30-minute epic

Sunday afternoon, misty, foggy, Sandy on the way. Nolan's been plugged into the d!@#$% I Pad.

Must... Get... Kid... OUTSIDE! 

I offer a walk in the woods to check on our deer stands --- naaah. I offer to take away the Ipad until further notice if he doesn't get his boots on and meet me at the door --- whi-i-i-i-i-ining. How about we get Brody and look for a bird? -- Okay. (... ev-er-y-one's a win-nah!)

Okay then.  A bell & beeper, vest and shotgun, and a bit o' orange, and out the door.

Up past the barn to the red maples where we've found woodcock in prior seasons. Brody finds old scent - stop and go, searching.  Stopping long enough to activate the beeper, but no woodcock this time.  

He hunts farther down the maple stand, and bumps into a woodcock and gives chase to the edge of the big woods.  I give him a little "what-for" and we resume the hunt down the hill along the edge of the old field, to the other old field edge below the house.  Nolan and I scoot along, keeping pace while Brody works in and out of the woods, making bell music as he rolls along.  

Pretty soon he stops in the woods near the trail where Richie Feller and Angela dragged a deer out last fall.  Nolan and I follow this other music, SportDOG's bobwhite electronica, to the source -- Brody on point.

 

Nolan stays tight behind me as I walk wide around the dog and come in for the flush.  A timberdoodle whistles high for the sky, my gun barks, and the red gods smile. The bird plummets while feathers float softly to the ground as we walk toward Brody and the retrieve. The off-season retrieve training has been paying off, as last year he would've more likely mouthed the bird whereas now he's retrieving to hand.  Woodcock, at least -- still more work to do for consistency on grouse. I take the bird from Brody, and Nolan takes it from me to inspect and carry. Nolan is impressed with the shot, and I disguise my relief. With any luck, we won't find another bird.

But we do.  Brody works farther along the woods/field interface and into a little popple peninsula that juts into the field. This spot has held both woodcock and grouse in the past.  Into the aspen goes the dog, and out runs a deer -- a good-size one, but I couldn't tell whether it sported antlers or not. Ahead, bobwhite beeps are interspersed with tinkerbells, and Nolan and I follow Brody into the aspens. We approach Brody on point, and a woodcock lifts off out ahead, and glides across the field and down into the woods from which we just came. No shot. 

We continue on as before, working into the north breeze, and after we take just a few steps Brody's on point again. This time he's in the edge of the field pointing down into the woods to our left.  As we walk over a little knoll, Nolan get's a good look at the dog and we stop to admire the scene and discuss strategy. And the plan is a simple one -- I walk just inside the woods as Nolan trails along at the field edge. 

Our plan works to a tee, as the woodcock flushes away north down the field edge, with Nolan getting the perfect view.  My first shot misses behind to the right, but the 2nd barrel centers the bird and it falls. We wait as Brody goes for the retrieve, finds the bird, and brings it with speed right back to hand. Nolan, of course, is all proud of his dog, and full of questions about shooting -- were the shots hard? which one was harder? why'd you miss? 

We agree that two woodcock are enough today, no need to hunt further. We walk up the field to the house to get into dry clothes and warm up by the woodstove.  Our little hunt couldn't have turned out better, and I bet Nolan will remember it long after he's forgotten whatever game he was playing on the Ipad. The hunt will be re-lived at Thanksgiving when we eat these birds (prepared according to Pete's interpretation of March Woodcock). Oh, and Nolan's been jonesing to go turkey hunting next spring down in PA (thankyou PGC for the Under 12 Mentored Hunt Program!).  Time to look into youth sized shotguns... but that's another story.



Brody, Nolan, and two timberdoodles



Woodcock recipe

Ran across this recipe in the Upland Journal forums, everyone there raves about it--thought I'd pass it along.  Haven't tried it yet. 

The cant lose woodcock/venison/waterfowl/gamebird recipe

6-8 Woodcock -feeds 3 or 4 people
Fillet off breasts of the woodcock w/no skin
Cut off legs w/thigh, w/no skin.

