Sausage time is here again

 You might remember that in last year's hunting round up I talked about sausage day. Sausage day 2021 was last Saturday.

We started with about 180 pounds of venison

Then added about 30 pounds of pork fat. You have to add fat to the venison or the meat will dry out and taste terrible. We used fat back so the first half hour is spent taking the skin off the fat. Everything gets ground once separately, then the fat and venison get mixed together, spices added and mixed and then ground again. We use a medium grind which leaves the sausage with a little more chew to it.

We have a little bowl that scoops just about one pound at a time which we pack into 1 quart ziplock bags. Thats what I spend most of my time doing. I don't know why that has become my job but apparently I'm pretty good at it.

This year's take was supposed to be split 8 ways but one guy didn't want his share, he had too much meat in the freezer already. Split 7 ways we ended up with 32 pounds apiece with a few pounds left over to give to some landowners who had helped us out during the season. Giving back to the landowners is an important part of hunting.

Considering I didn't take any deer at all in 2020 it was nice to come home with sausage. That's one of the nice things about hunting with a group...

Gunsmithing

 

This is the lock on my Tradegun. Take a look at where the flash hole into the barrel is. See how far forward it is in relation to the pan? The gun doesn't fire well, it'll go off sometimes but really just when it feels like it.

Previously sometimes it wouldn't even flash but I polished the frizzen which had a big gouge in it and also polished the pan. I'm kind of proud about how the pan came out, its really smooth. That made a big difference in getting the priming powder to go off but didn't really help the gun to fire.

So I decided the barrel needed to be better aligned with the bottom of the pan. This is kind of a big ask, either the barrel needed to move back or the lock needed to move forward. I decided it would be easier to move the barrel back, the inletting is less complicated and it won't leave as obvious gaps.

I don't have any pictures of the work in progress but I used my Proxxon rotary tool with a variety of milling bits to take out wood a little bit at a time. A lot of what I took out actually appears to be epoxy. It looks like the original builder of this gun might have moved the barrel forward, for what purpose I have no idea...

Here's where we're at. Notice how the touch hole is much more centered. I ended up taking out way too much material from behind the barrel but I've got barrel bedding epoxy I can use to fill in the gaps. I did that when I fitted the new stock onto my .300 Savage and that's held up perfectly. I kind of want to shoot the gun before I do the reinforcement but I don't want the recoil to break the stock. I might go fire a couple shots with just a powder charge and a wad to hold it in. If it'll go off reliably I'll know that my changes did the trick.

Spring on the horizon

 Here it is the first of March, the days are getting longer and the temperature is rising in north central MA. With days above freezing the snow is rapidly melting and, as there is no real freeze in sight the season of grooming snowmobile trails is rapidly coming to a close.

This Tucker Sno-Cat has spent the season grooming the Ware river rail trail. We call this one the "Southern Tucker" because, until recently, it groomed Rutland State park at the southern end of our trail system. This year it was technically the Northern Tucker and the Northern Tucker moved to the south. I don't know why, I don't dare ask. You might remember my writing about the Northern Tucker a few years ago.

Anyway Chris has been running the machine but last Saturday he was going to be away and since we figured the trails would close soon Ben and I took it south so it will be easier to haul to it's summer home.

Like the Northern Tucker this machine has a Cummins 6BT, back in 2019 I wrote that the other machine had 135hp and I don't guess that this one would be any different. I did find that this one has Dana 70 axles (70 is stamped right into the case), interestingly the rear one is upside down but I guess that makes sense since the engine and transmission are mounted backwards. Remember the machine has two rear axles since it steers by pivoting the axles, the machine doesn't articulate, the axles do.

Like the Northern the Southern Tucker has suffered the neglect of "Its not really my machine" from its operators. The first thing I noticed when I got in the cab is how badly it smells. When I took over the ASV the very first thing I did was to clean out every mouse nest I could find and then scrub every surface with Simple Green cleaner. For the summer I put small squares of denim, soaked with peppermint oil inside the cab, it seems to work, the machine smells much better. I mentioned to Ben that I've put them in his machine too, it also smells better. "Keep it up!" he told me. He's lucky to park next to me, I happened to have an extra square and he benefits...

Running a Tucker is interesting when you're used to a fully hydrostatic 2 track machine. Tucker uses a conventional automatic transmission so you feel it shift. The machine also creeps when it's in gear which the ASV and Pisten Bully don't do. 

The rear two wheels on the rear driver's track show an all too common problem. They're urethane coated and the coating is falling off. This is at the end of our trip, there was more rubber on there at the beginning. We spend an inordinate amount of money on tracks and wheels on the two Tuckers the club owns. In fact this is the first year I've been hanging around with these guys that we haven't had to at least repair a track...

New tool day

 You've probably guessed by this point that I like tools. I've got lots of them. One in particular I've had for a long time is my Craftsman 19.2v cordless drill. Angie gave me it as a gift probably 15 years ago. It's been fantastic although one of the batteries quit early on from lack of use. Recently the other one started going dead while sitting and I knew it was time to move along. I had some money due to me from my credit card company so I opted to cash that out into some Home Depot gift cards which included at 10% bonus and start shopping.

