Loved this thread! Love that nothing goes to waste.. but I wouldn't want to tackle slaughtering a cow, especially in 90deg temps! I've helped my father w/deer plenty of times when I was a youngster, done rabbit & birds as well. But I never was part of the "killing" part, just the skinning/gutting (we always took the critter to a butcher for the chopping up as Father didn't have the right kind of tools or the know-how to make this kind of steak & that kind of roast.. if he'd done it, we'd have nothing but massive roasts & ground meat!). And an entire cow would last DH & I 2-4 years as we eat beef less than 4 times a month.. can't afford it! Not when ground beef is over $4/lb! Yikes!
Dave - Do you tan the hide too? *jealous*.. always wanted a cowhide, but can't have one w/cats/dogs. They'd think it'd be 1) theirs or 2) dinner.
