Meat is in the freezer.
Burgers, spaghetti, chili, stew, fillet all waiting to be cooked.
We still have (gulp!) a bear to butcher this week.
I think we are going to learn how to make sausage.
Have I ever mentioned that I grew up in Chicago?
I’ve learned to cook wild game,
but I draw the line at rodents.
I will NOT cook rodents.
Nor will I cook lagomorphs.
X-Ne to squirrels and rabbits.
I have cooked elk, deer, bear, cougar, pheasant, quail, duck, goose and grouse.
I have eaten rattlesnake.
(It tastes like chicken is the obligatory comment after trying new meat.)
Nothing in my upbringing prepared me for this part of my life.
But my mother-in-law and husband were good teachers.
For readers unfamiliar with hunting:
♫ doe a deer, a female deer ♫
a buck = a male deer
a bull = a male elk
a cow = a female elk
a boar = a male bear
a sow = a female bear
Chris (son # 1) with bull elk. Elk is a mild meat. Everybody loves elk.
Chris with his buck
Collin (son # 3) with his buck
Curt (that’s my man!) with his buck
Collin and the sow (black bear) he shot.
He is hunting elk in the state of Washington.
He has gotten some incredible animals in his youth.
Do not weep for Carson…
A Living Pencil 
Oh..I don’t know rabbit is good…I grew up eating “sour rabbit” sort of a version of sauerbraten.I like it now with Sue Gregg’s honey-mustard curry sauce. Yum!I love the pics of your wonderful sons providing food for the family. Sigh from this city girl.
I’m way jealous right now.
Hooray, God, for providing so well for your family!What’s cougar like?
We are blessed by the bounty around us, yet another thing that reminds me that I need to consider thankfulness a bit more. The DH has a cow tag (Cow in this case is the female elk version for those wondering) and he’s planning to take the new son in law out for a bit of wood-lore education! The kid grew up in and still lives in Oklahoma City, it should be interesting for both of them. The DD has been preparing her DH for this and he’s gotten himself a gut knife, not that he has a tag but in case they happen to get one, he’s ready!
being in a non-hunting family, I’ve always thought that was so cool. I think you’re quite lucky to have been able to learn such neat things. I was enjoying the pictures for the background as much as for the happy men and their catch.
My husband was not a hunter but my older son is and both his sons as well. They always have an abundance of deer in their freezer and sometimes other kinds as well. In their area of Utah the first day of hunting season is a school holiday because no one would be in school anyway!
All that variety in meat makes me envious. How many freezers do you have?! from Sherry, who wants to come visit now more then ever.
@R1R2ish – Chicken, of course! All strange meat tastes just like chicken. It was good, but a little on the tough side. Sinewy.@MargaretinVa – My friend keeps reminding me of the goodness and cheapness of growing rabbits to eat. I’m sure I could, but I feel like I have to “draw the line” somewhere. (giggle) We have had jackrabbit pizza. Doesn’t that just sound … gross?@applechexx – Best wishes on cow hunting. I hope he gets one.@DebD – thanks. It is some spectacular country, isn’t it?@mamapiano – I’ve heard the same story about opening day around here. It’s such a part of our culture. In our neighborhood, I’d say there are eight or nine hunters. The joke when you ask where they hunt is, “I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.” It’s a joke, people!!@Sherry – Come and welcome! We have two upright freezers and we also use the small freezers above our two refrigerators. If, for instance, the guys had filled their three elk tags, we would borrow freezer space from friends. We’d also be giving meat away right and left.
I’m tempted to come for a visit!
Do you like bear? What does it taste like? (chicken? ha!) I’ve never cooked wild game, but I’ve eaten some of it. I did cook rabbit once because we had a neighbor who raised rabbits for food. It was dressed and frozen when we got it and I liked it. (Yes, it tasted a lot like chicken!) My butchering experience is limited to cutting up whole chickens (which Cassie thinks is disgusting). I cooked one the other day and skinned and boned it first to make chicken cacciatore. I’ve never even cleaned a fish. We live in hunting and fishing country, but Terry does neither. Somehow we still take comfort in knowing we COULD hunt for food if we needed to.Blessings on your full freezers!Sandy
@kyriosity – Oh, Valerie, it would be an honor to welcome you. And to top it off, our neighbor is a steelhead fanatic (a freshwater fish that is similar to salmon). When we have guests from out of town and mention it to him, he often supplies us with the makings for a fabulous meal.
@secros60 – Do I like bear? That’s a hard question to answer. I was prejudiced against it by some dangling comments made about its greasiness. We ate an entire bear years ago, and I don’t remember what I thought. (Maybe I passed on eating it?) I will give a report when I cook some. The taste of wild game depends on two items: what the animal has eaten and how it is field dressed. It is critical to get the skin off pronto and let the meat cool down quickly. I need to buy some whole chickens and make sure Collin knows how to cut one up.
Hunting — a totally unknown foreign concept to me — the only thing I’ve come close to hunting were pill bugs which I kept in a coffee can to watch them roll around the bottom (when I was a very small child) – and yes, isn’t it fun how we posted the same title today!