Well today….What did YOU do?

About to go slaughter my old bull. My big tractor with the front end loader is broke down, so I’m going to drag him to my cleaning station and butcher him on the ground buffalo-hunter style.

I don’t envy that job bf. Nostalgic buffalo or not, the heat can cause a lot of problems. I’d corn that bull to where I want him and use mama’s minivan if that’s all I had to hoist him up. Get a tarp ready and cut up the good stuff.

I get too attached to our animals I guess. Our son had a red pig that kind of became more like a dog than a pig. He seemed to like to try to talk to us and the son especially. When it was time to leave the farm and move back to the city we could not kill him. We found him a place. Just too soft hearted I guess. 🤷

Finished painting 2nd floor gable end.
Removed/rehung an exterior utility room door.
Trimming it out today
Might pressure wasKh siding for repainting.
Wash the truck at dusk.

Picked some blueberries from our only 2 remaining bushes. Ran some energy out of our dogs.
Inspected our little kicker motor in prep of pulling the head, hopefully just gaskets.
About to sort thru a bunch of old coins and try to figure out what the heck they are.
Then I’m going to cook and drink a little somethin somethin w/7up.

I’m glad its behind me. I’ve been dreading it for a week. It ended up being smooth but exhausting. I lost 2lbs doing it. My wife was a big help and I planned out every step in advance, which I think contributed to it going well. I shot him at the fence (electric), had my wife keep the other cows back, I cut the fence, drug him out, and repaired the fence. I then drug him to the gutting station, gutted him, and moved him to the cleaning station where I had everything set up in the shade. The breeze stayed cool in the shade most of the morning. I skinned one side, quartered the legs and backstrap, cut the ribs off, rolled him over, and repeated. Except I left the second rack of ribs. I wasn’t sure how good they would be on such an old bull, so I was ok leaving the second rack.

This is the first of my mini-zebu that I’ve cleaned. All of his quarters and one rack of ribs fit into a large Rtic cooler. In many ways he was like an oversized deer. Everything was tougher though (hide, bone, and connective tissue). Except his sternum was easy. I had a hatchet on hand but I got through the sternum with a knife. Gutting was the hardest part. The guts were massive and the connective tissue holding them in the back of the abdomen could not be torn by hand.

His backstraps were disappointing. No larger than a whitetail’s and less defined. Must be a zebu thing. His hump looked like backstrap but I gave it to my dogs just to be safe. I’m going to research the makeup of the hump for future reference.

His meat otherwise is more substantial than a deer’s but its lean like a deer. He carried a lot of fat between the meat and the skin like deer often do. I fried some backstrap a short time ago without breading and I find it to be like really good, mild, venison. It should taste milder as I cure it. I’m going to treat it just like venison. I’m going to soak it in ice water for several days before deboning it. Then I’ll grind most of it and save some steaks for cube steak and nuggets. I’ll freeze it all before the first meal. When its gorged in water then frozen and thawed, it will take all the blood out and leave the meat pink and clean tasting. Most people praise my venison as the best they’ve ever had. The ice water bath and freezing it while water logged is the secret.

Quasimodo was the bull’s name. He was at least 8 years old. I intended to keep him for as long as he produced calves. And we had no calves this spring. So it was time. I have a mature mini-zebu bull lined up that I hope can give me at least 2 good calving seasons. And if not him, there are several yearling zebu bulls available near me. I prefer mature bulls with proven temperaments though. Quasi was questionable. He would posture like he wanted to gore me, but never would follow through. I never turned by back on him. He generally got along with my dogs. This one I’m looking into seems to be extra friendly. Children about my daughter’s age hand-feed him standing in his paddock with him.

I get attached to most of my animals. I’m just good at compartmentalizing it. Logically I know Quasi’s time was up. He couldn’t make calves anymore and I don’t have room for an unproductive bull. I wouldn’t have got much for an over-the-hill bull that’s smaller than an elk at the market. But I bet we won’t have to buy hamburger for a year.

Those can be the most dangerous ones sometimes. My grandfather liked mild-mannered but fearful bulls. Meaning a bull that showed no aggression, but also didn’t want to be close to a person. Those were the ones that kept their natural fear of man and that fear overrode any tendencies to dominate a person. A friendly bull doesn’t fear humans. On a bad day, its desire to dominate will cause it to treat a human like a rival bull. Roosters are that way. The ones with no fear of humans are often the ones that will attack humans. And nothing is more dangerous than a hand-raised, captive, whitetail buck-in-rut for the same reasons.

Mini-zebu are bit different because nearly all mini-zebu in the U.S. come from petting zoo stock. They were artificially selected for friendliness. All the same, I still wouldn’t trust one totally, and I do want one I can walk with and examine. My daughter won’t be getting inside the fence with him if I can help it.

Today at 10:30 am I get to sit in my dermatologist's office and get a Blue Light treatment on my face. Usually takes about 90 minutes with most of it waiting. Then my face looks like I cooked it in an oven for a few days and I have to stay indoors away from the sun for 24 to 48 hours. I have indoor stuff to do for the next two days already planned.

Hey cad, while you’re hiding from the sun, maybe you can update your progress on the Jeep rebuild…?
Wish you well w the dermatologist treatment.

Typical Monday, gym, strung lights around the new fence in the backyard, but cant really enjoy them until the enclosure is in (mid July). Now waiting for the admiral to pronounce that the time is right to leave for the golf course. Got me some new Taylormade Q1 then gave me at my retiremnt party. Not sure why they did that I do not really care for golf.

Sitting in the Pasco WA. Airport waiting on a flight to Salt Lake City.