My weekly Redneck Cooking Post is up over at Clique Clack Food. This is one of my favorite recipe’s and it is one that can easily be made with many different meats for a variety of different meals.

I have been an outdoorsman my whole life. I grew up hunting and fishing. I still have the old 8mm home movie of me catching my first fish at 2 years old in Wisconsin with my Uncle Harold, Dad was running the movie camera. I have always tried to promote all aspects of the outdoor lifestyle in a positive way. I check the game department web sites for not just the state i live in, but all the states that i spend time in the outdoors in. I read the news releases. I leave comments on the issues they are requesting public comments on, and I go to public meetings when I can. I talk to my senators and congressmen about the issues relating to the outdoors and let them know my views and what I would like them to do on each of these issues. I am a member of a number of web forums that are outdoors related. i have a blog that is mostly aimed at my outdoor activities and I write recipes regularly about wild game cooking for Clique Clack Food. I also read as many outdoor blogs as I can and post replies to them and I promote many of these blogs on my own blog and through  the web forums and twitter. I spend more time on the internet promoting the outdoor lifestyle than I do actually outside enjoying it. It seems that every day our outdoor lifestyle is under attack from a new direction. There are so many environmental and animal rights groups attacking our outdoor lifestyle in the name of saving the environment or the animals and yet they have no clue what their actions, if fully implemented, would do to the very things they are trying to save.

I grew up in the heart of Western Washington logging country. Every one I knew growing up either worked in logging or in support of logging. Logging is what opened up so much beautiful timber country for everyone to enjoy. It was the logging companies that built all the roads into the mountains. Yes they built the roads so they could go in and log the timber, but after a unit was logged a new patch of timber was planted in its place. An old forest was replaced with a new young one. Trees are like any other crop. They have a finite life span. They grow, they die just like all living things on this planet. If we leave the life cycle of the forests to mother nature the cycle is very slow. It can take hundreds of years for an old forest to be replaced by a new one. If we allow logging to go in and harvest the ripe trees. Use them to produce building materials and paper for our society to use and then replace those trees taken out with new ones that cycle can be accomplished in twenty years. Should logging be monitored and controlled? Yes it should. If there is no control then the old trees will be logged off at a faster rate than the new ones can replace them. This has happened in our history and we need to properly manage the forests as the resource they are. With proper management we can create good sustainable jobs, a healthy thriving industry, and maintain quality habitat for all the forest creatures we care for.

As far as the animal rights groups that want to stop all hunting, I would really like some one that represents one of these organizations to explain to me just how they would suggest the animal populations should be managed. Hunting is the only effective management tool we have to maintain healthy and sustainable herd numbers. These groups are all quick to point out that we should be using science to manage the animals and not money. Well were do they think the money that is being spent on wildlife management is coming from? The federal government, the state governments are not spending their budget money on wildlife management. That is funding by the sale of hunting and fishing licenses and tags. This billion dollar a year industry is the reason we have the vast populations of healthy wildlife in this country. Yes most states do try to maintain a trouphy hunting environment to help draw out of state hunters to their state to pursue game, but this just adds to the management of the wildlife.

I have never met a hunter that wanted to kill every last member of a species, nor have i ever met a logger that wanted to cut down every last tree. Those of us that live an outdoor lifestyle are the true conservationists. We want to maintain healthy forests and healthy  populations of wildlife to continue our lifestyle. Our society has gotten so polarized over the years by our two party political system that we no longer work together as a group to solve a problem ,but try to fight each other over our beliefs. I am as guilty of this as any one else. I have spent too much time ranting against the likes of PETA and Earth First rather than tryingto engage them and work with them to resolve our differences and find common ground that we can work together to improve our society and our planet.

Until we can set aside our difference and focus on the common ground we will never get past this adversarial relationship we have with those that do not live our lifestyle. This will ensure that the battles will continue and the politicians will be able to maintain their power over our country. We as American citizens need to stop this fighting. We need to come together and work together to do what is right for everyone.

