Workbench top progress & odds and ends

I picked up some of my deer from the butcher!

I got a call from the butcher Thursday telling me that the bulk of my deer was ready for pickup!  I stopped by the butcher on Friday afternoon and got my meat!  The bologna will take a bit longer he said.  Processing was $55 which seemed a bit high compared to what my neighbors told me, but they might get discounts and I don't know if how I had mine processed was the same as what neighbors had done.

Doesn't look like much

I had a lot of it ground up - since that's how I use it most often.

"cubed" or "canning" type - good for canning (duh) and for stews I figure!

I got a few steaks done too

Closeup of canning 

I repacked the canning meat into vacuum sealed 2 lbs packs for convience

Of course, I had to do a taste test!  Delicious!

Moonshine recipe

A friend of mine at work gave me a sample of his friends "Apple Pie Moonshine" drink.  It was so good!  I decided to make my own!  I found a recipe that got good ratings on Allrecipies "apple pie moonshine "  I had to go buy the ingredients Friday night because they were calling for bad weather overnight at the farm.   They didn't have any cloves and I only had ground cloves - so that would have to do.  I brought all the stuff to a boil and found that the cider had enough solids in it that I would have to filter through a cheesecloth anyway, so the cheesecloth caught all the clove powder as well.

Its good stuff, but it doesnt have the buttery flavor of my friends blend

Winter is here

Well, its been cold for a while - on and off, but the typical wintery "ugh" is here now.  

Workbench top progress

The weather was bad fr doing stuff outside, but it was ok to be doing stuff in the shop!  So I got around to jointing the hickory slats that I cut last weekend.  Once jointed I then thickness planed them.    I measured their thickness and marked the pieces, but I did not get a chance to do the "final" planing for glue up purposes.  When i plane for the glue-up I match the thickness of all the slats in a row and mark them so that I know to glue matched slats in the same row.  I could see that I need more slats - there is not enough to make an 11 inch wide glue-up.  I am scrounging around for more hickory.

I also got some oak slats ready for the center oak bench top glue-up.  I examined the slats and found many were infested with "powderpost beetles".  I was going to toss those slats but there were so many and I don't want to waste all of that wood!  So I thought about whether the finish for the workbench may kill the bugs.  I looked it up and there is some indication that it will!  So I am going to use the buggy oak boards anyway.  I will be sure to soak the finish into the wood good and deep to kill the bugs!.  Technically i could have done this with the buggy hickory too, however, the bugs in the hickory made much bigger holes - like .25-.5 inch in diameter, whereas the powderpost beetles only drill about 0.03125-.125 inches.  I still may have to toss some of the oak if the infestation is too bad.  I didn't get around to jointing the oak yet.  In fact i know I will need more oak slats so I might as well wait until I am on vacation and can dedicate some time to it.

Another buck?

While I was looking at the game camera collection for the week I saw some interesting things!

7!  Seven deer right there where I got my buck just 4 days earlier!  I can't discern a buck in this group but...

This one sure looks like it has antlers!  I compared it to other pictures and that is NOT a tree branch!  Also, the timing is just about right.  Bucks usually come out a bit earlier (or later - depending how you look at it).

workbench-top glue-up # 1

The glue-up

I decided to do the entire glue up in one shot.  Big mistake.  Spreading that much glue over that many pieces of wood and fitting them together is practically impossible to do before the glue sets!  What a mess!    I fit the pieces with one side flat on the floor because I couldn't think of another way to make sure that one side remained flat.  Its not ideal since it will make one side of the glue-up dry faster than the other but it seemed to be ok.

Layed them out to see how the fit was.

I didn't show any of the actual glue up process since it was painful and I was sore and pissed!  Here it is partially dried 

Here it is after drying  (mostly)  This was several days after the initial glue-up.  The bottom showed some glue was still wet!

I let it sit like this for a couple of weeks to assure the glue was nice and cured.

I got a BUCK!!!

I know!  I can't believe it either!  On the last day of regular hunting season.

I went out early and was in blind by 5am.   I have a new scope on the crossbow, but turns out I didn't need it, the old one would have been fine.  Anyway, I sat there until just after 7am before I heard some scuffling around.  Then I saw several does walking by.  I raised by crossbow to take aim.  Then out of the corner of my eye I see a BUCK!  He comes right into view - into range - nice shooting position.  I fire. The herd of deer take off!  Sounded like a herd.  Lots of thunderous hooves.  I freaked out a bit when I saw the light on the lighted-nock laying on the ground where the buck had been.  I tried to remain calm and packed up the crossbow and other items that I had brought with me into the blind. Then I went to look at the nock.  The bolt actually broke!  Carbon fiber bolt shaft - broke!   The light was on just fine, but the broadhead portion of the bolt was gone.  I left the lighted portion on the ground for a point of reference for when I would track the animal.