To start with I limited my search to Milwaukee and Dewalt figuring they were the two big players. I started asking folks and quickly got inundated with choices including Rigid and Ryobi. Buddy Ben is a fan of Ryobi "Because they're cheap." He used to work at a fish farm and they used cheap tools "Because they're going to get dropped in a fish tank anyway." This advice gathering period went on for nearly a week leaving me just about as confused as when I started.

A couple days ago the gift cards finally came in and I took the ride to go shopping.

Yes, Makita.

Looking at all the choices and handling all the different drills I quickly came to the conclusion that they're basically all the same. The feel about the same in the hand, they're about the same shape, same weight, same power, similar cost (except Ryobi which is cheaper, but ugly) etc. So I don't think you can really go all that wrong with any of the name brands. In fact I suspect the Harbor Freight tools are probably made in the same factories and are probably just as good.

So why Makita? Well a couple reasons:

1. The 18v batteries are also used in the 36v line, they just get doubled up. This means I only need one set of batteries. Yeah, Dewalt flex volt, I know, but you need to buy the big battery to use in the smaller tool, it doesn't go the other way.

2. Dewalt is owned by "Stanley Black and Decker" which also owns Craftsman and Porter Cable. Milwaukee is owned by Techtronic Industries which also owns Ryobi and Rigid. Makita is owned by... Makita. They're the same basic company they have been since 1915 which makes them basically the only non-zombie hand tool brand on the market.

I hate zombie brands, how can Ryobi, Rigid and Milwaukee really be different if they're all the same company? Corporate consolidation is a drag and it sickens me to see proud old companies strung along just for their brand loyalty.

3. The first cordless electric drill I ever used, heck probably the first one I ever SAW was a Makita.

4. My Makita corded 4 1/2" angle grinder. I bought it at Sears back in 1999 and it's been given the hot supper (worked hard) on the regular for 22 years now without any issues. That kind of loyalty in a tool inspires loyalty in me.

A comparison of the new and old drills.

So what did I get exactly? I bought the hammer drill/impact driver combo with 2x 4ah batteries. I picked this one specifically because Home Depot had a deal where that kit came with a free 5ah battery which is normally $150. It also means I got the drill and impact with the most torque and larger batteries. There was an option for 2x 5ah batteries but it was another $50 and only 2 batteries, so I'm thinking the one I got was the best deal.

The drill and driver are both brushless which means there are no brushes to wear out, they make more power with less friction and energy used and they're shorter so they'll fit more places. Weight is comparable to the old drill, probably slightly lighter.

The first task for the impact driver came sooner than I expected. I had to pull the handlebar area apart on my 1998 Arctic Cat Jag. The plastic surround is held with a couple screws into the gas tank, I had a heckuva time getting at them with a screwdriver but that little impact driver got right in no problem and the magic of impact pulled them right out. It was SUPER helpful, paid for itself on the first job. The light is also really nice, its great to be able to see what you're doing.

I'm not sure what my next move is, I'm thinking about either a sawzall or an electric chainsaw. We've got a Harbor Freight "Bauer" cordless chainsaw at camp and I've been really impressed with it. I'm thinking one would be really handy in the grooming machine, my Husky is a great saw but its big and needs to be fueled, etc. an electric would take up less space and just be faster to use. Makita has several options both 18v and 36v. I'm not sure which is the better choice but with 3 batteries I'm well equipped either way.

Fooooood!

 For somebody with 53 cooking videos on YouTube it occurs to me I don't post much about cooking. In the past week we've made a couple fantastic meals:

This is partridge pie, remember these guys?

You really only get the breast meat of a partridge so we used all 3 to make the pie, we like meaty pies.

Angie made some cream of chicken soup to which we added a bunch of vegetables. The cool think about fowl pie is that you can't really screw it up. In the past I've used canned cream of potato or cream of chicken or cream of mushroom soup, then add cooked meat and vegetables. Actually we've made some really good pies by using leftover stew.

The top on this pie is a commercial pie dough but I've done a bunch of these by making biscuit dough and laying it on top. The pie is pretty thick so you don't really need a bottom crust. If you wanted to make one in a round pie plate you could use both crusts. In the past we've used the kind of crust that comes in a pie plate with one as the bottom and another on top.

This is a top round roast that was on sale at the grocery store this week. I've cooked these before and had them come out tough so for this one I aimed for "low and slow". My buddy Jon who owns "The Butt Stops Here" BBQ truck in Swanzy, NH (best BBQ in the world) mentioned cooking at 250F so thats what I aimed for. In reading recipes online (after I started naturally) I realized I probably should have started at high heat to brown the meat. After two hours the meat was mostly cooked so I jacked the heat to 350F for another 15 minutes. At that point my meat thermometer was around 150F or about medium-rare. I pulled it, wrapped in aluminum foil and let it rest for half an hour. You can see in the pics its pretty much medium, maybe a little beyond.

Plated fancy and more tender than any roast I've cooked before.

