Venison Backstrap Recipes: Bacon-Wrapped Fillets



Venison Backstrap Recipes - Bacon-Wrapped Fillets

Most folks will tell you that there is nothing better than venison backstrap on the grill, and I think they are right. This venison backstrap recipe is as simple as it is fantastic! All you really need is some venison and some bacon and you are in business.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds of venison backstrap
  • 10 slices of bacon
  • salt
  • pepper
  • garlic powder
  • skewers or toothpicks

Directions


Prepare backstrap for cooking and pat dry. Cut backstrap into bacon-width sized pieces, about 1 1/4 inch slices. Wrap each backstrap fillet with a single slice of bacon and then toothpick or skewer the bacon in place. I prefer to put fillets on skewers because 3 or 4 of them will fit on a skewer and it makes the mini-steaks easier to handle on the grill.

Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Grill bacon-wrapped fillets over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes per side, then let sit for 5 minutes before serving. Alternatively, this venison backstrap recipe can be also cooked in the oven broiler at 450-500 degrees for 6 minutes per side.


Summer Antler Growth in Whitetail Bucks

Comment: I have a hunting lease in Mason County where my family and I go deer hunting. I don’t put out game cameras until mid-August as I do not want to have the deer spook from an IR or a flash or camera and break or damage a tine or main beam during summer antler growth. I have seen way to many bucks in the last 15 or so years when I started taking photos in June that would have a perfect rack, but then the next photo of him that night he would have a broken tine or even beam. For deer hunters in Texas that don’t know, June is the month were most bucks put on about 40 percent of their total antler growth for spring and summer, the year.

Response: Interesting account of your deer hunting experience in Texas. I’ve been hunting whitetail deer just about all of my life, but have never heard such a take on using game cameras during the summer to monitor antler growth in bucks. Most hunters use cameras heavily throughout the summer to monitor bucks on their property, but your experiences suggest that cameras may be causing bucks to spook, causing antler damage during the growth process. Continue reading Summer Antler Growth in Whitetail Bucks

Deer Hunting in Vermont

Comment: In Vermont no one is allowed to feed whitetail deer, bait deer, or engage in any deer management activities. You can manage your open property to “help” deer, but there are no real incentives for farms or forested land to be used to improve a local deer herd. I think the Vermont Fish and Game could stand to hear a lot more about deer management, hunting and feeding deer, as they still believe that it causes Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD).

I have come to the conclusion that Federal and State Fish and Wildlife agencies are not interested in helping hunters. They walk the line between hunters who care about game and fish and non-game species and the far left nut-jobs that want to see anything traditional, including deer hunting, destroyed. Continue reading Deer Hunting in Vermont

Texas Prescribed Fire Workshop

There are many types of habitat management practices that can be effective for managing wildlife and developing better hunting, but fire, prescribed burning,  is one of the most cost effective ways to manipulate habitat at a large scale. Landowners and wildlife managers have been using prescribed burning as an effective habitat management practice for quail, turkey and deer habitat improvement. It’s a good tool that every person interested in wildlife management should have in their box.

A prescribed burn workshop is accepting applications for participants interested in learning more about prescribed fire. The course teaches attendees how to use prescribed fire as a tool for habitat management. The participants will gain an understanding of fire effects and how to use fire in a safe manner to accomplish certain land and wildlife management objectives.

Prescribed Burning Class Workshop for Habitat and Hunting

In addition, the course combines lecture, group discussion, teamwork, individual projects and field work to increase each student’s knowledge of fire weather, fire behavior, physical properties and characteristics of fuels, and the effects of fire on vegetation, wildlife and soils. Students will become aware of the risks associated with prescribed burning, including smoke risks and the risk of fire escape. Laws pertaining to the use of prescribed fire and their influence on a burn manager’s planning and decisions will be explained.

After completing the prescribed burning course, individuals should be able to recognize different fuel models important for rangeland burning. The student should have the ability to determine fuel load and reliably estimate live and dead fuel moisture, as well as fire rate of spread and flame length. Participants should have acquired an introductory knowledge of the use of fire equipment. Additionally, each student will have developed a fire prescription, addressing multiple variables, to meet specific land management objectives, and will have created a prescribed burn plan that includes the use of natural and artificial fire breaks.


