Category Archives: Meat Cutting

Making Hickory Smoked Russian Boar Rib Hors d’Oeuvres

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From my November Tioga PA. hunt on November 12, I harvested a 300 lb Russian Boar and today November 21, 2025. I unfroze some ribs and hickory smoked them on my Traeger. 

 

I began by pressure cooking the ribs for 10 minutes in 4 cups herb and garlic infused water and a teaspoon of kosher salt and some vegetable/herb infused beef bouillon. I did not want rib bones to fall out. 

Then, I basted Sweet Baby Rays Kickin’ Bourbon Sauce on them and hickory smoked the ribs for an hour and a half at 260ºF on my Traeger smoker. 

I cut the ribs into bone-in Hors d’Oeuvres and added more Sauce.

Here is how they came out.

Soo Tender! An easy recipe.. Enjoy these ribs with your favorite beer. As the Colonel would say “Finger Lickin’ Good!!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Tioga PA Ranch Hunt – Red Stag Deer and Huge Russian Boar with 50 Cal. Flintlock and Crossbow

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 Using my Jacob Dickert Pennsylvania 50 cal. Flintlock rifle, it was a challenge to hunt a 200 lb. red stag doe with patch and ball.

I was looking for a meat in the freezer hunt.  

Snow had fallen during the night of November 11, 2025. I woke to hunting and tracking snow.  Breakfast was scrambled eggs and boar sausage. Delish!

My guide Mike says, “let me know when your ready to hunt Ed” I smiled and said, “lets go”. I loaded powder and ball and ram rodded the load down the barrel.  It was a brisk walk up a forested hillside. Soon we began looking for tracks and sight of any game.

Mike said, “Ed, now is a good time to prime the pan, we need to be ready.  I flipped the spoon like frizzen up and added 4F powder to the pan from the small brass feeder tube hanging around my neck . Yep, I said, I’m ready. 

After a while we found fresh tracks in snow. We followed them to a steep incline with large spruce trees along the steep hillside. Walking along the edge of the incline was treacherous as the leaves under snow hid shale rubble to slip on. We took our time and glassed ahead and in the forest valley.

Suddenly, Mike pointed down the hillside to four deer making their way along the incline. He whispered, “Big doe in the group.” The Red Stag doe was hard to spot. Movement gave the group away. At 75 yards, they detected movement from us above. They held fast, allowing me to close the distance using the big spruce to block our movement down the hill.

I had an opening for a shot at the big doe, so I pulled the hammer back and aimed. But I was unsteady on my feet in snow and on a steep angle. Thinking, I had to find a tree with branches to steady my shot, I edged forward.

I was mostly hidden by the tree trunk. Mike was behind me by 20 yards and videoing me closing in. I pulled up the rifle again and fired at about 65 yards. 

Smoke billowed from the barrel.  After smoke cleared, I spotted some brown on the ground ahead.  You can see the snow covered terrain we were in and carefully approach the downed deer. The shot was angled forward into the lungs. 

I was so pleased to harvest this beautiful doe with one shot from my 1775 Flintlock that I built below. A memory I will cherish. Thank you Lord!

 

She will be good eating! Tioga folks carved and vacuum packed all the meat for 150 dollars. Nice!!

Back in New Hampshire, I hope for tracking snow for a whitetail with rifle. But at least some great meat for our family.

Next is to harvest a Russian boar with my TenPoint Crossbow and my Swhacker broadheads.

Mike set me up in an enclosed tree stand while several huge Russian boar wandered by me. One big boar made its way to a window for a shot. I did not have a good brace to rest the crossbow.  At the shot the boar was hit low in the midsection.

He was hit hard but not a killing shot. I could see him laying low at 40 yards. 

I got out of my stand and loaded another arrow.

 When the boar saw me approach he limped away slowly. I used trees to hide my approach and managed, to shoot him again at around 25 yards. Both shots exited the big boar. He fell for the final time. 

300 lb Russian Boar

Happy Hunter with my TenPoint Crossbow. 

Boar at the skinning shed below. Lots of pork chops!

