Butchering & Processing

Rooster ring-necked pheasants are the most beautiful upland game bird. You can’t change my mind. I’m likely biased because I’m a native South Dakotan who’s been lucky enough to chase these birds for over three decades. But even after all these years, I’m still in awe every time I pick one up. The...

Bear grease has many uses, and making beard oil is one more fantastic way to utilize the multipurpose fat. Beard oil has become very trendy in recent years and is often for sale in hardware stores, gas stations, and grocery stores. But why purchase it when you can make your own? This recipe is...

The American cowboy is a dying breed. Customary grazing rights have been lost or rescinded. Homesteads have been sold to the wealthiest bidder. All the while, beef production has increasingly been shipped overseas. Yet, some traditions of the West refuse to die off. Annually, ranchers across the U.S...

You can make bear grease by heating the lard off a bear until it liquifies into a usable oil. It’s highly valued because of its stable shelf life at room temperature and numerous applications. I’ve personally cooked, conditioned leather, lubricated metal, and made lye soap with it. Other folks use...

Making bear grease lye soap is a practice as old as the hills. It's a time-tested and valued cleaning product to this day. As a matter of fact, you can use any type of animal tallow to make soap, as people commonly did before modern commercial soaps. In this video I'll show you how to use four...

The gizzards of game birds like pheasants, ducks, and turkey are under-appreciated little nuggets of meat. Perhaps it’s because they look strange and are difficult to trim without proper instruction. Well, we’re taking the mystery out of preparing them by showing you how to clean a gizzard and how...

The first thing I learned about processing deer was to trim all the silverskin away from the meat. For a long time I held the common belief that all that sinew was worthless and inedible. After many years of cooking with wild game, I’ve found that was a huge mistake. Part of the reason I wanted...

Aging meat isn’t really optional when it comes to wild game. For lean, tough cuts that hunters are familiar with, this is a necessity to create a quality end product. There are two types of aging, each with their own pros and cons. Dry aging is considered to be the traditional form of aging. For...

When field dressing a deer, you’ll find a thin, lacy net covering the stomach. Don’t mistake this for something to be left in the gut pile. Although it doesn’t resemble a prime cut, this web of valuable fat is great for imparting flavor, moisture, and shape into meals. What is Caul Fat? Caul fat...

For hunters, freezers are perhaps some of our most valuable possessions. They preserve hard-earned meat and hold fond memories of time spent in the wild. Here are our best practices to ensure the meat inside remains as good as the day you harvested it. How to Avoid Freezer Burn Two things ruin meat...

A tomahawk chop is nothing more than a backstrap steak with a rib for a handle—but you don’t need to tell that to your friends or significant other. Just let them go on thinking you’re a gourmet wild game chef and that you put some extra special effort into the meal you made for them. They’ll feel...