This prescribed fire workshop meets the training requirements set forth by the Texas Prescribed Burning Board for the Certified Prescribed Burn Manager program. Five CEU’s/day  are available for current Certified Burn Managers. Visit this site for more prescribed burning class information or registration info. If you are interested in long-term habitat management on your property, I would highly recommend taking a prescribed burning class at some time in the near future.

Food Plots in Missouri

Question: I live in northern Missouri and own 420 acres of land in an area known for good deer hunting and a good number of big whitetail bucks. We also have a lot of does. Instead of feeding corn or protein feeding or planting clover, I decided to make several small food plots and plant mostly soybeans because they are nutrient rich and they are high in protein. I also planted about 30% of my plots with smaller rape and about 10% buck wheat to see how that would would work out.

I am hoping that these food plots will help supplement the whitetail deer in my area of Missouri and improve overall antler quality and hold deer on the property. My question is whether or not this food plot mix is a good choice, and are there things that I could plant that are better for whitetail? We are really interested in deer management. Thanks for any advice. Continue reading Food Plots in Missouri

Venison Kabob Recipe

Venison Kabobs Recipe

There is never a bad time to fire up the grill for this venison kabobs recipe. Whether it be for the Fourth of July or even during late winter, these kabobs—complete with vegetables—are a crowd pleasing treat to eat! Serve these venison kabobs right on the skewers or remove the venison and vegetables and serve the grilled offerings over rice. Simple, yet sensational!

Ingredients

  • 1.5 pound venison steak or backstrap
  • 1 medium white onion
  • 1 bell pepper or 3 large jalepeno peppers
  • 5 slices thick-cut bacon
  • Zesty Italian dressing
  • Salt, pepper and garlic to taste
  • 4, 8+ inch skewers

Directions

Cut the venison steaks or backstrap into 1 1/4 inch cubes. Cut bacon and onions into 1 1/4 inch pieces. After removing the seeds, do the same with peppers. Place venison chunks on skewers, sandwiched by bacon slices, with peppers and onions in between pieces of meat. This alternating technique will sandwich meat chunks and vegetables, providing moisture and flavor during the grilling process. Season with salt, pepper and garlic to your liking.


Grill venison kabobs over medium-high heat, turning and mopping with Italian dressing about every 2 minutes. Grill until the meat is almost cooked throughout, about 10 minutes. Remove the kabobs from the grill and let them rest for an additional 5 minutes, then serve. This venison kabobs recipe also works with vegetables such as squash and zucchini on the skewers too.

Habitat Management for Whitetail Deer Hunting

Question: My ranch is located in South Texas, it has a variety of habitat types and we use it primarily for whitetail deer hunting. The property is about 65% thick brushand about 35% semi-open grassland. We are in a drought so we cannot really do a prescribed burn on the property, so I am wondering if it would help or hurt the habitat and or deer if I went through and brush hogged all the rank, dead grass? When would be the right time of the year to do this deer management wise or for deer hunting? I know that if I mowed it and it rained the plants would all grow back much nicer. Also, if the open habitat should be manipulated through mowing, how often?

Response: From a whitetail deer management standpoint, early summer is the wrong time to be mowing grassy areas. There are a lot of fawns on the ground right now. Tall grass is fawning cover and if you want predators to have a field day, possibly removing the better part of an entire fawn crop, then mow it. However, I would recommend otherwise if you are interested in deer habitat improvement. Continue reading Habitat Management for Whitetail Deer Hunting

Venison Tamale Pie Casserole Recipe

Venison Recipes: Venison Tamale Pie Casserole Recipe

This venison tamale pie recipe is a favorite casserole of mine. It’s easy and it has the Tex-Mex flavor that my family really enjoys. It goes great with black, refried or charro beans. We love making this dish especially during the cooler months, but it’s a winner throughout the year!

