Parsons bow hunter takes down a 225 pound, 23 point buck

On Tuesday, November 3, 2009; Josh Root an avid deer hunter shot and killed a twenty three point buck weighing in over 225 pounds. The Boone and Crockett Club, a national hunting organization, says Root’s deer will be scored as a non-typical white tail deer and will most likely be rated in the top ten in Kansas. Mr. Root has decided to donate the two hundred twenty five pounds of meat to the Erie Meat Locker for the Feed the Needy program. As I read the articles on www.fox14tv.com it states that nothing can be official until the antlers are dried for scoring. Mr. Root started a hunting company called Titan Productions and Design and is hoping that this kill will help the company live up to its name.

It was exciting as I read about this hunt, knowing I used to be a hunter. The more I read this article the more my heart raced and I could feel the adrenalin rush through my body, knowing how he felt. Mr. Root did a wonderful job by donating the meat from this hunt to the Erie Meat Locker to feed the needy. It is sad for the loss of life, but all those who will profit from its death is fantastic.

After hearing the weight of this deer, knowing the estimated size of the antlers, I agreed this deer was an elder. It was intelligent as Mr. Root so well stated. "A deer of this magnitude is a smart deer," Root says. "They become nocturnal and it's just very rare to see them and if you do see them it's a moment that you, you're down to the wire, you need to make it happen or it's just going to pass you and it's just going to be a dream that you talk about to most people and I didn't want it to be a dream." Deer meat (venison is a broader term that also applies to meat from elk, moose, caribou and antelope) is healthier than beef. A three-ounce serving provides only 134 calories and three grams of fat, including only one gram of saturated fat. Beef gives you 259 calories for the same three-ounce serving, and 18 grams of fat, including seven grams of saturated fat.

I have many family members including myself that believes in hunting deer. It isn’t for sport; it is for food, to feed the families in the surrounding areas including our own. There is deer jerky, deer burgers, and many, many, other ways of cooking deer. I have found the gamey taste is easily disguised, with seasonings found in your cabinet. We have come to learn there is a disorder in deer called Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), this is a disease a lot like Mad Cow Disease. With that being said there are things that you can be aware of to ensure you don’t eat an infected deer such as; Don’t eat the eyes, brain, spinal cord, spleen, tonsils or lymph nodes of any deer; Wear rubber gloves when dressing or butchering a deer; Bone out the meat, remove all the fat and the web like membranes attached to the meat; if you question the deer to be sick you can bring samples of the venison in to wildlife officials for testing.