My First Muntjac

csl

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After several encounters with these mini rockets in the woods and always being too slow to get onto them I finally managed to get my first muntjac this afternoon thanks to EMcC's eagle eyes. :)

Eddy spotted her moving through the wood and by the time I had back tracked to where he was standing and got the rifle onto the sticks she was thinking she was safe with her rear end behind a tree and stood obligingly at the bottom of the slope slightly quartering on. I managed to slip a .30-06 150gr just above the near shoulder, through the top of the heart and out just behind the far shoulder and she dropped on the spot.

Well chuffed, thanks Eddy! :D



Any tips for butchering these? Is it better to leave the haunches on the bone as they are small? Or just treat the same as roe?

Alex
 
Congratulations Alex - may there be many more to come :D Eddie's a brilliant guide & has better deer eyes than a lot of us

As for skinning & butchery - treat them as roe, but don't expect them to be as easy (the rump skin especially is like it's been superglued on)

Mole

ps good job you knelt down for that picture - the knife must have just missed you :lol::lol:
 
Well spotted I hadn't noticed that! :lol:

Thanks Mole, I had heard the skin was tough to get off. If the venison is as good as people say it will be worth the hassle though! :D

Alex
 
Oh dear, that's me failed my level 2!!! the knife is supposed to be kept in a 'sterile' - read clean area, during and after gralloching to prevent cross contamination. The next Deer I gralloch could catch Dutch Elm disease!!!!!
Joking aside , it was a well placed, calm and collected shot which did the job perfectly, well done Alex.
If I had been on the ball you would have had the Roe tonight as well but I fell foul of the trick Deer play on the best of us.
Saw one, decided to stalk it, kept looking out for any others in the immediate area, missed the one sat further away than was expected,which spotted us and made off taking the others with it!!
It was altogether an enjoyable evening, pity we didn't investigate the courting couple a little closer, that would have really warmed the cockles of my heart. Alex, I'll leave that to you to relate !!!
 
Skins no bother mate,

Skin it as you would a roe/fallow then when you get the leg skin down its back, hold it, put your knee on it and then your weight and it'll skin itself in one motion nearly.

Csl - nothing forward of your shot (especially from a .30cal) is worth keeping, the neck/front legs and all meat surrounding is that tough its at best good dog food. You made me smile when you said that your 30-06 dropped it on the spot!

Tom
 
Oh dear, that's me failed my level 2!!! the knife is supposed to be kept in a 'sterile' - read clean area, during and after gralloching to prevent cross contamination. The next Deer I gralloch could catch Dutch Elm disease!!!!!
Joking aside , it was a well placed, calm and collected shot which did the job perfectly, well done Alex.
If I had been on the ball you would have had the Roe tonight as well but I fell foul of the trick Deer play on the best of us.
Saw one, decided to stalk it, kept looking out for any others in the immediate area, missed the one sat further away than was expected,which spotted us and made off taking the others with it!!
It was altogether an enjoyable evening, pity we didn't investigate the courting couple a little closer, that would have really warmed the cockles of my heart. Alex, I'll leave that to you to relate !!!
Ah yes, the courting couple... the rut started early this year! :lol:

What with that, the pigeon shooters and the pony trekkers it's a marvel we saw anything at all! I think under the circumstances we can be forgiven for missing the roe look-out! :D

all the best,

Alex
 
Skins no bother mate,

Skin it as you would a roe/fallow then when you get the leg skin down its back, hold it, put your knee on it and then your weight and it'll skin itself in one motion nearly.

Csl - nothing forward of your shot (especially from a .30cal) is worth keeping, the neck/front legs and all meat surrounding is that tough its at best good dog food. You made me smile when you said that your 30-06 dropped it on the spot!

Tom

Thanks Tom :D

We also had a bit of a chuckle at the irony - the fact that on the rare occasion I decide to take my .30-06 instead of my .243 roe stalking and I get onto a Muntjac. :lol:

Alex
 
Its always the way,

I stalk on a friends peice now and again in Reading (lots of Roe and Fallow - and l mean lots!!) i go with my .308 and everytime i've been this year - Muntjac.....bloody things.. my local park is full of them!