Good Hunting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Processing My Maine Bear Legs and Backstrap – And Some Delicious Meal Ideas

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I’m thinkin’; “Get the processing/butchering done as soon as possible.”  Accordingly, I pulled my briefly frozen bear leg meat to thaw.  Just enough thaw to begin cutting and processing.

To read about my September 9th hunt, look back four articles or so to my hunt with Foggy Mountain Guide Service. It was an adventure in the deep woods of Northern Maine. 

Onward to processing meat and meal ideas…

Meat Process Tools: 

Sharp Knives

Large Cutting Board

Salt for periodic cutting board sanitizing if you stop for more than 1 hour or so. 

Clear large plastic bags

Vacuum sealer and quart seal bags

 

Step 1

Cut fat from leg.

Step 2

Remove silverskin

Step 3

Cut and remove leg calf meat from bone and bag it in large bags kept in your fridge. I will make burger with this later.

Step 4

Debone shoulder and rump leg meat. I found front legs and shoulder blades hard to debone so I boiled meat off. Rear rump leg meat is easier to debone.

 

Place bulk cuts of leg meat in large bags in the fridge as you go. I label the bags stew, steak, roast, backstrap, for burger, and trash meat.

Below backstrap cut for roasts.

 

Later pull bags from the fridge for making finish cuts, vacuum seal label and freeze. 

Grinding Burger

I use 20% pork butt to add to the meat. The grind is done in two stages; rough and finish. Looks Great.

The key to cooking bear meat is to use a meat thermometer to ensure the meat reaches an internal temperature of 160ºF or more to destroy Trichinosis.  Just like we did with pork some years back.

For tenderness, I found that stewing the meat at a slow boil for three to four hours with salt, pepper, thyme and bay leaf and veggie mirepoix (don’t forget the garlic)  until tender produced very flavorful meat. To speed this up, I have used a pressure cooker in the past as well. 

I toss out the mirepoix and save the cooked juice with the meat and freeze it in pint containers. 

Stewed tender meat that has been cooked well beyond 160F can be used in a variety of dishes such as my signature bear stew with vegetables and gravy below.

I rave about the tender mouth feel of stewed bear meat.

 

Chopped stewed meat makes a great lunch soup with noodles, peas, carrots and beef broth or beef bouillon. 

We use it for our spiced up bear tacos.

You can use the stewed meat to make a bear stroganoff too over noodles and so much more. 

The ground burger raw meat with pork can make a mouth watering meatloaf or chili as long as the cooked meat hits the 160F.  The best way to ensure that the right  temperature is reached is to either measure temperature or cook/boil/stew/bake it for some time.

I hope this article was helpful in creating your own adventure in the woods and your cheffing in the kitchen. 

Good Eating!

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Traditional Newfoundlanders Harvest Seal For Meat – Making Dutch Oven Flipper Stew

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Seal flipper meat is a product of the Newfoundland and Labrador Province’s winter seal harvest. The meat is sold in St John’s in spring.  My hunting friend gave me some to try. I made a delicious stew below.

If the locals eat it, I’ll eat it.

The key to most wild game meat is to cook it till tender. On the stovetop, I removed any fat (as recommended) and cut off some chunks and browned the flour coated meat in Olive Oil and bacon fat below.

Using a Dutch oven, I then simmered/boiled the flippers in beef stock to cover for over 2 hours. I added small amounts of salt, pepper, tyme, savory, onion and garlic powder along with two whole carrots, and a bit more bacon fat. And 1/8th cup Screech (Newfie Rum)

The meat was falling apart off the bone. I tried the meat right then, it was delicious and tender.

In a separate pot I boiled onions and carrots in beef stock and added the meat I pulled off along with some of the rich liquid from the Dutch Oven.  I baked some whole little potato from the “Little Potato Company” and added some to the stew.

I also thickened the stew with some flour.

OMG so good!

The two flipper stew will serve 4 to 6. Serve hot with fresh bread and butter and a few pork fat scrunchions, on the side, if you have them below.

crispy and salty after frying.

Only In Newfoundland

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Moose Meat- Processed In My Kitchen – Continued

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My wife and I continue our effort in turning our frozen boneless moose parts into vacuum sealed burger, stew meat, steaks and a few roasts.