Mix a marinade w/this:
Minced fresh ginger- about 3 quarter size pieces
Minced 2 large cloves of garlic
3-4 tablespoons of Soy sauce
1 tbs+- of brown sugar
Several drops + of Asian Sesame oil
Black pepper
1 oz+- hard liquor. (I used rum but whiskey etc would work)

(cut up some green onion-put aside)

Marinade WC meat for an hour or so.

Heat a pan w/1 tbs veg oil til smoking hot. Add meat and stir cook til meat turns color--keep heat high. Just a few minutes. Check to make sure it is rare! Dont overcook.

Just at end add a small handful of green onion.

Place meat on top of white rice or to side and add a little more fresh green onion on top.

Thanks to Ben Hong for providing me this recipe. This recipe will work well w/venison/duck and geese. And is good w/any gamebird.

Turkey sandwich and a side of newts

Okay, efts -- red efts (newts when they're grown up spawning in a pond). In the spring they're everywhere moist in the turkey woods when the humidity is right.  Vicious predators, prowling around the forest floor putting fear into the hearts of small invertebrates. Definitely a highlight of turkey season.

This turkey season started late for me.  I did my usual scouting from the kitchen, but didn't pursue any gobblers I saw during the first two weeks of the season (other than an eventless ramble on Michigan Hill), as I didn't want to thin out the herd before my father-in-law came to hunt with us Mothers' Day weekend.  Mothers' Day morning Angela and I wandered the woods together, listening for gobblers.  We heard two, in different directions, and decided to try to get close to the nearer of the two.  We snuck closer, being careful not to squash any marauding efts, and set up above the gobbler in a mixed hardwood stand. However, right from the start an unseen jake seemed to give us the ugly eye, or at least ugly clucks, and he and the other gobblers drifted away from us.

We picked up and circled around ahead, and set up again.  I gave a few yelps, clucks and purrs on a slate.  An excitable jake, perhaps the one with the ugly eye, was interested but the longbeard hung back.  The jake came in to within gun range -- and if I had my gun up I would've had the shot.  But I was calling, not shooting, on this one.  Ange was all set to shoot, but a tree completely screened the jake from her view.  One more step forward would've given her the shot, but his next steps were a hasty retreat.  

This band of gobblers continued their way through the woods, so again we tried to circle around ahead.  Ten minutes later we stepped into a nice open hardwood stand at the top of the ridge and decided it would be a good place to pause and call.  A couple yelps on the box call were answered immediately by gobbles from the same birds.  We settled in, each against a nice mature hardwood, facing down slope in the direction of the birds.  Ange was to be the primary shooter, positioned ahead and to my left.  A few clucks on the slate were answered immediately by gobbles, louder than before -- they were on their way...

And then another gobble, closer still, but... behind us.  Quickly we shifted around to the other sides of our respective trees.  Cluck-purr-cluck from the slate was answered by a gobble to our "new" front, and then by a gobble from behind!  Now I was in the front shooting position, and Angela was behind me to my right. Another set of gobbles -- from front and rear -- and soon I could see a lone gobbler in full strut about 40 yards out front.  My gun was up, hoping he'd close the distance before the birds got to us from behind.  They had us sandwiched -- ideally we would've been facing in opposite directions, but it was too late to move now. The gobbler out front stepped closer in half strut, looking for us, and gobbled. I could hear the foot steps of turkeys behind us.  The gobbler took two more steps, and "pow!" -- I popped him in the noggin.

I turned to Angela, and 3 or 4 gobblers, all within shot of Angela, took to the air behind us. The gobbler turned out to be a two year old, 15 lbs, his breast meat grilled up nicely for supper that night.

Winging it

A week later I took a dark and early walk in search of another turkey.  The efts were out and about, and the bird song was loud -- scarlet tanagers, wood thrushes, black-throated blue warblers.  But the turkeys were silent.  I walked, stopped, and listened -- without calling -- for about an hour.  I crossed a mature hardwood ridge that had sign of recent turkey activity, thought about stopping to call, but decided to continue a little farther to where the side of the ridge falls off steeply to the hollow below.  At the edge of the ridge I listened for a few minutes... and I heard a gobble from the hollow.  It sounded pretty far away, but I figured I'd sit down and see if a little calling could lure it up my way. 

