Jerky

There's nothing more manly than making homemade jerky...except maybe for the process to obtain the meat. Endless hiking in freezing weather and treacherous terrain, shooting and gutting an animal, and dragging the 400 pound animal back out the miles you hiked in to get it.

Over the last couple of years I have done many hunts and was not fortunate enough to get a big animal...or any animal for that matter. Maybe this is due to my loud hiking boots or my body odor (which isn't good after hiking miles and miles in the woods) My hunting buddies say it is my aim. Probably a combination.

Last year after many days of endless hiking, scouting, and no luck shooting, I finally got my buck. How did I get a buck with no shooting you ask? Easy. The guy in front of me on the freeway hit it with his truck.

Now you may be thinking that it is illegal to take a buck off the road and in most cases it is. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try.

When I pulled over to help, the buck was still very much alive and in the middle of the freeway. My manly instincts kicked in and I ran out into oncoming traffic to pull it out of the way. Another guy (I won't mention that he was a major redneck with a handlebar mustache who was trying to beat me to it) jumped out of his car to help pull it off the road. I put it down and to make a long story short got permission from DWR to use my tag and shortly after had a freezer full of meat and a dehydrator full of jerky.

This post is not about last year. This year I actually shot my elk. In the forest. Like a real hunter.