I went inside to thaw out.  It was 24F this morning.  Snow started just as I was heading back to the house.  I was trying not to freak out!  Adrenaline was pumping!  Trying to prepare myself for a long tracking job.  I was trying to brace myself for the worst - that maybe the shot wasn't fatal and the deer would simply be horribly wounded and suffering and that I would never find it.  My mind was going to all kinds of places!   I ate breakfast while I was waiting to warm up.  Had a couple warm cups of tea.  About 30-40 mins after the taking shot I was back outside on the UTV looking for the deer.

Snowing quite heavily!

I drove the UTV to where I had left the lighted-nock. I picked up the nock and turned it off - placing an old no-trespassing sign to mark the location instead.  Then I hopped in the UTV and headed out across the field where I thought I saw the deer run off.  I didn't go far at all before I saw the white belly of the buck on the ground - maybe a total of 50-60 yards from the point of impact.  I confirmed he was dead. Whew. Was so happy that I found it so easy an that the kill was humane.  I was sad too. The great buck was dead by my hand.  I knelt by his dead body placed my hand on him and gave thanks and promised to not waste his body and to appreciate his sacrifice to my fullest.

I tried to load the beast into my UTV and quickly determined that wasn't going to happen.  I'm too out of shape for one thing, but also the deer's body was just to limp and it wouldn't cooperate!  So I went back and got the tractor and put the front loader bucket on it.  Then I came back to the deer and easily loaded him into the frontloader!

Broken bolt!

Here is how i found him.  He is missing the right side antlers.  Upon closer inspection the right side antlers seem to have been missing for awhile.  

6 pointer!  8 points if you count the brow tine!

Thank you for dieing in an easy to access area!  The frontloader made this job a lot easier.

Before I cleaned him up I logged into the pgc.pa.gov website and reported the harvest online.

I called a couple of neighbors to assist me with the dressing but one was out hunting and the other didn't answer.  So, I tackled the job as best I could!  It wasn't the prettiest dressing, but I got it done. Took me about and hour!  Maybe a bit more.  I took the guts and the upper vital organs out.  I thought about keeping the heart but I decided against it.  I nicked upper stomach (actually I think I poked through it with a finger) and some nasty smelling stuff came out.  I cleaned it up with a paper towel and it didnt seem to leak more than a tablespoon.  I did see some corn in his stomach contents though! He was somewhere eating corn!  I don't think there is any corn left in the fields, but I could be wrong. He definitely had some fat on him though.

After I field dressed him I put the tag on his ear with a safety pin and loaded him into the car.  In the back of my SUV I put down a old dog blanket, some feed bags and finally a couple of garbage bags to keep the blood off of the car surfaces.  Then I manhandled him into the car - quite a bit lighter without the guts and organs, but still pretty heavy.  He was starting to stiffen up by this point too.

I called Strait Butcher Shop and they said to bring him on over. Strait's processes most peoples deer around here.  Their address is:

Stairts Butcher Shop
419 Possum Hollow Rd
Harrisonville PA 17228


I filled a desired products sheet and asked for the antlers.  They said the meat should be ready by next week or week after.  My deer was tagged #342 (they don't give receipts, which seems odd - but they are reputable so I guess that's fine).  On the form I indicated the desired products:  1/4 hind quarter into steaks, 1/4 ground, 1 hind quarter canning/cubed.  I forget the rest - I did indicate some bologna should be made.  The loin is to be cut up into medallions.   Mostly I want ground meat since that is what I like to eat.

The gentleman there said he would call me next week or week after with everything except the bologna. The bologna gets sent out for processing and can take a month or two.

Family Thanksgiving and workbench progress

Family Thanksgiving

We had our family thanksgiving on Dec 3.  I had taken the prior week off to hunt ad help Katherine prep.  I did a lot of house-cleaning!  Katherine did great things in the kitchen (as usual).  

Homemade bread for the dressing - made from home made flour right from the wheat grain

Veggies ready for roasting!  All grown by me, except the celery (and the carrots - although I have grown carrots these aren't ours).  Butternut squash, sweet potatoes, onions, and white potatoes, all from our farm this year.

