Deer Jerky

Phyllis Morris, a supervisor at the recently opened Marion County Dog Control and Shelter, said the injured pit bull - nicknamed "Bullet" - survived a month, maybe two, without supplied food or medical attention. She said the dog has gained some weight since it was brought to the shelter last week, but it's still 20 pounds underweight and needs surgery to have the bullet removed. The dog was rescued by Lonna Chase of Lyons, who was hunting deer near Gates when she came across the malnourished dog. "It was roaming around and making weird sounds - I thought because it had a sinus infection. But he was very friendly," Chase said. "He was so skinny, and he wasn't vicious at all. I definitely knew I couldn't just leave him up there." She tried to lure it into the truck bed with "about a half-pound of jerky." The dog, however, didn't have the strength to jump, so she threw her hunting jacket over the dog in case it tried to bite. Chase took the dog home to Lyons, where she cleaned him up before driving him to the shelter.

Rice Lake, WI, November 19, 2006 --(PR.COM)-- There are two ways to age your whitetail deer. One is to age your whitetail deer by determining the physical age in years. The other is to age your whitetail deer similar to the way meat shops age beef. Marty Prokop explains how to age a whitetail deer. Marty Prokop is resident deer expert at http://www.free-deer-hunting-tips.com and has 24-years experience deer hunting, butchering deer for deer hunters and venison sausage making. Marty Prokop teaches deer hunting, hunter safety, deer butchering and deer sausage making classes. Marty Prokop has processed 7,805 deer, field dressed 422 deer and made over 991,990 pounds of sausage, smoked meats and jerky. Marty Prokop has years of volunteering for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) programs.

The coolers are overflowing and the packages of meat are piling up at local butcher shops as hunters bring in their deer to be processed.

This may not be the most prosperous time of year, shop owners say, but it is by far the busiest. Hundreds of deer are butchered and changed from docile-looking creatures to delicious venison steaks, sausage and jerky.

The state's nine-day gun deer season is profitable for the butchers, bountiful for hunters and boosts supplies at local food pantries.

Lon Zillman, co-owner of Zillman Meat Market, 1910 N Sixth St., in Wausau, said his coolers are nearly full of venison from hunters' recent successes. He estimates he will butcher 600 to 700 deer this year, about average for a hunting season.

Zillman said his business processes about 25 deer a day, and he likely will not be able to finish them all before Christmas.