I leave first thing tomorrow morning on an elk hunt. It’s a strange time to go hunting. We may be butchering days before Christmas. That’d be a first. I have an antlerless elk tag, and am hoping to have a chance at a calf. We’ll see. There’s so much snow now that the only way to hunt is by snowmobile, … Read More
Butchering #4 – Whitetail Deer
Butchered the fourth big game animal of the season this morning. A white-tailed deer. Looks big, but cut weight was just under 40 lbs. For context, my calf moose was 100, and Henry’s 2 or 3 year old bull moose was 240. My dad’s cow elk was high 100s-200 I think. So my adventure in cooking venison begins. First lesson … Read More
Butchering
Not everyone’s cup of tea, I know. But I just got back from butchering the calf moose I shot. It yielded 100 lbs of meat – and oddly, exactly 50 of super-lean super-clean burger, and 50 of varying steaks and roasts. It took very close to 5 hours from start to finish, including grinding of burger and cleanup. This is … Read More
More On [or Moron] Hunting II
Another video frame grab from my recent trip. I was using my scope instead of using binoculars, so I had no intention of shooting here – I was just looking at it. It’s a cow moose, which one cannot shoot legally. Once again, my lovely blaze orange toque is featured. So hot right now.
More On [or Moron] Hunting
More pictures, as promised. This is a cow and calf we caught in the open. I had told Jacques I wanted a ‘5 minute moose’ at 50-100 yards, meaning one that would sit there and let me gather my composure prior to shooting anything…for 5 minutes. Well it turns out that’s a tall order, so instead, I got a “1 … Read More
Moose Hunting 2006
This photo tells a lot about the hunt I had. What you see, is myself in the lovely blaze orange hat, and my cousin Darwin, being photographed by my dad. Behind us are 6 moose, 4 of which you can see in the picture. The black stuff behind Darwin’s head…a moose. The two between us in the photo are obvious, … Read More
More on Food: Wild Big Game
Tomorrow morning I’m up at 5 to head north on a hunting trip for a variety of big game. I’m going to be looking for my first calf moose, but the guys have tags for a whitetail buck, elk calves, cows, bulls – so who knows what will come of it. As my foodiness has exploded over the past few … Read More
‘Mo’ Meat’
I’ve been studying meat cutting again. Got a call yesterday that there will be an elk to butcher this weekend. And next week, I’m going on my first moose hunt where I actually have a tag. I’m planning on having a game dinner here, likely on Nov 11th. I’m hoping to have some home-made fresh sausages, smoked sausages, hickory smoked … Read More
Do you know that steak’s mom?
Forgive me for having given hunting a lot of thought lately. Killing things isn’t exactly the most socially acceptable activity nowadays, and I get that. It’s macho, ‘old-boys-clubish’, senseless, and so on. And it can be. But it can also be one of the most intense connections with the food you eat. A steak of beef didn’t grow organically on … Read More
Wild Geese
I gave up hunting altogether for quite a few years. Lots of reasons why, and beyond the scope of today’s blog. I gave it another shot in the last couple years, and have been really enjoying it. It’s fun to be outdoors with the guys, and culinarily it’s a tremendous opportunity for me. I just got back from goose hunting … Read More