Salvaging Sheep
The state is conducting periodic helicopter sheep shoots on Mauna Kea to control the population. These feral animals are destroying the native Palila bird's habitat. Some see the hunt as a sad and savage event, my husband sees it as an opportunity. Our freezer is now full.
The sheep salvage sounds like an experience I wish I wouldn't have missed. A helicopter herds the animals into one area then someone in the chopper shoots them all. The bodies are then loaded into a sling and flown to a field where trucks of salvagers like my husband eagerly wait. A massive ball or legs, horns and filthy fur is placed in the grass and a free-for-all ensues as the meat lovers charge towards the pile of carcusus.
Meat Grinder
Chris managed to bag two sheep this way. We ended up with about 40 pounds of meat that we divided equally into roasts, steaks and ground sheep. A highlight of the project was using Chris' homemade meat grinder. Yes, homemade. He was at a farm auction years ago in Oregon where he purchased for five bucks some meat grinder attacments. An American made motor salvaged from a broken down GE dryer, a board and some wiring and wa-la! I am told this meat grinder has served him for years and has even processed a bear.
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3 comments:
I gasped and covered my mouth several times while reading this. WOW. That's all I have right now. Homemade meat grinder?
Hey A,
Shoot, it's not like it's even good game. Goat's up there with squirrel. Stew meat. That's it.
I grew up in Appalachia, where hunting is huge. The first day of deer season is pretty much a holiday, but the idea of herding and killing a species en masse sounds too much like, well, genocide.
And the reasoning: killing to preserve life?
And A-mous - don't knock owning a meat grinder. You never know when a vegetarian may stop by ...
Have you ever thought of making "Sheep" Jerky?
We make Deer Jerky using Huli Huli sauce and a dehydrator.
I swear it taste just like BEEF jerky.
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