Tom
 
funny enough i shot a muntjac tonight with a 30-06 180 grn and it ran off like it was not hit,not far mind you,was just an exit hole about the size of a 10p,wasnt that much bigger than the 243.was after fallow but they werent there and the unlucky muntjac appeared just as i was about to leave the high seat
 
Its always the way,

I stalk on a friends peice now and again in Reading (lots of Roe and Fallow - and l mean lots!!) i go with my .308 and everytime i've been this year - Muntjac.....bloody things.. my local park is full of them!

Tom

:lol:

We have known they were established on this patch for a while but I think this one was only the second to have been shot on this estate, the first being just last year. We've never seen them on the surrounds of the wood though, only within the wood, or crossing rides at high speed!

funny enough i shot a muntjac tonight with a 30-06 180 grn and it ran off like it was not hit,not far mind you,was just an exit hole about the size of a 10p,wasnt that much bigger than the 243.was after fallow but they werent there and the unlucky muntjac appeared just as i was about to leave the high seat

I guess higher bullet weight, lower speed, less expansion maybe? To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what to expect but from the exit wound on mine it looks like I had a reasonable amount of expansion on a 150gr speer soft point. As it's the first one I've shot I can't really compare it with the .243, but the exit hole isn't much bigger than I'd get with 100gr .243 on a roe...

Alex
 
If the venison is as good as people say it will be worth the hassle though! :D

Alex

Congratulations! There is something quite special about muntjac, isn't there.

Fresh muntjac venison is the best one could wish for. In my opinion the flavour loses its unique edge within four to five days which obviates the need for hanging the carcass. Neither does freezing do the finer cuts any favours in terms of preserving its fine and delicate taste. I would advise cutting the loins away from the saddle and enjoy them for dinner today. The neck and shoulders can be trimmed out and incorporated into any manner of diced meast recipes, my favourite is a simple casserole with mushrooms and red wine or port. As for the haunches, they can either be kept on the bone and roast whole or else broken down into the constituent muscle bundles and pan fried to your liking. Here, my favourite method is to give them a no more than a total of ten minutes or so in a drop of hot oil and chopped onions and then deglazing the pan with ginger wine while stirring in a spoonful of marmalade. Enjoy!
 
:pWell done Alex, don't throw away the front legs, put them in a slow cooker or casserole on low heat for a few hours take the meat of the bone put back in the pot and leave to soak up the gravy an hour or two... ummm yummy guess what we are having for dinner today:D
 
Well... she's all butchered!

Annoyingly the bullet just clipped the scapula on the near side so there was quite a bit of damage on the neck and shoulder that side. Still, I ended up with two good size haunches, a load of lovely fillet, a shoulder and some trimmings. :cool:

Muntjac 005 (Large).JPG
 
Well... she's all butchered!

Annoyingly the bullet just clipped the scapula on the near side so there was quite a bit of damage on the neck and shoulder that side. Still, I ended up with two good size haunches, a load of lovely fillet, a shoulder and some trimmings. :cool:

View attachment 271

Mmmmm.....What time do you want me round fer me tea???;)
 
Well... she's all butchered!

Annoyingly the bullet just clipped the scapula on the near side so there was quite a bit of damage on the neck and shoulder that side.

Should have used a Barnes! :eek:

(apologies, couldn't resist that one! :lol:)


EMcC - snap pack - interesting. we would call it 'snappin' in NE Wales. (just 'snap' in Cheshire, I believe)
 
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EMcC - snap pack - interesting. we would call it 'snappin' in NE Wales. (just 'snap' in Cheshire, I believe)
My Army intake consisted of Geordies, Jocks (highland and Lowland), Welsh, Brummies, Scousers, Mancunians, some having finished their apprenticeships, some that were caught on return from taking to sea as soon as they got their call up papers, builders labourers and coal miners, so you can imagine the education I had coming from a Somerset Farming background.
So it could be Snap, Bit, Piece or just pack lunch and I'm sure there are many more I've forgotten:)
 
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