If we all pull together we can save the environment, the animals, the country and our planet. If we can not pull together then that task will be left up to what ever political party is in power and their primary goal will be to  save their political power.

It is time we stop fighting and band together. It is time we tell our government leaders enough is enough. We hired you to do a specific job. If you can not do that job then we will fire you and give the job to someone that will.

An hour before dawn and I moved to the mouth of the cave. I looked for any signs of movement near the cave. I slowly moved out onto the ledge and headed down to the timber. The cave was easy to defend, but it was also hard to sneak in and out of. They are out there looking for me and I want to make sure I don’t walk into an ambush. I headed back to the small clearing where they had gathered yesterday. I found the big males track and started after him again. He was the ring leader of this bunch and if I could take him out the rest would probably be confused long enough for me to take them out. I lost his tracks at the edge of the river again so I started moving down stream looking for his tracks or a place to cross the river. I found his tracks about a half mile down stream. He had crossed the river and then come back to this side there. I began following the tracks north. The going was slow. The brush was thick and I was being extra cautious. When the tracks came to the edge of the timber I stopped and looked out at the open hillside. I could see the tracks continued on a good trail that cut across the face of the ridge and worked down to the valley floor. There was no cover so I did not want to follow. I backed into the timber and crossed over the ridge. I had to drop all the way to the bottom of the valley to find cover and then walk along the bottom of the valley and around the end of the ridge to get to the valley the tracks were in. It took me three hours to get to the valley and find the tracks again. He was headed towards the area where they had tried to ambush me yesterday.
I continued to follow the tracks. I found the spot where they had all grouped back up and headed off as a group. That’s good. If I can jump all of them in a group I can take them all out at once. I followed the tracks deeper into the Forrest. It was late in the evening when I came to a large cave. I could see three of them sitting in front of the cave. I guessed the other four were in the cave. I moved closer to the cave and into a position that would give me a good shot at them. It was starting to get dark so I was trying to hurry and yet not give myself away. I eased the Winchester up on the rock in front of me to rest it. I pulled back the hammer and lined up the sights. I was only fifty yards from them so this would be easy shooting. I lined the sights up on the one farthest to the left and closest to the timber. I fired and hit the first one right between the eyes. the Squatch didn’t even flinch. It’s head snapped back and then fell forward to it’s chest. the other two were stunned and sat there looking around not sure what to do. I shot the one on the right side next. that one slumped to the ground. The one in the middle suddenly jumped up and started to run. I put a round in the middle of that one’s back and dropped it. I turned the gun on the entrance to the cave to wait for the others to come out.
I hear a twig snap in the brush to my right. I looked quickly in that direction. It was so dark in the timber I could not see much. then I saw a large shadow move about ten yards out. I grabbed my rifle and ran back into the timber.
when the big Squatch got to the spot I had been shooting from and found that I was gone he roared. then I heard the other three roar too. they were spread out in the timber behind me and moving my way. I ran as fast as I could through the dark timber. Now I needed to get to the open slopes of the ridges so I could see what was coming at me from where. The three smaller ones were gaining ground fast trying to cut me off from getting to the open ground. I was not going to make it to the open ridge. I knew that if I turned and ran away from them I would end up at the edge of a cliff in deep dark timber. That was not a place I wanted to make a stand and fight with these buggers in the dark. Instead I turned and moved towards them slowly. If I keep low and move slow I might be able to get behind them and then head for the open hillsides. I ducked behind a log, stump, or bush at every little sound. I felt the breeze lightly brush across my face and could just make out the scent of one of the Squatch on the breeze. I ducked down under a windfall and waited. The Squatch ran past me still heading for the cliff. I waited until I could no longer hear them and then headed for the open ridge face as quickly and quietly as I could. Once I was in the open I ran as fast as I could back towards the cave. I knew that if they came out of the timber chasing me I would have no chance. My only chance was to get enough distance between me and them so that I could see where they were and wait for them to come into range of the Winchester.

