Here sweetheart, I said to my new wife years ago, try this venison. Ewe she says, tastes so strong and wild and gamy, you eat it…

On the whole, a deer killed quickly and gutted on the spot without damage to intestines will produce great venison meat. Even so some deer eat browse that makes the meat taste strong. Cutting the tarsal glands off your buck is a myth to enhance flavor. Just don’t touch them when handling venison meat as they have a very strong odor that can detract from your meat taste.

So the quest begins, how do you tame the gamy taste? It is the blood that is in the meat that largely carries the gamy taste, so removing the blood in the meat can reduce greatly those strong tastes. The use of milk and buttermilk to soak your meat overnight is a way to draw blood into the milk and buttermilk and carry away much of that gamy taste. A close friend of mine does this with all venison cuts invariably and has had great success with it because she also learned that buttermilk in particular has enzymes that also tenderize the meat.  Lesson learned decades later. See this website http://www.ehow.com/how_5845944_tenderize-buttermilk.html 

I use buttermilk or milk to soak when I know the history of the cuts from a particular deer have been too strong tasting. For example a big buck that was shot at the end of November after chasing does for miles and miles and who was eating cedar browse tastes like cedar and has a very strong taste and the meat is tough as shoe leather needs  buttermilk. All else fails, It is best to grind this meat and add it to say beef recipes as a percentage or use it in spaghetti sauces else it will sit forever in your freezer.

Here is a photo of a large piece of rear leg venison I am cutting into steaks for freezing.

Also, I make it a habit of freezing my venison as a way of aging and degassing the meat. New fresh cuts of venison I have found can be strong in flavor but aged for a month or more in the freezer in vacuum sealed bags can also greatly improve flavor and reduce gamy tastes.

SPICES

I appreciate spices to bring out the flavor of meat, not mask it. A cook book that I bought as a gift years ago for a friend was full of recipes that used Juniper Berry. See the site below.

http://www.ehow.com/list_7284348_spices-use-making-venison.html

Later I found a mustard rub that worked to hold moisture in my roasts but I don’t go wild to herb the dickens out of my venison. I like its taste to remain in the forefront of my palate and not masked to hide it. There are plenty of spices to enhance the flavor of game like Juniper, Cumin, Mustard seed, sage, thyme, turmeric etc.

http://www.spicesetc.com/category/all-spices-herbs

I also enjoy Montreal Steak seasoning found it the spice isle of your local supermarket.

I use it on grilled venison steaks medium rare and sprinkle a bit on it after cooking. The spices in this seasoning are spectacular to bring out meat flavor but I would never use it as a rub, some do, because it is too salty and spicy for me. I use it sparingly.

I only touched on tenderizing here but let me say that pressure cooking venision is the surest way to make a tender venison stew. I use an Electric Pressure cooker that takes only 10 to 15 minutes under pressure to create meat that will just fall apart and melt in your mouth. My family owns this Cuisenart  6 quart below. Cost $130 and worth every penny if you love stew. It will brown meat, then pressure cook vegetables too and will simmer or keep stew warm. Clean-up is a breeze as the inserted pot comes right out for easy cleaning. A great gift idea.

Lastly, make every effort to vacuum seal all of your meat. It can remain for years under vacuum and just months if just wrapped in meat paper.

Good Eating! © 2014

Chili recipes are many, but this one is just the best. Dutch Ovens have been used by New England Settlers for hundreds of years. A flange lid was added to keep the coals of the fire on the lid and out of the food.  (My family has been cooking fish and wild game on the New England shores for 375 years, like you, I am proud to carry on the tradition to cook and serve wild game to family and friends that I killed by my own hands with bow or rifle.) Today Dutch Ovens are also ceramic coated and provide an ideal way to makes stew’s and chili. If you don’t have a Dutch oven use a 4 quart or larger pot with a lid and cook it on the stove-top, that works just fine, no worries, my hunting and culinary friends.

One thing we know about venison, there is almost no fat in the meat. Ground venison is almost 100% lean meat, a good thing for making this chili but some fat is needed to carry flavor so I use bacon as do many chili recipes out there.  I use three or 4 strips of lightly smoked bacon ( hickory smoked works well) and chop it up or slice thin.

The venison is best when rough ground as it has lots of body to the meat. The first time I made this recipe this year I used ground turkey and it came out fabulous, it is hard to screw up this recipe. Of course you can use beef, and I have, just skim off the excess fat if you use 85% lean beef.

2 lbs of ground Venison

3/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 Tbsp Garlic powder or 4 to 6 garlic cloves chopped fine.