As I looked around for a comfy spot to sit I heard another sound that froze me -- it sounded like the cluck of a turkey, and not far away.  In fact, close, almost too close.  I quickly sat down against the best tree I could find in short order, put on my camo gloves, pulled up the face net, and covered my legs with a camo net.  I popped a call in my mouth, and then pulled out the slate and struck "cluck, cluck".  Immediately a double gobble boomed out, and it couldn't have been 40 yards away.  I got my gun up... and waited.  I could hear rustling in the leaves. A few minutes went by.  Carefully I reached behind, into my vest back pocket, and slowly pulled out a turkey wing and brought it to the ground.  As I scratched the wing in the leaves I gave a couple clucks, actually a "keeee-cluck-cluck", on the mouth call.  A tom gobbled, jakes clucked, and feet scuffled. Pretty soon I could see gobbler heads bobbing through the undergrowth.  When a jake got close enough, I squeezed off a shot.  At least 4 gobblers took to the air as one flopped on the ground.  And we had the fixings for another meal that just couldn't be beat -- turkey veal.

On the way home I stopped to photograph this bird with one of two junk cars that had survived being salvaged for scrap on a neighbor's woodlot.  I don't know why they weren't taken away with the rest.  These were the only two Hudson Super Jets in the bunch.  Apparently early 1950s vintage.

More Game Taco Recipes

Following up on the venison taco recipe in the post below, here's a great way (I understand) to transform mudhens into morsels from a pretty neat blog, The Sporting Life. Bonus Sicilian coot recipe at the end for our resident Sicilian Coot, El Jefe.

"TACOOTOS FOR TWO FROM CHEF JEROME OF NILAND

Ingredients

4 skinless coot breasts
1 small yellow onion diced
1 small green bell pepper diced
3 tomatoes diced
2 avocados diced
iceberg lettuce sliced
1/4 pound Monterrey jack cheese shredded
1 package slivered almonds
1 small can chopped black olives
corn tortillas
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
La Victoria Salsa Ranchera (hot)
La Victoria Salsa Brava
garlic salt
black pepper
Canola oil

Boil coot breasts until cooked through. Rinse, cool, remove from bone and shred by hand. Chop in blender to a finely shredded consistency. Add a small amount of oil to heavy pan and saute onion until translucent. Add coot and stir in for a few minutes. Add bell pepper and half of the diced tomatoes and stir for several more minutes before adding 1/2 cup of Ranchera sauce, slivered almonds and continue to stir for several minutes more. Add 1 tsp each of oregano and thyme along with garlic powder and black pepper to taste. Set aside covered to keep warm.

Fry corn tortillas in oil and fold, providing both stiffos (crispy) and limpos (soft). Spoon meat filling into tortilla shells and garnish with remaining tomatoes, diced black olives, lettuce, shredded jack cheese and Salsa Brava.

Upon filling of our taco shells, it is our custom to reach across the table to touch our tacootos together, stomp our feet and yell "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" in a high pitched yodel as our toast and salute to the almighty coot.

I've yet to meet anyone, including the biggest of skeptics who did not proclaim that tacootos were not as good if not better than the best tacos they have ever had.

Again, credit for this recipe goes solely to our friend Jerome Lipetzky who we lost to pulmonary fibrosis in 2010 and is greatly missed, so our "Tacooto Salute" is to him as well.

While Tacootos were a creation inspired by the desperation of hunger, Sicilian Coot is an old established recipe shared by another departed and dearly missed friend, Sal DiMercurio of Pittsburg, California. Sal grew up on and around the San Francisco Bay and the Delta, fishing and hunting with great passion and success for over 50 years until succumbing to cancer in 2011. Here is Sal's favorite coot recipe:

SICILIAN COOT

Clean the coot by separating and saving only the breasts, thighs and legs with all skin and fat removed. Rinse, place in a bowl and cover with milk to which a shot of brandy and a shot glass full of fresh chopped garlic have been added. Cover and allow to soak overnight in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator, drain and allow to come to room temperature. Roll in seasoned flour and fry until lightly browned. Place pieces in baking dish and sprinkle with fresh chopped garlic and rosemary bake covered for 1.5 hours and serve.