It has been a hard cold winter. Luckily spring is starting to show itself. Good thing too I am getting cabin fever. Time to go hunting. I grabbed my pack and my Winchester and headed out the door. The snow is still deep enough to use the snow shoes so I strapped them on and headed for the big valley to the west. The Elk show up early in that valley and the Squatch seems to spend a lot of time in it too.
When I topped the ridge I noticed fresh tracks in the snow heading to the east. they were a big set of Squatch tracks. I followed the tracks down the ridge and up to a ledge on the cliff above the cabin. There was a spot in the rocks where the big male had bedded down right above the cabin. It was protected from the wind by the rocks. Why would he bed there? I looked down at the valley. I could see the cabin and everything around it. Was that big male watching me? Why would he be watching the cabin? I continued following the tracks down through some thick timber and windfalls. As I approached a small opening I could hear noises. I stopped and took off the snow shoes. Then I crawled up to the edge of the ridge and looked over. There in the small clearing were ten Squatch gathered in a circle. The big male looked like he was giving them orders. his arms were flailing around and he was making all kinds of grunts and growls. The others were looking at him and occasionally at each other. This little pow wow went on for a good ten minutes and then they all got up and headed off in different directions.
Two of the smaller Squatch headed off in the direction of the cabin and the large male headed down towards the river. I waited for all of them to leave and then headed for the river. I lost the big males tracks at the river. it looked to be too deep and fast for him to have crossed but with out tracks to follow I was lost. I headed back and went after the two small ones that headed towards the cabin. I caught up with the two about half way to the cabin. They were meandering along at a slow and noisy pace. I have never seen them act like this. I have seen them run at full speed through the woods and make less noise. What is going on? I moved to a spot where I could get a shot at the two Squatch. I waited as they moved out of the thick brush into the open timber. just as the two were about to move out of the thick brush they stopped. I kept watching them, ready to shoot. Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Something was terribly wrong. I did not move, but I started looking all around me with just my eyes. I caught a glimpse of movement to my left. I looked to my right and saw movement there too. It was a trap. The two moving through the thick brush were bait to get me to follow them. This was an old Squatch trick. they would either try to jump me or herd me to the bottom of a cliff where one or two of them could crush me with rocks from above. the quickest way out for me was to the right. The ridge was steep, but once I reached the top the trail down was easy to move fast on and free of snow. I could get back to the cabin quickly that way. I waited until I saw where the one to my right was and then I turned and shot that Squatch. I ran quickly for the top of the ridge. About half way up I spun around and could see four more coming after me. I shot two more and the other two ran for the cover of thick brush. I ran to the top of the ridge. I stopped long enough to reload the Winchester and then sprinted down the trail.
It took me a couple of hours to get back to the cabin. I ran in and gathered up all my ammo, my extra revolver, and clothes. I then crammed as much of my food as I could into the pack as well. I went out to the back of the cabin and brought the big bear trap into the cabin. I set the trap right in the middle of the cabin and covered it with a blanket for camouflage. I shut the door and headed to the North. There was a small cave with a narrow trail leading to it about half way up a sheer bluff. There was only one way in and out of that cave. They would not be able to surround me and attack from all sides there. I grabbed the bear trap from the edge of the woods and took it with me. I would set it in the entrance to the cave just to be safe.
I made it to the cave just before dark. I put my pack in the cave and then went and grabbed some small branches. I set the trap and then covered it with the branches. I settled into the back of the cave for the night. Tomorrow I will go after them. i have to be very careful now that they are hunting me.

