# First Deer of the year-need rib recipes



## 73saint (Dec 8, 2019)

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This old boy didn’t have much horns, but he was 200 lbs,  I made a perfect shot and dropped him where he stood.  Now the fun begins!

Over the years I’ve gotten more and more into keeping and using every part of the deer.  Heart,  shanks, and this year I swore I was going to start keeping the ribs. 
Only problem is they take up a lot of space.  We’re traveling home from camp now, and they wouldn’t even fit in the ice chest.  So I threw them in a large plastic bag and tossed them into the deep freezer over night, so they would stay cold; but I need to do something with them soon, like this week.
Any tried and true deer rib recipes out there?  I could always bone out the meat and use for sausage, but I’ve heard stories of folks swearing by their deer rib recipe. 
Lemme know if any of you hunters have any input.  Thanks!!


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## Brokenhandle (Dec 8, 2019)

Never actually tried ribs off deer but how about 

 Bearcarver
  bacon on a stick? My son loved them with pork ribs. That's a nice buck, congrats. Our deer season started yesterday, no luck for me yet but do have 6 hearts from my buddies 

Ryan


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## Bearcarver (Dec 8, 2019)

Nice Looking Buck there, Saints Fan!!!
That rack looks like what we call around here an Old "Swamp Buck". That narrow High Rack doesn't get tangled up going through the thickets, like a wide rack does, and in the swamp they can just lay their head back and run right through the Thick Swamps.

I can't help you with the Ribs, because the Deer here in PA are so full of Winter Fat that tastes like old Candles, and nobody around here that I know of ever keeps any Venison Ribs.
A meal like that & all you do the rest of the night is scrape the Tallow off the roof of your mouth.
Like.

Bear


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## Winterrider (Dec 8, 2019)

Don't save them on ND deer either.


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## Hawging It (Dec 8, 2019)

I never save them. Total waste of effort and time. Just my take.


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## mike243 (Dec 8, 2019)

I ate the ribs on the first deer I ever shot, it had fed in a soy bean field all its life, 1.5 years old, back then a oven was all we owned ,salt pepper and baked til they looked done, they were great,  Havent eaten any in year because of time it takes to cut them down. I am going to eat the next set though.


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## archeryrob (Dec 9, 2019)

Bearcarver said:


> I can't help you with the Ribs, because the Deer here in PA are so full of Winter Fat that tastes like old Candles, and nobody around here that I know of ever keeps any Venison Ribs.



It's funny you wrote that Bear. I just saw a post the other day on a FB Venison group. The guy is rendering down all the deer fat and using it straight to make candles. It tastes like candles because they are candle making storage sheds.  

I personally have rendered a deer before and used it with beeswax to make wad lube for black powder wads. I have some two years old rendered, dry and sitting in a tupperware container warm in the basement. It juts doesn't go bad.






Made some of the best dog bacon from the way my dog acted. She new it was wild game and got a piece or two a day until gone.

I threw the carcass of the last doe in my two chicken coops yesterday morning. The chickens came out with this WTF look on their faces. They pecked at it all day, but not a lot of interest. I threw a freezer burnt rabbit in there and couldn't find the bones. Messed up bologna or meat scraps and they shred it. Deer carcass and they said "Nope!"


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## Bearcarver (Dec 9, 2019)

archeryrob said:


> It's funny you wrote that Bear. I just saw a post the other day on a FB Venison group. The guy is rendering down all the deer fat and using it straight to make candles. It tastes like candles because they are candle making storage sheds.
> 
> I personally have rendered a deer before and used it with beeswax to make wad lube for black powder wads. I have some two years old rendered, dry and sitting in a tupperware container warm in the basement. It juts doesn't go bad.
> View attachment 418910
> ...




Yup----As kids, the 4 of us used to hate Venison, but my Dad never used to do a good job of trimming the Fat from the Meat. I still only enjoy a few parts of a Deer, and prefer Beef over Deer, except my Deerburger Mix (with Beef & Pork), and when I make Venison Dried Beef, nobody can tell it from Beef. They're both Awesome.

Bear


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## 73saint (Dec 9, 2019)

Bearcarver said:


> Nice Looking Buck there, Saints Fan!!!
> That rack looks like what we call around here an Old "Swamp Buck". That narrow High Rack doesn't get tangled up going through the thickets, like a wide rack does, and in the swamp they can just lay their head back and run right through the Thick Swamps.
> 
> I can't help you with the Ribs, because the Deer here in PA are so full of Winter Fat that tastes like old Candles, and nobody around here that I know of ever keeps any Venison Ribs.
> ...


