By Colin Kearns

Last week we threw our annual holiday party, which is always a great time because there’s always some great wild game cooked and shared from members of the staff. For this week’s Food Fight, we’re featuring all of the wild dishes from the party (as well as one dessert because, well, it features bacon and bourbon). Vote for your favorite.

1. Elk Shepherd’s Pie from Donna Ng, Field & Stream copy chief
2. Muley Rolls from Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life online content editor
3. Elk Chili from Kim Gray, Field & Stream associate art director
4. Venison Sausage Italian Meatballs from John Taranto, Outdoor Life senior editor

5. Blackened Redfish with Mango Salsa from Mike Toth, Field & Stream executive editor
6. Elk Empanadas with Chimichurri from Amanada McNally, Director of Public Relations
7. Smoked Salmon from Brian Peterson, Western Sporting Goods Manager
8. Bacon and Bourbon Pecan Pie from Kristyn Brady, Field & Stream assistant editor

Here are the other posts from Meat Week, in case you missed any:
- How to Cook Whitetail Deer Ribs
- Rules for Grinding Wild Game (And Mom's Meatloaf Recipe)
- [ Read Full Post ]

By David E. Petzal

I spent the past week in Kansas, a place of very little culture but very many whitetail deer, which is a better reason to go someplace than culture. I was hunting out of elevated blinds with a friend who is a highly experienced hunter and a very good spotter of cloven-hoofed ungulates. Each of us had a laser rangefinder. Mine was in my binocular; his was separate.

What we noticed pretty quickly was that neither rangefinder ever agreed…ever. Sometimes the difference was only a few yards, but sometimes it was 50 yards or more. In addition, my rangefinder also gave Weird Readings. It would say that a deer was 152 yards away when it was perfectly obvious the beast was way over 300. This may have been caused by fog, which we had, or by the beam bouncing off weeds and brush that I couldn’t see but which the laser could. It was, as Richard Pryor used to say, a nerve-shattering experience.

[ Read Full Post ]

By Chad Love

The "most famous wolf in the world" has been shot (legally) by a hunter...

From this story on abcnews.com: 
The killing of the "most famous wolf in the world" at Yellowstone National Park is coinciding with wildlife officials discussing potential new restrictions for hunting near the park. A collared female alpha wolf known as 832F to researchers and '06 -- for the year she was born -- to fans, was legally killed Thursday in Wyoming outside the park's protected area. She was part of the renowned Lamar Canyon pack. "She was without a doubt the most famous wolf in the world, hands down," Kim Bean, vice president of Wolves of the Rockies, told ABCNews.com. "I watched her since her birth, basically. She was an amazing wolf to watch. She was definitely the most researched in the park. ... She's gone." [ Read Full Post ]

By David Draper

In a Wild Chef post from last Valentine’s Day, I mentioned hunters today didn’t seem too keen on keeping the heart. Boy was I mistaken as I’ve since had several heart-centered Food Fight submissions, including two this week. [ Read Full Post ]

By Dave Hurteau

The online magazine Slate recently posted the rare positive article about hunting, for which I commend them. Its bottom line is that the “expansion of hunting into liberal, urban circles is the latest development in an evolving and increasingly snug coexistence between humans and beasts in North America” as the “bearded, bicycle-riding, locavore set” concludes that it is “more responsible and ecologically sound to eat an animal that was raised wild and natural in [the] local habitat….” [ Read Full Post ]

By Brandon Ray

These reports focus on the whitetail rut, but there are mule deer as well as whitetails in my part of Texas. Year-round observations of muleys on our ranch in the Panhandle indicate that their rut starts later than whitetails. Typically, the muley bucks start acting interested in girls about Thanksgiving. But not until December 1 or later do they really start chasing and acting goofy. While November is the month to hunt rutting whitetails in the central and northern half of Texas, December is the month to see mule deer in the rut. [ Read Full Post ]