We do love our dog, and although I've never (yet) made liver treats for him, I make a lot of his treats by drying store-bought beef (cubed steak) and chicken. But deer meat and deer livers are ours. Ruger (our cocker/springer cross) doesn't even get what few deer bones we save - they go in soups and the occasional pot of pinto beans. Besides, there's a small grocery store near us that sells bones for dogs for less than a buck a pound. When it's all said and done, that's a lot less than what our deer bones cost us.
It might have been all the beer we drank with them but I still won't eat heart
I'm guessing you still drink beer though, right?
Growing up in Wisconsin at a time when the drinking age was 18 had a few disadvantages like being able to buy alcohol at 15 and having a bunch of friends that loved to drink.
I'm not criticizing; I threw up a lot of beer (and some vodka once) in my younger years. Yet there's a bottle of Alaskan Amber Bock sitting beside me as I type this. I still don't really like heart all that much, and I don't think I've had a drop of vodka since I became old enough to legally buy it - 51 years ago!
I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I had to Google "scrapple" to find out what it is. Now that I know though, I going to make some venison scrapple (I also looked up some recipes) for my wife and me. It sounds really good!
It's good stuff, one of Pennsylvanias secrets. I have to jump the border to get some and it's not even that good compared to most. It has very little meat parts, I'd think the food stuff has more meat bits.I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I had to Google "scrapple" to find out what it is. Now that I know though, I going to make some venison scrapple (I also looked up some recipes) for my wife and me. It sounds really good!
I've heard a lot of hunters say, "If you like deer liver, you'll love elk liver." And that's certainly not true. Mule deer liver has been a favorite in my family as far back as I can remember, but how we feel about elk liver varies from "tolerable" to flat out "don't like." For me personally, elk liver is "tolerable."
I've never tried moose or antelope liver. They might be okay, but not even all of the mule deer we've killed had good livers. I'd guess about 90% of them did, but not all of them did. Many, many years ago my mom taught me how to tell whether or not a deer liver is worth carrying back to camp - you just push your thumb and index finger inside the liver, and pinch a piece of it. If it feels "grainy," just leave it behind with the rest of the gut pile.
I've also heard hunters say they've actually seen liver flukes in deer and elk livers. They said liver flukes look like little, white ray fish swimming around in the blood. I've never seen them myself.
I tried deer heart once. It was okay, but to me, it wasn't worth the effort of carrying it back to camp. Besides, deer rifle bullets often make messes of deer hearts.
