>Congrats Mr Bush. the ruger #1 .45-70-730 is a nice rifle and a real meat getter.
This one is special. It has a fast 1 in 12 twist instead of the usual 1-20 or slower twist. so I can stabilize the 730 grain bullet. I have that going about 760 fps which means it doesn't carry far and isn't very loud (subsonic). It still makes a boom, but it gets rid of that "crack" when the sound barrier gets broken. Back in Wyoming and Western Nebraska I loved my .25-06 but it would carry for miles and that isn't such a good thing here where the people are more dense. Out there the shots were often pretty long.
> Man, I do not envy the butchering part. Real work! But the eating part is awesome!
Yes it is.
> I wonder if game hind quarters can be smoked like pork. Actually we sugar cured our hams when I was growing up.
Curing is more complex than just smoking, of course. I don't know what would happen if you cured it. I imagine it would keep if you did it the same as a ham, but I have no idea what it would taste like. Probably pretty good, but then it might be too dry. There is a LOT more fat in a pig than a deer and that tends to keep it somewhat moist. I have cut it all up into thin steaks and dried and smoked it. Then I would take it on hunting trips and eat it for jerky or soak it up and fry it for steak or break it up and put it in stew... I would have done that this time if I had the energy and the time.