As I sat in the cabin watching the snow fall I knew that Winter was here. I got out my Snow Shoes and made sure they were in good shape. I will not be doing much hunting for the next 3 or 4 months. Winters this high in the Cascades are hard and it takes a lot of work just to survive them. As the snow piled up around the cabin I thought about my journey to this place. How far from home I really was. It is hard to believe it has been 12 years since I left. I wondered how my friends were doing. I wonder if any of them even survived the night I left? We had found the old science lab a year earlier. We were running from a hunting party and fell into the lab by accident. It was a good place to hide and we avoided the hunters. As we explored the lab there were all kinds of machines and books and weird things we had never seen before. We started using the lab as our base of operations. We had been scattered all over the country side for several months after the hunters found our last safe house. Half our group were killed out right or taken on that raid. No one was really sure at what point in time the Sasquatch became the dominant species on earth. No one knew why it happened either. All we knew was that we were tired of always running from them and being hunted for food by them. We found books in the lab that told of the efforts of these people to solve the problem with the Squatch 5o years earlier. They obviously were not successful. There was no mention of what happened to the group so we assumed the Squatch had found them. Fore several months we went over the books and equipment in the lab. We discovered that they had developed a time travel device. They had intended to go back to a point in time before the Squatch were dominant and stop them from becoming the dominant species. We began to form a similar plan ourselves. We started working on the equipment to figure out how to make it work. We found old history books and discovered that in the early 21st century the Sasquatch population was very small and no one even knew the beasts existed. We also discovered that the few who did believe in their existence believed there were 4 different species. The abominable snowman in Asia. The swamp beast in the South east United states. The Texas Ape in South Central United states. and the Northwest Sasquatch in the Northwest. The scientists had figured out that there were many reports of sightings in many other parts of the Unites States, but they were all false. The plan that the scientists had come up with, we discovered, was to go back to a time before the Squatch were dominant and inform the humans of that time of the dangers of the Squatch. We do not know what happened to that plan, but the Squatch were as bad as ever. Our plan was a lot simpler. We would go back in time to the early 21st century. To a time before the beasts were even know to exist and make them extinct.
The time travel device was simple to set up from what we could tell. We had no idea how it worked, or what the trip would be like. We began to look for the right person to send back to complete this job. We began working on the power source. We discovered the solar power system they had and how to get that working. We cleaned off the solar panels, got them hooked to the battery system and got the batteries charging. We could find no one willing to volunteer for the mission. I myself was not willing to take on this task either. We figured we had plenty of time so we kept looking. The person taking on this mission would be trapped back in time more than 300 years before they were ever born. There was no way to bring them back.
The night I became the person to go on this mission was all one big screw up. Most of our group was away from the lab searching for supplies and food. There were only 4 of us left on guard duty. The Squatch attacked the lab in full force. We would not be able to hold them for long. We fired up the equipment and of the four of us I was the only one who might have a chance to complete the mission. I quickly jumped into the machine. the start button was hit and the machine started to whir and spin. I saw the Squatch come through the door as the machine wound up. Then nothing. It was not that it was dark, it was more that there was nothing around me. I do not know how long this lasted. The next thin i knew I woke up in the middle of the woods. I had no idea where I was.
It turns out I was in the Himalayan mountains. I was in a time and place that I knew nothing about. I had no idea where to go, how to communicate with anyone, how to survive even. I headed down hill until I came to a small village. I was able to get food there and get work herding sheep. I learned that the Yeti lived very high on the mountains and were supposed to be magical beasts. I was able to earn enough money to buy a few meager supplies so that I could start my mission. The yeti were not magical, they were just timid creatures that wanted to avoid all other creatures. I spent 5 years there wiping them out.
I found out it would be easier than i thought to get to the United states. I got to Florida and got a job picking fruit. I saved enough money to get my supplies to go after the Swamp ape. The Swamp ape, or Skunk ape as some called them were more aggressive than the Yeti had been, but they were relatively easy to exterminate. It took 3 years for me to get them all. So far the population documents we had found in the lab were right on the money. I headed for Texas.
There were only 4 beasts in all of Texas and Oklahoma. This sub species was already going extinct on their own, but I was ok with helping speed that process up. It took me just a few months to clear them out.
Now I was headed to California because there were a lot of reports of sightings there. I spent 2 years in California and never saw any Squatch. Lots of idiots that were sure they existed there though. I moved North into Oregon. I found a pair of them in Oregon around Mt. Hood. These were very different than the others. They were elusive and smart. They avoided people as much as possible. It took me several months to catch up to the two creatures on Mt. Hood. When I did, I knew this was the species that had taken over the planet. The only difference was these had not yet learned to hunt humans for food. After taking out the two on Mt. Hood I moved North into the Mt Rainier area. This was where the largest concentration of the creatures were. This beautiful area was where the nightmare began. I will finish my mission here.

