Here are some tips and tricks for grilling wild game meat this summer.
As hunters, we love our wild game. With summer upon us, it is time to break out the grill and relax while enjoying the hard-earned results of last fall's big game hunts.
But grilling game can be very different than grilling up beef and there are some methods to keep in mind. Especially if you want to eliminate that gamey taste from your venison steak or tenderloin. Many of these ideas require simple ingredients like olive oil, a little black pepper, or a little brown sugar.
Here are five unique methods to try when preparing your game on a hot grill this summer.
Venison/elk/moose ribs
When most people think of ribs, they don't think of deer meat. We found this wonderful and quick demonstration by The MeatEater that quickly shows how to cut and prepare whitetail or mule deer ribs for the grill.
All they need is some seasoning, a few hours to marinade in a slow cooker, and then finally, the grill.
As they note in the video, there isn't a ton of meat there, but once he gets done applying the BBQ sauce to the cuts of meat, boy does it look tasty!
Also, this saves you the trouble of boning out all the ribs individually. What's not to love? You could also try something similar for elk or even moose if you want a Flintstones-sized rack of ribs. Yabba-dabba do!
Bacon-wrap it
This is something you could probably adapt to a variety of different small game birds, like quail, pigeons, or pheasants. Dove seems to be the most popular. Bottom line, it's incredibly easy to do. I've done this a few times with venison backstrap and it is amazing. We have no doubt it would be great with antelope, elk, moose, and more. The venison usually turns out extremely tender while the bacon adds just the right amount of crispy crunch to each bite.
This recipe calls for very little you do not already have laying around at home. You're just adding some jalapeno peppers and wrapping your seasoned game meat with bacon. Grill them up in a pit barrel on high heat and serve with or without glaze or other spices added.
Lake Fork Guy did a similar recipe a while back, but the main difference was he didn't use any seasonings. He also used a couple of pigeons for this recipe, so there's room to experiment. There are also larger variations of this for wrapping and grilling other birds like pheasant or wild turkey. We've even heard of people doing this with hooved game. Bacon just goes with everything doesn't it?
Grilled & glazed waterfowl
Here's one for the waterfowl hunters. This is another incredibly simple wild game recipe that is sure to be a hit at your BBQ this summer.
All you need is a cast iron skillet, butter, honey, an orange, poultry stock, and some duck breasts. Grill the breast and then glaze it with a glaze mixed up in the cast iron and you're done. It's that simple.
You could probably try this on other types of waterfowl, too.
Grilled loins
The example above uses wild boar as an example, but you could probably use this for any number of tougher game animals that aren't usually thought of as good table fare.
Basically, you're using some simple seasonings and then just looking to sear the meat. They serve this up with some honey mustard sauce.
If you live in a southern area overrun with hogs, this might be a good excuse to go out and shoot some more this summer.
Smoked black bear
Most large predators like bears aren't usually thought of as good table fare. But with a little work, you might be surprised what you can accomplish.
In this video from the Hushin crew, they grill and smoke a bear's backstraps and hindquarters. You could probably adapt something similar for coyotes or mountain lions too. Sometimes all it takes is a little creativity to make an incredible meal on the grill.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
NEXT: NORTH VS SOUTH: WHY SOME PEOPLE SEEM TO LOVE WILD HOGS AND OTHERS DON'T
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