2015 Goals Revisited

January 27, 2016 / Jen / 2 Comments

2015 went by in a flash! I made goals at the beginning of 2015 for hunting and fishing. Some were accomplished and some weren’t. So here’s a look back at the goals I set and if I achieved them.

1. Get in shape
This didn’t end up happening with a move across the state and a new job shaking things up more than I expected. But I’m back to working on this goal now with a 5k coming up in March.

2. Shoot first deer
Yes! This one was accomplished with a doe shot on Decatur Island during late season.

3. Hike and scout more
Again, with the new job and move this didn’t really happen. I’m in a new area so this year I’m hoping to get out more and scout.

4. Go duck hunting
Nope, unfortunately. I tried several times to set up a weekend to get out with my brother but our schedules didn’t line up. He’s promised to take me out next season!

5. Go upland bird hunting
Nope — same reason as above. I feel like a broken record!

6. Fish More
Yes! I caught my first salmon and tried out surf fishing.

7. Cook Game Recipes
Yes, and I cooked some delicious ones! Meatloaf and steak oscar!

So the year didn’t quite go exactly as I wanted. But a new job got me back around friends and family so I’m happy with that!

Next week I’ll be posting my 2016 goals. Some 2015 ones I’ll try to make happen again and some new ones.

What were your 2015 goals? Did you accomplish what you wanted?

Huntresses United

January 20, 2016January 20, 2016 / Jen / 5 Comments

Click to Join!

Victoria over at A Texan In South Africa created a great new group called Huntresses United. It’s for women who are passionate about the outdoors, educate others about conservation through hunting, encourage and support women in the outdoors, and embody being an ethical hunter.

I love her idea and gladly joined! Even as a female hunter, it can be hard to find other outdoorsy blogs written by women. Huntresses United is a place to easily find other blogs by female writers sharing their outdoor experiences, be it hunting or fishing.

Check it out here! Find other great blogs to follow or join the list yourself!

Thanks for putting this together Victoria! It’s great you’re bringing huntresses together!

Venison Meatloaf Recipe

January 14, 2016 / Jen / 12 Comments

A few weekends ago, I made my first venison meatloaf and it turned out incredibly delicious!

I hosted a “Friendsmas” dinner with several friends and made a feast of venison meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole (my personal holiday favorite). Meatloaf was one of my grandma’s specialties and I’ve always liked it. So I was excited to try out this recipe because I hadn’t eaten it in years. It didn’t disappoint!

The feast!

To make the meatloaf, I first needed to grind up some of the venison in my freezer. This meant I got to use my new meat grinder for the first time! I took out a couple packs of stew meat to thaw out so they’d be ready to grind.

I read the manual, it seemed easy enough so I started grinding the stew meat.

I ran it through a coarse grinder plate on the first pass through. Then, I switched it to the fine grinder plate on the second.

Coarse grind

Fine grind

When it was all done, I was left with over a pound of venison! So cool and really easy to use. I can’t wait to try out the sausage stuffing setting on there.

Over a pound of ground venison!

For the meatloaf, I followed this recipe. The venison weighed out to around a pound and a quarter, so I increased all the ingredients a bit.

Egg, crushed saltine crackers, barbecue sauce, onion, sage, steak seasoning, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce

Like my grandma always said, the only way to mix meatloaf is to get in there with your hands. I combined all the ingredients together and then filled a small loaf pan. It smelled amazing, but to make it even better you add some bacon strips on top.

Mine took almost twice as long as the recipe said to cook. An instant thermometer was a life saver cooking this one! Make sure the inside temperature is at least 160 degrees. I poured over the BBQ sauce mixture and viola!

Not everyone at the party knew they were eating venison. But they all said it was one of the best meatloafs they’ve had! Definite success!

One delicious venison meatloaf dinner!

I think the next time I make it, I’d form the meat into the rectangle shape on a baking sheet. That way you put full slices of bacon over the top and sides. And the entire meatloaf will be covered in the sauce that everyone said was their favorite part. I think the sage adds a really great flavor to this recipe so don’t skip that ingredient or swap it out!

