Hunting - Elk

I used to be an elk hunter, but the fact is that you have to get up really early. So I retired. Now I enjoy it even more. The hunting is a bit different than antelope hunting, but meal/menu planning is the same. Each family is responsible for the cooking for a given day. They bring the food and cook for the camp on that day.

The guys get up early (about 3:30 AM) and leave early (about 4:00 AM). They usually sleep in the trailer so they don’t wake up the little kids who are sleeping from one end of the cabin to another. We give the guys some muffins or breakfast bars and hot chocolate so they can have breakfast on the run. None of them like a big breakfast that early in the morning.

We (the non-elk hunters) get up when we want to - well, when the kids get up - take turns going to run, and spend the day taking the kids on walks to look at leaves, to see the last of the summer flowers as they go to seed, to watch a golden aspen glow in the late afternoon sun. If it’s colder, we sit by the fire and play games with the kids or read books, or put on coats, gloves, hats, and take off hats, gloves and coats many times a day.

Beth made cookies with the kids. Picture seven kids from nine years down to 18 months around a center island with all sorts of chaos and creativity. This is what you get:

We spend part of the day cooking, because when the guys come home they are hungry. They work hard at this, usually walking about 15 miles each day. They want something seriously filling. They usually don’t show up until about 8:00 PM, so it needs to be something we can feed the kids at 5:00 pm, then reheat or keep warm for the hunters when they get back. They eat like wolves, take a handful of Ibuprophen, and fall into bed so they can do it all over again the next day.

We did have a fire across the river this year - but it was in a place that would benefit from a fire so the Forest Service people just monitored it until the rain put it out.

When someone gets an elk, we all help pack it out. The elk are usually high in the back country, so there’s a 3 - 5 mile pack to get to the meat and another 3 -5 miles with a heavy pack to get it out. The guys bone the elk where it falls, so we are just packing out lots of heavy meat. Anyone that can carry a pack helps with this.

I do like this part – it’s never very cold; sometimes it’s quite warm. When we get to where the elk fell, we eat our bacon sandwiches, sit and enjoy the fall scenery, load our packs, and walk back down the trail. The operative word here is down. With the packs as heavy as they are, it’s a blessing that the trail goes down the mountain.

When we get back to the cabin, we repeat the process that we do for antelope. Wash the meat, bring it into the cabin, cut it up, package and freeze it.

The challenge of cooking for elk hunting is calories. Who would have thought? The rest of the year, it's the opposite. Anyway, the guys are burning major calories every day – they typically lose 5-10 lbs. on the elk hunt. So we try to come up with nutritionally dense foods.

One that has been a family favorite for years are these:

OATMEAL BREAKFAST BARS

1 c. butter              

¾ c. peanut butter     

¾ c. packed brown sugar     

½ c. honey           

2 eggs            

2 tsp. vanilla

1 ½ c. whole wheat flour

1 tsp. soda

3 ½ c. oats

1 c. raisins

½ c. chocolate chips 

Cream butter, peanut butter, sugar and honey. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix dry ingredients together and add. Stir in raisins and chips. Spread in greased 9 x 13“ pan and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Cover with foil first 15 minutes of baking time. Let cool 10 minutes before cutting. This can also be baked in 2 cake pans and one can be frozen for another time.

Jenny found this great muffin recipe. I made them at home, froze them for at the cabin.

MORNING GLORY MUFFINS

1 c. whole wheat flour                                    
½ c. all-purpose flour                                     
1 c. regular oats                                                          
¾ c. packed brown sugar                                
1 tbsp. wheat bran                                          
2 tsp. baking soda                                           
¼ tsp. salt

1 c. plain fat-free yogurt      

1 c. mashed ripe banana (about 2)

1 large egg    

1 c. chopped pitted dates (or dried apricots or raisins)

¾ c. chopped walnuts or pecans

½ c. chopped dried pineapple 

3 tbsp. ground flaxseed 

Preheat oven to 350°. Place 18 muffin cups liners in muffin cups; coat liners with cooking spray. Combine flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl; stir with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine yogurt, banana, and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in dates, walnuts, and pineapple. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle evenly with flaxseed. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove muffins from pans immediately; cool on a wire rack. Makes 18 muffins.