These are just two of many great recipes for coot, thanks to the generosity of a couple of great friends. More can be found with a little research and experimentation."

Venison taco recipe

there's a rumor of a Vicarious posting in the works, so I thought I'd post this recipe now to avoid posting over Rico's contribution-to-be.

Here's what they've been eating in the Tantarlow household lately. Great kid recipe, especially if you've got some finicky eaters. The spice mix is for a flavorful but not overly "spicy" kid palate; add some cayenne and some chipotle powder if you want to soup it up for adults. Enjoy.

Venison Tacos

Ingredients for Mild spice mix:
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp parsley flakes
1 tsp dried cilantro
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for taco meat:
1 largish yellow onion
2 tbs olive oil
1 to 1.5 pounds venison ground
2 tbs mild spice mix (above)
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp cider vinegar (or less—my kids don't like it but I still add it)
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup chicken stock

Dice/mince one largish yellow onion (my kids say, "chop it small, chop small!!"). Heat 1 tbs olive oil in wok, add onion and sautee until softened, 3-4 minutes or so.

Add 2 tbs spice mix and stir into onions. Allow to cook "until you can start smelling the spices cooking with the onions" (stole that off the web), 1 minute or so.

Add 1 tbs olive oil for cooking the venison, add the venison and mix with onions and allow to cook thoroughly, 5 minutes or so.

When venison is browned, add tomato sauce, chicken stock, brown sugar, and cider vinegar. Allow to boil down until the meat "is just barely wet" (again, advice off the web), stirring occasionally, approximately 30 minutes.

serve on soft tortillas with guac, peppers, cheese, beans etc etc etc--you know the drill for tacos.

Starts and Ends in the Kitchen

Two gobblers walked through the narrow opening between the fields, but at that distance I couldn't tell whether they were toms or jakes. I had done some calling at dawn from the front porch, but hadn't gotten a response -- maybe this was a delayed response to those yelps, two hours later. I drank the last of my coffee, put the kids' oatmeal bowls in the sink, and grabbed a camo shirt from the laundry. And down the road I went.

Keeping low, I scurried along the driveway, headed for a likely spot in the woods in the turkeys line of travel. Sat down against a too-small tree, pulled up the face mask, and gave a few clucks on the slate.

Within a minute the birds materialized over the knoll just inside the woods, coming my way. Purr, cluck. They continued forward, looking for me. About 35 yards out, craning necks, the gobblers surveyed my vicinity. A cluck from my mouth call put any doubts to rest, and they adjusted their path to put a little more distance between us as they circled around me, downhill, out of view in the woods. They weren't buying it.

A couple of clucks on the slate elicited a gobble downhill to my right. Minutes later, clucks were answered by a gobble, this time farther away and behind me.

I turned around, and gave several purrs and clucks, flapped a wing in the air and scratched it in the dirt. Cluck, purr, cluck, and I could hear the pitter patter of turkey feet running my way, downhill from me to my left, coming up the hill and getting nearer. When they came into view they were almost behind me. Kneeling, I twisted around 120 degrees to my left. The first bird stopped in an opening between trees at 20 yeards and I popped him in the head. The tom immediately took to the air as the jake flopped on the ground.

The jake was pretty small, with nubbins for spurs. That night we dined on tender turkey veal dusted with Emeril's, lightly marinated in Newman's family Italian, and grilled to a hint of pink, with a Finger Lakes reisling, wild rice & shittakes, and steamed asparagus. A couple nights later it was wild turkey/wild rice/wild mushroom enchiladas. Our first spring NY turkey, scouted from the kitchen. Natchur'ly.

Parts is parts, parceled, and PW focused on focus of cell phone camera.

Cooking tips for Uncle Pete

clearly this guy has Dr. Dirt in mind . . . he even uses the word, "flaccid."



Enjoy your bacon.

What they're eating in T'burg

Venison Stew, Old-Fashioned. as easy and as good as it gets.

1-2 pounds venison stew meat, browned in pan searing flour
4-5 red potatoes cubed
2-3 carrots sliced
2-4 onions diced
1/2 bag frozen peas (or fresh if you can get them)
1 to 2 cups beef broth (enough to almost cover meat and veggies in pot)
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup sherry
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp Kitchen Bouquet
1/4 tsp tyme
2 bay leaves

Combine all ingredients in crockpot, cook on high 7-8 hours. When done, add a splash of heavy cream, light cream, or half and half to thicken it up. Serve over egg noodles. Yummy.

