Best Memories, First Fruits of the DeerHunt

First fruits of the hunt are the tenderloins, the torpedo shaped portions of muscle that lay on either side of the backbone INSIDE THE CAVITY OF THE DEER, an area I think many hunters miss. It corresponds to the tenderloin or filet mignon of beef cattle.

It should be removed when you get your gutted deer back to camp. Otherwise it will dry out. Next day for sure.

Slice them in 3/8 inch thick portions. Saute onions till translucent( half carmelized) add sliced mushrooms, cook till soft ( a couple of minutes), add seasoned( salt, pepper, garlic) deer tenderloins to pan and cook a minute or so and turn and cook another minute or two. Add brandy ( 1/2 cup), cook 1 minute, then add butter( 3 -4 pats) and swirl till melted and serve over french bread toasts. Venison should be medium rare.

Tender, luscious first meal of your special deer, as they all are.

Deer Hunting, The Earliest Memories

The best memories of deer hunting are the earliest ones. You knew nothing about it from experience - you were 12 or 15 and hunted with a 12 or 20 gauge slug, or a 30-30.

You'd mostly heard stories from your Dad and your uncles and great uncles. About them and their hunts and Grandpa, too, who'd learned to hunt deer from the Indians who still lived on the homestead when he was young. Before they were called to the reservation. The Indians had no problem getting the deer they needed - my impression was that it was more outsmarting them, than hunting. Which just might be be defined as hunting.

The Indians knew where and what the deer ate, and where and when they slept and since that's about all that deer they do, it was simple. Get there a little ahead of time and watch and wait and then shoot.

Cousin( great uncle) Clifford taught me that deer feed downwind, thus utilizing the great sense advantage they have over us - sound and smell, primarily - smelling upwind, looking downwind and hearing all directions as they fed downwind.

Which helps us to get them and then eat them, which is the original reason for all this hunting. Our advantage is eyesight and reason. Theirs the nose and ears. The deer win most of the time.

Duck Egg Rolls

I thawed a bag of stir fry vegetables- broccoli, pea pods,peppers,onions, etc...-added already cooked duck meat( minced) and ran it in the food processor, added soy, sauce, garlic, ginger, crushed hot red pepper, cilantro all to taste and rolled it up in the egg roll skins.

Deep fried them in about an inch of vegetable oil - small pan so you don't need so much oil, which is one of the reasons we don't deep fry at home often - it takes so much oil. Turned them once. About 2 minutes per side to get them golden.

Served them with a dipping sauce made of chokecherry jam, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, sugar( or honey), garlic, crushed hot red pepper. Sweet and sour and hot.

Exceptional.Sure glad I have friends that shoot ducks and make wild chokecherry jam and give them to me.