The first week of every month, my wife, Monica will add a recipe that she believes you all will enjoy. Those recipes will be for wild game, but you can substitute whatever kind of meat you would like. Before starting these recipes, there are a few basic things I would like to point out about cooking wild game.

Some people won’t try wild game and I get the whole it tastes too gamey thing, but it’s all about how the meat is prepared and processed, plus the age of the animal, their diet plus where and how and when the animal was field dressed will make the difference in the taste.

Venison
This meat is very lean and lacks marbling, so for sausage, chili, tacos or sloppy joes, ground pork needs to be added for the fat content. To be safe, be sure to cook venison to 160 degrees.

Turkey
Because wild turkeys fly (Domestic turkeys can’t fly) their breast meat is also dark meat and will taste like dark meat on a domestic turkey. That being said, if a turkey is not field dressed soon after harvesting, acids will build up inside, giving it a stronger taste. Older bigger tom turkey’s legs will be a bit tougher, so this meat should be ground.

Bear
The texture of bear meat is denser than beef and ALL THE FAT must be removed, or the meat will be greasier and have a stronger taste. The bears diet and if the bear was properly and quickly field dressed will determine the taste of that meat. When cooking bear meat, treat this meat as you would pork, so to be safe, the internal temperature should be 170 degrees.

Brining
Remember, wild animals are going to taste different than domestic raised animals and if you want to try different meats and are not sure how strong the flavor will be, you can always brine the meat overnight. A good basic brine is 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of salt to each gallon of water.

Monica’s Tip
Add ground pork or beef fat to different wild game meat and if you ask your local butcher in advance, they will usually grind and save the beef fat from the trimming for you at little or no cost.

Enjoy the recipes and DON’T be afraid to try different wild game meat because the taste might surprise you.