By Cindy Hackett Green
Special to The
News-Post
When the subject is game, many people say
there's no contest -- the unofficial winners and experts
around here are J.R. Remsburg and his wife Tracy.
The Remsburgs are avid hunters and supporters of all types
of game hunting. Mr. Remsburg has been a hunter for 40 years,
and while Mrs. Remsburg has "only been hunting for a few
years," she grew up in a hunting family. The Remsburgs are
truly a team in this endeavor. Over the years, they have
gathered tips and secrets about all parts of the process, from
field dressing to cooking and preserving the meat.
They have compiled dozens of specialized game recipes into
a cookbook called "J.R.'s Camouflage Cookin.'" It's a
compendium of recipes using deer meat, or venison.
But the book also includes recipes for other game, such as
antelope, caribou, dove, duck, elk, frog legs, goose,
groundhog, grouse, moose, muskrat, pheasant, quail, rabbit,
raccoon, squirrel and wild turkey meat. There's even a
tongue-in-cheek recipe for elephant stew.
Mr. Remsburg might be considered a game gourmet, or at
least an adventurous game diner. He's tasted wild meat from
muskrat and frog legs to alligator tail and snapping turtle
soup, and each of those selections tastes "really good," he
said.
The few game animals he's not interested in tasting include
possum, which he's heard is "too greasy," and groundhog, which
he's "never tried and never will." He's currently planning an
upcoming trip to Canada for bear hunting and trout fishing.
"The best game bird is the grouse. It's better than
pheasant," said Mr. Remsburg. His wife said she also enjoys
squirrel, which "tastes like chicken."
But the emphasis in their book is on venison.
Some people shy away from deer meat because they think it
has a "wild" or "gamey" taste, but Mr. Remsburg said he knows
how to process the meat to avoid that taste.
Deer meat must be handled carefully immediately after the
kill for the best flavor, he said, and he's willing to share
his secrets. In fact, along with the cookbook, the Remsburgs
wanted to provide field information for hunting enthusiasts
with step-by-step directions from start to finish.
So they've also published six "pocket guides" that can be
taken along into the field. The separate guides include what
they call "After the Harvest" information, such as: "Field
Dressing Your Deer," "Skinning Your Deer," "Quartering Your
Deer for Butchering," "Butchering Your Deer," "Processing Deer
Bologna," and "Dressing Your Turkey." (By the way, the turkey
"dressing" in that last guide has nothing to do with the bread
and celery mixture we enjoy at Thanksgiving!)
The Remsburgs' books have sold well at Borders, and also at
the Gander Mountain chain stores. Now the couple is putting
together a new cookbook, due out next year, which will include
more wild game recipes and also fish recipes.
They are also creating videotapes based on the field
dressing information in the pocket guide series. The books and
videos are an ambitious project that "takes a lot of time and
money," said Mrs. Remsburg, noting that they provide all their
own accompanying photos as well.
"The cookbook was a spur of the moment idea; it was a joke
at first," said Mrs. Remsburg. But after the recipes were
compiled, it became a serious endeavor. The book was published
by Mrs. Remsburg's mother, who lives in California and has a
publishing company there.
Family favorites from the cookbook include: Big Buck
Bologna, Game Warden Deer Bake, Ruttin' Around Lasagna, and
Horn Rattlin' Venison Chili. Daughter Katelyn, 8, doesn't
hunt, but she said her favorite food is deer jerky, followed
by deer bologna.
Deer bologna is popular at the Remsburg home. Mr. Remsburg
and his father actually invented a bologna cooker. The outside
cooker "saves your kitchen from the mess," said Mrs. Remsburg.
The plans to "build your own" cooker are available, along with
the cookbooks and the field guides, at the Remsburgs' website,
www.wildgameandcamo.com.
The couple also exhibits at craft and sportsman shows,
where they sell wildlife prints and cutting boards as well as
their books. They've been known to give out samples of their
deer meat products, sometimes changing the opinion of
reluctant tasters.
"People say they won't try it, but I talk them into it,"
said Mr. Remsburg. He added that often those same people
return to their booth in a few minutes for another sample.
While hunting is an age-old tradition, it's not as widely
accepted as it once was. The Remsburgs believe that hunters
should always kill in a humane manner, and only hunt when the
meat will be used for food.
"Don't waste a life," said Mr. Remsburg. However, he said
hunting is an effective method of managing the wild game
population.
"If people didn't hunt, there wouldn't be any deer," he
said. As the deer population increases, there is less and less
food available, he explained, so thinning out the population
helps keep others in the herd healthier. "I'd rather shoot one
and keep four others healthy," he said.
And venison is healthier for human consumption than other
red meats, said Mr. Remsburg. "It has no fat and is lower in
cholesterol." He has had some recent health problems but is
now fully recovered, and he said he has been advised that
venison is the only red meat he should eat.
The average deer yields 30-45 pounds of meat; the Remsburgs
estimate they may process five or six deer each year. They
give away some of their venison products and they vacuum pack
and freeze some for future use. Tips for storing and cooking a
variety of meats are also included in the book, along with
some specific taste advice.
For instance, "you can substitute different species but by
doing so you may change the taste of the final dish," they
write. "Raccoon may taste rich and dark whereas squirrel has a
delicate flavor. So be particularly careful when substituting
raccoon for rabbit or squirrel."
It sounds like sage advice.
With the success of their cookbooks and field guides, the
Remsburgs are truly a couple who's "got game." | 
