There’s a very simple rule about eating wild game and all four-footed creatures whether we hunt them or buy them at Bob’s Thriftway: the most tender meat is higher and to the rear. The lower you go, and the farther forward you go, the probability is for less tender meat. As we all know however, […]
Wild Game Field Care Is Important But It Doesn’t Have to Be Hard. Unless you’re really unlucky or are chasing big old rutty bucks and bulls (muleys, elk and caribou to name the most likely suspects), at the moment of the shot that wild animal you are about to field dress tastes pretty good. There […]
Sometimes the first thing you do is the best thing. I was confronted with that recently when I decided to take a couple of wild pig shoulder quarters out of the freezer, bone them out and grind the meat for sausage. The flavor wasn’t the issue; it was the texture. Sausage is always about the […]
In 2008 Eileen had a custom rifle built, and its first outing was a South African safari with me and the head of the rifle firm, who we’ll call Ned. She’d taken a couple animals when the scope went crazy. It was a brand-new Leupold 2.5-8×36 VX-III, and Ned started whining: “I’ve sent back a […]
A Quick and Easy Venison or Wild Pig Stir Fry with Sweet Potato Fries: An easy one pan meal with a sauce you can also use for grilling wild game meats of all kinds Easy Venison Stir Fry with Sweet Potato Fries Feel free to make this a really healthy dish if you must by […]
Every once in a while I get a note about how ‘complicated’ people make wild game recipes. “I just throw it in the pan, a little salt and pepper,” they say. Okay. We do that a lot, too. But not every meal. It’s like Labradors: they’re all the same, and they’re all different. And with […]
June is when many handloading hunters start thinking about working up a new load for big game, and sighting-in their rifles for seasons which start as early as August, whether pronghorns in New Mexico or caribou Up North. However, there’s one potential problem with this early preparation–the wide variety of temperatures that might be encountered. […]
I love quesadillas, but they’re hard to eat in a blind—or pickup. So, as soon as I saw this folded version of a venison quesadilla, I jumped on it. (Apparently they’re a hot trend for city folks, but it’s a natural for eating while fishing for bass and walleye out on the big lake, or […]
Best Varmint Handloads According To John Barsness Over the decades I’ve done a lot of varminting, partly because Montana has an abundance of burrowing rodents, which farmers and ranchers tend to want reduced in number. In fact my first full-time job out of high school was as a ranch hand in southeastern Montana, where a […]
Last week I posted tricks for getting big game in the freezer quickly. This week, it’s the feathered game into-the-freezer quick. And there is more than one trick. Upland Game Bird Care: Let’s start with the tools that help. There are three: Feathers Re-sealable freezer baggies, both sandwich and gallon-sized. A bird-sized gut hook: not […]