraps/trimmings from neck and rib cage (the boned-out neck and rib cage may be discarded).
[/ul]
To me it is a lot more work to cut the bone off at the knee than it is to debone the meat and I'm just as careful not to waste any meat cutting it up in the field as I would be cutting it up at home. I was a little worried about the bone marrow from the leg bones being cut at the knee getting mixed up with the meat but not sure if that is an old wives tale or not.
What if you hit a shoulder and it is all messed up and bloodshot, I wonder if you are required to keep the entire mess attached to the shoulder bone and bring it home with you or if you are allowed to cut the good meat off and keep it and discard the bloody mess instead of sticking it in the cooler with the rest of the good meat?
While I don't think there is anything I can do about the regulation, I'm consideringmoving my "final processing facility" down to my hunting land instead of waiting to cut it up when I get home. The only drawback is that I would like to leave it sitting in the cooler in ice water for a few days before cutting it up and I wouldn't be able to do that if I processed the deer completely down on my land.
Does anyone else think this is a crazy rule? Any other thoughts on how to get around it? What about the bone marrow, is there any truth to the old wives tale that it will make the meat taste any different?
Thanks, Nathan