I truly believe if a deer hunter tells you he or she is not excited by the opportunity to harvest a heavy antlered buck, they might not be telling you the entire truth. We’ve all heard the old adage, “You can’t eat the horns”! I won’t mislead you; I love to see a heavy antlered buck slipping
through the brush. I always aspire to shoot older bucks and, in my advanced hunting career, always pass up younger deer for mature ones, regardless the size of antlers. But I love cooking and eating venison and try to put three deer in the freezer each year. As the guest of the County Armory (gun store) Get Outdoors event in Greenville, Texas last weekend, I visited with a good number of people about hunting and fishing. I truly believe the topic of cooking game, especially venison and wild pork was discussed more than how to hunt them.
I was fortunate up in Oklahoma at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge recently to harvest a fully mature buck that was still in prime condition. Bucks lose a good bit of weight during the rut, or breeding season, and with the rut still a few weeks away in most areas, they are now in prime condition. The meat from this 205-pound buck is now wrapped and in my freezer with the exception of one package of steaks which were the centerpiece of a recent meal. This week, I want to share with you a simple and tasty method I used to prepare these steaks and share a few more of my favorites. I’m all about tasty, quick ways to prepare venison at camp. If you read this column much, you know I am not a fan of coming into hunting camp after dark and preparing a large meal from scratch. The only exception to this rule is when I slow cook roasts or barbeque.
I remember hunting at Big Oak Lodge thirty years ago in east Texas. Big Oak was owned by International Paper Company and offered deer hunting and fishing on this beautiful tract of east Texas woods. An older gentleman and his wife worked at the lodge, I forget their names now, but he worked around the camp and his wife did the cooking for guests at camp. She prepared venison in a manner that I’ve almost forgotten until last week at Choctaw Hunting Lodge in Oklahoma when Nacholh Vickrey prepared the same dish from beef steak. The process is really simple but very tasty. Begin by seasoning the round steak or backstrap to your liking, dust with flour and fry till crispy. Next, place the steaks in a covered pan and bake about 45 minutes in the oven at 325 degrees. Nacholh used a crock pot instead of oven and the steak turned out fork tender and very tasty. Served with biscuits, brown gravy and mashed potatoes, this is as good as it gets, and the method tenderizes even the more tough cuts of steak. I love stir fry and decided I’d prepare some venison stir fry last week and film the process for a cooking segment of our TV show “A Sportsman’s Life”. I’d kill two birds with one skillet by making a mouthwatering meal as well as a short ‘how to’ video! I chose round steak for my stir fry and cut about a half pound of venison into thin pieces. Marinated overnight in Teriyaki sauce and a bit of soy sauce, my venison was ready to meet the veggies and olive oil in my hot cast iron skillet. Rather than slice all the veggies for my stir fry, I chose a bag of precut veggies from Walmart. Everything from snow peas to mushrooms were in the bag which greatly simplified the cooking process. I heated a bit of canola oil in my old skillet and added the marinated venison. I love garlic in my stir fry and in the fall always plant a row of garlic pods. The green tops of the garlic have an even better flavor than the bulbs and I chop a few sprigs of tops and add to the meat for added flavor. After a couple minutes of cooking, the venison is well done. Next I added the bag of precut veggies and a bit more Teriyaki sauce. I like my stir fry moist and pour in about a half cup of water with corn starch for thickening and a handful of crushed almonds. Served over a bed of jasmine rice, my venison stir fry is as tasty as any I’ve eaten at an Asian restaurant. Just another quick, easy way to prepare a tasty meal at camp or for the family at home.
I also love venison barbeque and, although preparing it is not quick, it is very tasty and, the way I do it with my Smokin Tex electric smoker, very easy. The trick to making good venison barbeque is to make sure the meat doesn’t dry out. When preparing barbeque from beef or pork, there is usually enough fat in the meat, but venison is different. It’s important to trim all the fat and connective tissue from venison. I poke holes in the larger cuts of venison and insert bacon which bastes it from the inside, ensuring the meat will be moist and flavorful. I also layer the top of the venison with strips of bacon and cover with barbeque sauce. I’ve even been known to inject barbeque sauce into the meat for added moisture. It’s best to allow the meat to smoke uncovered for three hours or so and then wrap in foil and allow to continue cooking several hours, I sometimes set my smoker at 200 degrees and let the meat slow cook overnight. Chopped barbeque is best with cuts of venison, and I add the chopped bacon for a bit more fat in the finished product. Once you have had properly prepared barbeque made from venison, you might just begin reserving a roast or two for this method, and it’s very tasty!
Contact outdoor writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio. org.
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