We began by finding parts to be ground into burger, and found lots of it as you see in our transformed freezer below.

Moose meat has no fat thus we mixed approximately 20 to 25% pork butt in with the burger. Pork butt has pork meat and pork fat to allow burger patties to bind and stick together. Pork is also a key ingredient in making meat balls and pasta sauces. 

After around 18 hours of processing we have nearly completed the burger packaging of maybe 130 pounds and 60 pounds of steak and stew meat. 

Last  night we had moose stroganoff and it was a hit. Meat flavor was excellent with no hint of gamey taste. I prefer steak thin slice 1/4 inch x 2 inches or thinner against the grain for stroganoff as I have made in the past to my families delight. 

Most all on-line  beef stroganoff recipe’s will work just fine with moose steak, just thin slice it against the grain while raw and partially frozen before you saute it. Just don’t overcook the meat. 

Today we cut backstrap butterfly steak, many sirloin steaks,and stew meat.

Note: Some steaks will be made into tips and stews as winter gets here. More to do but it is safe and frozen. We will rearrange the freezers so we have a better inventory. Already we have given some meat to friends and family. Nice!

 

 

Good Eats! 

 

Newfoundland Moose – Processed In My Kitchen

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Ed’s Moose taken Sept. 19, 2023

Processing a moose can be time consuming if you have to quarter and bone the meat too.

Moose quarters headed to the butcher for boning and freezing

 

Working with a veteran Outfitter like Gander River makes it easy. They know how to;

  • Gut and quarter your moose
  • Prep for trophy taxidermy if needed
  • Get it out of the woods in excellent shape
  • Skin and hang the quarters to cool
  • Get it to the butcher in prime shape for boning and freezing for my trip home to New Hampshire

Yes, you pay a premium for these tasks, but worth every penny. 

I drove my frozen boned moose meat home (you need an export permit from your outfitter) and it was still frozen solid after 2 days on the road using 2 large coolers. In fact 2 days after arrival my moose meat was still frozen. I have done this before and it works great. 

After cleaning/prepping  the kitchen and pans/ trays and grinding equipment, I brought around 80 to 100 lbs inside, incrementally and examined the bundles and labels.

I chose to cut some steaks at first but was looking for meat that will become burger and stew meat. 

In addition, I purchased 18 pounds of fresh pork butt and cut it up for grinding to add to the moose burger. I boned the pork and saved the meaty bones for a winter stew. I will purchase more pork butt later for mixing. 

All big game meat grinders have a rough grind head (right)  and a finish grind head (left).

 

Below my favorite LEM Grinder, meat pan and cutting board. 

Use the rough grind for both moose and pork at a ratio of roughly 4 to 1 moose to pork. This adds enough fat for burger to bind together.

Mix the rough grind by hand in a larger stainless tray and regrind with the fine grind head. Then vacuum seal in 1 to 2 pound increments. Label and freeze. It is best to keep your meat cold and near frozen so work as safe and quick as you can. My wife and I work well at this as a team. 

Below, my freezers are full of large chunks moose meat to be processed.

If you have enough freezer space, like we have, you can take a break from processing for a few days.

We use a Food Saver™ Vacuum Sealer and heavy seal bags to store our meat in the freezer. Todays freezers can store meat for well over 2 years provided the vacuum is good and you don’t have freezer burn.

Use sharp knives!

Next is to cut more stew meat for pressure canning!

I will cut tenderloin and backstraps later too. 

Good Eating!

PS We had this moose burger for lunch and discovered the meat was tender and very flavorful. 

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Meat from a Laboratory? Hunters are on the increase!

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Meat from a laboratory? Do you trust big business approved by the federal government to provide lab grown meat for you to eat?  They say government approval is coming soon. Is that really beef you are eating? Where is our society going? Where is the connection to the natural world? If you are so dependent, I submit you will lose essential survival and leadership skills essentially becoming sheep.

It was COVID that urged many to try hunting! As a hunter, I like to see the animal that makes my meat rich protein diet.  Hunting does that! In fact, hunters must understand the relationship of game and its surrounding field and forest, find the animal, make a clean kill, remove the guts, skin it, package it, and refrigerate or freeze the meat for future meals. The fruit of the hunters labor is celebrated when the game is in hand and at the dining table. You are the provider and you have first hand knowledge of the field care of your meat. Below, a wild pig taken with a crossbow.

