While thinking about the upcoming deer season, my thoughts drifted back to the ‘old days’. Deer hunting and skinning were a family deal back then. We’d all go to the woods (Dad, me, brothers, BiL, cousin, and later, a couple of nephews), and if someone got a deer, we’d take it to the brother’s place nearby - in the country. My brother had a good winch for hanging the deer, and I usually got the duty of doing the skinning, since Dad was retired from skinning (so he said) and I was the only person with a sharp knife usually. The brother’s wife would make coffee and hot chocolate. Dad had ‘his chair’ and everybody would sit around on other chairs and benches and talk about what they had seen and on which stand. Bald faced lies were occasionally told. Comments were made on bullet placement and lively disagreement was had on what calibers were worthwhile (dad and I shot 270’s) and why the 243 was pitiful and useless. Somebody always had a 243 and did well with it, but had to defend it. As I skinned and then dismantled the deer, I’d throw big chunks of meat and bone to the brother’s big old fat dogs, and they’d bury the bones all over the yard. The brother’s big old mangled ear tomcat would sneak in and lap up blood under the hanging deer while blood dripped on his head.

If the skinning was in the evening, the coffee would be replaced by bourbon and water.

I can close my eyes and see it. Lord knows how many times we had those sessions. Maybe a hundred or so.

Thanks for listening.

Amen brother. Some of the best memories at the ranch are at the skinning rack. Can't wait for Sept. 28th. 3 generations will be gathered!

Very well written and remembered! Thanks.

My first memories of hunting were at my grandfather's home, way out Vance Jackson, a little north of Wurzbach. (Vance Jackson dead ended at Huebner.)

My grandfather was a bit squeamish, so my step-grandmother always gutted and skinned any deer killed. She was as crazy as a loon, but useful (at times).

This is why we do it! The fact that its been commercialized and everyone searching and selling their souls for the next big deer doesn't come close to replacing moments like this.

I can remember hunting family when I killed my few bucks my first 5 yrs of hunting. I never gutted a buck out of those as someone else always did it for me. I was the same on many other family and friends first deer thru the years. Later on in life after my Dad was injured in a oilfield accident and developed very bad allergies(deer hair especially), I was delegated to gutting and skinning all of his deer kills. I would break the carcass down and he and my mother would do all the cutting and wrapping.

Did they have land out on Vance Jackson and huebner?

Dang, that’s in the middle of town now

Mission Trace condominiums was his land; 50 acres or so, down to the RR tracks. Mission Trace got its name from his tile roof. They were crazy about anything Mexico, we had family friends in Monterrey.

My allergies to deer hair have gotten worse as I've gotten older. Now I load up on benedryl and use a mask. I may try to quarter in the field and see if that improves things.

We hunted on the same lease for 40 years. Same families. We'd argue about so and so's deer being a little runty or antler puny. No matter the size of the horns we'd find something not up to standard. First one to shoot would get razzed for not waiting. We argued over the 243 as well. My dad and I shot 243s. Others would constantly say it was inadequate and sooner or later we'd wound one. We just kept hanging deer. Tried my first chewing tobacco at the lease. We had a hanging pole. The actual skinning was a solitary affair. Very much different from a hog Killin.

I usually volunteer to clean the deer if someone else will make coffee and breakfast.