Outdoor Chef
The best recipes and methods for preparing your wild game.
Corned Meat for Reuben Egg Rolls
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, ice houses and root cellars could keep some items frozen, but at great expense. (Believe it or not, Walden Pond—yes that one from Henry David[...]
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[...]
What to Do With Drumsticks
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 would then run in the opposite direction when I called. Eventually, I ditched the tried and true techniques of setting up, calling and hooting like[...]
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[...]