AHAMO ARCHERY CLUB

September 20, 2004
September 2004 Newsletter

CLUB OFFICERS

President:        Dick Sousa     (592-8045)
Vice President:   Bill Lewis     (498-9364)      
Secretary:        Lee Pereksta   (592-3856)
Treasurer:        Dave Holthouse (291-0211)
Trustees:         Ed Rebarich    (345-7608)
                  Steve Murphy   (291-7554)
Sergeant at Arms: John Terfone   (738-1692)
News Editor:      Lee Pereksta   (592-3856)
3D Coordinator:   Chuck Vincent  (733-2792)
VP of Indoor:     John Terfone   (738-1692)

Indoor range phone (734-7272)

Key Dates to Remember

    
    September 15, Archery Deer Season Opens
    September 28, (Tuesday) - start up of indoor leagues. 
    October 4, Club Meeting - Indoor Range

September Club Meeting

There were 14 members at the September meeting. We discussed 2005 shoots, Indoor Leagues, and the final outdoor shoot held August 28 and 29. There were two new members voted in.

New members:

The newest members of the club are Rick and Eleanor Baysinger, and Melvin and Louella Butler. Welcome to the Ahamo Archery Club

Outdoor Leagues:

The outdoor leagues are now over. Many thanks to Mike Stanner for running the leagues at his home. Those that shot really enjoyed shooting as well as Mike’s hospitality.

The league winner was Greg Anania. Greg will have his name engraved on a plaque that will be on display at the indoor range. Future outdoor league winners will be able to add their names to the plaque as well. Second place was Rick Krystof, and third was Mike Stanner.

Indoor Leagues Starting:

At the September Club meeting members were asking about when indoor leagues would be starting. We decided to get them started on September 28th.

Leagues are for both members and non-members. If you know someone that would like to shoot in our leagues, please invite them to join in. Leagues start at 7:00, and will be starting Tuesday, September 28.

Outdoor 3D - Final Report:

The final outdoor 3D of the year was held on August 28 and 29. Many thanks go out to everyone that helped at this shoot - there was a lot to do.

Thank you to those that helped run the shoot, run registration, run the pop-up shoot, serve food, loaned us their trailers, brought out their ATV’s, let us use their compressors (and ran out to buy parts when needed)... and also to those that provided muscle to set up, take down, and unload targets. I would like to name each of you for the newsletter, but there were so many that helped, I’m afraid someone might be missed. So.. a big thank you to all that helped.

At the end of the shoot, we held the raffle drawing for the glass eagle, and the tree stand. The tree stand winner was Darby Anderson, and the eagle winner was Jon Ott. Congratulations to both of these winners.

On Sunday the 29th, we also held the Pop-up championship. See the scores in the shoot results, to see who the champions were.

>Bow-Hunter Ed Class:

Ahamo hosted a Bow-Hunter Education class the first week of September. Thank you to Nick Tramp organizing the class. Thank you also to those that helped. class teachers and helpers were Bill Lewis, Steve Williamson, John Terfone, Jimmy Terfone, Lee Pereksta, and of course Nick. We also had help from Mike Sharp, another Game and Parks Bowhunter Instructor.

We had a class of 18 people, that were almost all adults. Everyone seemed to enjoy the class and the feedback forms were all positive. One thing that we noted (and that is noted in almost all classes), is that those taking the class need a lot of shooting help. I for one, would like to see a shooting skills requirement along with the written test, but I don’t think it will ever happen.

Newsletter Items

If you are a club member and have an item for sale, send me the information to put in the newsletter. Also, if you have an interesting deer story or any archery tips you would like to share with club members please send them to me for the newsletter.

My Email address is: hunterlee@MSN.com

Field Dressing Your Deer:

I have a field dressing article I put in the September newsletter each year - and here it is again. Hopefully it’s helpful to both experienced and new bowhunters. The better you take care of your deer immediately after harvesting it, the better it will taste when you cook it.

1. Field dressing kit.

All you really need is a sharp knife, but there are some things that you may also want on hand. My kit consists of a small knife, a small towel, several paper towels, a small saw, some water, rope, and a plastic bag for the heart. I also carry a small bottle of water with a little vinegar to help wash out the blood when I’m through.

Note that your knife does not need to be big. The smaller it is, the easier it is to work with it without getting cut. I use a 2 1/2 inch buck knife with a locking blade.

