Each year I have the Georgia Forestry Service plow my food plot and fire breaks so I can plant winter browse for the wildlife. They provide this service at a reasonable hourly rate, using their bulldozer and a heavy harrow that really breaks up the ground.

I was a little late this year planting but it has been so dry I may have waited until the right time. Last Thursday Ken Parker harrowed for me and I got winter wheat, Austrian Winter Peas, Durana Clover and chicory planted. That night and the next morning I had an inch of rain on the newly planted seeds. They should sprout and provide good food in the cold months when other natural food sources are scarce.

Right now deer are eating acorns. It is amazing how many are falling in certain places this season. After the late freeze last spring wildlife biologists were worried about the acorn crop, and some trees aren’t producing, especially further north at higher elevations, but some oaks are producing bumper crops.

Deer fatten up on acorns to help survive the winter. They will eat them and ignore everything else. I put out corn in one corner of my field and deer have been feeding there all summer. But a week or so ago when acorns started falling they stopped eating it. They prefer acorns to corn.

The acorn crop can be a problem for deer hunters. With so many acorns falling from some trees deer won’t need to move much. Bucks may bed down in thickets near productive oak trees and not move far from bedding area to feeding area and back. Hunters might have a hard time finding them until the rut starts about the end of the first week in November and bucks lose their minds.

If you are lucky enough to get a shot at a deer but unlucky enough to make a bad shot, Ken Parker can help you out. Ken has tracking dogs and will help you find your deer for a small price. The day he plowed for me he had been out until 1:00 AM trying to find a deer shot by a bow hunter.

The call he got last Wednesday night was his ninth this year and he has been able to recover 4 of the deer he tracked. All too often a wounded deer will cross property lines and he can’t continue to track it without permission. That is the number one cause of not being able to find a deer.

The best thing you can do is make a good shot. No hunter wants to wound a deer but all of us can make a bad shot. If you do, call Ken at 770-468-5459. You can also see pictures of his dogs and read about tracking stories on his web site at http://www.hillockkennels.com/

When you shoot your deer field dress it quickly and get it to a good butcher. Venison is fantastic when the deer is processed right. Last weekend I got a deer roast out of the freezer, the last one from last season, and put it on my smoker. After four hours of hickory smoke flavoring the roast I put it in the crock pot for a few hours to make it tender. I don’t think anyone that eats meat would turn down a helping of it.

I love venison and cook it any way you cook beef. I like the ground meat fried in patties and put on a bun. I prefer frying them since grilling tends to dry them out too much, even though they have beef fat in them to help retain moisture.

Cubed steak floured and fried is hard to beat, too. Make some milk gravy to go with it and serve it with mashed potatoes and English peas and my eyes roll back it is so good. I just with I still had fresh tomatoes to go with that meal all winter long.

Another favorite of mine is to put cubed steak or chops, or both, in a crock pot with onions, peppers and tomatoes. Adding a can of tomato sauce makes a good thick sauce with it. Cook it until the meat is tender and serve it with rice, steamed cabbage and corn bread. My momma would be proud of my cooking when I fix it like that.

With a limit of 12 deer a year there is no need to ever run out of venison. Linda and I eat about three deer a year, depending on their size, so I try for that many each season. I don’t care about big bucks, preferring does since I think they have a better flavor. I also like younger deer since they are more tender.

No matter why you hunt treat the carcass right and you will enjoy great eating all year long.