One of the deer harvested in this weekend's managed hunt around the Runge Nature Center went on to lead a class - sort of.
Runge Center volunteer and hunting education instructor Sara Rittman taught a class Saturday on do-it-yourself skinning and processing of a deer, but a yearling doe that had been harvested Friday by Naida Fick on the Runge property was at the center of the activities.
The doe was one of five deer at that time that had been harvested during an archery-only hunt by six hunters that continues through today and is the reason Runge Center's trails are closed this weekend.
Rittman said each hunter was allowed to kill two deer. While the numbers are minimal, the Missouri Department of Conservation said earlier last week the hunt is hoped to reduce car-deer accidents on neighboring Missouri 179.
The advantages to processing a harvested deer at home - as opposed to taking it to a commercial processor - include being cheaper, having full-control over the cuts and quality of the meat, and not having to wait to receive meat back from a processor after a few weeks.
The disadvantages of course include needing to know how to process a deer and having the tools on hand and time available to do it.
That's where Rittman and the crossbow-killed yearling doe came in.
A clean, cool area is needed to process a deer - out of the wind, which can carry dirt and dust that would get on the exposed meat, and with surfaces that are sanitized.
"That doesn't mean it needs to be like a hospital operating room," Rittman said. For the purposes of Saturday's class, the inside of a storage shed next to the Runge Center sufficed.
The doe had already been field dressed and was strung up, allowing Rittman to demonstrate and for those who stepped forward to get their gloved hands dirty to experience what she had gone over in the classroom - where certain cuts of meat are, how to use a variety of knives to get it and how to bag the meat.
A few general tips about DIY deer processing and how to prepare the meat:
Trim as much fat off the meat as possible, as deer fat is not like beef fat. Rittman said deer fat does not add good flavor and leaves a waxy residue, "almost like you were chewing on a candle."
Some meat cuts are better suited for steaks or roasts, while others are better for grinding up or to be dried into jerky. "Ribs are a whole story of their own," Rittman said - they have to be boiled to remove fat, though she finds it's just not worth the hassle anymore, at least for her.
Remove as much air as possible from meat-containing bags before putting them in a freezer; "If it's in the package, that's what will lead to freezer burn," Rittman said. "You don't want to be wasting that deer you worked so hard to get and process."
Rittman's favorite seasoning for deer meat is Canadian or Montreal steak seasoning. She also said while she would not have good things to say about a well-done beef steak, she would have worse things to say about a well-done deer steak - don't overcook it.
Deer meat itself is neither the healthiest nor the unhealthiest source of protein. According to a chart Rittman showed, roasted deer meat has fewer calories than beef, pork or fried chicken that has the skin on, and it contains more protein, but deer meat also contains more cholesterol.
Korey Smith and Ethan Rimiller, both of Jefferson City and sophomores at Capital City High School, attended Saturday's class together.
Smith said Rimiller has processed a deer, while he has not, adding he just finished his hunter's education course.
Smith got some confidence from Saturday's class, though.
"I liked it a lot. I feel like I could go out by myself," he said.
As for Fick's doe catch, Rittman said the deer was just being loaned to the class.