Wild Game Dinner

Setting the mood for the wild game dinner
Youth Pheasant Season (courtesy http://www.nodakoutdoors.com/ouroutdoors20.php)

Lining up for the wild game feast

All meals clearly labelled (yes, this was before the food came out!)

A bit of everything for starters...the bear is the darkest blob on the left

On our first night back at Audubon Lake campground, Avalyn & Wes invited us to join them at a local church fund raiser. They were having a dinner featuring a smorgasbord of wild game followed by an hour's entertainment by a local comedian, Milo. As everyone entered the hall, they put their name in a basket and during the evening, names were pulled out and everyone won something from a selection of gifts donated by community businesses. Avalyn won a Tshirt, Murray an insulated travel mug, Wes a camoflauge cap and I won $160 voucher for a martial arts course. As I am already at black belt standard (as if) I gave it back for them to pass on to a youth in the town. But typical of the area, although each child also won a prize, all the kids names went into a final draw for a .22 Ruger Rifle. It was won by a 10 yr old girl. The only rule is the parents have to accompany the child to pick up the rifle and have it registered. In the schools they already have driver-ed as a one-off subject in grade 8, and they are working on having gun-safety ed as a one-off subject too. In this region where hunting is a culture, they have a special school holiday on Fri 12 Sep to kick start the weekend for 14 & 15 year olds' first deer hunting season. They also have a dedicated youth pheasant hunting weekend on 3 Oct. These dates are for North Dakota - other states would have their own dates.

Now to the wild game feast. At least 100 people lined up and there was so much food left over. All of the food was donated. As the hunting season is not far away, people are clearing out their freezers ready for the new kills. They had no bear though, so they rang a friend in Minnesota and he went and shot a bear for the BBQ. I wish I could say the bear was nice and tasty, but to be honest, like most wild game, it can be tough, so needs to be either cooked slowly in a casserole or else slightly undercooked on a grill. I guess they had so much food to cook on the grill, or cut the meat up too small so that it overcooked. Either way, the bear was so tough it was harder to eat than beef jerky. Well, it may not have all been like that, but certainly all four of us had the same experience. As well as bear, we had elk, venison, wild goose, wild turkey, pheasant and buffalo. The volunteers did a wonderful job preparing and serving the food. Everything was well labelled so that you knew what was being offered. The creamed pheasant & pheasant hotpot were delicious. They also had these morsels called goose and pheasant poppers - it was a piece (about 1.5" square) of goose/pheasant, topped with a piece of jalapeno chili pepper, then wrapped in bacon & grilled on the BBQ. They were nice too. It was all free. They passed a donation basket around at the end of the evening though, and all proceeds went to the church. Win win.