Wild game is a staple in my household

2009-12-16T10:57:00.000-08:00

So it is dinnertime at my house. I am rummaging through the freezer to find some venison. Venison tenderloins. Great! Now I have to find a recipe to make with that venison. I have several wild game cookbooks, so I start thumbing through the pages. I come upon a recipe that seems to be looking very good for the family’s palate. Stir-Fried Venison Strips, which sounded really good to me. I asked the family if that sounded good to them. An all out “YES!” was all I heard.
So I began to get all the ingredients together. I was missing a few ingredients so I had my wife, Kelli; go to the store to pick up some red pepper flakes and some ginger. The rest of the ingredients I had in the cupboards. I had a shadow behind me with a small voice that wanted to know, “daddy, can I help you?” It was my 5-year-old daughter Pacience, or Pacie as we call her.
I told her she could help when Kelli brought the rest of the ingredients that we needed. Kelli returned a short time later and Pacie ran into the kitchen and pulled up a chair against the counter. She asked what she would be doing. I told her she could get together the first seven ingredients and put them in a Ziploc bag. I told her we were going to be following a recipe in the book. We began to add soy sauce, the brown sugar, the ginger, black pepper, and some red pepper flakes into the Ziploc bag. I then told her to grab the cutting board. She went to the bottom cupboard and brought me the only cutting board we have, which is too small to even call it a cutting board, but it would work for what we needed it for.
I began to mince the onion that was needed. Once it was minced Pacie put it in the bag with the other ingredients. I had her go to the refrigerator and grab me one of the cloves of garlic. She came back and said, “The clove smelled bad.” I told her it’s a bad smell because it was garlic. “Oh” was all she said. I grabbed my chef’s knife and began to mince the clove of garlic and all she could do was sit on the chair and hold her nose.
After all the ingredients were in the Ziploc bag, we grabbed the venison and cut the tenderloins into strips about an inch wide and 2 inches long. After we had all the venison cut up, I had Pacie put the meat into the marinade. I made sure that the bag was zipped up properly and had Pacie put it on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. After a few hours passed we went back and got out the bag.
I heated the oil in the skillet, and drained out the liquid from the onion, ginger, and venison. I placed the onion and garlic in the hot oil, and waited a few minutes for them to cook. I then placed the venison in the skillet and began to stir-fry all the ingredients together. Pacie was standing on a chair close to the action, but not in harm’s way of the hot oil. I told her to get the plate off the table and bring it to me. I placed the meal on the plate and called everyone to the table to eat. Everyone enjoyed it and not an empty stomach was left in the house.
The recipe for the venison stir-fry was as follows:
Stir-Fried Venison Strips
* 1/3-cup soy sauce
* 2 tsp. brown sugar
* 1/8 tsp. ginger
* 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
* 1 Tbs. Plus 1 tsp. onions, minced
* 1-1/4 lbs. venison tenderloin steaks, thinly sliced
* 1 Tbs. Plus 1 tsp. cooking oil

Thoroughly mix the first seven ingredients. Add venison and put in a container with a tight fitting lid. Marinate in refrigerator 4 hours or overnight. Heat oil in a wok or skillet. Drain the venison. Stir-fry everything over high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until desired doneness is achieved for your personal taste.

I would highly recommend this recipe if you are a fan of venison and want to try it a different way then how you would normally prepare it. It was highly tasty, and the family really enjoyed it. I know your family will enjoy their venison made into a stir-fry.