Chops I cut myself for the table and freezer.

The process of hunting has provided meat for civilization for hundreds of thousands of years and it is family oriented, skill rich, survival rich benefits that nature can provide. Remove the survival instinct to forage and kill for food, and we become sheep, dependent on its master for food and protection.

During two recent episodes we as society were shocked that the grocery stores were closed. First recent episode; Katrina, that storm several years ago, so devastated the landscape that we humans were forced to forage and hunt for meat and have a weapon to protect ourselves and family.

The second event we are living in right  now, COVID 19. Remember the meat and pork scare last year? Grocery stores for some meat supplies were bare! Panic meat purchases ensued. I have had such a successful year hunting that I was  never really concerned for meat. My freezer was full of lean, organic protein rich game meat.

Making my own ground meat!

Do yourself a favor, learn to hunt, and forage, it is an essential survival tool. Along the way you will learn survival skills and trust in your own abilities.

Decades ago in one of “Outward Bound’s”  Colorado ( https://www.cobs.org/)programs, students had to be alone in the woods for three days, called a “solo” and among other things you were given a live chicken. You didn’t have to kill it, but it was there facing you every day. Grass shoots and herb tea for three days or roasted chicken on a spit? Your choice! When your stomach wants food it sort of growls doesn’t it.

When I was 16 years old, I attended the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School (https://www.hiobs.org/) for 28 days, and learned survival skills and more about myself. I “solo’d three days on a small island off the coast of Maine. I did not have a live chicken but had access to mussels and sea urchins and sea weeds such as glasswort, plants bulbs like rose hips, plants like goose tongue, dulse, chicory and wild peas.  No it was not manna from heaven but I grew to like it. I forage for wild edibles even today when i  am hunting. When I was in Newfoundland a few years ago I had sea urchin eggs and wild peas on the shore. And lots of Codfish!

See you in the woods!

Good Hunting!

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Dry Age Bag Test for Moose and Venison 14 days

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Some of you are aware that I wrote about dry aging wild game recently in special dry age bags. I used a dry age bag recently for 14 days. I dry aged some moose and venison.

 

I had intended to dry age some moose and venison steaks for 20 days. Well, the meat darkened and shrank, and shrank. Today, I was thinking of a delicious steak and had to open the dry age bags at day 14. What did I find? I found that there was no odor, and that the surfaces had a hardened cover of dried meat.

Day 1

Day 14

The bag was easily removed. The meat was dry on the outside as you see below

and dark in color.

I used a sharp knife to trim the surface. Below looks like a lot of trim but is very thin shavings. Not a lot of waste.

No mold or odd smells just darker in color. I sandwiched two moose steaks and stacked together and that worked out ok for drying the periphery of the moose meat.

 

Now for my wife to try it, I Sous Vide a dry aged moose rump steak  and venison back strap from this process to a 115 degrees with herbs, salt, pepper and a tablespoon of Worcestershire and olive oil for 1.5 hours and then seared on a hot grill. The center was rare to medium rare. I sliced thin slices for her. She said, flavor was good and tender. I liked flavor, but was not as tender as I had hoped after 14 days of dry aging. The best way to age is with much thicker pieces, like a leg roast, but I only have steaks and back strap. Was it worth the effort? The jury is still testing and hopeful.  I did have good luck dry aging without bags for 3 days with moose rump steak. Will try that again! When I use bags again, I will let it age longer.

Good Eating!

Venison Stew with Modern Electric Pressure Cookers

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There is nothing more inviting and satisfying than to come in from the cold outdoors and eat a warm venison stew for dinner. Pressure cooking cuts time and allows you to tenderize the meat to your satisfaction. Tender meat is the key!

Here, I am using  modern conveniences that I have access to.  But you can use a crock pot or Cast Iron Pot out on an open fire and slow cook it all day if you like till the meat is tender 

Today’s Electric Pressure Cookers are very easy to use and designed to brown meat as well as to pressure cook (high pressure) your venison such as deer, moose, elk or even bear meat.

