Dining on the Fruits of our Harvest

"In a civilized and cultivated country, wild animals only continue to exist at all when preserved by sportsmen." -Theodore Roosevelt

After all the planning, preparation for going on a big game hunt, and proudly bringing home our prize to the wife, neighbors, and other people, feasting is what it is all about.  Field dressing the animal, and aging and marinating are important factors in great dining of the game.

Wild game, the perfect food. 

I am firmly convinced cooking of big game well done is one of the most violated errors that is responsible for ruined meat and that of dissatisfied diners. Big game meats, especially steaks, roasts and loins are best when cooked rare to medium rare.  Cleanliness and sanitary handling are key elements to successful cooking and dining.  There is the fear of bacteria but deer and elk are not known as trichinosis carriers.  Cooking meats to a surface temperature of 160 degrees will prevent bacteria penetration as the meat is seared.  Careful washing of hands and utensils is an excellent precaution.

"A hunt based only on the trophies taken falls far short of what the ultimate goal should be." -Fred Bear

We have several friends that we dine with when we have roasts or steaks.  Low and slow are the two ways we like to cook the meat.  One of the major preparations we use is marinades.   We marinate all of the steaks and the roasts.  I have read that if the animal is properly aged, a marinade is not necessary to make it tender.  The moose we just brought back from Alberta was hung for 24 hours.  Then it was butchered, packaged, and sharp frozen to -40 degrees centigrade.  We picked it up the next day. The last two elk harvested were hung for 24 hours and then packaged and sharp frozen.  In the case of the moose, it would be highly unlikely for us to stay in Alberta for 10 to 14 days just to age the moose.

 I have yet to age an animal that I have harvested.  In the neighborhood I live, the neighbors would find it somewhat unseemly to hang a deer or an elk from a tree in my front yard. 

"My dinner is still in the woods." -Unknown

Marinades not only flavor, but help tenderize the meat.  Anywhere from a few hours to several days for big cuts will do the job.  We also use a device that pokes holes into the meat. That helps to get the fluid to penetrate the meat better.  We also soak the meat with the marinade in the refrigerator.  On some steaks we use a meat hammer to pound the daylights out of it.  This should be a thick piece of meat and should be flattened out somewhat.  Since game is a very dense meat, this helps break down the fibrous tissue. 

Acetic acid liquids make the best way to help tenderize the meat.  Vinegar, citrus juices, your favorite red alcoholic fruit of the vine, and yellow liquids that come out of pop top cans make great bases.  For spices, we use lots of garlic, pepper, soy sauce, onions, bay leaf, dry onion soup mix and commercial steak seasonings.  The cook at the lodge used Montreal Steak Spice, a commercial product, and it really added a nice flavor to the meats.  If you don’t have the time, use a really spicy Italian salad dressing mix and doctor it up if you feel the need.

"A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact." -Aldo Leopold

We use olive oil in many instances with our marinades.  Oil will carry the flavors of seasonings and protect the meat from burning when grilling.  Sautéed onions, garlic and other herbs will enhance their flavors.

We will cook roasts all day in a crock pot in a seasoned broth.  We also use cooking bags and roast for a long period of time at low temperatures to achieve tenderness.  With steaks we broil, grill, or bake them at 350 for about 25 to 20 min.  This is after we have soaked it in a favorite marinade over night.

If some animals are good at hunting and others are suitable for hunting, then the Gods must clearly smile on hunting.
-Aristotle

Coke-a-Cola Marinade

1 cup of coke, pepsi, or similar soft drink
½ cup soy sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup honey
1 tablespoonful garlic powder
1 tablespoonful onion powder
1 tablespoonful chili powder
½ teaspoon pepper
Mix ingredients together and soak meat at least up to 8 hours or overnight. We use this on steaks or roasts

Roast Marinade

½ cup oil
2 tablespoonfuls wine Vinegar
4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons dry mustard
Garlic (we use a lot)
2 tablespoonfuls lemon juice
Marinate meat 12 – 24 hours turning whenever.  We also use this on steak.

Moose Marinade

½ cup olive oil
juice from one orange
1 tablespoonful garlic powder
1 tablespoonful onion powder
4 tablespoonful Worcestershire sauce

Put in freezer bag, seal, and soak overnight in a refrigerator.  Marinate meat for 24 hours.  We use this on roasts or steaks and for all four legged game animals with hooves.

Montreal Peppered Steak Recipe

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup soy sauce
4 teaspoons Montreal Steak Seasoning
2 lbs boneless game steaks

After mixing the ingredients, place steak in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish.  Refrigerate for 6 to 8 hours.