How to spend time with your family, and Hunt across the country

2009-12-16T10:52:00.000-08:00

Hunting has always been a family oriented sport. Some families have started making a living doing what they love, and filming it. The main staple of putting that video footage out there has been the Outdoor Channel or Versus Channel are the two most common channels for outdoors and hunting. Now, if you have ever watched the Outdoor Channel on T.V. then you are pretty familiar with some of the people who will be presented in this blog. The names that are brought up when you think of families in and around the hunting industry are: Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo, Ted and Shemane Nugent, Lee and Tiffany Lakosky, Don and Kandi Kisky, Weston and Jodi Clark, Mark and Terry Drury, along with many others. Ralph and Vicki are affectionately referred to as “the first couple of hunting.” The reason for the nickname of the “First couple of Hunting” is because they are arguably the best husband and wife hunting team. They are also the first husband/wife team to be on the Outdoor Channel. Now it seems as that was ground breaking for all of the other “couples” in the hunting industry because it led the way for women and couples in the industry. There are some families in which both family members hunt. The case in point would be “The Crush, with Lee and Tiffany.” They have two different sets of camera people and both Lee and Tiffany go out and sit in the deer woods in hopes that a monster buck will walk into range of the bow sights or within the cross hairs of a rifle scope.
There are other shows where the family members hunting are a camera-man/hunter team. Some of the biggest names in the industry use this. Such as Mark and Terry Drury, who are brothers that live in Iowa, but hunt all over the U.S. and Canada. If you watch some of their shows, one hunt will feature Terry doing the hunting, no make that “the missing,” and Mark is behind the camera. The reason I say missing is because Mark is always teasing Terry that whenever he is in front of the camera, he feels the pressure of getting a good shot and then ends up missing that shot. Now the next hunt, whether it is on the next episode, or the next feature of the same episode, will feature Mark doing the hunting with his brother Terry doing the filming. As far as the razzing that Terry gets from Mark about his missing his shot opportunities, I feel that it is a realistic depiction of how families are all over this great country. The hunting families that are part of the “common man” persona are the same way. I missed a deer once and my dad was part of the razzing that had been my misfortune for a shot that was clearly not guaranteed venison in the freezer.
I hunt with friends who watch the Outdoor Channel and see that the “common” hunter is within each and every hunting “celebrity” who is featured on any hunting show televised. Ted Nugent and Shemane Nugent get a lot of ridicule from the media for their stands on the 2nd amendment that proclaims our right “to keep and bare arms.” They are very adamant about what the U.S. Constitution states for the U.S. population as hunters and gun owners. They own land in both Michigan and Texas where most of their show, “The Spirit of the Wild” is filmed. When Ted and Shemane met, Shemane had never picked up a hunting weapon. She decided to go hunting once just to spend time with Ted and she was hooked from day one. These days, a lot more women are getting into the hunting “spirit” just to provide for their families and spend more time with their significant others. My wife is one of those women. I have her hooked on hunting. She wants to get a rifle and archery equipment so she can get that rush of hunting and killing of her first deer.
Now my favorite hunting husband and wife team hands down is Lee and Tiffany Lakosky. They were living in Wisconsin, where Lee was a chemical engineer, and Tiffany was a flight attendant. Lee decided he wanted more out of life, and so they moved to Iowa, where they now pursue monster bucks for their T.V shows, “The Crush with Lee and Tiffany,” and also another show where they co-host with Don and Kandi Kisky called “Whitetail Freaks,” where they show off some impressive mature whitetail bucks.
With more and more people coming into the hunting industry, whether it is through the Outdoor Channel or by some other means, like camouflage manufacturing, or tons of other means, there is one thing for sure. There is also going to be families involved. There is going to be a growing number of younger people featured on many outdoor hunting shows. Whether it is the host’s children, nephews, or nieces, there will be a growing trend to have families portrayed as the means to save hunting. Hunting started with families and that’s the only way to preserve it on the Outdoor Channel, and through the younger generation like my children. I take my kids hunting whenever I can and I teach them what a true hunter really is and what it means to be a hunter.
A true hunter doesn’t always take from the wood. A true hunter is first and foremost a conservationist. He puts back into nature more than he will ever take out of nature. For an example: if a hunter cuts down a small tree to clear “shooting lanes,” the conservationist in that hunter will say you need to plant at least 2 more trees. Why two trees? It is easy really, one tree is to replace the tree you cut down, and the second tree is for the good of Mother Nature and all the people and animals that use the woods. A true hunter takes care of nature first and foremost, then will take from the bounty that nature provides, never taking more than he puts back.
Families will teach traditions that have lasted generations, but some of those traditions get lost between the old and new generations. Hunting is starting to be one of those traditions. Hopefully there will be hunting around when my children are showing family traditions to their grandchildren