Cuisinart ® 8-Quart Electric Pressure Cooker

All you need to feed 4 is 1.5 lbs meat cut into 1 inch or so cubes (not over 1.5 inches). 

You can brown the meat in today’s cookers by selecting the browning setting. Time for prep 15 minutes. Cook Time total 28 minutes in two steps.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 lbs meat
  • 2 to 3 sliced raw carrots cut to 3/4 inch thick.
  • 4 medium cubed pealed potatoes (you can leave washed skins on if you like) I used mini potatoes in the photo above (12 or so should do-skin on).
  • 2 medium white onions quartered. (if you want to get fancy you can do pearl onions (12 to 15)
  • 1 or 2 turnip quartered (if you like)
  • 2 cups beef stock
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 2 to 3  minced cloves garlic
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt ( I like kosher salt)
  • 1 tsp Black Pepper (fresh ground if possible)
  • 2  bay leaves
  • 2 to 4 slices of bacon (uncooked or cooked)
  • 1 tbsp parsley (fresh chopped is best)
  • 2 tbsp all purpose flower
  • 1 tsp thyme

Step 1- To brown,use 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Chop up 2 to 4 slices of raw bacon and add in with the oil. When you hear the oil and bacon sizzle then add the cubed venison. Begin the browning and add 2 tbsp flower in with meat and mix with the meat while browning, no more than 10 minutes or so to brown. Then add 2 cups water and 1/2 cup wine and all the spices and fold together for 30 seconds. Now select High Pressure on your Electric Pressure Cooker to cook the meat first for 20 minutes following the instructions on your cooker. More time may be needed for tougher cuts of meat. 

When your cooker shuts off you can often release steam with the weighted device that holds the steam on my cooker, but to be safe follow the directions on your pressure cooker.

Step 2- Once you can open your cooker you can test for tenderness of meat. If you approve of the tenderness then add the vegetables to the meat and cook for 8 minutes more. Your stew can then be folded or tossed to mix meat and veggies. If liquid is needed add remaining water or more beef broth. To thicken you can make a roux by mixing 1 tbsp flour and 1 tbsp butter and saute in a frying pan till mixed. Add 1/2 cup warm water or the stew broth to the roux and mix till absorbed and add to the stew with 1 tbsp fresh or dried parsley. The stew broth should not be thin but have some body and some thickness. 

Salt and Pepper and Herb to taste.

You can put your cooker on warm and serve with bread and butter. A french baguette sliced with butter works for me along with a beer or a glass of your favorite red wine such as a Cabernet or Merlot.

Enjoy! You will go back for seconds for sure! It is even better on the second day if you keep it refrigerated overnight. 

 

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Meat Scare translates to Hunting With Your Family

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I have lots of wild meat in my freezer, but even I felt the domestic meat shortage in my gut at a recent visit to the supermarket. It is not really a shortage as it is workers who have contracted COVID-19 and shut meat plants down. It is that sense of loss though that gets families thinking of hunting for their own meat/protein in the wild. I grew up in a hunting family because my mom and dad lived and grew up in the depression era where meat was scarce.  My dad in his 20’s was skinny as a rail as was his father. Baked beans was the protein supplement with whatever meat you could get. We are in fact omnivores but require protein for part of our diet.  Meat provides the bulk of that protein. 

The easiest game to learn to hunt, cook and eat is the Squirrel, particularly the grey squirrel. Hunting them with shotgun or .22. I prefer to hunt them with a .22 Long Rifle cartridge. Later you can hunt deer, moose, bear, ducks, geese etc.  as many do and get lots of delicious meat for the table.

I was at the supermarket yesterday amid shopping during the Pandemic and the pork section 20 yards of meat was totally empty, and beef was picky. Woke yet! Those that are woke, are looking to get Hunter Education Certified so they can hunt and harvest for meat.

The whitetail deer, is the animal most sought for food here in America and there are families who consume it as nearly 100% of their meat diet. 

Processing a Deer for food? From the hunt to the table, read below.

Do it Yourself Processing New Hampshire Deer at Home

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