Writing this post makes me want to cook this again, it was so delicious! This meatloaf is also great the next day between two white slices of bread with mayo. But it’s not likely you’ll have leftovers!

Try it out and let me know what you think!

A Look Back At 2015

January 6, 2016January 7, 2016 / Jen / 3 Comments

Happy New Year! I can’t believe it’s already 2016! I don’t know about you but last year went by in a flash. I hope everyone had a great holiday with family and friends!

It’s crazy to have my first year of this blog in the books.

I thought it’d be fun to do a look back at the 10 most popular posts from the last year… so here we go! (Click any of the titles to read the posts!)

The Value of Female Hunters
Remember when a man working a booth at a hunting expo ignored me and focused his attention on my male friend? This was an unexpected post I never thought I’d be writing, but I loved all your comments and learning about the experiences other females have gone through being in the male dominated hunting world.
Huntress – What’s In A Name?
The word huntress — surprisingly debated in the hunting world. I personally like it, how else would you know a lady ran this blog if I just called it Country Hunter? Again, it was great to see how other women view the word and what they like being called! Regardless if you love it or hate it, we should support all female hunters.
Salmon Fishing in The San Juans
This was a lovely trip to the San Juans and I was lucky enough to catch my first salmon. The backdrop was absolutely gorgeous! I actually have several pictures from this trip framed in my room.
Washington Outdoor’s Women – Duck Hunting
One of my posts from the women’s retreat I attended last year. I learned so much about duck hunting and met some great women. I’m looking forward to going to their duck hunting workshop this spring!
Surf Fishing on the Oregon Coast
This was a great experience learning about surf fishing. Not sure when I’ll get the chance to do it again, but it was definitely cool to see. It was another weekend that had gorgeous sunsets for the backdrop.
Washington Outdoor Retreat – Day 1
What a great weekend, I encourage any women in Washington to attend this next year. If you live in another state, see if there’s a similar retreat for women that takes place! I’m definitely planning on going again this year!
Shooting My 1st Deer
I’m so happy I was able to make this post this year. I shot my first deer and learned so much that I’ll carry with me every hunting season forward.
From Field To Plate
My delicious first meal I cooked with the venison meat that I was taught to butcher myself! I promise I’m posting that recipe next, it was so good!
Failure To Launch: Learning How To Fish
This makes me laugh this is one of the more popular posts I had last year. My somewhat embarrassing first moment of learning to fish at night. I’ve grown a lot since then and now enjoy night fishing!
Taking A Woman Hunting? Avoid These Mistakes!
A great read for men who plan on taking a woman out to hunt for the first time! I’ve definitely had my own experiences that sound like what’s listed in the article. How you act on a woman’s first hunt can definitely shape how she sees hunting and if she’ll keep her interest.

Thanks for reading along as I continue to learn more about the world of hunting. Thanks to everyone who helped make some of these posts possible!

Here’s to a great 2016!

What was your best hunting moment of 2015? Share below!

Merry Christmas!

December 25, 2015 / Jen / 2 Comments

Merry Christmas from the Country Huntress family to yours!

Hope everyone has a great day with friends and family!

This book was one of my presents and I can’t wait to try out the recipes!

From Field to Plate

December 16, 2015December 16, 2015 / Jen / 6 Comments

When my interest in hunting first started, the idea of providing meat for my family is what pushed me to sign up for the hunter education course.

This past weekend, I served my first meal from the doe I shot weeks earlier. It was a great feeling!

I used my new meat grinder to make ground venison for a delicious meatloaf recipe. I’ll share it later this week, everybody loved it!

Everyone has their own reasons for why they hunt. Providing meat to eat is probably my biggest reason. I can’t wait until I have my own family and I’ll know exactly where the meat they’re eating came from. It’s feelings like this that make me so happy I got involved in hunting.

