As goes the difficulty of effort goes the degree of celebration. That’s what I always say, and nothing personifies enormous effort manifesting enormous celebration quite like deerhunting.
Since 90% of my deer are bagged with the ridiculously borderline impossibility of bowhunting, when after much prolonged patience testing sacrifice, a lifetime of indefatigable stealth honing dedication and eventual ultra-challenging mystical flight of the arrow accuracy finally brings home the hard earned bacon, I spontaneously unleash an earth shattering celebratory wild predator dance and prayer the likes of which our non-hunting brethren will never come to grips with.
When the gift of an animal’s life is presented to me by The Great Spirit, a flush of emotions and deep spirituality consumes my very soul. Many, many years ago in my book “BloodTrails-The Truth About Bowhunting” I coined the term Prayer for the WildThings referencing that pivotal moment in a hunter’s life when it all comes together and we find ourselves on bended knee at the side of our slain prize.
There is a flood of appropriate happiness that, after much difficult practice and dedication, a modern man can indeed return to the purity of primal reasoning predator self-sufficiency and a hard job well done.
So many cold, miserable predawn early mornings and late night trudging home from the swamp flash before our mind’s eye. Those immeasurable hours at the range meticulously training, practicing, adjusting and tweaking our gear for ultra-confidence building form and accuracy. What seems like an eternity of getting skunked on all those game-less hunts brings forth a Cheshire smirk nonetheless everytime.
But alas, finally, the predator planets have aligned, we have performed to the best of our ability, and now the beast is dead, long live the sacred beast!
I learned early on back in the not-so-roaring 1960s that this dead animal deserves not just respect, but genuine reverence as it represents life itself for my family and friends.
The honest and inescapable responsibility of gutting and cleaning this magnificent animal to perfection is driven home by our human conscience, and I learned very quickly the proper procedure to handle this gift from God with tender loving care and serious attentiveness for ultimate quality venison.
As we dedicated hunters are already looking eagerly at our October and November 2017 opening day calendars, now is as good of time as any to review that priority responsibility of handling our venison to the very best of our ability, and even more importantly, initiating and keeping the dialog going with our fellow hunters to share information and experiences to enhance the desirability and palatability of this most sacred of flesh.
It is 2017 for God’s sake, and it is about time every hunter learns the ultimate handling of this greatest of natural protein.
A clean kill is the best 1st step for quality meat. Then of course clean, bloodless and cold ASAP.
Aging venison haunches is essential for ultimate table-fare, and a skinned, trimmed and quartered carcass assists in the enzyme breakdown of cold hung meat.
Most hunters already know these basic truisms of game care, but according to the number of people that squint and furrow their brow when squawking they don’t like venison because “it’s too gamey!”, many of our fellow hunters have some serious upgrade ahead of them when it comes to handling and preparing this finest of meat.
Every worldclass chef I know (including me and Mrs. Nugent) gets all giddy and excited at the prospect of preparing properly handled venison, exclaiming how the natural gamey flavor is the ultimate positive compliment and desirability that is indeed the basis for the best meals on earth.
When handled properly!
And when handled properly from field to dinnertable, there is no food on earth to compare to venison.
Its final preparation is limited only by our grilling creativity. From cooked over an open fire at the end of a green stick to the most elaborate of marinades, seasonings, oils, herbs and spices, every venison meal is a wonderful eating experience and adventure.
My wife, Queen of the Forest Shemane and I co-authored a great cookbook many years ago titled Kill It & Grill It with a bunch of proven recipes to satisfy and intrigue the most fuzzy eaters you know.
Once the proper steps are followed, you simply cannot go wrong in the kitchen.
Let us all do everything we can to communicate to our hunting friends throughout the year how these critical steps for quality venison will make or break a meal. Miss one step and you have failed being the best steward you can be.
Venison forever! May your backstraps flow like manna from heaven! Hunt hard, grill hard!
Ted Nugent is an award-winning musician and writer, with numerous best-seller books including “Ted, White and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto,” “God, Guns and Rock ‘n Roll,” and “Kill It and Grill It: A Guide to Preparing and Cooking Wild Game and Fish” with his wife, Shemane, among other books. Be sure to check out his website for more news on his latest music, thoughts and upcoming shows, and also at World News Daily, Newsmax and Daily Caller for more insights.
+++++
Maximize Your Deer Season Planning With the 2017 Whitetails Wall Calendar!
From Deer & Deer Hunting magazine, the 2017 Whitetails Wall Calendar features the work of deer researchers Wayne Laroche and Charlie Alsheimer. They reveal the 2017 whitetail rut prediction based on years of lunar cycle research. Utilize this deer moon phase calendar to find out which days the deer will be seeking and chasing, so you can time the rut for the best time to hunt.