Ingredients for venison tamale pie casserole:

  • 1 pound ground venison
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped green pepper
  • 1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 10 ounce can diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
  • 1 12 ounce can whole-kernel corn, drained
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon comino (cumin) powder
  • 3 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • Pepper to taste

Ingredients for tamale pie corn meal topping:

  • 3/4 cup yellow corn meal
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Brown ground venison with chopped onion and green pepper until meat is just done. Then drain and add everything except for the shredded cheese. Simmer the mixture for about 20 minutes to let the flavors come together. Next, mix in the cheese and stir until melted. Spoon the meat and vegetable portion of the venison casserole into a greased, large cast iron skillet or a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

For the corn meal topping, stir the corn meal and salt into the cold water. Continue to cook and stir the mixture over medium heat thick. After the mixture thickens, add the butter and mix well. Spoon the corn meal topping over the venison and vegetable mixture. Place the venison tamale pie casserole in the oven and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. Garnish with additional shredded cheese and cilantro, if desired. Serves 6 normal folks or 4 hungry Texans!

Record Rack: Protein Feeding for Whitetail Deer

Question: I have been deer hunting for many years now and hunt on some good property. I have a question about feeding Record Rack protein pellets to white-tailed deer. I used it this last year on a lease, and no one else fed protein, but I thought that it was at least something better than corn. However, not one time while it was feeding RR did I see deer activity around the feeder.

I ended up switching back to corn when the feeder ran out and the deer were right back to hammering it. I know it takes time for whitetail deer to get used to something new, but the Record Rack pellets sat on the ground at two different deer leases, one in South Texas and the other in the Hill Country, and the deer would not eat it. I guess I will be sticking to 20% protein pellets and corn, but have you heard of such a thing with Record Rack? Continue reading Record Rack: Protein Feeding for Whitetail Deer

Deer Hunting, South Texas Habitat Plauged by Drought

The weather in Texas can be hit or miss on any given year, but it seems this year has really been a strike-out in the rainfall category, especially in South Texas. But then again, that region of the state is rarely known for abundant precipitation. It is, however, known for fantastic white-tailed deer hunting. While the area boast extremely high coyote populations, the heavy brush habitat provides excellent whitetail cover and high quality deer foods in the form or browse.

Many of the counties in South Texas can only expect 21-25 inches of rainfall on an average year, so the habitat and the deer in the area will survive this drought, but that still does not make it great for deer hunting this fall. The best way to mitigate for inevitable dry conditions any South Texas property will face is to focus on the wildlife management goals and practices for your property on an annual basis.

Whitetail Deer Hunting in South Texas: Habitat is the Key

First, always think habitat. Good habitat is the corner stone of healthy deer, turkey, and quail populations. Always maintain a minimum amount of ground cover. If possible, one to two feet of herbaceous cover through all seasons is desirable. This residual grass is for fawning cover and quail production. Leaving herbaceous cover for the next rainfall event provides healthy plants that offer the necessary food and cover for many wildlife species. A landowner can not expect to have good quail and whitetail deer hunting if there is no food, recruitment or cover.

The ability to leave standing cover for habitat means having a plan to reduce livestock numbers in the pasture and/or move livestock to irrigated crop land or improved pastures. During extended droughts, you may be faced with removing livestock all together. Along with cattle, keeping whitetail deer and hog populations within the habitat’s carrying capacity will help reduce the potential for damage. By reducing the number of consumers on the land, you can maintain the minimum desired grass cover.

Since surface water is important for most wildlife species, maintain as many effective wildlife and livestock water locations as possible, especially in the hot, dry months. A desirable density would be one wildlife watering location every 400 acres. Although this may not be always be possible, the even distribution of water will spread wildlife evenly across the landscape, allowing for better use of the available habitat.

A popular option many ranches use to maintain a consistent deer population from year to to year is through the use supplemental feed. Though good vegetation through habitat management is best, extreme weather years such as this one mean that supplement feeding will be really important for buck antler growth and fawn production and recruitment. Keep in mind, however, that the ability to feed wildlife (and livestock) may reduce the impacts on habitat, but prolonged supplementing will cost both you and the habitat found on your property.

As far as deer hunting in South Texas this fall, I think we have all seen better years. That being said, there will be some good bucks out there as usual, especially on properties that limit buck harvest, have a good cull buck strategy and maintain a healthy buck age structure. Ranches with good habitat and decent surface water that are feeding protein pellets to deer should barely skip a beat. It’s been a horrible year for quail, but the dove hunting should be good around tanks come September. Send me your reports and or photos!