We’ve found that soups, stews, or shredded meats work well for kids, and reheat well for the hunters. This soup can be made at home, frozen, and heated at the cabin. It’s from Amy Harmon.

CHICKEN AND BARLELY SOUP

2 chicken breasts, diced  

5 c. chicken broth         

½ c. barley             

1 tbs. chicken soup base               

2 minced garlic cloves               

1 tsp. poultry seasoning         

¼ tsp. pepper  

2 c. diced potatoes

1 chopped onion     

1 c. cooked brown rice

Sliced carrots

Sliced celery 

Place chicken, broth, soup base, barley, garlic, poultry seasoning and pepper in large soup pot. Bring to boil, simmer 30 minutes. Add potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, simmer another 25 minutes, add rice, simmer 5 minutes.

This is Beth’s award-winning chili recipe. And I do mean award-winning – she’s won several chili cook-offs with this.

White Chicken Chili
1tbsp. vegetable oil            
1tsp ground cayenne pepper, approximately

3cloves garlic, crushed         

1(4 oz) can diced jalapeno peppers      

1(4 oz) can chopped green chile peppers   

1tsp dried oregano                

3 tsp ground cumin         

1onion, chopped

2(14.5) oz cans chicken broth

3cups shredded cooked chicken breast

3(15 oz) cans white beans

2 cans cream of mushroom soup  

1cup shredded Mexican blend cheese  

1cup sour cream    

 Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-lo heat. Sauté onion. Mix in garlic, jalapeno, chile peppers, and spices. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken, and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Just before serving, add cheese and sour cream and stir until melted. Serves 6.

 She served it with fresh bread.

Sarah made these fabulous dinner sandwiches. Again, you can make it at home, freeze it, and assemble later.

ITALIAN SHREDDED BEEF

1 whole Chuck Roast, 2.5 To 4 Pounds – beef, elk, deer, antelope – whatever it takes

1 can Beef Consommé Or Beef Broth

3 Tablespoons (heaping) Italian Seasoning

1 teaspoon Salt

¼ cup Water

½ jar (16 Oz) Pepperoncini Peppers, With Juice

Buttered, Toasted Deli Rolls

Cheese  

Combine all ingredients, except rolls, in a heavy pot or Dutch oven. Stir lightly to combine seasoning with the liquid. Cover and bake in a 275 degree oven* for 5 to 6 hours, or until meat is fork-tender and falling apart. **If meat is not yet tender, return to oven for 30 minute intervals till it's tender!**

Remove from oven. With two forks, completely shred all meat, leaving no large chunks behind. Serve immediately, or keep warm over a simmer on the stove.

Serve on buttered, toasted rolls. Top with cheese and melt under the broiler if desired. Serve with juices from the pot.

A word about lunches – the guys have found that it’s useless to pack cookies or chips – they get crushed in the pack by lunchtime. The number one thing to have is water – a 100 oz. hydration bladder is not too much. Then they need lots of fat and carbs, so Walt loves the breakfast bars to snack on. We also send trail mix. Their favorite sandwiches are bacon and cheese sandwiches – again, lots of fat and carbs. We cook the bacon at home, freeze it, then put it on whole wheat bagels – which hold up well in a pack – along with some mayonnaise and a couple slices of cheese. Don’t put on tomatoes or lettuce – they get slimy.

We do love desserts while sitting around the fire. Beth made gingerbread one evening.

She combined pear butter with lemon curd, heated it, drizzled it on the gingerbread.

Then she topped each piece with whipped cream and fresh grated nutmeg.

Another good dessert for hunting is Apple Crisp. Apples travel well and we always bring lots for the kids to snack on and for the hunters. Then the crisp can be baking while you have dinner.

Sometimes it looks like this.

Then a storm comes in

And it can look like this.

We love hunting whether we are successful in getting meat or not. It’s more important to be in such a beautiful place and to strengthen our family bonds, both with that special place and with each other.