Jill’s Marinade

½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoonfuls wine vinegar
4 teaspoonfuls Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon pepper
¼ cup soy sauce
2 teaspoonfuls dry mustard powder
garlic (we like a lot, use whatever you can stand)
2 Tablespoonfuls lemon juice

We use this as a soak for roasts and a marinade for steaks.  With roasts we use a meat thermometer.  With steaks we like to bake them depending on the thickness 15 to 20 min at 350 F.

Roasts

We use these recipes for a lot of roasts as they are easy.  Put it in the crock pot and leave it all day. We have used this on Caribou, Elk, Deer, Buffalo, and Moose.

Crock pot Roast

Ingredients:
1 (4-5 lb.) wild game roast
1 (1-oz.) pkg. dry onion soup mix
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 (10.5 oz) can condensed beef broth
1 (12 oz) can of your favorite yellow  alcoholic liquid that comes in pop top cans.
2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:
Place beef roast in 3.5 to 4 quart Crock-Pot Slow Cooker
In medium bowl, combine all remaining ingredients and pour over roast
Cover and cook on low setting for 8 – 10 hours.
Slice and serve

Crock Pot BBQ Game

Ingredients:
2-3 pound game roast
1 cup tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons Dijon-style mustard
4 tablespoons brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring
1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
Place game in a slow cooker
Combine the remaining ingredients and pour over meat
Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
Slice and serve
(Optional) Shred the cooked game by pulling it apart with forks and use French rolls or sandwich buns for great sandwiches.

Crock Pot Game Stroganoff

Ingredients:
3-4 pound game roast
2 cans Mushroom soup
1 can water
1 package dry onion soup mix
1 can (14 oz) beef broth
1 package (8 oz) fresh sliced mushrooms
Egg noodles
½ cup sour cream
1 teaspoonful garlic salt (I always add a little extra garlic to the mixture)
Pepper to taste

Directions:
Place roast in Crock Pot
add the soups and water mixed together
Add remaining ingredients except sour cream
Cook on low for 8 – 10 hours
Cook the egg noodles and set aside
Shred the meat, then add the sour cream
Cook until heated through
Serve over the egg noodles.

Roast Game

Ingredients:
3-5 pound roast
Celery salt
Ground pepper
Garlic powder
Strips of Bacon
(Optional cooking bag)

Directions:
Brown the roast all over in hot oil
Season well with seasonings
Place the roast on a rack in a baking pan
Lay several thin strips of bacon over the top
Roast at 425 F for about 15 minutes per pound of meat
Place in cooking bag (Optional)
Use meat thermometer Rare = 130-135 F, Medium Rare = 135-140 F, Medium = 140-145 F.
Baking the roast beyond 145 will cause the roast to be a little dry or tough. 

Eat well my friends.  Wild game is nature's perfect food and a gift from God for those of us who venture into the wilderness, spend great sums of money on gear, trips, licenses, and tips.  When we sit down and enjoy a great meal of wild game, thanks is given for the opportunity in this country to hunt great and small beasts and enjoy the bounty that we have been given. 

Click on the link and buy my book from Lulu, or go to the website and click on the book and buy from Amazon. 

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck. Hank

Crossing the Border Both Ways and Driving in Canada

We drove across Montana on Highway 2 to avoid the mountains to the south and west of us.  This was all farm and ranch land with two lane driving and was just a little boring.  Montana is a beautiful state outside of the mountains with the prairies, farm and crop lands. At Shelby Montana, we picked up I-15 and drove straight north to the Sweetgrass/Coutts port of entry to Canada and exit from the U.S.

This sculpture was just outside of Gladstone, ND. 

We drove up to a Kiosk, presented our passports, and answered questions about why we were entering Canada.  We were told where to park and took our paperwork inside.  The person at the kiosk was courteous, but quick and to the point.

The form for declaring the firearm is available on line and also Mike's Outfitting sent me a copy to complete.  DO NOT SIGN THE FORM.  I didn't. You will sign it in front of the immigration officer.  I also took in a copy of my contract and copies of the correspondence taken place with Mike's Outfitting.  I was questioned as to whether I had other firearms in my possession.  The answer was NO. Mike had also cautioned me NOT to bring a hand gun with me.  They signed the form, took my $35.00, gave us back our passports and we were off on our way.

My advice just to save a little money is to fill up your tank before you get into Canada.  They sell gas by the liter and it take 4 liters to make a gallon.  The price of fuel when we crossed the border went up drastically.

We are so used to driving the interstate system in the states that we assumed we would have an easy time filling the tank.  NOT SO.  There are no signs along the highway advertising gasoline stations.  There are some rest areas, but they are very far apart.  My truck holds 36 gallons, so when we got to the halfway point we filled up regardless of where we were and it also gave us a potty break.  In larger cities they do have a section of the highway that advertises gasoline stations available.  We always filled up even if we had 3/4 of a tank still available.

