After The Hunt

First Preparation of Trophy & Field Care
by John Bellucci, Master Taxidermist

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

“Possibly the most important thing to remember is to treat the animal as quickly as possible!”

“Jambo, Bwana!” Here I will concentrate on the concerns of getting your overseas trophies properly prepared to help ensure the best trophy mount possible. There is an old adage in the Taxidermy industry… “A beautiful mount begins in the field.” This, of course, refers to the ...

Selection of Knives & Equipment - Slaughtering & Boning
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

Virtually every one that hunts large game has at least one “hunting knife” of one sort or another that they carry into the field. Generally, these are heavy-bladed and have clip point or normal point blade shapes. In the last couple of decades, fixed-blade (sheath type) hunting knives have lost market share to quality folding knives with blade locking features. While hunting knives are handy tools to have in the field, they are not always optimum for slaughtering and butchering work. Additionally, most hunting knives have smooth handles ...

Butcher Diagrams

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Butcher Diagrams - Showing Major Cuts With Skeleton & Descriptions

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Butcher Diagrams - Showing Major Cuts With Skeleton

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Butcher ...

Meat Cuts - Showing Meat Cuts & Recommended Cooking Methods

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(click on image to enlarge to full view)
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Proper Meat Preparation - The First Hour
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

OK, you've had a successful hunt and your trophy is on the ground. You know what to do with the cape and the horns. Your taxidermist has given you all the pointers you need, but what about ...

Butchering of Wild Game
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

I was a little hesitant to take on the task of doing an article on butchering of wild game. Not because I didn’t want to do it or that it would take a long time, it’s just that proper butchering techniques are so hard to describe. Typically, this is a learn-by-seeing and then learn-by-doing effort. That being said, I will do my best to put it into words... browningbbr

For the purposes of this post, it is assumed that the meat from the carcass you are butchering will be used for steaks, roasts, chops and hamburger. It’s also assumed that the steps and procedures in the posts entitled Proper Meat Preparation - The First Hour and Aging Meat & Freezing Meat have been followed. Finally, we’ll ...

Aging Meat & Freezing Meat
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

AGING MEAT
Aging of meat is done for two reasons: First and foremost, it is a tenderization process. Second, it produces flavors that are different from those of fresh meat.

What occurs during aging to make meat more ...

Cooking Fresh Meats - Tenderness, Flavor & Juiciness
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

The purpose of this article is not to spell out a number of specific recipes for cooking of wild game. Instead, it’s to communicate some basic information about preparing and cooking fresh meat that can utilized with your favorite recipes to produce steaks, roasts and chops that are tender, juicy and flavorful.

FOOD SAFETY
No discussion of meat preparation can start ...

Making Jerky from Wild Game (or Beef)
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

Jerky is a very popular item to make from harvested venison. It keeps well, has a lot of flavor and is handy to carry into the field for snacking. Virtually every meat-eating culture has some form of jerky because it is an example of the simplest and most ancient form of meat preservation - drying.

Jerky can be made ...

Sausage Making I - Ingredients
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

There are so many types of sausages in the world and so many ways to make them, I'll need to limit my posts to the most common types and the basic information for making them. Because time is a constraint for me most days, I'm also going ...

Sausage Making II - Basic Procedures
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

As noted in my last post, the basic procedures will focus on the most popular types of sausage and will be pretty general in nature. Before I can go into the 'how' of making the products, it's worth spending a few minutes on what we are trying to accomplish.

The most basic objective of sausage making is to produce a good-tasting, safe-to-eat product with reasonable keeping qualities (shelf life). That's why the notes about cleaning, chilling and quality of ingredients in the previous posts.

The second objective is to make a product that "holds together" and has a nice appearance. Ever heard the expression that people ...

Sausage Making III - Casings & Stuffing
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

The last post dealt with making sausage blends. If we've done that correctly, now we need to stuff them into something... a casing!

There are a number of casing types available, but each is specific to a type of sausage and its intended use. Here's some explanation of the more common types, how to prepare them for use and how to stuff them.

FIBROUS CASINGS
Fibrous casings are not edible (peel off prior to eating) and are made out of paper. Specifically, ...

Sausage Making IV - Fermenting & Smoking
by browningbbr

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Excerpt from a post in the AfricaHunting.com Forum, to read the full thread click here.

Just a recap from earlier posts to provide some references for this one: There are 3 major classes of fully-cooked sausages:

COOKED SAUSAGES
These products require refrigeration and are fully-cooked, ready-to-eat. Generally they are not “cured” (no sodium nitrite) and not smoked. As a result, they are white in color. An example is cooked bratwurst.

COOKED-SMOKED SAUSAGES
Also require refrigeration and are fully-cooked, ready-to-eat. They are cured with sodium nitrite and are smoked. Examples include wieners and ...