Next time I do this I'll make 2 changes. First I'll reduce my temp some. Our oven tends to run hot so although I set for 250 it was probably 300. Next time I'll put in the oven thermometer and aim for more accuracy which will probably extend cooking time. 

Second I'll pull it at more like 140F. Looking at a meat chart online they suggest 135F is medium rare but we were reasonably happy with the results so I don't want to go too far. Remember that the center will continue to cook some (carry-over) while the meat is wrapped.

What say you folks? How do you do roast beef? I like to keep things simple, I know I should have a rack, etc but I really can't be bothered.

Hunting 2020 - the finale

Okay I know I've teased this one enough but one of the real reasons for these posts being slow is that Google Photos is just KILLING me. It uploads what it feels like uploading when it feels like uploading it. I've got a ton of pictures in my hunting album that it just will not upload. Then it gives zero error messages, just "Nope, I don't want to upload that." I made a negative review yesterday and Google basically said "It's not us it's you." which, combined with a bunch of other negative recent reviews makes me think they know they have a problem but don't want to admit it. *Sigh* the Google Photos to Blogger workflow was so good...

Anyway after I came back from deer camp I had a couple weeks where I was working nights, class started at 7pm and went until 2am. This left me with a bunch of time during the day so I thought I might go see if I could find some pheasants. I went out once early in the season and while I found other hunters I didn't see any birds. This time I tried a different spot and the foolish things were waiting in the road for me when I drove up.

That's my grandfather's Remington Model 31 shotgun in 16 gauge. I've always had a soft spot for 16 gauge, its a little unusual. The 31 is commonly regarded as the smoothest pump shotgun ever made. I really like that its light and easy to carry, although that first bird was really easy I still spent a bunch of time stomping around looking for birds.

When I was a kid my uncle Reg (really my great uncle) told me that sometimes deer would step out of the woods and look at a truck driving by, so if you were following a truck you should leave a big gap so you could catch that deer. The second day I went out I didn't see any birds in the field but as I was leaving I paused and let some bow hunters out in front of me. As they drove out this pheasant stepped into the road behind them. By the time I got out it had retreated into the ditch but I'm not too proud to shoot a ditch bird. ;)

Having gotten a couple birds with the 31 I thought I might try my 11ga side by side muzzleloader. You might remember this from some previous posts. Its a fine old gun although its long so its not a great bush gun. It was fine lugging it around in the field though which is really what it was intended for.

I actually shot two birds with this gun, the only time I managed to get two in one day. I'm working on a story that I'm going to try to get published in "Muzzleblasts" which is the periodical of the National Muzzleloading Rifle Association. If that happens I will, of course, let you know.

So anyway I ended the season with 5 pheasants which we can add to 5 ducks and 5 partridge and zero deer. Yes, there, I've said it, I got skunked. It was a tough year, we had some snow early in the season and then nothing toward the end. It got really cold, then warm. The deer didn't move the way I expected them to and pressure from other hunters took them out of the honey hole I shot my late season deer in last year. So it goes, better luck next year.

Hunting 2020 part 2

 So in my last post I talked about ducks and partridge in October. In November I headed back north for deer camp. As is usual we didn't see any shootable deer although dad and I did see 3 in the road at night. I had to weave through them to keep from hitting one.

Mike and I had a pretty good time shooting partridge, we took 3 birds on the first day.

I kind of screwed up on this trip, I took my new Browning Silver and a single barrel "Khan" 20ga my dad gave me. That gun is kind of cool, it folks completely in half which makes it easy to pack around. It's also cursed. I had it with us last year too and we didn't hardly see a squirrel the whole trip. Until this trip it had been fired once and that was at a water bottle just to make sure it would go off.

So I asked Mike "Which gun do you want?" and he chose the cursed 20ga. I dropped him off at the north end of a fencerow, told him to go on the other side of it and I'd meet him in the middle. I drove to the south end and just as I walked up to the fencerow I spotted a bird. Well I'm no dummy I pulled up the Browning and bagged a bird. One thing I've been working on is taking longer distance shots and letting the gun do the work and this was a good one. It was an easy shot but a difficult retrieve, the bird was under some spruce trees with thorny bushes all around. I had to about crawl in. Meanwhile Mike was seeing nothing.

When I caught up to him I gave him the Browning and took the cursed 20ga, it wasn't long before he connected with a bird and sent 2 more over my head but I couldn't get the 20ga cocked to take a shot. He got his second bird immediately after that, the foolish thing watched him shoot and just sat there.

A couple days later I rode with my dad and uncle Guy and got my second bird with the cursed 20ga, the second time it had ever been shot and it's first bird. I did miss another bird with it later in the week, a bird I'm confident I would have gotten if I'd had the Browning.

Late in the week we walked another fencerow, again Mike chose the 20ga and this time he chose the north side of the fence. All the birds were on the south side, I connected with 2 and missed out on 2 or 3 more. I felt a little bad but I seem to remember a year when he shot birds on that north side, its just the luck of the draw I suppose.

Anyway, I'm going to quit this post here and finish up in part 3, coming soon...