When most people hear of foraging they think of picking little dried berries off bushes or maybe even digging up a tuber. A wider definition would include anything not domesticated that can be found and eaten.
Above: Wapiti, those aren't rutabagas waiting to be plucked.
The harvest of almost all animals in America is limited and managed by the various states divisions of wildlife. Like any other wild resource meat can be over harvested causing populations to decline. Without human foraging populations can likewise rise above desirable levels resulting in large numbers of winter kill or damage to domestic croplands.
Children are naturally enthusiastic participants in all types of foraging. The idea of "free" food that doesn't come from a supermarket is intriguing.
Thipalada holds a leg.
Of course little foraging for meat is free. In this case the recurring costs are about $50 per animal. Not too bad considering a weight of around 500lbs. At the least half the weight is usable, with a little effort 4/5 or more of the weight is put to good use, more on that later.
Below from the same day a mule deer. Costing around $35 per animal licenses per pound come out somewhat higher. When compared to low quality poultry, beef, or swine, venison is only half as expensive and involves more preparation and storage. The flip side is very high quality clean meat the harvesting of which left a very small carbon foot print. I like it because it's almost impossible to purchase the various cuts and parts of animals from the supermarket.
Sengthian is carefully removing the back strap which runs all the way from the neck down to the tail on both sides of the spine. Often considered the best cut of meat, actually that designation probably goes to the tenderloin. which is along the lower spine on the inside of the animal.
Good video on butchering. http://www.youtube.com/...
No need for fancy knives, just one very sharp one. In this case it's a cheap and old steak knife with a thin flexible blade. The knife only needed to be sharpened once during the entire process in the barn.
If you look carefully below the right front leg you can see the exit hole. I use an E-bullet which contains no lead so that we don't have to worry about the tiny fragments proven to fly off high speed bullets. The extra cost of E-bullet is about 50 cents per, I usually use one or at most two per animal.
Meat Wagon en route to the house
Above maybe 80lbs total weight of usable meat from a mature but young doe. The bones make the stock for the Lao variation of that delicious Vietnamese soup spelled pho. The bones of domestic beef are far too oily for good pho. The entire carcass has been cut up into manageable pieces. Many things that the processor would grind into hamburger or make into sausage are actually very good if cut and used correctly. The lower parts of both legs full of ligaments and tendons are also full of flavor. They are cut very very thin across the grain and gently placed on top of the steaming bowl of pho to cook only from the brief heat of the water. Hard to put a price on something unavailable otherwise.
I failed to use the tongue, forgot about it. Likewise I should have scraped the ears, sliced very thin and added to pickled cabbage they soften and add flavor. The lower intestine makes a sausage casing far superior to the thin pig casings sold at butcher shops. Hide was salted and awaits tanning.
Everything cut, trimmed, and wrapped, first in plastic wrap then in butcher paper, Sengthian is adding a touch more bang nua to the ribs for marinating. The freezer is one of those newer super efficient ones. It wasn't very expensive and keeps foods very cold.
The heart, liver, lungs, were marinated prior to jerking (in the sun for free) the day the animals were shot. The jerked meat is deep fried before it is too dry, then frozen, to be eaten on the side with that hot papaya salad.
In the rear pot is all the flank steak cut into pieces to be cooked into aw, that spicy slow stew made from game, kafir lime, galanga, tiny round eggplants, hot peppers, mouse ear mushrooms, padek, and the usual spices.
Check out a fantastic first of it's kind cookbook by some nice folks.
Food from Nothern Laos/The Boat Landing Cookbook
I just realized that I've digressed totally into the food and away from the foraging, but in the end isn't that what it's all about?