Last night's pheasant stir fry complimented by some fresh veggies from the St.Pierre garden
On Monday evening, I polished off the final two pheasants in the freezer from the 2009 hunting season. At the risk of freezer burn, I always try to save a couple of birds 'till my garden starts producing fresh veggies each summer. This evening's entrée featured a pheasant stir fry complete with peas, carrots, celery, zucchini, and peppers. I washed it down with a Keweenaw Brewing Company Pick Axe Blonde Ale, but I can't take credit for producing that delight.
It wasn't the best pheasant feast I've ever prepared, but something about growing my own vegetables mixed with a couple of roosters I killed over my pointer seems to make any meal taste better. That thought got me thinking.
When it comes to passions, bird hunting is about my favorite thing to do in life. And when I start to examine why that is, the joy of cooking and pleasure of eating wild game ranks pretty near the top of the list. Sure, I love watching my shorthair work a rooster, the aesthetic beauty of an autumn walk in the waving prairie, and the thrill of the flush WITH the satisfaction of a killing shot all rank 1, 2, and 3 respectfully. However, cooking and eating wild game are right there rounding out my top 5 pleasures of bird hunting.
Examining that hierarchy, it's pretty easy to discern why I turn my attention to ice fishing when bird season ends instead of going crow hunting. I see the thrill in shooting crows, I'd just rather put a mess of crappies in the frying pan. The delicious taste of Sandhill crane has made me an avid crane hunter, and my love for mountain lion meat has got me thinking there will be a lion hunt somewhere down the line. However, I don't see myself chasing coyotes, raccoons, prairie dogs, or muskrats anytime soon. No offense to any folks that find great joy in any of these pursuits, I've simply tasted raccoons basted in blueberry barbecue sauce and would rather spend my time killing something with tastier backstraps.
So the question I post today is this: How High Is Eating What you Kill on your List?
A few other quick hits to round out today's blog:
- If you recently checked out the Fall Preview issue of the Pheasants Forever Journal and are looking for my blog titled "I'm Just Dating My Shotgun," follow this link.
- Also, if you enjoyed my blog titled "Please Don't Name Your Bird Dog That," then you've gotta check out my good friend Jeff Idleman's blog in Prairie State Outdoors about nicknames earned by bird dogs in his most recent post titled "What's in a Name?"
