I love to hunt.  It is an exciting and rewarding hobby that I love to participate in.  Yet, I don’t just like the thrill of the hunt, or the time spend outdoors.  I also like the opportunity to provide food for my family.  While there may be some people that are primarily focused on getting a nice trophy, I appreciate hunting for the meat.  Of course, I wouldn’t turn down a shot at a nice bull or buck, I love getting that meat into the freezer!

This past fall I harvested a bull elk on my own.  It was an amazing experience, but one of the most rewarding things of the entire process was taking it all the way from pulling the trigger to putting it on the table by myself.  Not only did I do it all on my own, but I provided my family with lean, organic, free-range meat!

I think it is a cool fact that we haven’t bought beef from the store since I harvested my elk this past year.  While the freezer is starting to show some empty spots, I’m hoping our elk supply will carry us into the fall.  As a matter of fact, I don’t know what we will do if I don’t harvest another elk this fall…. we have gotten so used to elk meat.

While my wife did not grow up eating wild game, she has adjusted well.  My wife has found that she can substitute ground elk for any recipe where she used beef.

We have also found that elk meat is less gamey than venison.  We have made elk burgers using nothing but straight ground elk.  I have found that flavor is great and they cook incredibly quick because they are so lean. We have also made roasts and a lot of jerky!

One of my favorite ways to use the meat however is elk steak.  Several years ago, a good friend gave me his venison marinade and with a few minor changes, I found it makes a great marinade for elk steaks.  Here is my “secret” elk marinade:

• Combine in a gallon zip-lock bag:
  4 tablespoons of oil
  5 tablespoon soy sauce
  1 teaspoon minced garlic
  1 tablespoon Montreal Steak Spice
  ½ tablespoon of sugar
• Mix well
• Wash 8-10 elk steaks and place in the zip-lock bag. Let marinate 4 hours or more.
• Grill steaks on low to medium heat. Do not overcook.  I typically grill them about 4 minutes on each side.

If you don’t have elk meat in the freezer, I hope this motivates you to get out this fall to hunt, and if you are fortunate enough to have some of the world’s best meat in your freezer, I hope you get a chance to try this great recipe out!