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Larry Copenhaver, the Wild Gourmet, and his pup, the Archduke Von Vogeljaegerin,
aka "Archie", which translates as the Archduke of Bird Hunting.
["Archie is supposed to be a German Wirehair Pointer...
but I think I got a DIS-appointer!"]

"Wild game cooking is a passion that has grown ever since the first time I attempted to cook a meal. My dearest Mom had a trial of a time to cook what I brought home in my infant years of hunting, so most of my squirrels, rabbits, and pheasants ended up as trapline bait, such a shame! She just couldn't make it happen.

Once, at some point in my Wildlife Major years at West Virginia University, and during a philosophical discussion with my very first flame, who disliked hunting, she grilled me, “How can you kill what you are trying to preserve?” I thought it a valid question, despite all the reasons we give for hunting, and didn't hunt that year.

The following year, several hunting buddies and I got together for a dove hunt, and were quite successful. I killed 7 doves for 11 shots - an unknown feat for me!!! [then missed the next 6 shots]. With plenty of birds we returned home and I dug out a recipe from a wild game cookbook, an old Christmas present, and cooked away!!! ... What a FEAST!!! ... And, then I realized why I hunt!

From that point forward, I couldn't get enough. My ducks went into the oven and emerged quite tasty, even if I do say so myself ... my friends sure appreciated them to say the least! Euell Gibbons became my idol. I bought a field guide to mushrooms and after two years of identifying the fungi, I got brave enough to indulge myself, and haven't poisoned anyone yet!! On and on I went, consumed by the love of cooking. Nothing will get a single man a date faster than offering to cook!!! Soon I was married with two kids, and did most of the cooking.

The siren call from Montana took me in October 1980, so here I came to
the hunters' and fishers' paradise ... birds, deer, trout, walleyes, perch and sauger ... so much to experiment with! I tried to follow a wildlife career, but it was to be in vain. Money was scarce here. I was offered a cooking job at the country club where I was bussing tables for extra cash and I realized how much there is to cooking for a living. I guess wildlife biologists make great cooks!!! One thing is for certain, I can credit most of my adult career to my love for cooking fish and wild game.

Through the years I keep hearing folks referring to game meat as having a "gamey" flavor or that it just isn’t as good as good-old beef!!! I maintain an entirely different opinion. I lived in Texas for four years but had no deer lease so I was relegated to eating beef … BOY, did I miss my venison!

There are two tricks to serving good venison (includes antelope, deer and elk in that category) the first of which is field care and meat cutting.

Be very careful to not puncture any entrails if you can avoid it. I tie off the sex organs before completing the field dressing to avoid this. Cool the meat ASAP; I’ve been known to throw a freshly killed antelope into a spring to cool. Some folks think this will dry out the meat. If concerned that this is true, ignore this step and simply make sure that meat is cooled quickly. Open the neck and remove the windpipe in any big-game animal as one of the first steps in field dressing, as this is where a great deal of heat is retained. Native American hunters of the Great Plains rubbed the body cavity with sage growing nearby. I, too, have found this will freshen the meat.

When meat-cutting, I take out the back strap or tenderloin and cut it cross grain in 2-inch chunks, which I then butterfly. You do that by cutting ¾ the way through and fold away into a butterfly shaped portion. Never do I saw through bones for a chop, the bone will lend to a gamier flavor. I also strip all silverskin that covers the muscle and as much fat as possible from the meat scrap used for sausage or burger for the same reason.

The second suggestion is not to overcook wild meat simply because it is wild. If you enjoy a medium-rare Angus T-bone there is no good reason to make a venison steak well-done. Deer, elk, and antelope taste wonderful as a medium rare steak. If you like well-done beef, you won’t be happy with a rare venison steak. The oldwives tale that wild meat harbors Trichinosis is simply not accurate. After all, deer and elk eat the same vegetation as beef cattle.

The following recipe (Tenderloins with Teriyaki Demi-glace) should help folks who may normally not like wild meat. My non-hunting girlfriend can’t admit she likes wild meat, but can eat this (and truly enjoys it!!); it “hides” the flavor!!! Actually, wild meat correctly prepared is a first-class meal, enjoy.

On to the "red meat" recipes …

• First of the Season – Doves
• Easy Roast Grouse
• Duck ala (Hunter) Orange!
• Hawaiian Stir-Fry Birds
• Gamebird Corn-Noodle Soup
• Ginger-Lime Prairie Chicken
• Pollo Italiano

• Crockpot Venison Roast by Ron Moody
• Easy Pheasant by Ron Moody
• Pheasants make a tasty salad by Vince Pernicano of The Billings Gazette
• Simmered duck creates great tacos by Vince Pernicano of The Billings Gazette