Being A Mercy Hunter

I've previously talked about what kind of hunters are in the world. Trophy Hunter. Freezer Filler. Mercy Hunter.

Honestly, I don't want to be a mercy hunter because that means an animal is suffering. I know, I know. Why should I worry about an animal suffering when I shoot at them? That's an whole other argument for another time. 

This season ended up having a mercy kill for Rambob and I. It was during shotgun season. A normal night of sitting in our own stands. We are texting back and forth. Then I get a text from Rambob..."hey. I got a buck out".That's the end of texting. 

Normally we stop texting if something is out. We let the other focus and do their thing. But this time, the texts kept coming....he's been hit in the front leg....he limping....he's walking on three legs...he's by himself...man this is terrible...how sad...

....then I heard "BOOM!" 

Rambob did a mercy kill. He felt this guy wouldn't make it through the winter. He didn't like watching an injured animal trying to survive. He didn't think twice about "wasting" a tag on a non-trophy buck. 

We continued hunting until dark, tracked the deer, tagged and loaded him up. When we got home and went to unload him, Rambob said hold on a minute, I want to show you something.

Rambob said that when a deer gets injured on one side....the opposite side will have abnormalities if the deer survives. Huh? Yup. Look...the right leg was broke....maybe hit by a car? It's locked in a bent position. 

Now look at his hooves...normal

then....oh my

...now look at his left rack

Well all be darn....42 years old and still getting learned...

Grandma's Fruit Cobbler AKA My Blueberry Cobbler

During my blueberry picking this past summer, I kept one thing in mind.....COBBLER. Blueberry Cobbler. Come to mama! So I made one. And then another one. And another one. Now it's time to make ANOTHER one.

This "Fruit" Cobbler recipe I'm getting ready to share came from my Grandma and is pretty dang handy to keep around. I say "fruit" because you can use ANY fruit, fresh or frozen. I usually make blueberry or peach cobbler. If you use fresh peaches, just toss them in some cornstarch first. Otherwise, mix your berries, keep your berries straight, whatever tickles your berries, just make this cobbler ASAP.

Today, I'm doing a blueberry cobbler because well I have like 24 lbs of blueberries frozen in my freezer. So get yourself a 11x17 glass dish and dump in 3-4 cups of blueberries (fresh or frozen). As I hang my head down in shame, I admit...I get heavy handed with the fruit and go for the 4+ cups of fruit. So while you are doing this, pre-heat your oven to 350*

Now mix together:

1/3 cup melted butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1-1/2 cup flour

1-1/4 tsp salt

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Once this is done, pour the batter over the fruit. I like to spread it around evenly. Then mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp cornstarch...and sprinkle that over the batter. As I hang my head down in shame, I admit... I get heavy handed with the sugar and go for the 1/2 cup of sugar.What?! No, sir I don't have a sweet tooth

Now pour 1 cup of BOILING water over the batter. It's not that big of a deal, just stick a cup in the microwave and hit HIGH for a minute or two. Sheesh. you lazy, lazy people.

Now stick that pan of deliciousness in the oven for about 40-50 minutes or until golden brown.

You can eat it warm. You can eat it cold. You can even eat it with vanilla ice cream.