It took all day and four trips to get all the meat back to the cabin and stored in the smoke house. The hide was tacked up on the back of the smoke house to dry. It was getting cold so I went in the cabin, started a fire and sat down to relax. The warm fire quickly drove the cold from my body and I was starting to drift off to sleep. Suddenly I was jolted back to consciousness by a blood curdling roar out behind the smoke house. I grabbed the Winchester and ran to the smoke house. I slowly slipped along the wall to the back. As I peaked around the corner there was a female Squatch. She roared again looking at the hide tacked to the back of the smoke house. I brought the Winchester up quickly, took careful aim, and dropped her in her tracks. I went over to her and started gutting her. I have never had one of the creatures trail me back to the cabin before. That is odd behavior for these things. I had better set out some security measures in case more come calling.
It was well after dark by the time I got the female boned and the meat in the smokehouse. I would have plenty of meat to last most of the winter now. That will save me a trip down lower to hunt elk. Tomorrow I will start smoking the meat and cut some more fire wood, and get my security measures set out around the cabin. I went back in the cabin, loaded wood in the fire place, and went to bed.
I awoke to 4 inches of fresh snow around the cabin. I stoked up the fire and put the skillet on the fire to heat it up for breakfast. I started the coffee and went out to the smokehouse to get some steaks. I went back in the cabin and started frying the steaks. I noticed the wood pile was getting low so I went out to get an armload to restock. There were three sets of fresh Squatch tracks by the wood pile. I had built the cabin in this small valley 2 years ago because the Squatch here in the Cascades seemed to avoid it. What were they doing in the valley now? I took the wood in and flipped the steaks. I finished breakfast and went out to start the fire in the smoke house. Once I had that going I got out the big bear traps I had stashed in the wood shed. I had bought them when I got to Morton on my way up into the Cascades, but had never found a use for them. I figured now they would make a good security system. There were three of them. Each one weighed 40 pounds and had steal jaws with four inch long razor sharp teeth on them. The jaws were twenty four inches wide and if a person were to step in the trap it would snap their leg off just below the knee. I cleaned and oiled the traps, made sure the spring were moving freely and that the trigger pan was smooth. I went out and searched around the cabin for more sign of the beasts.I was looking for good places to put the traps to warn me if they came around again.I placed one at the end of the trail where they had come into the clearing last night. The second one I had put at a point in that trail about one hundred yards from the cabin where the trail went between two large rocks. The third I put under the back window of the cabin. By the time I finished placing the traps it had started to snow again so I went back in the cabin for the day.

This is a story I have been working on for a while. I have finished a rough first draft and now I am rewriting it and polishing it up some for the second draft. I will keep posting pieces of it as I write them here on the blog.