Wendy's Honkin' Good Jerky

I know Josh will appreciate this post, because Josh knows jerky.

I recently inherited a considerable amount of goose flesh, some of which I had a direct hand in collecting, the rest of which I influenced indirectly.

Anyway, I've spent the better part of the past couple of days trimming, bagging, marinating, and drying. Several batches of goose jerky later, I can confidently say the following recipe is a winner. The folks at CrossFit Ithaca dubbed this "Wendy's Honkin' Good Jerky":

Take a box 'o goose flesh
Pull out 1 to 5 pounds of flesh from the box
Trim the flesh of fat and sinew

Place flesh in freezer for 30 minutes to aid with slicing
Remove partially frozen flesh from freezer, slice cross-grain into 1/8" to 1/4" pre-jerky strips

Pre-soak pre-jerky strips in a brine of Morton's Tender Quick for 1 - 2 hours if desired

Mix the following for marinade:
1 cup teriyaki sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce (THIS IS THE SECRET INGREDIENT)
2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

That's the base recipe and will make "honkin' good jerky" as is; the next batch I make is going to get more in the way of hot pepper spices; the batch currently drying has wasabi and fresh ginger added.

Rinse brined meat with cold fresh water, add meat to the marinade in plastic bag, and marinate as long as your patience can stand it: 6 to 24 hours.

Put your pre-jerky strips in a dehydrator and have at it. Six to eight hours later you'll have "Honkin' Good Jerky."

Alternatively, one could fire up their Bradley Smoker and cook it that way. Not really necessary, but could be good.

The cure for flaccid bacon

While Josh waits for epic stories of grouse camp hunts (pssst, Josh . . . don't hold yer breath), I want to publicly commend Pete and Rich for taking care of the bulk of the Old T breakfasts when we were in Wisconsin.

But many of you grouse campers know that Pete has a, ahem, problem when it comes to cooking bacon. As in getting bacon heated above room temperature. As in not reading the health advisories on the bacon packaging re proper cooking. As in . . . flaccid bacon.

Now, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, there's a YouTube video aimed directly at Pete to help him with his trichinosistic tendencies. Please watch this important safety video now. Thank you.

Why the U.P. is awesome

Bacon Explosion Sweeps Internet

recipe is at http://www.bbqaddicts.com/blog/recipes/bacon-explosion/

who's going to try this first?

Introducing....!!!

Check it out. Click on the image, and be sure to let Mo know what you think...

Home for the Holiday

The in-laws came Downeast for the extended Thanksgiving weekend. The past couple years my father-in-law, Ken, and I have hunted deer together at Thanksgiving, sort of continuing the tradition my dad and I began when I was a pup. My dad gave up hunting a few years ago, so our tradition now is for me to call him after I get in from deer hunting.


Thursday morning was crispy, upper 20s firming up the rain of the preceding day. I dropped Ken off in the dark to walk to his tree stand, then continued on to my parking spot. I had a quick half mile walk to where I'd left my climber attached to an oak looking over a fairly open side hill. The deer and bears had been feeding on acorns.


The bark of the tree was slick with an icy film, causing me to be extra careful and deliberate ascending to my perch. An hour into my sit, I was wondering when I'd be able to get out for a duck hunt... a flicker of white off to the left got my attention. Within a minute I saw it again. Through the developing fog I could make out the form of a deer facing me, head down nibbling acorns about 100 yards away, the tail occasionally twitching a flash of white. Cranked the scope to 7 power; when the head came up I could see antlers. Small antlers. This time of year, yearling head gear is first choice for choice eating... if you even have a choice. In my 8-10 hours of hunting this year, this was the first deer I'd seen, buck or doe. Around here, with a deer density well below 10 deer per square mile, it's always bucks-only hunting.


