Not to change the subject, but you touched on a conversation I had with another deer hunter just this morning. Older guys probably know this, but this is one of those things that is slowly being forgotten.

On the inside back legs of deer, there is a dark, oily patch of hair. These are the musk glands of deer, and most articles I've read for the past thirty or forty years advise just to cut around them, not letting the musk touch the meat you want to keep. Well, that is just a terrible waste.

Cut around and remove the glands--hair, skin, and all--and place in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Cover with cheap vodka (the original recipe, from my grandfather, calls for "good quality moonshine," but cheap vodka works just as well). Shake well a couple times the first week, then leave in a cool, dark place until spring. Strain through cheesecloth, and pour into bottles. This is tincture of deer musk.

It is a great deer attractor, and is also valuable as a dog-breaking scent. Before deer and predator hunters began inexplicably slathering themselves with skunk scent thinking it would hide their own scent (it doesn't), they were using this to help hide their scent.

Onward and upward,
airforce