As the sky slowly lightened I could see the big male coming up the trail out of the valley. I slowly pulled back the hammer on the Winchester and lined up the sights. As he topped the ridge coming out of the valley I lined the sights up on his chest and squeezed the trigger. The sound of the rifle was more like a cannon than a 30-30 in the crisp morning air. The big male flipped over backwards back down the hill as the bullet impacted in the center of his chest. I quickly moved over to the edge of the ridge and looked down. He was piled in a heap about 10 yards down the hill. I walked down and stretched the big male out on the trail. He was at least 10 feet tall. I quickly gutted the carcass and started skinning. this was the 20th of this species I had killed. It had taken me a long time to get over the queasy feeling I got when I saw how much these skinned Sasquatches looked like humans, now i just look forward to getting all that meat back to the smoke house so I have plenty to eat for winter.I spent three hours boning out the meat and separated the bones. I never leave the skeleton intact. I loaded a third of the meat on my pack and headed back to the cabin. Along the way I tossed the bones into rivers, and over cliffs. Anyone finding one bone would never know what it came from, but a whole skeleton would be easy to identify.

As the sun slowly began to rise over the peaks of the Cascade mountains I could just make out the lead cow of the herd of Elk through the morning mist. I had watched that herd feed out into the meadow just at sundown last night. I have been trailing this herd for 3 days now. That lead cow has busted me every time I have gotten close so far and kept the herd out of range of my bow. Instead of going back to camp last might I climbed up to the top of the meadow. so far they have fed out the top every morning at sun up so I wanted to be in place when they came up. It was cold last night, but now that the elk were only 50 yards from me and the wind was in my face it was worth the cold night.
The rut was in full swing. I could hear several bulls bugling all around me. The big herd bull with this group was all over the meadow defending his turf and harem. He had been doing that most of the night too. Slowly the herd moved up the meadow and closer to my location. The lead cow was out in front as usual and her ears and eyes were working overtime. That cow was a old and crafty one. She knew what to look for and was quick to sound the alarm at any sign of possible danger.
The lead cow was only 40 yards away now. I began to wonder if I didn’t make a mistake by bringing the recurve instead of the compound. If I had the compound she would be in range and an easy shot. With the recurve I was not comfortable shooting beyond 30 yards. I had spent several months practicing my instinctive shooting technique and could easily hit a paper plate with every shot out to 30 yards. At 40 yards I was only on target 50 percent of the time. On the target range I am ok with 50 percent, but not when shooting at a live animal. As the lead cow moved closer the herd bull started running up along side the herd. He was quickly coming into range as well. Which one is going to get to 30 yards first? the cow kept plodding along as the bull ran past her. The bull stopped. He was standing broadside at 26 yards. I slowly began to raise and draw my bow. as I sighted the arrow in on the bull I noticed the cow was in range too. For 3 days I have had my hunts ruined by the wary senses of that cow. Which one is the better trophy? the bull has been running around oblivious to everything around him except the cows in his herd. I quickly shifted my aim to the cow. I settled my fingers into the corner of my mouth. As I looked over the arrow I picked a spot on the cows side. I pictured the arrow arcing out over the meadow from the bow and hitting that spot.When I saw the arrow in my mind strike that spot on the cow’s side I didn’t as much release the string as just relaxed my fingers. The arrow leaped off the shelf and arced just as I has imagined it out over the meadow. The arrow disappeared into the ribcage of the cow. She wheeled around and ran back down the meadow for the safety of the trees below. the other cows in the herd quickly followed the lead cow. The bull just stood there looking confused. He wanted to go up the hill because there were other bulls down below, but the cows had gone down the hill. Finaly the bull turned and ran after the cows. As I sat there waiting I realized that I made the right choice. Killing the bull would have been a good trophy to hang on the wall, but the cow was a trophy memory that I will carry the rest of my life.

When I received the Magnetic Gun Caddy in the mail for review I was intrigued and yet mad. I had tried many different ways to do exactly what the magnetic Gun Caddy does for years. I never once tried a magnet. The Magnetic Gun Caddy is a simple and effective tool that will give years of protection to your firearms and fishing poles.

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I have a few new posts up on Clicque Clack Food. My review of the BBQ Addicts blog and my Redneck Rice are must read.

Jeff