By David Draper

While my Wyoming elk tag has so far gone unfilled, my friend Tess was luckier, tagging her first elk in a Nebraska cornfield not long ago. A heat wave prompted us to spend all day Sunday butchering and last night we put about 20 lbs. of trimmings through the grinder.

I’ve been processing my own (and others) deer and elk for about a dozen years and view adding some type of fat to ground venison as a necessary evil. I prefer ground pork, adding anywhere from 10 to 20 percent. Due to a calculating error on my part (I was told there would be no math!), Tess’ grind ended up at about 25 percent pork, a bit more than she preferred.

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By Jim Thornton

If you’re planning a hunting or fishing trip that’s likely to be demanding, experts recommend you start eating for success today. “If you give this approach a fair trial,” says nutritionist Suzanne Girard Eberle, “it can make an incredible difference. I’ve had people tell me the days just flew by—they never got tired.” These 10 tips will help you eat in a way that increases your endurance so you don’t “bonk” during the hunt. —Jim Thornton

Eat like an athlete. In the weeks and months leading up to hunting season, embrace the performance approach proven to work for athletes. This means about 60 percent of your calories should come from carbohydrates, 25 percent from fat, and 15 percent from protein.

Think complex carbs. Simple sugars are not health demons, but they lack the vitamins and nutrients found in more complex carbohydrates such as fruits, vegetables, brown rice, and beans. The latter also take longer to digest, preventing rapid fluctuations of blood sugar levels and keeping you on a more even keel.

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