Spring Turkey and Eurasian Dove

Wild Turkey Enchiladas

 

“I’ve become a little obsessed with turkey hunting lately”- Justin

It has been over a month since my last post. School has been very busy and in addition to classes I have been presenting my research at professional conferences, conducting artifact analysis with my colleagues and working on drafting up some new papers for peer-reviewed journals. The bottom line is I have had less time for foraging…but that being said, we still got out for some fishing and hunting.

Eurasian collard doves are an invasive species. They were originally introduced to the Southeastern United States in the mid 1980’s and have subsequently spread to nearly every state. In fact, after giving a presentation on the antiquity of bird hunting to the Avian Ecology Department I spoke with a lead bird expert on campus who informed me that Eurasian doves had spread across our country faster than most any other bird! So what does this mean for us?

Well, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has realized the potential threat this species may pose on our native Mourning Dove and has made it policy that Eurasian doves can be taken year round, no bag limit, and can be taken even with pellet rifles…and my brother Justin just got a new pellet gun!

Over Easter Sunday as the ham cooked away in the oven, my brother and I spent a few minutes here and there stepping out back into the orchard looking for birds. The conditions were perfect. It was overcast all day, like an extended morning; great weather for bird hunting!

When we were kids Justin had showed me how to cup my hands and blow into them to create a mourning dove call. In fact he used to call these birds into the orchard with great skill. I searched the internet recently and found an audio clip of Eurasian dove calls and adapted our hand calling trick to this new and distinct pattern. Sure enough within a few minutes I had brought in three birds! I missed a shot but Justin got a nice Eurasian dove that afternoon! We are now hooked!

 

We also called in a hen wild turkey, but only Tom’s are in season during the spring. Though a few gobblers called incessantly from a distance, we had to hang up the box call and sit down for Easter brunch before we could entice them into range.

Justin headed out a bit later that week with his good buddy Eric and after sighting in their pellet rifles at 30 yards they located a nice Tom. Justin closed the gap to precisely 30 yards, used a pair of shooting sticks to steady his aim and made a perfect clean shot. The Turkey dropped instantly and we now have an abundance of high quality meat and feathers to fletch our homemade arrows!

 Success!

 

 Justin cleaned the bird with his homemade knife!

 

Even the bones were boiled for soup stock

Well, got to run! More artifacts to be analyzed…but we plan on another hunt-and-gather this weekend…I will keep you posted! Keep the old ways alive!

How to Fillet Your Fish

 

I taught Andrew and Nick how to clean a trout a few weeks back, and I wish we had taken photos to share with you here (next time). But after spearing some fish at the ocean with Alex, Justin, and Chris I decided to do a post on how to efficiently fillet a fish.

 

 

 

 

This method works great for many large fish (if it’s smaller, just gut it, scale it and cook it whole). I fillet rockfish, lingcod, and freshwater species like catfish and bass.

Step 1- Place the fish on a board or flat rock and make and incision with a sharp blade right down to the backbone at an angle (as shown) in the soft tissue just behind the head and hard gill plate.

Step 2- Angle the blade now parallel to the spine and saw through the rib bones found in the first 1/3 of the fish all the while keeping your blade slightly bumping the spine so you retain the most meat possible in the fillet. NOTE- stop cutting near the tail but before you cut through the skin (keep the fillet connected to the fish).

 

Step 3- Flip the fillet, still attached to the skin, and slice parallel to the skin all along the fillet effectively removing skin from meat. By keeping the skin attached to the carcass it gives you a good grip and makes the process far quicker.

 

 

Step 4- use your index finger to identify where the rib bones are located along the lateral line of the fillet. You will feel them poking out where you cut them free from the carcass. Then make an incision through the fillet alone the upper side of the fillet’s lateral line, above the ribs (as shown).

Step 5- Make a second incision perpendicular to the length of the fillet effectively severing the belly meat from the rest of the fillet.

Step 6- Give your boneless fillet a rinse and cut it into one inch cubes. Mix up a simple batter of flour, salt, paprika, and beer. Dip the cubes in the batter, fry them until golden brown, and get ready for the best fish tacos around!

I hope that helps.

Keep the old ways alive!

Getting Out for Mountain Trout

 

“Damn! This flatbread is awesome!”- Andrew, after eating the Manzanita-smoked wild goat Gyros we made.

On a whim Andrew, Nick, and I headed out to a high altitude lake in pursuit of cold water wild trout.

The first night we made some feral goat sausage gyros with homemade flatbread. Delicious was an understatement!

 
The next morning we finished the goat sausage with potatoes, bacon, and eggs. 
 

 

Then we scouted around with my .303 British in search of wild boar. No such luck as we had suspected…far too high elevation.

We also cut a nice oak burl which we will later carve into a bowl.

 

Once Nick arrived we switched our focus to fishing and within two casts I had landed a nice 13 inch trout.