Butchering A Deer

December 10, 2015 / Jen / 6 Comments

When I got back from my hunting trip, I had four deer quarters to butcher.

Meat to butcher!

My family has always hunted with farmers so they’ve harvested and processed their own deers for decades. Thanksgiving morning my brother came over and taught me how to butcher the meat.

We both started with one leg. He showed me how to work the filet knife between the different muscles to start separating the meat. He said the knife will do the work, just follow where the tension is. It was interesting to see how it was all connected.

He also showed me how to use your hand to feel where the muscle goes. Eventually, we got out our first big steak. Then came what he said was the most important part—cleaning the meat.

Our workspace for butchering the deer

I got off all of the film that keeps the muscles together. Then I worked to cut off all of the silver skin, that part wasn’t easy! If any of the meat had fat left on it, I also cut that off. It took awhile, but when I was done we were left with really nice cuts of meat.

The reason he said this step was so important was all of those parts added to the gamey taste of meat. So the less of that on the meat, the less gamey it’ll taste.

It took us a couple of hours but we finished butchering two of the quarters. We were left with steaks and stew meat mostly. I learned a lot, my brother was really helpful at showing me how to do everything. It was nice being able to learn the family tradition of what they do after someone gets a deer.

He took two pieces of meat we’d cleaned and grilled them in a cast iron skillet. With only salt and pepper to season it, it was a delicious piece of meat! Not too gamey at all!

The first steak from my deer!

A few days later, I finished butchering the last two quarters. It took me a few hours. It probably wasn’t the best butchering ever done, but it was a good feeling to do it myself. It’s a lot of hard work, but rewarding to see all the meat you’re left with.

For Black Friday, I purchased a meat grinder from Cabelas. I’ll be using it for the first time this weekend as I grind stew meat to make a venison meatloaf. I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Do you butcher your own deer or take it to be processed at a wild game butcher? Share your family’s tradition below!

Shooting My First Deer – Part 2

December 3, 2015 / Jen / 2 Comments

If you missed Shooting My First Deer – Part 1, read it here!

I had just shot my first deer and now the hard work started as we began to track the blood trail.

Kelli and I began make our way through the thick salal bushes that were much taller than us. To be honest, I don’t know how she cleared a path for us to follow because the second we went through, the path was swallowed up by branches and leaves again.

Following the trail!

Trying to follow a blood trail in that brush seemed impossible. We worked our way to one clearing and no blood was to be found. We looked in every direction she could’ve gone but nothing. We each took turns going back into the salal to try and see if the blood trail moved farther into it in another direction.

Eventually we decided to move from where we were to try and get farther back in the brush near where we saw bushes move. We made our way back in and again came to another small clearing. I looked down and there was another patch of blood—back to tracking once more!

Continue reading →

Shooting My First Deer – Part 1

November 30, 2015November 30, 2015 / Jen / 11 Comments

A week ago, I shot my first deer! My life has been a bit hectic lately. But when I had the chance to get out to the San Juan Islands for a late season hunt, I jumped on it. I headed up on a Saturday to meet them at the marina and they took me over to Decatur Island–a small island in the San Juans not accessible by ferry. The couple helping me hunt is the same couple that helped me catch my first salmon.

Decatur Island to the right

We ate lunch and made a game plan for the rest of the day. Kelli and I would head out to an area that they’d seen several deer before. I changed into my hunting gear and off we went. We made our way back through trees until it opened up a little bit. We found a large tree trunk that had a log in front of it that was a good spot to sit and have some cover.

Kelli and I waiting for deer!

One of my goals getting into hunting has been to find other women to hunt with. It’s a lot easier said than done. So it was an awesome feeling to be out there with another woman! We sat quietly and the craziness of everyday life faded away. One of my favorite things about hunting is feeling connected to the outdoors.

Continue reading →

First Deer!

November 24, 2015 / Jen / 6 Comments

Here are a few more pictures of my first deer that I got on Decatur Island!

More pictures and story to come after Thanksgiving!

I can’t wait to eat the back strap on Thanksgiving!