Sister Connie, her hubby Ben to her right.  Her dog Lucy in front.

Ben checking his phone

My brother Tom.  Katherine in the back there.

Workbench top progress

I got to run the cured hickory boards through the jointer and then plane them flat again.  Then I had the fun of  piecing them together as best I could, matching boards to length, planing to consistent thicknesses and putting them together to prepare for the glue-up.  It was a LOT of work!  I decided to make three 11 inch wide laminates, all about 3 inches thick and 8 feet long.  These will be bolted together to for the workbench top.   i am not sure if I have enough hickory  for the entire workbench top so i think I will make the center laminate out of oak (I have TONS of oak - literally -lol).  This will allow me to save some of the hickory for tool handles, as I originally intended.

Mixing and matching boards to get the required length and width

A lot of fiddly work

A bit wider than 11 inches and a bit longer than 8 feet so that I have some adjustment room!

Not much adjustment room!  Just an inch over 8 feet

Now to cut the pieces to match the lengths, mark them, take them inside and figure out how to glue them all together!

Deer hunting

I did go out deer hunting each of my days off (when it wasn't raining).  I took some pictures while I was out, but they don't look too interesting so i am not posting any (I assume everyone has seen leaves and trees?).  I found some nice areas to hunt from and even saw some deer scat, tracks, scrapes and rubs, etc.  But no actual deer!  The woods were full of hunters and I am sure the deer are far from here.  I only had one deer on my trail cam - a doe (which are legal to take now).  Deer season ends Dec 10 in PA.  I have taken next Thursday and Friday off and will try to get some hunting in.  If I don't get anything this week there is still the late bow season starting Dec 26 and running through Jan 14th.

Freeze-dryer cleanout, regular deer season prep and progress on hickory top

First cleaning of the freeze-dryers vacuum pump 

I don't know how many batches we have put through the freeze-dryer, but it was definitely past time to open up the vacuum-pump for a cleaning!  I didn't get any pictures of  how filthy the innards were, but if you look to the back edge in the pictures below, you will get some idea.  I scraped alot of gunk and rust out of the pump and cleaned it as best I could with paper towels.

See the gunk between the baffle plate and the body?  That's pretty much what the entire inside looked like when I first opened it!

The cover cleaned ok - but the sight glass was hard to clean.  It really didn't get very clean....

More apples!

After cleaning, I added clean oil (and ordered more oil filters - they evidently take WEEKS to ship!) and we then did another batch of apples.

This is what they look like going into the freeze-dryer.

Regular-hunting season preparations

There was a major wind storm for 2-3 days last week that seriously had me concerned that my little blinds would be in the next state.  I was surprised to find that two of the blinds didnt move at all! One blew further into the woods but didn't sustain any damage.  

This blind is the closest to the house and you would think that I would see the fewest number of deer here - but NO!  This blind gets plenty of traffic!    I think it is because it is on the way from the fields to the forest.

I actually drew a bead on a deer with the crossbow while in this blind!

The view from just in front of the blind

This is the blind that blew away.  I moved it back to its original position...

Then I moved it again..

And finally moved it to behind this pile of brush (its not there yet in this picture)

The "deep" woods blind (I think - they all look alike...)

After i got the blinds taken care of and the trail-cams setup again, I started to get ready to sight in my .30-06 rifle.  I haven't used it in years and I was a bit anxious to shoot it.  I didn't want to shoot it out in the fields in the clearing because I was afraid that the sound would carry and scare the deer.  So I set up a target at 25 yards and sighted in.

There should be a orange surveyors flag somewhere in this picture!  Anyway, I positioned myself at the edge of the woodshed to take the shots.

You can almost see the target at 100 yards - dead center in this picture.

At 100 yards.  Well, i hit the target anyways! LOL

The 25 yard shots were damn nice.

All of my ammo is FMJ!  I will have to go get some hollow-points or some kind of expanding  bullet.  It's not legal to hunt with FMJ

My FMJ bullets!  Cheap surplus from god-knows-when

More hickory milling

I milled up the top portion of the hickory log this weekend.  I got less useful wood than I was hoping. There were more bugs and the tree had more branches up high which caused some defects.

The mill-ends from the top portion of the hickory

Plane dust

Cut the wood slats into 3 1/4 inch wide boards for the laminate workbench

Lots of firewood!

Letting the slats cure a bit before jointing

Some nice pieces for odd jobs maybe?