2 to 3 medium yellow onions chopped

1 large bell pepper chopped

2 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 tsp Chipoltle pepper Powder (smoky flavor) (optional)

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper (use 1/2 tsp Cayanne if no Ancho pepper is used)

1/4 tsp Ancho pepper (optional) (sweet, medium hot and smokey)

1 tbsp whole Cumin Seed or 1 1/2 tsp powdered Cumin

1 tsp dry mustard (Coleman’s)

1 tsp Oregano

1 large 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes in pure’ ( not diced, too soupy)

1 tbsp sugar or 2 tablespoons molasses (richer flavor)

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce.(remember to shake before pouring)

2 cans of red kidney beans. I use a can of light red kidney and a can of dark red kidney for looks. There are other beans that work here too, like navy beans and black beans. Experiment and be creative!

Directions:

Cook the chopped bacon in the pot until it begins to fry and render the fat. Add 2 pounds venison (more or less)  to the pot with the salt and pepper and cook medium heat till the meat begins to brown. Break up the meat with a wood spatula if it clumps.  Add chopped onion and green pepper and spices and stir. Some recipes toast the spices, mustard,pepper spices,tyme, oregano and Cumin in a separate pan till it smokes. You can do this too if you wish. I find that it makes more pans to wash and does not add much in the way of flavor. The Chipoltle and Ancho spice adds a smoke flavor all by themselves.

Add the crushed tomatoes, Worcester sauce, sugar or molasses, three cups of water, stir and bring to a boil then reduce heat so it is just bubbling on low heat for 1 hour then add the beans or cook on the stove-top (my method with lid on) on low heat for 1 hour so the chili is just bubbling. This is a great camp wood stove recipe too as you can simmer on a wood stove for hours. Simmer for another 30 minutes and check for spice and salt to add before serving. It is the savory flavor of cumin that really makes this dish come alive. Some folks like it really hot, not me so place cumin, salt, pepper and hot pepper on the table to doctor your own piping hot bowl. Garnish your bowl of chili with shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream and fresh chopped cilantro or sliced hot green peppers, and serve with your favorite bread. Great for a cold winter night! Wow! I am getting hungry just writing this…

Enjoy! ©2014

Modifications:

You can use a cup of beer and two cups water to bring to boil instead of just water. Or you can substitute beef stock for the water. It is tough to ruin this dish most you can do is to make the recipe yours!

Make it a Merry Christmas with Stocking Stuffers for your Hunter!

Hand Warmers

,

flashlights,

battery head lamps

a good thermos

hats, gloves and mittens for shooting in cold weather like Pop Top’s

hunting video’s (tons out there)

topographical software for hunters like Garmin or Delorme

Higher on the dollar item list would be spotting scopes,

binoculars,

rangefinders by Leupold ,Nikon, Bushnell for example.

scope covers to keep moisture out like Butler Creek products

Anti-fogging solutions for scope glass

. 

Blue Compound for rusty barrels

A new full length cleaning rod. Tipton, Dewey or BoreTech

a gun care bench vise e.g. Tipton

bench rest devices that improve stability at the range like Caldwell Products

Electronic trigger pull gages

a set of torque wrenches like the Fat Wrench

hunter laundry soap, body wash etc.

For Coyote hunting get rabbit calls and Coyote calls that are hand held or electronic.

That is just a start for now!

I shared this story because many of us, like me, are  not millionaires but need dependable safe transportation for hunting and fishing and can get you way off road to those honey holes that hold great hunting and fishing promise.

I have owned several 4×4 vehicles and did not want to buy new. Not only could I not afford a new vehicle, it did not make sense to spend 30 to 40 thousand dollars at this juncture.

I recently purchased a used 2001 Ford F150 4×4 Lariat Triton Truck (130K miles) from a local used car dealer as my hunting vehicle and it came equipped with a tow package. Got to have tow capability, right? You bet!

Nice Looking Huh!

It was priced right for my budget (cheap) from a used car dealership who specializes in truck sales. I had my local mechanic review my potential purchase for areas that needed repair before purchase. The dealer asked that I pay for parts and they would take care of labor. It cost me $400 extra for parts that included the exhaust manifold and rear axle seals and new trans-axle covers. Thank goodness for my  mechanic’s keen senses.

When repairs were completed prior to purchase I took the truck back for a second review by my mechanic friend George at Freedom Tire in Plaistow, NH before consummating the deal. He was satisfied that the repairs were good and gave a thumbs up for the purchase knowing that my major nemesis was stopping the rust of the doors and skirts as well as the undercarriage. A common problem in the Northeast is severe rust from road salt.

This truck had less salt damage than most because it had no running boards for the salt to collect but it did have a large share of undercarriage rust to care for. Those that had running boards displayed severe rust through. Lesson learned!

I bought some very expensive specialty paints called POR 15 ($25 for a pint). Spray can too!

“POR-15® is a high-tech, high performance rust-preventive coating designed for application directly on rusted or seasoned metal surfaces. It dries to an incredible rock-hard, non-porous finish that won’t chip, crack, or peel, and it prevents rust from recurring by protecting metal from further exposure to moisture. Use it to coat rusty frames, floor pans, farm equipment, marine equipment, or even a heavily corroded battery tray. The POR 15 primer is sensitive to UV light (sun) and must be top coated for prolonged exposure to sunlight. Top coating is not required for areas not exposed to sunlight.”

