Call for deer number 3 came in a little after 3 pm today. The dispatcher said the officer was on his way to put the injured deer down, and could I come salvage it. I said sure. I headed home, put on my coveralls, grabbed my knives, and asked Sara if she wanted to go. She said sure, and she got her work clothes on. The officer had dispatched the deer then moved it up gravel drive and put it in the shade and out of sight. We arrived to find a nice buck. Sara helped me put it in the truck. We stopped at our friends to get the key to the food bank area. When we got home, I parked uphill, and dressed the deer on the tailgate, dropping the organs into a big round tote I got at a garage sale. I hosed out the body cavity of the deer, then dragged the tote of organs up the hill into our woods. We’ve got an eagle trained, I think, and I’m guessing he or she soon found it. Not much damage to the deer meat. I hung it by the head in the garage, skinned it, then cut off the hind quarters, then the tenderloin, the backstraps, the front quarters. Then cut off each rib cage with the reciprocating saw. I cut the back bone with the meat remnants into two, then cut off the neck roast. I hosed off the deer hair from the meat. I headed over to the food bank and got the meat separate into bag lined boxes and into the freezer to cool. Sara had, in the mean time, made a big salad and pulled out some venison meat pies for dinner and it was all ready when I got back. It’s satisfying volunteer work and good practice for next fall.