The important thing is that your knife must be very sharp. It will be easier to work with, and will do a much neater job.

2. Preparing to field dress your deer

Be certain your broadhead is not inside the body cavity. Make every effort to find your arrow. If you can’t locate the broadhead, check to see if there is an entry and an exit point in the carcass. If you are not certain where the broadhead is, open the deer up carefully during the field dressing process and use an arrow without a broadhead to poke around inside the cavity to try and locate the broadhead.

Tag your animal first - this is the law, and I always do this right away. With the new paper tags, you will at least need to punch your holes indicating the date of the kill. Next, drag the deer to where you want to field dress it. I always look for a flat area with two small trees on each side of the deer. I also lay my towel next to the deer and lay out everything I will be using, on or next to the towel.

3. Make your first cut

Cut around the anus first. Pull it out a little and cut around it as you pull it out. It is much easier to cut around the anus while the deer is on its side, before you spread its back legs out. I cut in about 3 inches or so deep.

4. Spread out the hind legs

and cut from the breastbone. I use two pieces of rope to spread the legs out, stretching them out between two small trees. You can also have someone hold them apart.

Begin cutting at the breastbone. I pull up on the hair and cut into the hide right at the breastbone. Once started, I cut into the hide (including the belly muscle), insert two fingers and pull up as I cut.

Keep pulling and cutting until you get to the sex organs. Pull up on these and cut around them. There is a long tube running from the sex organs to the anus on a buck. Cut into the meat and along side of this as you pull up on it. When I get to the anus, I cut this off and toss it aside. On a doe, you should cut around the udders.

5. Cut through the Pelvic bone with your saw

This is not necessary. One year I cut in around the anus deep enough that I could pull the anus and colon out from the inside. Because of CWD, the game and parks web page was recommending the bone not be cut just to be safe. However, as soon as I got to the butcher he cut it so he could be sure the inside was clean and so it would cool faster. The butcher still boned out the deer, but the only bone he cut was the pelvic bone. I went back to cutting it for that reason, it allows the deer to cool faster, and cutting the bone makes it easier to drag the deer out of the woods. When I cut the bone, I cut through the meat straight down to the bone with my knife, then use my saw to cut through the pelvic bone. When I am almost all of the way through, I lean on each side of the back legs to pop the bone open.

6. Cut through the diaphragm

The diaphragm is a thin piece of tissue separating the stomach and chest cavity. To get to the heart and lungs you must cut through this tissue. I cut around the entire cavity, through the diaphragm. I also pull the stomach to one side, then the other while cutting through whatever tissue is attached between the stomach and the body cavity. This will make it easier to pull out the stomach.

7. Pull everything out of the body cavity

To do this, some people split the breast bone first. Some use their knives for this, which can be very dangerous. It is very easy to have a knife slip and cut yourself or someone else while cutting through the breast bone. If you want to split the breast bone, cut through the hide first, then use a saw to cut the bone. I leave the bone in-tact and reach in up to my elbows. I reach in with my left hand and grab the wind pipe. Then, with my finger along the back of the blade of my knife, I keep the blade away from the arm and hand inside the deer and reach in with my knife hand until it is past the hand holding the wind pipe. Cut through the wind pipe with your knife, and carefully pull your knife out turning it away from your hand that is inside the deer. Toss the knife onto your towel and reach back in to pull the wind pipe. At this point, everything should pull out, all the way and over the back legs.

8. Final steps

After pulling everything out, I always hang my deer in a tree and spread the legs to let it drain. I have a rope and pulley system I use for this, but you can pull it up without pulley’s or elevate it a little on a log or hill. The important thing is to drain the blood out as best as you can. I have a small bottle of water I carry that has a small amount of white vinegar (a tsp. or so) in it. I also have the top of a Clean Shower spray bottle that I screw onto the water bottle when I need it. This works great to ‘mist’ the inside of the deer and then wipe it out. I wipe the carcass as clean as I can with paper towels and leave it to cool while I carry my gear back to my truck.

If you leave your deer while you carry your equipment out, note that Nebraska requires that you roll your tag up and tie it to the inside of the deer’s ear.

Be sure to clean up your paper towels, and to cut out and save the heart. If you don’t like the heart, you’re missing out on a treat. My wife makes a great pate with my deer heart that is always a hit over the holidays.

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