Bow Hunting and Fried Heart

Yesterday was one of those rare days that I had nothing planned or scheduled.  I had been looking at that day on the calendar for a couple of weeks and thinking about all the possible things I could do. When yesterday finally came I figured it would be a perfect day to go sit in my tree stand for the whole day.  A friend of mine has been so kind as to let me put a stand up on his property and last year I was able to take two deer out there so I figured I would try it again this year.  I had been out to my stand several times already this year but could only manage a few hours at a time.  About a week ago I walked out to my stand around three in the afternoon and jumped three deer up and watched them run away. The Trail camera I have out there has been showing deer out there at all times of the day so I thought it would be great to sit there all day and see what happens.

As it turned out I didn't get out there as early as I had hoped but was up in the stand around 11 in the morning. this would give me a good six hours of sitting out there and hopefully I would see a couple of deer.  For the first hour or so I sat and read my book without any interruptions and not a lot moving around me.  Around 1230 the squirrels must have woke up because in a matter of minutes it seemed like the whole area was infested with squirrels.  After about an hour of squirrel mania I was almost convinced that I should go home get my .22 rifle and come back for the squirrels.  I have done that in the past and it never works out for me so I decided to stay put. 

As the afternoon passed I heard several things that could have been deer but didn't see anything.  Most of the leaves are off the trees now which gives you a better view of the woods, but you still can't see everything.  I heard something moving towards me and it sounded different than the squirrels so I got an arrow ready and waited.  A few minutes later a good sized black Lab came strolling through.  At first I was disappointed because I was sure the dog would scare off any deer that are out there.  I have seen this dog on my trail camera a couple of times and have seen deer within the same time frame so I figured I would just wait out the day and see.  

At around 3:30 in the afternoon something very strange happened that I have never seen before.  All at once every squirrel in the area came out and started barking in there little squirrel barks.  There must have been 25-30 of them all out at once climbing out on branches and barking. With all of them barking it was very loud and I couldn't figure out what it was all about.  Then something caught my eye, it was a Black cat stalking thorugh the woods. It reminded me of the Ewoks from Return of the Jedi, all running out and blowing there horns and then attacking the stormtroopers.  I was waiting for the squirrels to start bombarding the cat with rocks and sticks but they all just sat there barking.  The cat moved on and disappeared into the woods. After the cat disappeared the squirrels went back to there business.

Just after 4:00 pm another dog came running through and I was starting to think about dinner.  I decided to call it a day and lowered my bow to the ground. Just as I started to get out of the stand I heard something come crashing through the woods.  I sat back down and pulled my bow up just in time to see four deer come running through the woods.  Shortly after that three more came up behind them.  They were all about 75 yards away through the woods so I sat and waited to see what they would do.  I lost sight of them and couldn't hear them any more so I gave a couple of calls on my doe bleat.  A couple of minutes later a small doe came walking down the path right at me.  The Doe was a good sized yearling and because I was hunting in the 601 Metro area I decided that if she gave me a shot I would take it.  A couple of minutes passed and the deer turned broadside at about 10 yards. I took the shot and the deer jumped, she ran about 50 yards and then fell over. It was the first time I have ever shot a deer with a bow and was able to see it fall. 

I climbed down out of my stand and went to retrieve my deer.  When I gutted the deer I could see that the arrow had gone through one lung and part of the heart. It was exactly where I was supposed to hit it.  My friend who's land I was hunting on helped drag it out of woods, I asked him if he would like some of the deer and he said he would take some chops if I didn't mind. I cut the tenderloins out and gave them to him and after I butcher the deer I will have to bring him some more.

This morning after I butchered the deer I cooked my favorite part of the deer, the heart.  I made fried heart with eggs for breakfast.  I trimmed the heart and cut it into 3/4 inch strips, then rolled it in a mixture of flour and Cavender's Greek seasoning.  I fried the strips in bacon fat and served it with eggs and English muffins.  A lot of people have a hard time with eating organ meats but the heart is just muscle like everything else.  It you trim away the arteries and some of the connective tissue it is just meat and delicious meat at that.  I fried it for about 2 minutes on each side and it turned out perfect just a little crunch on the outside and tender on the inside.  I am already looking forward to when I can get back out there and do it again.