2009-12-16T10:48:00.000-08:00

Can I take the “wild game taste” out of wild game?
The first step is that you need to shoot a deer and harvest the venison. My preferred method of gathering venison is through archery equipment; however, on November 16th, 2009 I had the great fortune of taking one of my father’s rifles, and heading into the woods. I filled my antlerless deer tag around 4:30 pm. I was mesmerized by six red squirrels chasing each other around the trees, up, down, and all around the woods. Suddenly, I saw a flicker of a tail and was snapped back to the reality of my deer hunt. There were two deer coming in from the east and moving slowly through the woods. I pulled up the rifle and by the time I could get a clear shot they were right in front of me about 150 yards away. I put the crosshairs right on her shoulder and squeezed the trigger.
The report of the rifle rang out through the woods and I watched as my doe bucked as if she had been hit hard, and then I watched as she ran full tilt into the corn field to the north of my position. I began to rerun the whole shot and everything through my head and was sure that I had made a perfect hit. I gave her a few minutes to expire and to calm myself down as I had begun to shake uncontrollably. I went to the spot where I had last seen her. At least I thought it was the spot, but found no blood, no hair, nothing to indicate a hit and wounded deer.
Then I began to backtrack towards the east, and there I found blood and hair and fat from where she had been hit by my bullet. I followed the blood trail up to the property line and noticed that there was blood all over the stalks of corn on the neighbor’s property. I called the neighbor and told them the situation and told them I would like to recover my deer. I asked them if I could have permission to cross the property line to pull my deer back across. They gave me the go ahead, so into the corn I walked following blood that was hip high on the corn. Six rows into the corn there laid my doe, ready to be pulled from the corn.
Now that I had my venison, it was time to eat really well. My friend’s wife, Cher, has always had a bad taste for venison ever since she was a little girl, because no one had correctly made it for her. She said it was too “gamey” tasting and that “she did not like the taste of venison” because it “tasted bad and too strong of a gamey flavor.” I told her that I would correctly prepare the venison and she wouldn’t know that it was venison other then seeing us cut up the deer before hand. I had asked Cher for some All Purpose flour, some salt and pepper, and a skillet with oil in it. Next, I dredged the venison medallions freshly cut from my deer, in the A.P. flour, and placed them in the skillet with the hot oil. The smell of the venison beginning to cook filled the kitchen. As soon as the first batch was done I put the medallions on a plate and began to repeat the process. This continued until all of the venison, which was about three pounds worth, was cooked and sitting on a plate to cool down for everyone to sit down and eat it. I made Cher take a piece and taste it. She was talking, trying to buy a little time and put off the inevitable. She took the venison and took a very “dainty” bite. The next words out of her mouth were, “this is really, really good. I have never had anyone prepare it right.” I am convinced that you can eat venison and not have it taste like you shot a game animal.
I told her that I have about six cookbooks that deal strictly with wild game, from upland game birds, like pheasant, and grouse, to big game animals like deer, elk, and moose. It covers all aspects of wild game. I took a recipe from one of those books for this blog. It is for Lemon Venison Steak. The recipe is as follows:
Lemon Venison Steak-

Ingredients:
4 Slices of Bacon
1/2 large onion
1-Tablespoon Sugar
10-1 inch thick venison cutlets from back straps
Juice of 1 lemon
Lemon Pepper

Fry bacon in cast iron skillet. Remove slices from pan, leaving 2-tablespoon drippings in pan. Reserve the remaining drippings. Add onion and sugar. Cook until onion is tender. Squeeze a small amount of lemon juice on the cutlets and season with lemon pepper. Cook quickly; meat is best when it is slightly pink in the center. Add crumbled bacon and onion to cutlets and reheat. Serve immediately with wild rice.
I have tried this recipe and it is a very good start to remove a lot of gamey taste that is associated with the wild game and venison in general. I recommend you try it and I think you may be surprised how non-game your game meat can taste.

