Henry the Moose

David and his dad both put in for a moose tag this year-and they each drew one.  Apparently, each hunter is allowed one moose in his or her lifetime.  You have to pay to be put into a lottery.

And they won!  They won the lottery!

I would rather win a different kind of lottery.  But to each his own.

David’s dad was able to harvest a moose on his own property a little awhile ago.

And, yes.  I just said “harvest.”  That is what the hunter-men say.  I used to say “catch.”  You know, as in,

“Hello, honey!  How was hunting?  Did you catch anything?”

Hunter peoples do not like this.  They prefer “kill” or “harvest.”  Consider yourselves informed.

Anywho.  David, his dad, and Sweet Pea all went out hunting last Saturday.  And they were successful!

David sent me this picture of himself after he had caught harvested his moose.  You know.  THE picture.  THE harvest picture.

THE harvest picture of David with his ONCE IN A LIFETIME MOOSE!

He looks ecstatic, does he not?

He claims it isn’t very big.  I think it is plenty big and now I have about 350 pounds of moose meat in my freezer.

Don’t be jealous.

The day after he caught slaughtered the moose, we all went to his parents’ house to cut up, grind, and package the meat.

Be warned!  These pictures are gross.

This was the cutting table.  The moose was hanging near by.  I won’t show you that picture.  It is a bit too much, if you know what I mean.  But the moose was hanging there, and they would cut off some of its flesh, place it on the table, and cut it up there.

If the meat was a roast or steaks, we would just package it as is.  But most of the meat we ground up into hamburger.  David would run it through the grinder and I would package it.  The boys would take turns labeling the meat and stacking it neatly into boxes.  It was a family affair!

I have been a bit nervous as to whether or not this moose, whom we named Henry,  was going to end up plastered on my wall.

Because we all know how much Taylor loves big game proudly displayed on her walls.

David said he is not planning on hanging it in the house.  It is too big.

Darn.

Instead, it will hang in his shop.

He is planning on bleaching the skull.  Or something.  I don’t know.  It all makes me shudder.

Here is another picture, for your viewing pleasure.

At one point, David took out the poor creature’s eyeballs and gave them to Handsome Dude.  And, of course, Handsome Dude chased Sweet Pea around with them.

***

I cooked Moose Spaghetti last night.  It is just like regular spaghetti, but instead of ground beef, I used ground moose.

I even tried a tiny bit.

I lived.

***

The vast amounts of moose meat came in handy this week!  While we were almost an hour away from home at church, our neighbor called to let us know all three of our horses were running amok.

Yay!

David headed for home, but while he was en route, our neighbor was able to get them all put back into their fence.  And to thank her, we sent her off with some of her own moose meat.

Moose!  It is a gift to be shared amongst redneck neighbors, such as ourselves.

***

David got me up on a horse today.  He was pretty shocked.

I lasted for about 5 minutes.

This might shock you, but I am not really the “horse type.”

***

I have some shocking news.  You better sit down for this.

The boys let all the hens out the other day.

I know, I know.  I was dumbfounded myself.

We thought we had gotten them all in, but Sweet Pea found this one seeking refuge in the Bobcat.

We found it humorous.

We got the little lady back into her coop and went to town for the evening.  When we returned, we found another hen had taken refuge on our fall porch decor.

It is hard to see, but she is kind of behind the pumpkin.  She is black with white spots.

The kids thought it was hilarious.

So I am sharing it with you.

Alright.  Happy Sunday!