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House Speaker Paul Ryan Links Sausage-Making With Fun

Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., strides to the House chamber as the House and Senate rush to send President Barack Obama a massive budget package, at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2015.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo

December 19, 2015, 2:08 AM

 -- As the top Republican in the House, Speaker Paul Ryan presides over a legislative process may be likened to sausage making.

But Ryan, an avid deer hunter, also makes the real thing back home in Wisconsin.

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"I actually make sausage," he told reporters Wednesday. "Can't make that up."

Ryan says he nabs about four deer every hunting season, and makes a variety of sausages and jerky out of them with his children.

The speaker, a fitness buff known for his intense workouts, also said he's a fan of yoga.

"Yoga's great, don't knock it till you try it," he said. "I just do it for my back. I don't do 'ohms' or anything like that."

Like his predecessor John Boehner, Ryan said he practices yoga to help his back.

Seven weeks into his job and fresh off the passage of the $1.1 trillion spending deal through the House with a majority of Republicans' support, Ryan said new role is a "much easier adjustment" for his family and lifestyle after his experience on the GOP's 2012 presidential ticket.

"For my family, this isn’t nearly as jarring or changing as that was. So the adjustment into this job wasn’t that difficult for my family given what we had already done," he said.