JagMagMan? how do you cook a deer neck so its edible? every one Ive seen cooked was about like trying to eat a nylon mop. As for the post, there isnt that much good meat on a deer anyway. If you mess a little up, just shoot some more. I think in some places where the limit is one folks tend to try to glean every scrap of it. The limit here is twelve and most of my friends will eat six or eight deer apiece a year. Shoulders get slow cooked in roasting bags, backstraps get grilled, hams are for smoking as bbq, or ground for sausage. Two or three get jerked every year. As long as you dont blow up the backstraps or hams you havent lost much.

I do care abut meat damage....not so much that I'll pass on a shoulder shot, ..but it is not my first choice. I'm always looking for the surgical boiler shot...just behind the shoulder of a deer stepping forward...tuck it right in where the esophagus and trachea join the heart and lungs. I get pretty close most times and sometimes hit it right on.
By the way, the shoulder cooked whole can be some excellent eating. Theres really not much to it either if you like to cook. It's an all day slow-cook event and it can turn out some of the best stew type meals you have even tasted. Al you need is a big enough roaster, your favorite spice and enough braising liquid to cover the meat almost half-way. If anybody's interested I'll post the general recipe directions and tips.

I am strictly a meat hunter and will pass on a buck 99 percent of the time. I do care about meat damage and always go for the heart-lung shot. Never had a lung shot animal go more that 25-30 yards and about 10-15 is the average. Does not bother me in the least to pass up a less than perfect to me shot opportunity. I shot one monster buck quite a few years ago If I ever see a bigger one I might shoot it until then its just for the meat and the expierence of hunting with family and friends. Thats what matters most to me. It truely is a tradidition. The recent passing of some of the old hunting buddies hurts but for them we keep the tradition alive. I am sure most of you know the feeling.

I am with frizzellr on this one

Larry its like 8MM said, cook 'em long and slow and the meat will be tender.

Thanks for all the comments. I just hear people comment alot on a caliber and meat damage. I have killed dozens of deer and butchered dozens more, and just don't see all this damage people are talking about. But I have never killed with a Bullistic type bullet either. Most have been shot with coreloks, until the last 5 years when reloading and now use mostly Sierra's on deer. And they fall apart, but I investigate the cavity of the animal closely. Now, my favorite shot is the angled shoulder lung heart shot. I just love to see how devistating it is when hit. I am one of those guys that will rewind several times on VCR deer tapes to see the inpact.

I guess if I lived in a state where I couldn't kill more than 2 deer or something, I would be more worried about it.

"I would much rather ruin a shoulder than lose a deer." Let me clarify that statement. I have never in all my years of hunting had a shot opportunity where a deer was standing perfectly broadside to offer the fabled boiler room through the ribs. Angles always dictate shot placement and I would much rather bust up a shoulder than blow up an acorn filled paunch and ruin the entire front quarter of the deer. So generally I am stuck with the "angled shoulder lung heart shot" that bigcountry mentioned. It is a very effective, quick killing shot as long as you have a bullet that will pull it off.

As long as I don't have to track it for miles I am perfectly happy with any shot I make.

If some one hunts in a state that permits only one deer then this may be an issue but I don't. I normally try to destroy one or both shoulders and put a deer down in his tracks.

Edited by - popeye on 01/30/2003 12:18:16

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote<font size=1 face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>As for the post, there isnt that much good meat on a deer anyway. If you mess a little up, just shoot some more. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face='Verdana, Arial, Helvetica' size=2 id=quote>

I hope you don't mean that the way it sounds. Isn't that the reason that we are hunting anyway? If we are not going to eat all of the meat that we harvest then why are we hunting? I came across a deboned cow elk this year and the meat left on her borderlined on illegal. If I have the choice of shooting an animal through the ribs or the shoulder then I take the ribs so I can get as much meat as possible.