Nick had not been fishing in nearly a decade, yet after a few pointers he was casting like a champ again and ended up landing his first fish (a 14 inch trout) within the first hour!

A few more bass and trout chased our lures and bait but we caught no more that day (though Nick kept casting until the trout hit the pan…after landing his first trout he was as hooked as the fish).

 

As much as we all agreed we would take a photo of the incredibly delicious fish sautéing in Nicks cast iron skillet over Manzanita coals, we forgot every time! I think we were just too excited about eating them!

The next day I landed a little bass but released him back and Nick caught yet another sizable trout.

Both nights we ate like champions and the goat chili was a great breakfast too!

By the time we packed up camp to make our way back to civilization we all made a pact to return to this amazing location in the future…especially since I now have a canoe…but that’s another story.

Keep the old ways alive!

Hunting Feral Goat and Foraging for Greens

“You know, we’re probably the only guys in the whole state walking into a Trader Joes after doing what we just did…actually, we’re probably the only guys in the country!” – My brother Justin after the successful goat hunt.

 

I got the lowdown on a population of feral goats on some local public land. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, feral goats are extremely distructive to local ecosystems (just look at what they’ve done in New Zealand and Hawaii) so they are open year round to take by hunters.

I headed out for a bit of rabbit hunting with my brother and enjoyed every minute. We saw a few hares and drew a bead a few times, but no shots were fired. After a time we passed an area with ample sign of beaver activity and headed into the dense forest switching out rabbit loads for buckshot.

Following trails through dense understory and lush patches of stinging nettle I finally found what I was looking for. A young white goat stood and hi-tailed it out of a wooded patch on my right. He paused just long enough in a small window through the trees for me to make a successful shot.

I retained the heart, liver and kidneys and though I could hear my friends in Mongolia telling me to waste nothing, I did make the decision to leave the guts…next time they will be cleaned and eaten Mongol style.

My brother and I got together some ingredients and ate the liver the first night.

 

The second evening I used foraged mustard leaves for my go-to staple saag.

 

 
 

 

Justin took a leg home and made a nice curry as well.

With much of the rest of the meat I made sausage, chili, and some other exquisite meals…but that’s another story.

The bones and hide will be used in the coming weeks.

Keep the old ways alive!

My One Hundredth Post: New Foragers, Old Stories, and New Skills

Over the past few years writing this blog I have had the pleasure and honor of taking part in countless adventures in amazing places with wonderful friends. This post is dedicated to my Dad who taught us to hunt, fish and dive, to my mom who taught us not just to cook but to appreciate cooking and quality of food, to my brother who has had my back every time I have ever needed him (and continues to teach me), to my dedicated readers from Ukraine, France, Canada, Singapore, Russia, Australia, Brazil, the US, and everywhere else, to the experienced foragers who have accompanied me on so many forays, and to all those rookies who I have had the pleasure of helping become self sustaining foragers themselves!

So this post will be a blend of past photos and a few great recent ones too!

Whether it was on a beach in northern CA with my dad, spearing black rockfish and cooking them over a driftwood fire, or lobster diving with my brother in southern CA it has been great!

Spearfishing with the “Sea Dogs” Evian and Ahmed at the Quicky Mart and cooking up seafood feasts with Gigi…

Or showing Mitch and Reilly the ropes and celebrating their first fish…

Gathering the fruits of the urban harvest or desert delicacies with Nicolas (one of my most talented bushcraft buddies)…

Or enjoying figs with Houston, Nick and Kate…

Eating the best meals in the greatest places with my best friend Alex…

Or taking Andrew on his first rabbit hunt (he now has his hunting license!)…

The past few years adventuring through the wilds of California, hunting, fishing, and foraging have been great!

And now some new material…by Justin Smith (my brother)

“Two weeks ago when I looked at a fallen tree alongside a county road I saw a log.  Now I see tool handles.  In an afternoon you can rescue a neglected tool by carving a new handle from green wood split from a fallen tree with limited hand tools and limited skill. 

There is some utility in resurrecting these old hand tools.  The quality of many of the older hand tools are superb and rival all but the most expensive modern day hand tools.  Vintage hand tools that are missing wooden handles fetch a fraction of the price of fully intact hand tools, but are otherwise perfectly functional.  Items that can be quickly put back into service by carving new handles include axes, chisels, hammers, and saws. 

There are many craftsmen who have written better tutorials on how to fashion these handles than I could.  I will say that these items are surprisingly easy to make and cost nothing but your time if the wood can be salvaged from a freshly fallen tree.  Selecting the proper type of wood for a handle is important in order to get satisfactory results.  The proper type of wood will vary by tool type and should be researched before starting your project.  Here are a few items I put back into service over the last few weeks.”

We can't wait to tell you about our recent successes with Flint and Steel fire making and feral goat hunting but for now...to all of our friends here and abroad we say “Keep the old ways alive!”