The buck was slowly heading in my direction, munching acorns. He drifted a little downslope, but still advancing in my general direction. Then he drifted into a beech thicket, and soon I lost sight of him. Then I couldn't hear foot steps. After 10 minutes of not seeing or hearing "my" buck, I started to worry he'd simply walked away. Or bedded down? I pulled out my trusty Primos "canned heat" doe bleat can. Baaa baaa. Immediately I heard foot steps, but my eyes straining through the fog failed to locate the source. Then I saw him.... walking away. Another bleat, and he's no longer walking away, now he's running away!

A year ago I used the same call to bring in (*almost* for a shot) a mature buck not 200 yards from this location. This year's buck most certainly was not high in the pecking order in these parts. A deer trotted through an opening 80 yards downslope, but I could not see antlers. Through another opening at 85 yards... I saw antlers. I was ready when the buck stopped in an opening at 90 yards. It disappeared at the shot. I kept the scope trained on the spot; 30 seconds later I saw a brief flicker of white, and began descending the tree. The buck lay dead where I shot him, the bullet entering the chest high behind the shoulder, breaking the spine. Not the preferred neck shot, but the carcasse damage wasn't too bad. And the tag was filled, duck/bird hunting opportunities awaited, no longer constrained by the concern to put deer meat in the freezer.

Propped up for draining.

Slid easily on oak leaves.

Yearling 3-point, field dressed 103. I gave dad a call, told him the story.



We arrived home for lunch to an enthusiastic reception.

Ken watched a large cow moose Thursday morning, and a doe the next. Angela hunted deer for the first time Friday morning. In 5 hours she saw no deer but plenty of sign. Seems eager to try again.

Saturday night we had a meal that needs mentioning. The whole holiday weekend was more or less a game feed, with woodcock and fresh deer tenderloin on the menu Saturday. I prepared the woodcock according to Pete's blog entry of October 08. Rave reviews from all -- the legs were especially liked by the women and boys, the breasts being craved by the men and the boys. So far I'm on the good side of the dog spirits.

The deer was delectible as well.

Spider/Black Lake Woodcock

My sister lives around the corner from the restaurant March. I haven't been there for years, as our last bill for four was around $500 and my brother-in-law graciously offered to bail me out. Embarrassment aside, Wayne Nish, the chef/owner, knows how to cook wild game (as opposed to farm raised). He published the following recipe for woodcock, memorable in that it not only uses those tiny legs, but it elevates them to the level of culinary centerpiece.

Four woodcock - legs in skin, breasts w/or w/o skin
2 cups upland bird stock
1 shallot, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 TBSP coriander seed
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP fresh thyme
1 tsp peppercorns
1 tsp sea salt

The legs (prepare these first - roughly 1-2 hrs)
Put legs in saucepan with 1.5 cups stock, shallot, garlic, coriander seeds, bay leavs, thyme, peppercorns and salt. Bring to boil, then back down heat, simmer for 1 to 2 hrs (check occasionally to see if more stock is needed).

The breasts (cook when legs are essentially done)
This is the straight forward Tantillo/Weik method (let's call it the Kate method): season breasts with pepper and salt, light dusting of flour for texture, sautee in hot olive oil (smoking) to sear exterior, leaving interior bright enough to scare away those with PETA inclinations. I like to add a bit o' chopped garlic so that the breasts stand up to the legs (I think that is in keeping with the Kate method too). Cook breasts primarily on one side, so that a good crisp skin develops, to contrast with the succulent interior. Do not flip them too early. If you overcook them, the ghost of every good woodcock dog will haunt you until the next time you prepare this recipe, when you will undoubtedly cook them properly.

The plate (serves 4)
Symmetry is nice, keeping legs and breasts separate. These morsels are worth more than their weight in gold, so serving only one leg/breast per plate offers a warranted tease/lesson. A toast point can be used to soak the delicious braising liquid from the legs.

new book coming out

Just ran across this book on amazon.com and had to smile.

Order yours today.

Graham is also author of Keep Chewing Until It Stops Kicking: Finding Your Inner Caveman.

Little Carnivores

This past year I posted to this blog about as much as I got out hunting. Which wasn't much. Sadly, my grouse dog of 10 years hunted birds just one day. That one woodcock didn't go too far at dinner! A little better was the duck hunting -- two mornings -- so Spy got a few swims in, and we had a few meals of duck.

