September is a big month for us at the Hoffstead. It's a month that determines how the next year will look. It is a time to reconnect with family and nature before winter comes in full blast. Its a celebration of the last of the harvest...the meat. We plan our year around September.
The rythyms of September and hunting season aren't something I grew up in. I grew up with hunting stories from my dad when he was younger and from my grandpa, but really never had any experiences of my own to ground to. The very first year I got to go hunting with my now husband, we had only been dating for a short while and I had no idea what to expect. It is amazing to me now to look back on this time and remember the nervousness I had as I hiked out behind Gabe and his father that early morning and to know now what a joyful and huge part of my life this has become.
My perspective on hunting season has always been a little unique in that I always do my upmost to support my husband as he hunts and be a part of the hunting season in any way that I can. We avidly avoid using phrases during hunting season that do not portray the unity we have during this time of year. Now, do I enjoy every single aspect of hunting? Absoltutely not! There are defintetly parts that I prefer and parts I don't mind supporting from a distance. A part I do enjoy is getting prepped each year. I split my prepping into 3 categories: Laundry, Cooking, and Butchering.
Laundry:
To start, it is important to keep on hand some unscented strong laundry detergent. You can buy this at the store but I make mine myself year round and the rest of the year I add whatever essential oil I enjoy. For this recipe check out my instagram. The key is unscented as any hunter will tell you. You want no unatural scent coming from your clothing as you hunt. You also want an effective laundry detergent that gets blood and grass stains out of all items of clothing. Once you get to your camping location for the hunt: lay your dry hunting clothes out in the sunshine on trees or bushes to get the sunlight cleanse as well as the scent of the area (pine or sage in Wyoming) on the clothes.
Next make sure you have the proper gear, wool layers to put on underneath your camo clothes are a must. Quality socks and good hiking shoes will make the difference for an enjoyable day hunting.
Cooking
How you tackle this part will be a little custom based on what you like to cook and what your family likes to eat. We keep some canned soups on hand as well as some healthy dried noodle packets for those no-time-eat-now meals. The keys when meal prepping to emphasize are: Nutrition and Functionality. Each meal needs to pack in the most nutrition possible while simultaneously not being a hastle to manage or store. Things like sauerkraut, nutritional yeast, probiotic cream cheese, sprouts, and mushroom coffee are some go tos at our camp. I also always make sure to send a container of the electrolyte brand we like along in our natural medicine kit (see the blog post on my natural medicine first aid kit).
Butchering
Ah, this is my favorite part. I love getting the meat home and getting it processed into all the versions of meat we eat throughout the year. I always make sure to have Oxygen Bleach on hand for cleaning knives and the kitchen as well as parchment paper and freezer paper. You will also need: sharp knives, a meat grinder, a scale, masking tape, several stainless steel bowls, and a sharpie. My husband usually takes the job of cleaning the meat and removing all the blue/silver skin. I grind the meat that needs to be ground and then weigh, package, and label everything. Each year we add on another part of the animal that we process. in the future we are hoping to do more with animal sinue, hide processing, and bone marrow.
Interested in more specific details?
Email me with your questions, head to my instagram, and stay tuned here as I post more!
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