Take Your Kids Hunting, So You Don’t Hunt For Your Kids*

2009-11-23T13:14:00.000-08:00

Take Your Kids Hunting, So You Don’t Hunt For Your Kids*
When I started this blog, I was going to write about my two passions, hunting and cooking. This blog then turned into a little more about the whole hunting and cooking lifestyles. When you ask a hunter to name someone famous in the hunting industry, they may tell you, “Ted and Shemane Nugent,” “Lee and Tiffany Lakosky.” They may mention Mark and Terry Drury, or Don and Kandi Kisky. Well my question is what do all of those names have in common? If you said the last names, you would be correct. Now why do I bring this up? I want to show you that hunting is a family-oriented sport. Ted and Shemane, Lee and Tiffany, Don and Kandi, are obviously spouses. Mark and Terry are brothers. Of course all of these names are successful hunters, and T.V. personalities. How does this all relate to you and me? I will tell you about myself and we will see if your story isn’t quite so different than theirs or mine.

Our stories may all be the same. Our father, or maybe even our grandfathers taught us how to hunt. My first years hunting were not even hunting. I was sitting in the blind learning the “ropes.” Now as I said before, I have two true passions in my life, cooking and hunting. Hunting happens the same time every year. For some in Michigan, it starts on October 1st. Others wait until November 15th. It happens without fail, the same time, the same dates, same reactions, and if you are lucky, you get the same results. I learned to hunt from my father, who learned to hunt from his father, who in turn learned from his. When I was very young there was one date circled on every calendar in the house, and that date was November 15th.

November 15th meant that my father and grandfather were gone well before sun-up and wouldn’t be back until well after dark. November 15th was opening day of the firearms deer season, and in northern Michigan, it was a national holiday or it might as well have been. Schools were shut down, business were closed up. And why were they closed? Firearms deer season was so guys and ladies in bright orange hunting suits could set their sights on filling the family freezer full of venison. Fathers, sons, brothers, sometimes daughters and mothers all hit the woods in search of the ultimate prize.
Now as I said, some wait for November, but if you are an archery hunter like myself, then October 1st is like the 4th of July and December 25th all rolled into one. October 1st is the opening day of archery season. When I turned 11, my dad bought me my first set of archery equipment. I practiced for over a year so that when I was 12 I would be ready to go for the bow opener. I went out on that first afternoon of my first season opener, and I was hooked. Why? For the simple fact that I was so close to nature-make that really close.

You see, opposed to the firearm deer season where you can be 100 or more yards away from the deer and still are able to shoot them, archery you have you be closer than 40 yards. Sure there is always the exception to the rule, where some hunters practice up to about 65 yards, but your target range is 15-30 yards away. I think that the whole outdoors and communing with nature appeals to me. I love getting up in the pre-dawn hours. I also love heading into the woods. When the sun makes its early morning debut over the horizon, I love watching and hearing the woods start to wake up. I am sitting there with my oldest son, or my oldest daughter, and he or she is still half asleep sitting in their little camp chairs. Then there is a scuffle of leaves, a snapping of a twig, the pounding of your heart in your chest, and then there it is. It materializes out of the woods like a ghost. I lean over and nudge the youngsters. They see and their eyes light up, and their faces are aglow. Now if they could see more then just a stupid squirrel. I want to see their faces when a nice majestic 8-point buck walks in with-in bow range. To watch them seeing deer every time makes me light up with laughter on the inside and, I remember how I was when I was 7 or 8 waiting with their “papa” also known to me as “DAD.” I look forward to the days when we are sitting in the blind waiting on a deer in their own hunting adventure with their own hunting equipment.

