It was opening morning of archery season. My daughter, Kerri, and I headed out of camp to hunt downhill to an ancient elk wallowing area in the bottom of a bowl of fir, pine, and quaking aspen. We hadn’t gone a hundred yards from camp when a blue grouse flushed off the trail [...]
Right before humans started shooting arrows at animals we started curing meat over a fire. It is a multi-millennia strong tradition. But why? Two reasons, really. The first reason that humans began to cure things is for simple food preservation. Refrigerators and freezers in households are a very recent invention. Prior to these, [...]
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 [...]
In the Jun/Jul 2019 issue’s Ground Game column, Built for the Ground, I talked about javelina as a great bowhunting spot-and-stalk quarry. One point I tried to emphasize is that despite their reputation to the contrary, they actually make good eating with proper handling in the field and preparation in the kitchen. I [...]
The gobbler was at the top of a small draw strutting his stuff when I caught him in my binoculars—a respectable Idaho Merriam’s. It had been a frustrating weekend of turkey chasing, with stuck trucks, rainstorms, snowstorms and fog. The birds were there and I could get the toms to gobble, but they [...]
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 [...]
With the uncertainty of processed foods lately, there seems to be more interest in the process of canning, or as we call it, bottling. This is a great way to tame those tough cuts of venison to be used later for chili, stew or sandwiches. Bottling meat is a fairly simple process, if [...]
Blame it on Duck Dynasty if you want, or maybe on the cacophonous croaking of frogs along the canal near my home, but I have developed a taste for bull frogs. Frogging is considered a summertime pleasure for many of my southern-born friends. It is a rite of passage to muck through the [...]
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 [...]
The archer’s stiff muscles are beginning to shiver a bit as his warm breath circles slowly in the frosty still November air. The warming sunlight is just beginning to filter through to the forest floor, and soften the hard-frosted leaves of the previous night. While beginning to daydream about hot coffee and fresh [...]