I went to work scraping and sanding areas ( I used a dremmel power tool for small or hard to reach areas) that needed attention and then applied the paint by both brush and by spray. I just completed phase 1 painting of the door corners, skirt and undercarriage (2 hours) as well as the tailgate that was beginning to bubble. They make a rubberized undercoat too that I intend to purchase and spray on. We will see how it works over time.

The upper body of the truck and cab was well cared for by the previous owner and the truck looks like brand new.

So we shall see how this truck performs and lives its last few years as my Huntin’ Truck. I want to carry my canoe too so I will purchase a bed extender so my Canoe will be supported by the trailer hitch instead of buying racks for the truck. Bass Pro Shops sell the extender for $130.

For my rear widow I will add a Ducks Unlimited Duck Head Decal and Browning deer decal along with my NRA Life Member Sticker. A nice touch!

I will keep you updated on how it all worked out! If you see my truck out there let me know. Good Hunting! ©2014

Here we go again! The crazies have come to rescue the bears. But they don’t need rescuing! Today the bear population is growing faster than wildlife agencies can manage in some cases. In Maine the population numbers around 30,000. By eliminating baiting and hunting with hounds, selectivity of bears taken by hunters can decrease. Seeing the size and sex of a bear up close can aid the hunter to take or to pass. I have hunted bear in Ontario but in fact the bear would say that he hunted me. NRA-ILA reports that money is pouring in on both sides of the issue. Be aware get involved see below. Cute bears grow up to see you as food sooner or later. Just ask the guy who lived with bears in Alaska. He became food along with his girlfriend. Leave the bear management to Maine Fish and Game professionals.

http://nraila.org/news-issues/in-the-news/2014/10/money-pours-into-maine-for-bear-hunting-vote.aspx

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/money-pouring-maine-bear-vote-fight-26123857

Which would you choose?

Ok, lets say there is a tie vote on the floor of the Senate regarding more restrictions on Semi- Autos and magazine capacity. Who do you want making that call, Scott Brown or Bob Smith?

For the Record we have 20 days left and Scott Brown is a 2 issue candidate for Republicans. Hey Republicans have the Constitution in their talking points but the so called inside Republicans talk little about it. Scott Brown verbalizes little on his 20 Second TV add as to what he is really for  but bangs on Senator Jeanne Shaheen on the Border and on ObamaCare.

We know that he, (Brown) has said he is for restricting the use of Semi- Auto firearms and calls them Assault weapons. Scott being in the military knows full well that a semi- auto firearm has been in use in America for sport and home protection since before WW II. So he is lying to those who do not know the difference.

All in all if you want a conservative Democrat in the Republican Party or a very Liberal Republican vote for Scott Brown. On the other hand if you want a Conservative, Constitution believing Republican vote Bob Smith.

Voting for Brown is a vote against the Second Amendment!

Voting for Smith is a vote for the Constitution and the Second Amendment.

Former Senator and NH Republican Candidate Bob Smith is a champion of Liberty, the Constitution and the Second Amendment, and signed a new tax pledges and he says it with gusto! Here he confronts NH Candidate Scott Brown!

Senator Bob Smith Message to Scott Brown(see image below)

“Why won’t you sign the American’s for prosperity pledge?”

Senator Bob Smith and other major candidates have signed this important pledge against raising taxes, spending the Affordable Care Act and for Right-to-Work says the message below from Bob Smith. 

Candidate Scott Brown is clear as mud on raising taxes, Right to Work and of Course the Second Amendment.  Brown is the inside man for mainstream Republicans and giving all Republicans a black eye, especially conservatives. 

Go get’em Senator Smith!

Today responsible firearms owners have a locked Safe to store guns and/or a lockable case where gun access is possible by key or finger print ID and lockable doors that prevent access to children yet when there is an intruder access is possible quickly. I was just up to Al’s Gun and Reel Shop in Derry, NH and very soon they will have Hornady’s RAPiD™ Safe for Pistols (in stock). A great answer to security, safety and access using biometrics. This unit will retail for (Al has not set a price yet) check it out at Al’s in around 1 week. You can reach his shop at 603-432-2708. Tell Al I sent you!

Also see these reviews on line at http://www.bestbiometricgunsafes.com/review-gunvault-speedvault-svb500-biometric-safe 

Gun Safes for Pistols

Gun Safes for Long Rifles

BUT THAT IS NOT ALL!

WE MUST TRAIN OUR CHILDREN WHEN A GUN IS FOUND!

Stop! Don’t Touch! Leave the area! Tell an adult!.

This is the Eddie Eagle training video below for  kids.

NRA Eddie Eagle Video