I remember the first deer I shot when I was 14. It was with my rifle. Opening day November 15th, and dad told me, “Here comes two deer!” “The back deer is a buck,” he said excitedly. Then I get the buck in the cross hairs of my rifle scope, flipped off the safety, and squeezed the trigger. Ka-boom! I missed. I racked another shell into the chamber and got the buck back into the cross hairs. Ka-boom! Missed again. Racked a third shell in, and had to step outside the blind. Thinking to myself that running deer are hard to hit, I got the buck in the crosshairs one last time. Ka-boom! Then the buck went down, I GOT HIM! I heard my dad say to me that I had made a good shot. When we went to look at my first buck, rather my first deer at all, dad was brimming from ear to ear with a huge grin on his face. I could tell he was proud. He told me that his first deer wasn’t until he had hunted for 4 or 5 years. As we were admiring my deer, grandpa had come down the hill from where his deer blind was located. He was just as proud as dad was, and he said now the hard work was about to start. I had to gut my first deer. I got my knife and the whole time grandpa and dad was right there telling me what to cut, what not to cut, where to cut, where not to cut. All the time they had never lost that big smile from their faces.

When my grandpa died in October of 2005 my dad broke down. The first was for the obvious reason of losing his father. He also broke down for the simple fact, that for over 50 years, grandpa had been dad’s hunting partner. I took that for granted. Dad had said that he wasn’t going to go hunting. I convinced him otherwise. I knew that the way grandpa was, he wouldn’t want us to miss out on opening day which had been a tradition since before I was old enough to hunt. Opening day meant we, as the Schindel household, would be in the woods pursuing what we love. So if there is any doubt that hunting is not a family affair, I invite you to come up to my deer camp this year.

Deer camp is another experience all together. I also invite you to watch the Outdoor Channel. You have husbands and wives, father, sons, daughters, nieces and nephews, all taking part in the hunting and outdoor experience.
* Quoted by Ted Nugent

Wild game

2009-10-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well it is October 5th, 2009, and I am having some opening week with-drawls from the archery season. I am in class instead of being able to commune with nature. I love being able to watch the squirrels and birds. Wild game is a very big staple in my household. It has been that way ever since I was a young child growing up. Dad would bring home venison or rabbits. I learned how to hunt when I was about 4 or 5 years old. Now that I am 31 almost 32 years old, I have started raising my own children on venison and other wild game. Wild game is a broad range of animals from venison like deer, elk, and moose, to bear, squirrels, rabbits, turkeys, and also wild boar. There are also different groups of animals called exotics which are animals like zebras, red stags, or any animal that is not native to North America.

Wild game is a way that I give my family "organic" protein with out spending the arm and leg that it cost for the "organic" label that may not actually be "organic." I love the taste of venison and other wild game. Being a northern Michigan country boy, I grew up hunting and fishing, and learned to cook and clean what I killed and caught. I love the knowledge of knowing that I am giving my family the best, BEST protein that i can provide. Nowadays hunting is getting unfair press from the animals rights groups like PETA(People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and others. I for one, love the thrill that hunting provides, plus I am getting close to nature. I get exercise and I also spend one on one time with my family in an airy environment. I get to see nature and enjoy the harvest and cook the bounty that I receive from the venison I butcher from the deer that I have harvested. Unlike most hunters, I am not one for the antlers of the big "monster" bucks that people are hung up on now. I would rather kill a big mature doe(female deer) and eat the meat then have a huge antlered rack on my wall. Don't get me wrong if a nice 8 pt buck walks into range, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot him, but I also look at body size and how much venison meat will that provide my family. I guess for the sake of argument I am a 'meat hunter," rather then a "trophy hunter."