I recently found myself peering into the deep freeze for dinner alternatives. As has been the case summer after summer, I saw a familiar sight. Other than a couple of cartons of precooked meals from Costco, there was a multitude of venison and fish desperately fighting for space. The latter items were by far deemed as the most valuable. After all, they were a direct result of gun, bow and rod. With only a couple of months left before bow season, my thought bubble read, “We’ve got to get to eating”. I was admittedly a little tired of venison. Luckily, my exasperated sigh was followed by the realization of how blessed I was to have an abundance of wild game at my disposal – and to have harvested it.
The Off-season Freezer Dilemma
As ethical and grateful sportsmen and women, we respect the game that we harvest – and believe in eating what we kill. If we’re honest, most of us will enter the upcoming season fully intending to continue the trend of harvesting one or more deer. For this reason, the late off-season is a good time to survey our needs and act accordingly. If you know you won’t eat all all of your wild game, entertain other alternatives. Consider trying your next culinary masterpiece, giving it to friends or family or providing it to a food bank. My favorite partial solution is to make a couple of batches of jerky. For me, this is a great use, even when I’ve grown a little tired of venison. I’ve still yet to find anyone that dislikes jerky – Just Saying. Regardless, we have plenty of options and this is the time to act while the meat is still good.
Why Eat What We Kill?
There are so many reasons why we strive to eat the animals we reap – and most of us can list them readily. Venison has incredible nutritional value, as it’s naturally organic, 
lean and packed with protein. The provision of healthy sustenance for our families can be as attractive as the kill itself, though it may not seem like it at the time. This speaks to its direct relationship with our outdoor experience. Venison and other wild game meat, if properly dressed and stored, provide an almost endless source of memories of our time in the woods. It literally conjures up images of nature, our favorite hunting spots and the game we hunt.
Digging a Little Deeper
Perhaps the best reason for eating our quarry is the undeniable fact that it positively effects and promotes our hunting rights, tradition and legacy. With a significant part of the public taking exception to hunting and other outdoor activities, both knife and fork serve as a true means of support for our hunting future. Put differently, eating our harvest ultimately enhances such a future, largely due to it’s role in conservation – both from an economic and management standpoint. When it comes down to it, killing an animal represents a profound event – and at times, a polarizing one. However, by utilizing the fruits of the wild game we take, we show reverence and respect for it. Other ways we do this include properly cleaning the animal, striving for fast and accurate kills and sharing the meat with friends and family.
So embrace the freezer that is packed with the game that comes from our efforts afield. Further, prior to the first bite, thank our Creator and raise your glasses to the animals He provides for us to pursue – and enjoy at our tables. As Steve Rinella once put it, “Some non-hunters will never understand the passion that pulls us into the woods, but many of them will sympathize with our passion for what we bring home. In my mind, this puts hunters into a pretty good position. In the battle to protect hunting, the most effective tool might just be the most delicious”.