The deer hunting was hard. Hunted a few days in Maine, probably out 6 or 7 times. Came so close to lining up on a buck, but it wasn't to be. After he snorted at me and was walking away, I pulled out a Primos doe bleat can and called him over. But he was just a little too nervous, and came to his senses about a nanosecond after an ear and antler came in sight... and he was gone. I even borrowed a black powder gun, bought a tag and tried that for a couple long days of steep snowshoing. That was fun, but did not see a deer, although sign was abundant.

I was able to get down to my folks' in CT twice during the fall. Usually it's deerville, but I did not even see a deer in 3 days during November and another two after xmas, which is unheard of. On the afternoon of the 6th day, a couple days after xmas, I settled down in a tree stand at the edge of the woods, overlooking an apple orchard (which had a liberal supply of apples still on the trees and more underneath). There was a pretty good covering of snow, and the temperature was comfortable in the upper 30s, west breeze. I had read maybe a couple articles in the Northwoods Sporting Journal when they appeared like a mirage. It was like the good old days -- deer were walking up out of the oak woods (and what an acorn year!) to the orchard. I counted one, two, three. Looked like a doe and two fawns. The fawns came first, and I let them pass at 70 yards up into the orchard. The doe stopped under a greening tree, facing me at 60 yards, head up. I placed a bullet high in her neck, reloading as the fawns jumped at the shot. They milled around a little, trying to sort things out. When one of them stepped clear of a tree limb, I threaded a bullet to his neck as well (I like the high neck shot, as the deer drop like a stone and the clean carcass makes the butcher very happy). That filled my tags, so I just watched the orpan. Finally it trotted down into the woods. A couple bleats from Primos, however, turned it around and it trotted to me, calling, right under my tree and up toward the orchard again looking for company.





There was much rejoicing that afternoon. Finally, after having to say No everytime Nolan would great me at the door with "Daddy, did you shoot a deer?", I was able to tell him yes. He told me several times over the next few days how happy he was that I shot 2 deer. When I was cutting up a carcass up on the kitchen table one day he walked in, asked what it was, and said "that looks like good meat". Little carnivores say the darnedest things.






The last day in CT I brought Nolan out for a short walk to look for bunnies. Sure enough we saw one sitting near its burrow. A crack of the .22 reduced it to possession, and again there was much rejoicing. So, what the hunting this past year lacked in quantity was made up for with a few precious memories and good meat.


And what kind of post would this be if no recipe were offered?
A favorite deer or moose dish at the Path Walker camp is "barbequed" ribs. We like to have a good rib feed right away, as the bones otherwise take up a bit of space in the freezer.
Trim up the ribs, cut to sizes that fit in your crockpot or stew pot. Cover with water, bring to a boil or nearly so, then let them simmer til the meat wants to fall off. Cool so the fat will solidify on top (especially important w/ deer). Then pick the meat, put in a casserole or baking dish, mix with Sweet Baby Ray's barbeque sauce flavor of your choice. Pop it in the oven at about 375 until it gets a little crusty on top. Serve over your favorite type of rice with a nice lager along side. Ribs of a fawn are probably good for one meal, an adult deer maybe two meals (if there are any leftovers you'll probably have to fight for them, or hide them).


Good luck in 08.

Cast Iron Skillet Goose with Horseradish for Carol and Gordon

Per boneless goose breast: marinate ~ 24-36 hours in equal parts veg or olive oil and red wine (not red wine vinegar), to nearly cover breast; 1TBL soy, 1/2 TBL worchester, rough cut garlic, dash marjorum, dash summer savory. Turn often to keep moist. Take your big ol' cast iron skillet, sautee more rough cut garlic in mixof butter, cooking oil, bacon grease (whatever your pleasure--we used mostly bacon grease). Bring it up to absolutely smoking hot. Yes, it will be a pain to get that blackened garlic off the pan. That worry is for later. Sear whole goose breast about 2 mins per side until blackened. Pour in enough of the marinade to create a broth. DO NOT REDUCE HEAT--this means the marinade better be pre-heated or you may crack your skillet wide open. Cover skillet and cook breast about 3-4 more mins per side or until desired doneness (you can cheat and bisect the breast cross-ways to see what it looks like--for my $.02, the very outer should be seared black, fading to a good deep red in the middle [not the flaccid pink of the Black Lake DuckI ncident, of Which we Shall Not Speak]). When desired level of over-cookedness is achieved (deliberate swipe at the heathens among us who refuse to eat waterfowl until the livin bejeepers is cooked out of it), slice as thin as you can manage (across the breast), and serve on baguette slices with horseradish and a twist or two of fresh pepper.

