HUNTING

I mentioned in a previous post that Mom and Dad enjoy hunting, they pretty much enjoy most outdoor activities including camping, hiking, backpacking, hunting and fishing, gardening, etc.  Also because Mom loves to cook and eat this is where the hunting (and fishing and gardening too) part comes in.

First off, before anyone gets their undies in a twist, Mom and Dad don’t hunt (or fish)anything they aren’t going to eat or anything that is illegal to hunt.  Second, they go to great lengths to utilize as much of the animals they hunt as possible…that’s where I come in!

I mentioned last week that horribly frigid deer hunting trip Butthead and I tagged along as camp dogs on and how it was a waste of time since everyone in the hunting group got skunked.  Well, Mom and Dad have been hunting for many years and after their many years of unsuccessful deer hunting, I was beginning to think that they were both pretty lousy hunters and should just stick to the butcher block at the local market.  Until last November when Mom bagged this cow Elk on their Elk hunt (thankfully, Butthead and I got to stay in comfort of our heated home while Mom and Dad were out in the freezing cold that time)! After field dressing and quartering it, Mom, Dad, and their buddy Bill packed all 300 lbs of the beast nearly 2 miles out of the canyon… And then the next day they did it all over again when Dad also got this cow… Back at home the quarters were hung in cooler with care…

And closely monitored for over a week before having the butcher party and carving up steaks… Woohoo!!!  Elk!  A freezer full of Yummy, Tasty, Elk!!!  And Elk parts!!! This will keep me in the kinds of feasts I’ve grown accustomed to for quite a while.

Yep, Mom and Dad keep as much of the animals they hunt as they can, lucky for me Mom turns many of those elk parts into tasty treats for me and Butthead.  Liver is baked into cookies (like my Lip Lickin Liver Libations or the Liver & Cranberry Cat Bait recipe posted previously), heart is turned into jerky strips, tendon and trachea is dried into chews, fresh bones and hooves we get to gnaw on, lungs are freeze dried into super lightweight treats.

I’ve decided that Elk is the most gloriously delicious thing I have ever tasted in my entire culinary career!  And a fresh Elk bone clutched in my jowels makes my tail wag with delight… And brings out the demon in Butthead… Are there any other blog pals who hunt game and what do you do with your game meat?