OHbowhntr

But this is funny as hell coming from a woman!!! Sorry Christine, it just cracked me up. As for the Heart Recipe idea, you got me thinking about keeping my next heart now, because that sounds very tasty!!!

fastetti

I can't even imagine not taking the tenderloins. After a successful day, they are pulled out and eaten for dinner that night. Tenderloins and Onions, mmmmmm... During gun season after opening day when we hopefully have 3 or 4 deer hanging, you better believe we're pulling those "Gut muscles" out and having a tastey dinner. They may not be the biggest piece on a deer, but I say that even a medium size deer you can get a meal out of them. Im not wasting any meat, especially the tenderloins, because I don't want to gut a deer, that just doesn't make sense to me.

GMMAT

Yes I take meat....and NO...you do not have to gut it to take any meat. You actually don't have to gut it to take ALL the meat.

Out of 17 bow kills.....(and one done for someone else)....I've NOT gutted about six of those. Various reasons why I choose NOT to gut a deer, sometimes.

Lazy? Yeah....lol. I practice all year long......hunt numerous times a year......drag my deer out.....quarter it, dispose of the carcass....and I'm "lazy".

Boys...it's a piece of meat about 2X (becasue there's two of them) the size of a small banana. MANY people would say you're "wasteful" if you don't take neck meat, rib meat, heart, etc....

I don't always take them. Sue me. But "somthing" eats really well on them. NOTHING goes to waste on a deer. It's all consumed.

rybohunter

I think most are just suprised you don't take them because of how good they are, not so much because of the amount of meat they are.

FLboy77

We Love tender loins!!! We use every bit of the deer. We even take the ribs to be made into hamburger.

GMMAT

No doubt, they're good. Conceded. It's not like I NEVER take them, though....and when you add in the multiplier (how many deer I take each year)....I get my fair share of them. I have them in the freezer, now....and we enjoy them very much. Without going into much detail....there ARE valid times when not taking them makes sense.

gplant

First thing to get eatin is the tender loin and the heart. GOOD STUFF!!!!

jackflap

Ahhh, the slippery slope.

I once (and only once because of this) hunted with a guy who only took the hindquarters and the backstraps off a Mule Deer. He said there wasn't enough in the shoulders and neck meat to fool with having to pack out. His justification was the same as you are making. Other critters gotta eat too.

But back on the slippery slope. How much is enough to not be considered "wasteful'? Is it all red muscle meat? Is it that and the heart and liver? Is it also the rib meat? Some cultures would even use the intestines.

The "culture" in which one is a part of society dictates the standards for that particular culture,IMO.

Here is how our "culture" has defined edible/nonedible as this the law as written in the Colorado Big Game Regulations page 8.


IT’S AGAINST THE LAWTO:
[align=left]12. Fail to prepare edible wildlife meat for human consumption. At a minimum,[/align][align=left]the four quarters, tenderloins and backstraps are edible meat. Internal[/align]organs are not.


Say and do what you want, but purposely leaving the tenderloins of a game animal is against the law in the states that I hunt (Texas, Colorado, New Mexico) and I would assume in most others as well.

SparrowHawk

Why did you not gut the 6?

earnabuck

I am confused, I think many others posting on this thread are too or I wouldn't be so confused. I think half of you think backstraps are tenderloins, and tenderloins are backstraps. Someone stated they are not the same thing. I always thought they were the same. So does someone have diagram showing where each piece of meat is obtained. I think of the two pieces of meat that run right along the spine as back straps you don't need a knife to get them out although it makes it easier. Where are the tenderloins????