Outdoor Chef
The best recipes and methods for preparing your wild game.
Pepper Crusted Venison Steak
I could hear the screaming of bull elk so loud in my ear it almost hurt. I crept in slowly, with the wind in my face and my bow at my side. I could smell the elk before I could see them. The bedding area was thick juniper and had many rubs on the small trees. I was in someone's home--bedroom really--and I was doing my damnedest not to get caught. A small ridge was all that separated [...]
The SS Money Pit
The SS Money Pit is a cheap boat. It is a grand 16 feet long and has a whopping 10hp Mercury outboard strapped to the back of it. In every sense of the word it is a utilitarian boat--from the chipped green camo paint to the plywood and carpet seats. The virtues of the SS Money Pit however are endless: no need to worry about the paint, it floats, it was cheap, I can handle the repairs myself [...]
Bear Ham
Bears are like shadows in the forest--to quote a famous Idaho publication. They are cautious, shy, and seldom seen. Bears are omnivores of the highest order, preferring a patch of berries to hunting a deer, but never turning down a meal. They can be bold, they can be predictable, but for me, bears are most often a black butt running over a hill. Every now and then I get lucky in the woods and see a bear that [...]
Smoke-Cooked Duck
So, what does a traditional bowhunter do at the end of the bow season for big game when the cottontail rabbit numbers crash? Hunt ducks! What else? No, I don't recommend using archery tackle if you want to eat duck, but if you want to shoot and laugh a bunch... fletch up some flu flu arrows and have at it. I have taken two ducks out of the air with traditional archery tackle. Both times there were no [...]
Pan Roasted Venison Loin with Cranberry and Port Sauce
Honestly, I am not all that grateful for the Butterball turkey that I eat a small slice of each year. Nor the green beans, nor the stuffing. Those are from the store; I did nothing but buy them off the shelf. While I am happy to have them, and glad for the ability to buy them, I am not grateful for them as they are. They came too easily. But I am thankful for a freezer full of [...]
Goose Leg Confit
Standing in six inches of snow, I watched a man stand on the wings of a Canada goose, then grab it by the feet and pull. After some ripping and swearing, he had removed the breasts from the legs and then tossed the legs into the trash. I was appalled; it was just plain wasteful. We shook hands after the hunt and the man walked into his house. I dug the legs out of his trash, tossed them [...]