Serious.

What They're Eatin' at Canoga Creek Farms II

This year, fellow Grouser Joshua and his family joined the festivities at Canoga Creek, along with Ros and Gail Parks. Gobble Gobble.

The Third Canoga Creek Thanksgiving

22 November 2007

Cocktails at Five O’clock

First Course Hors D’oeuvres

Pheasant in a Bramble

Petite Duck a l’Orange

Asiago and Venison Stacks

Pate de Canard et de Fois Gras

Skewers of Barded Grouse

Cherry Goose

Wine -Merryvale Carneros Chardonnay Reserve (2002)

Second Course- Soup

Woodcock, Minnesota Wild Rice, and

Mushroom Soup

Crostini with La Buelle de Causses and

Fig Jam

Third/ Main Course

Grilled Wild Turkey Breast with

Horseradish Hollandaise

Farm Fresh Turkey Stuffed and Roasted,

Traditional

Creamed Ginger Garlic Butternut

Squash

Mashed Potatoes with Garlic and Parsley

Green Bean Casserole

Apple, Sage and Mushroom Stuffing

Corn Bread and/or Zucchini Bread

Wine -Serenity Pinot Noir, Central Coast (2005)

-Solena Pinot Noir Grande Cuvee, Willamette Valley (2006)

Fourth Course

Cranberry Parks Glace

Wine -Dry Creek Vinyard Old Vine Zinfandel, Sonoma County (2004)

Fifth Course

Salad of Wild Greens

Sixth Course-Selection of Imported Cheeses

Stilton (England)

Parrano Robusto (Spain)

Parmesan Reggiano (Italy)

St. Andre (France)

Muenster (France)

Seventh Course

Homemade Apple Pie

Homemade Pumpkin Pie

Eighth Course-Digestif

Xocolatl Nativo Amb Pebre

Negre(Barcelona)

La Gloria Cubana Maduro Cigar

Wine -Porto Moreira (1997)

What to do with 43 ducks.

Braised Duck in Thai Red Curry
(recipe imported from Alberta)

Frigid winter night.
Warm fire. Friends getting plastered.
Them’s some good eats, eh?

Ingredients
2 large ducks, skinned
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
¼ C vegetable oil
16 medium shallots, thinly sliced
8 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBL grated fresh ginger
¼ C Thai red curry paste (makes it pretty hot, but not ferjeezumcrowe hot). Adjust accordingly. Find your comfort.
3 C game bird or chicken stock
¼ C Thai fish sauce
1 can (14 oz) unsweetened coconut milk
¼ C fresh lime juice (about 2-3 limes)
3 TBL brown sugar/raw sugar
1 bunch fresh cilantro, trimmed and chopped
2 limes, peeled and diced
1 bunch green onions chopped about 2/3 the way up (including plenty of green)

Directions:

Skin ducks, cut into bite size pieces. Salt and pepper to taste.
Heat oil in heavy dutch oven, high heat. Brown duck on all sides, transfer to platter.
Reduce heat to medium-low, add shallots, cook until brown.
Add garlic and ginger, cook for about 1 minute, then add curry paste.
Cook, stirring constantly, about 3 minutes.
Return duck meat to pot along with stock and simmer uncovered until duck is tender (about 30-40 minutes)
With slotted spoon, remove meat to platter, keep warm.
Cook sauce over high heat until liquid is reduced by about 1/3.
Then stir in fish sauce, coconut milk, sugar, and lime juice, bring to a short simmer.
Remove from heat, stir duck back into warm sauce.
Serve garnished with cilantro, diced lime, green onions.

Pairing Suggestion:

A nice cold “Gevertz”
Can’t spell Gewürztraminer.
Thank God for spell check.