Poorly, if he won.
Stalking Show butchery competition
- Thread starter VSS
- Start date
@theroedeerguy
Well-Known Member
The suspense continues……If you were placed you might not yet have heard. Deanne said it would most likely be Tuesday or Wednesday before she got around to phoning all the prizewinners. The only reason I know I won is because I happened to be still on site late on Sunday afternoon when they totted up scores, so they rounded me up for a photo shoot.
So keep your fingers crossed, you may yet be lucky
Which station were you on Saturday morning? I had a look at them (checking out the opposition) and there was some good work on display there.
I was station number 5.
Congratulations and thanks for the update.
I was just glad to be walking away with my fingers still intact!
The knives I had were surgically sharp and had a nice feel in the hand.
There was a very good one I thought, at station 4 or 5 on the Saturday morning (I forget which it was), so you may still be in with a chance.
Oh, so it was you guys who blunted the knives so us Sunday competitors had to struggle
To be honest, I did a bit of a poor job getting the silverskin off one strip, but luckily I was able to salvage it.
As far as the judging goes, there was a lot more emphasis placed on presentation this year.
Love you tooPoorly, if he won.
Ok, serious question. I have the skill of a horse with a blunt knife, so I am interested to know the rules as I was watching people being very detailed with getting the meat off the bone and watched somebody scraping the straps to makes it look really neat.
Just interested to see, what is the aim? Also, the 4 piles at the top? One is silver skin, what are the others?
This is new to me, so I was intrigued to see how detailed people were working
Basically, we were provided with a long saddle of muntjac and were asked to remove the loins and tenderloins, and trim them up properly. In my case, I didn't do anything any different in the competition as I do at home when butchering a carcass for sale. Presentation is important if I want people to buy it!
As for the piles along the top (looking at photo in post #11), on the left is the silverskin off the loins. The next pile is all the rest of the sinewy bits, stuff that I'd normally run through the mincer as "pet food grade" (or possibly incorporate into sausages, depending on quality). Next there's a pile of good quality trim, suitable for top grade mince, and finally there's a pile of intercostal meat that I would be putting into burgers.
For me, sorting stuff out like that is all about minimising waste from a carcass by optimising the use of each part. You could just bung all those piles into one heap and run the whole lot through the mincer together, but you'd end up with a very mediocre product.
There was no set time limit.What time are you given to complete the task ?
I looked at the work Sunday lunch and remember commenting on the one that had the rib bones trimmed back, so very likely was VSS's.
The chap next to me on station 1 had also trimmed out the ribs. Made a tidier job of doing it than I did, so I guess something else in his presentation must've let him down.
(Trimming out the intercostal meat from between the ribs wasn't actually a required part of the competition).
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It's a skill we have!
8x57
Distinguished Member
I'm sure you have.
However there's a vet in a practise local to me who I wouldn't trust to take the skin off a rice pudding.
Check out Scott Rea on YouTube. That’s how I learnt and it is sooooo easy. I was gobsmacked. Mine is still not a work of art, but it spread up the process a hell of a lot.
Actually it's a skill some have better than others. Halstead's principles are the basis of surgery and most of it is just a logical approach to ensuring a would heals well. It can be summed up as "respect the tissues".
This is exactly what she says, and finds it baffling that I’m so ham fisted.
She’ll often be walking past, and I can see her step past, tense up, mutter something derogatory under her breath, turn round, demand the knife and despatch me to start mopping up. By the time I’ve got the bucket full, it’s done.
Wizardry, I tell you.
I just had the call from Deanne......Second place (again)! So that's an SD 1-2, so far. I'm made up.
I thought it was good enough for a top five place, but didn't expect a place in the prizes. My 'chains' (whatever they are on a muntjac): were virtually non-existent.
Not sure what I've won precisely, but it's one in the eye for whoever that bloke was tutting and criticising me throughout. Cheers mate.
The chaps from Lincolnshire game came up whilst I was working and said that I was doing well. Mind you, I'd been at it for over an hour and we agreed that they definitely wouldn't hire me on an hourly rate
.(That's a bit of glare there BTW, not sinew. Heaven forfend; evil stuff.)
Congratulations again Tim @VSS . A worthy winner.
I thought it was good enough for a top five place, but didn't expect a place in the prizes. My 'chains' (whatever they are on a muntjac): were virtually non-existent.
Not sure what I've won precisely, but it's one in the eye for whoever that bloke was tutting and criticising me throughout. Cheers mate.
The chaps from Lincolnshire game came up whilst I was working and said that I was doing well. Mind you, I'd been at it for over an hour and we agreed that they definitely wouldn't hire me on an hourly rate
.(That's a bit of glare there BTW, not sinew. Heaven forfend; evil stuff.)
Congratulations again Tim @VSS . A worthy winner.
Well done!I just had the call from Deanne......Second place (again)! So that's an SD 1-2, so far. I'm made up.
I thought it was good enough for a top five place, but didn't expect a place in the prizes. My 'chains' (whatever they are on a muntjac): were virtually non-existent.
Not sure what I've won precisely, but it's one in the eye for whoever that bloke was tutting and criticising me throughout. Cheers mate.
The chaps from Lincolnshire game came up whilst I was working and said that I was doing well. Mind you, I'd been at it for over an hour and we agreed that they definitely wouldn't hire me on an hourly rate
View attachment 415793
.(That's a bit of glare there BTW, not sinew. Heaven forfend; evil stuff.)
Congratulations again Tim @VSS . A worthy winner.
That looks really tidy!
I'd have placed you above myself with that, to be honest.
I think you'll have won either binoculars or boots, plus the knives, if I remember correctly.
That's very kind of you, but your chains are a lovely bit of work. A worthy winner. Quite a comeback from your earlier 'knife-work'. A good story.
Yes, I got binoculars but not sure what model. I got a lovely roll of knives last year and, much as I love them and use them daily, I don't need another load.
We share a mutual acquaintance actually who was telling me that you're a terrible butcher. I won't tell you his name, but I will tell him on your behalf that he's full of s**t.
Should be the "chains".
So tiny on a muntjac they were virtually impossible to separate off in one identifiable piece.
I think I just picked two likely looking bits out of the scraps pile, trimmed them up and hoped for the best!
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