Thanks Bear!  Yeah, I've heard that about the fat and general consensus it that they aren't worth the trouble.  Thanks for the input!


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## 73saint (Dec 9, 2019)

Thanks for the feedback everyone.  I guess now I know why all of these years I haven't kept them!


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## Bearcarver (Dec 9, 2019)

73saint said:


> Thanks Bear!  Yeah, I've heard that about the fat and general consensus it that they aren't worth the trouble.  Thanks for the input!




I'm not sure what they are like down your way---Maybe not so bad because your Deer don't need all that fat to make it through the Winter. Around here, in the Mountains they were known for herding up before a Storm, and many would die---Sometimes on top of each other from different snow storms. Sad sight in Spring Time Trout fishing trips through Northern PA.
Not so bad lately though.

Bear


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## 73saint (Dec 9, 2019)

Bearcarver said:


> I'm not sure what they are like down your way---Maybe not so bad because your Deer don't need all that fat to make it through the Winter. Around here, in the Mountains they were known for herding up before a Storm, and many would die---Sometimes on top of each other from different snow storms. Sad sight in Spring Time Trout fishing trips through Northern PA.
> Not so bad lately though.
> 
> Bear


Well, I've come to really enjoy Steve Rinella's show and podcast, Meateater.  I found a recipe that I will at least try.  We'll see how it goes.


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## archeryrob (Dec 10, 2019)

Up here the deer have a fat cap on the top of the rump that is 5/16" thick or more depending on the deer. The flank meat on the ribs has two layers of fat on it. You can't get it out to make it like ribs and it is an huge amount of work to get that small flank steak out. Most people , like me, leave it for the coons and possums and pile carcasses in the woods for "the critters". I may trim some on a buck or a mature doe, but it depends on the deer and my time. Thick fat actually makes it easier to trim. Thin fat and you can't get it apart easy.

This might only apply to the East and Middle atlantic. When deer are eating acorns (Black or red oaks) that bitter tannic acid goes right to the fat layer. This is why deer fat can be awful and beef and pig fat nice. Grass and corn feed makes for a smoother tasting meat. Out here people say farm deer taste better than mountain deer. Farm deer browse soy bean leaves all summer. Mountain deer honeysuckle, russian olive, laurel and acorns. So the taste or your deer might be different than what Bear and I know of. We don't have the yarding problem he speaks of though.


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## Bearcarver (Dec 10, 2019)

archeryrob said:


> Up here the deer have a fat cap on the top of the rump that is 5/16" thick or more depending on the deer. The flank meat on the ribs has two layers of fat on it. You can't get it out to make it like ribs and it is an huge amount of work to get that small flank steak out. Most people , like me, leave it for the coons and possums and pile carcasses in the woods for "the critters". I may trim some on a buck or a mature doe, but it depends on the deer and my time. Thick fat actually makes it easier to trim. Thin fat and you can't get it apart easy.
> 
> This might only apply to the East and Middle atlantic. When deer are eating acorns (Black or red oaks) that bitter tannic acid goes right to the fat layer. This is why deer fat can be awful and beef and pig fat nice. Grass and corn feed makes for a smoother tasting meat. Out here people say farm deer taste better than mountain deer. Farm deer browse soy bean leaves all summer. Mountain deer honeysuckle, russian olive, laurel and acorns. So the taste or your deer might be different than what Bear and I know of. We don't have the yarding problem he speaks of though.




Uh Oh---Another Bear Story!!
Years ago my Dad (a hunting & fishing machine) taught me a lot of hunting & fishing stuff:
One was that in Northern PA the Deer would herd up just before a storm & head up hill, maybe because they figured they couldn't go uphill during & after a big storm.  Problems were once they were up there it got crowded with deer, and not enough for all to eat. Then the bigger deer would eat the browse as high as they could reach in the trees, and the small ones would starve first because they can't reach as high, even standing on their hind legs. Many tried to move elsewhere, but they would slide down hills & some would break legs. Many would stay there & run out of food, and starve to death. We'd find them in Spring, when we were Trout fishing, laying all over the place. Not a pretty sight---Didn't smell too good either when they thawed out.
Found one deer stuck in the V-crotch of a tree without it's head. Head was about 50' away. It seemed a Bear was dragging the deer (probably closer to his Den), but it got stuck in the Tree, so he kept fighting with it until he ripped the head clean off. Don't know why, but it appeared he left it and grabbed another one.
BTW: No Relation!!

Bear


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## 73saint (Dec 10, 2019)

Mother nature is not for sissies that's for sure.


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