Use a credit card wherever you go if possible.  You may get a charge when you get home for the use of the card, but that is minimal.  The dollar was worth 26 cents more that the Canadian dollar.  Our card makes that calculation for us and we get charged the correct exchange amount.  We used  US dollars a couple of times and no one would make the exchange and considered it straight across the board.

Canada is on the metric system and the highway signs are in Kilometers. That is easy to figure as a 1 mph is equal to 0.621 Km.  So when you see the highway speed sign saying 110 Km, multiply by 0.621 or 0.6 to get the speed in miles per hour.  We hardly ever noticed the Canadians driving the speed limit.  They flew by us and we never passed a car on the way up or back.  I drove the speed limit because we were in a foreign country and I wanted to follow their rules.  We never saw one highway patrol on the entire trip in Canada.  Maybe that is why they all speed.

We came back home the same way we went up.  The thought was to go south in Montana down through the mountain regions, into Wyoming and the across South Dakota.  When we saw there was snow forecasted in the mountain areas of Montana and Wyoming, we stayed on the previous route.

Sweetgrass/Coutts is the busiest border crossing in Canada.  We got up extra early and were on the road at 6:30 after the free breakfast at the Comfort Inn.  When we got to the border there was a line already, but it moved along fairly briskly.  There were a lot of RVs going south for the winter.  We saw signs in the towns warning people to start preparing for winter as it was coming soon.  Also, we saw RV parking lots everywhere along their highway system and dealers in every major city.  People in Alberta must RV a lot and I think there must be a group that heads south for the winter.

Pulling up to the kiosk we were met by a very pretty and friendly young lady.  Smiling all the time she asked for our passports, and where we had been.  "What were you doing up there?" she said.  I said, "Hunting moose."  "Where is the moose?" she asked.  I pointed to the coolers in the back of the truck and said, "He is in the coolers."  That brought laughter and she motioned for me to park the truck, leave the gun and the moose in the truck along with my wife and go inside.  Someone will call your name.  That step was easy.

Inside, I sat down and waited.  Other people were called and some had come in after me.  This was beginning to feel like I was going to be questioned or maybe shaken down.  My guide had prepared the skull cap for the crossing, and indicated they should not want to look at this, but be prepared.  Also, I was warned they may want me to open the coolers.  Now this is bad as they were packed to the top and all seams had been double taped.  The processor said, "Don't worry about a thing, you are good for more than 5 days, but do not open the coolers.  If they are opened, you will have to buy dry ice to make it home."  The guides suggested that I not argue, but ask that they not open the coolers.

We were in the middle of nowhere so where would I buy dry ice?  Not to worry, we discovered a company called Praxair.  They are in 50 countries with 26,000 employees and supply industrial gasses of all kinds.  Wherever there is a medical complex or an industrial complex, like oil well drilling and processing, there is Praxair.  We then called several spots along the interstate and located who had the dry ice.  Problem solved.  If they opened up the coolers, our overnight stop was Dickinson, ND and Praxair was expecting us if we needed them.

They did not open the coolers and they did not inspect my horns.  Whew!!!!!!!  I presented my hunting license for Alberta, my application to bring a gun into Canada, my receipt from the processor, a processed game tag from the processor, and my contract with Mike's Outfitting.  They had our passports.

Then a form was completed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife.  The officer stood right there and helped me fill it out.  Then another form was completed by immigration and again the officer stood right there and helped me out.  Then another person came over and they both discussed my document to bring a gun into Canada.  It was not stamped.  The people in Canada did not stamp it and they just said they had seen this before and if we come back up to hunt, ask the officials to stamp the form.

The officer in Canada was really friendly and discussed the location where I was going to hunt moose, and gave us a big thumbs up on that area.  We discussed processing too.  They were very helpful.

Then it hit me.  I was asked to complete a form that Homeland Security wanted regarding my rifle.  I was told it was optional, but if I ever hunted Canada again, it would help me get across the border.
                                   
I wrote a description of the gun, just like the description on the form to enter Canada.  Listed the serial number, and the officer said now I need to see the gun.  When I came out of the door with the officer in his gear and carrying a sidearm, my wife's eyes doubled in size.  I pulled out the gun, he inspected it and verified the serial number, signed it and back in we went.  I was given a copy and told to keep the document with the gun, if I hunt overseas or come back to Canada.  It will make crossing the border easier.

They gave us back our passports and we were off to fill up the tank with cheaper American gas and head for home via Dickinson, ND, then to Council Bluffs.  Total time from when we got to the border from when we left was 90 minutes, and we did not have to open the coolers. Everyone was courteous and helpful.

Click on the link above and buy my book and enjoy hunting adventures, or go to the Website and buy from Amazon.  www.outdoorswithhank.com

Good hunting, good fishing, and good luck.  Hank