OF SUCKERS and DEER by Ralph Bice
From Wednesday, January 5, 1977
Last week I passed along methods for preserving suckers. After I had the column finished I was told of another used by an old resident, Larry Brooks.
Like all the rest, the first job is to catch the suckers. This man, I believe did filet them, soaked them in a strong brine, washed them lightly, and then spread them on the roof of a shed to dry, something similar to the way cod are cured in Newfoundland. This was in the days before refrigeration yet these fish kept well and were used months later.
Then I had a chat with Reino Ahola about suckers and we got around to methods of smoking them. I mentioned that perhaps this spring I would construct a smoke house and he told me a very simple method and one I shall certainly try.
First, you need an old refrigerator. The shelves can be arranged to hold the fish that are to be smoked. Another requirement is an electric hot plate or part of one that is working. This can be placed inside. The smoke is supplied by sawdust. Years ago when we were smoking fish in the woods we used rotten maple as it produced plenty of smoke and had a rather pleasant odour. I was told several times that sawdust makes a much better job but such ingredients are a bit scarce back in the woods.
Beech is said to make a nice smoke and we have all heard of hickory cured bacon. That tree is very scarce in this area. Maple too is good and recently I was told that black cherry is the best. It is not possible to pick up the kind of sawdust you want at a mill but so easy with a chain saw to go to the woods and the kind you would like. As I said I hope some of the people who may read this will try some of these methods and let me know how they turn out.
It is easy to understand that no one is very happy with the weather except perhaps those who operate ski resorts. I have seen quite a few falls and except for 1925 this has to be the most severe one. I can recall two falls that I used a canoe on Cripple Lake on the 9th of December. And there have been a number of falls that there was not enough snow at Christmas to use snowmobiles.
This year we have had snow on the ground, at least in the woods, since the last of October. And like a bottle of medicine the directions say it is to be taken.
I wonder how this will affect the deer that are in the area. After the hunt there were more signs of deer than in several years. Mostly big deer. I hope they can find shelter and they can be missed by the government pups.
Speaking of deer, I have watched the different reports and I am just going out on a limb and claim that the largest deer shot in Ontario this last season came from Perry Township. A hunter named Albert Hewey, who hunts between Kearney and Scotia with Vern Hall shot a buck that weighed, field dressed, and hung for a few days, 280 pounds. This small group of five hunters took three bucks and two does. Rather a good score. Our camp, and the five that were nearest, with a total of perhaps 60 hunters, killed a total of two.
While on the topic of hunters, koodoos and compliments go to Bob Reid as the best sportsman of the year. Bob is a part-time trapper and a full time worker. Early in deer season he saw signs of deer in his little zone so the last day he took a license and his rifle. He found a little herd, one large buck, one smaller buck, and five does and fawns. One shot accounted for the larger buck and then he had the unusual experience of standing there watching six deer just slowly move away. Some of us have not seen that many deer during the last ten hunts. The buck was a nice one and it dressed 280 pounds.
I will be attending a number of trapping instruction classes in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and after that there will be a lot to report about the present deer situation and what we might do.