Trying to find an elk during hunting season is the most difficult game of hide and seek that I have ever played. For years, I have been going with my husband on his elk hunts in the Rocky Mountains and I cannot recall even seeing an elk. He has shot plenty of elk, but never when I have been with him.

We have hiked for hours each day for days on end without seeing any elk at all. Sometimes, we do not even see any sign (poop, etc). And, without a doubt, as soon as elk season is over, they pop their heads out and are all over the place.

My college roommate, who lives in a major metropolitan area, came to visit me a few years ago in the remote mountain town where I now live. My husband and I were driving her around and explaining the area. We started talking about elk hunting and assured her that it was nearly impossible to find an elk. Not a half an hour later, she saw a huge herd of elk right on the side of the road!
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Seeing elk in nature is truly mesmerizing. A few months ago, my husband and I were driving on a dirt road high in the mountains and we spotted a mother and baby elk in the river. It was truly magical.

​Within the past year, I have routinely seen elk on the side of the road while driving or in meadows high above the highway.

I can assure you that as soon as elk season begins, all of the beautiful, majestic elk that I have seen meandering in fields and streams will begin the most aggressive game of “hide” of their lives.

I hope that I am wrong as today is the eve of opening day of second season. My husband and I have the camper loaded and will be heading to the high country in a few hours to search for the elusive elk. It is going to be a great weekend consisting of an epic game of hide and seek! Wish us luck!

The differences between the Rocky Mountains and the mid-west present themselves again when it comes to wild duck hunting. In the Rockies, the ducks are typically diver ducks, which means that they eat fish. In the mid-west, the ducks eat grain and corn from the fields. This produces a very different tasting duck.

Over the past year, my husband and I have made a lot of terrible tasting duck. I mean absolutely not suitable for human consumption. We want you to benefit from our mistakes so here are some cooking techniques that you should never use for Rocky Mountain fowl:

Smoking an entire duck. We carefully prepared our charcoal smoker and lovingly smoked the duck for hours. We thought that we would get a crispy, delightful duck after all of our hard work. Instead, it tasted like we dipped old socks in the lake and left it out by a campfire for hours. It was, by all accounts, inedible.

Cooking the duck rare. We eat a lot of meat rare, so why would wild duck be an exception? We pan seared the duck breasts and cooked it rare. Then, we put the duck breasts on top of a delicious ramen bowl. This method was edible but not good, at all. By cooking the duck rare, the minerality in the blood was very strong. We certainly do not recommend this method.
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Orange juice marinade for goose. There are few recipes online for wild goose, but one that we found recommended marinating the goose in orange juice and then cooking it with Asian spices. The orange juice permeated the meat and with every bite a blast of orange citrus filled your mouth. It was as if we were eating a meat filet filled with orange gushers. This was truly terrible. 

Luckily, we are finally dialing in some great ways to prepare wild fowl. Our current technique is the absolute best that we have found. Here are the key components:
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Breast out the bird. Do not try to cook the entire animal. Simply save the breasts and legs, if possible.

Salt bath. Soak the meat in cold water and kosher salt overnight. This pulls all of the blood out of the meat and produces a significantly better tasting product. Once the meat has soaked in the salt water overnight, thoroughly rinse the ducks.
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This last weekend, which was opening day of duck season, my husband got a Blue Teal and a Drake Mallard. I shot a Merganser, but I will post about that another day. 

Using his Blue Teal and Drake Mallard, we decided to make Wild Duck Thai Curry and it was absolutely delicious. 

Learn from our mistakes and try this amazing recipe. You will not be disappointed and I promise, it is completely edible!
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Wild Duck Thai Curry
Ingredients:
1-2 wild ducks (breasts and legs)
1 pint stock
2 cans coconut milk
1 medium onion - diced
2-3 cubed potatoes
1 green pepper
1 teaspoon fish sauce
4 ounces of hot green curry paste
Salt
Pepper
Garlic
Curry powder

1. In a crock pot, combine the duck with 1 pint of stock. Cook on low for 4 hours.
2. Add coconut milk, diced onion, cubed potatoes, cubed green pepper, fish sauce, and curry paste to the crock pot. Cook on low for an additional 4 hours.
3. Prior to serving, add salt, pepper, garlic, and curry powder to taste.
4. Serve over rice.