By Michael Pendley Steak Diane is one of those classic recipes that was all the rage at upscale restaurants back in the 1950s and ’60s. The classic presentation used brandy, and the pan sauce was often flamed tableside for a presentation with flair. Luckily, after falling out of style for a few decades, the dish is making a bit of a comeback these days, and my family has found that using elk instead of beef is a wonderful changeup. For this recipe, we use elk backstrap medallions and substitute bourbon for the brandy or cognac traditionally used in the recipe. I think the oaky flavor of the bourbon pairs well with wild venison of any kind. Use a high-proof bourbon if you plan to flame the pan sauce, in order to burn off the alcohol.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Four 4-ounce elk tenderloin medallions, about ¾- to 1-inch thick Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 small shallot, minced 1 garlic clove, minced 6 ounces baby portobello or button mushrooms, thinly sliced ¼- cup bourbon 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard ¼- cup heavy cream ¼- cup beef stock 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 green onion, diced 1 teaspoon finely chopped flat-leaf parsley Hot sauce, to taste

Directions

In a large cast-iron skillet, melt the butter in the olive oil. Season the elk with salt and pepper and cook over high heat until lightly browned on the bottom, about one minute. Turn the medallions and cook for one minute longer, then transfer the steaks to a warm plate and tent them with foil. Add the shallot and garlic to the skillet and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and cook until softened, about four minutes. Remove from the heat, add the bourbon and carefully ignite the pan with a long match. The initial flames can reach one to two feet above the pan, so make certain there is nothing flammable nearby. Once the flames die down, add the mustard and cream to the pan and stir the mixture over moderate heat for one minute. Whisk in the beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, scallions and parsley, then season with salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste. Return the elk and any juices from the plate back to the pan, spooning the sauce over the medallions and simmering until the meat is heated through. To serve, plate the elk medallions, then spoon over the sauce. A side salad and potato make this a classic steakhouse presentation.

You don’t have to wait for the rut to punch your tag.

By Bob Robb The rut is like a religious experience for many dyed-in-the-wool whitetail hunters, and it truly is a magical time. But I’ve also found that the early season, while bucks are still bachelored up, the weather’s nice, and there’s been little hunting pressure, can also be a great time to fill your tag. Hunting the early season requires different tactics than hunting the rut or later. Here are my top 10 tips for early season whitetail success.

1. Know the Deer

To consistently connect on a mature buck during the early season, you have to know exactly where he beds during the day, where he feeds at night and how he gets there and back. Recognizing the natural lay of the land and both quality feeding and bedding areas is the first step. To increase your odds, mineral licks, waterholes and mock scrapes can all be used to make sure that the patterns you’re hunting are established early, often and consistently throughout the entire hunting season. [caption id="attachment_3626" align="aligncenter" width="650"] A flexible strategy that allows you to hunt where the deer are feeding at the moment is key.[/caption] Recognize that the deer herd will be in constant flux now, moving as food sources change. Thus, having a mobile hunting strategy is important. Fixed stands may be the answer if you’re hunting a funnel during the rut, but the only way to zero in on the food source of the moment is to monitor the deer herd, then grab a lightweight hang-on stand and carefully set up on the hot sign. [caption id="attachment_3629" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Scouting on the ground will show you the trails deer are using, where they cross fences, and other movement patterns.[/caption] Spending time with your binocular from afar at first and last light is an excellent, no-pressure way to help put the deer-movement puzzle pieces together. Glass the edges of major food sources (crop fields in farm country, clear cuts in the big woods) the last hour or two of the day to get the most recent intel.

2. Smile for the Camera

[caption id="attachment_3623" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Trail cameras are an important part of any scouting strategy and especially important during the early season.[/caption] Game cameras play a crucial role in early-season hunting. Pay close attention to the date and time stamps in pictures where deer appear and analyze what has them in that spot at that time. You can use your cameras to hone-in on where deer are entering specific fields, and that will help to learn where they are most likely bedding; in the early part of season, that usually isn’t far from their primary food source. With that knowledge in hand, you can better position your ambush point and figure out how to strategically access and exit that spot to minimize hunting pressure.

3. Silence is Golden

If your treestand creaks, pings, pops or squeaks, get it fixed before setting it up. Your stand location will probably be near a bedding thicket, and the last thing you want to do is announce to the world that you have arrived as you climb into a noisy stand. [caption id="attachment_3628" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Hunting near bedding thickets can be very productive, especially when bucks are still in velvet early in the season.[/caption]

4. Bug Out

Early season hunting can be a time of hot, muggy weather and lots of biting insects. If you’re swatting at them, you can’t stay still and quiet. A Thermacell can keep bitey things at bay without the deer-spooking smell of insect repellents. I sometimes bring two.

5.The Downwind Side

We all know you need to keep deer upwind of your stand. The trouble is, during the early seasons, if you’re sitting near a primary food source, you’ll more than likely have does and young bucks walk past your stand before a mature buck arrives, usually at very last light. That means you have to have your scent cone blowing into a non-deer area. My favorite deerless areas are steep terrain features, waterways, roads, houses, open fields and mature, open forests.

6. Scout the Acorn Drop

[caption id="attachment_3622" align="aligncenter" width="650"] When mast crops become available, deer will leave food plots to attack them. Be prepared to move your setup when this happens.[/caption] We tend to get a little obsessed with our food plots because, after all, we planted and nurtured them for months. Deer love them, but they’re not married to them, especially when mast crops start falling. The early season is prime time for the white oak acorn drop, as well as soft-mast foods like persimmons and apples. Find them, because when they become available, deer will leave food plots and concentrate on these resources like kids in a candy store.

7. Scent Control

[caption id="attachment_3624" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Following a meticulous scent-control strategy includes washing clothing in a scent-eliminating detergent.[/caption] Warm weather makes us sweat, which makes us stink. To mitigate human odor, dress in lightweight clothing, don’t add layers until you’re at your stand to avoid sweating while walking in, shower using scent-eliminating soaps and shampoo, spray down all clothing and gear with a scent-eliminating spray (I continually spray myself down during a stand sit), and use an ozone-emitting clothing bag to kill odors on clothing, boots and gear before the hunt.

8. Watch the Weather

Once you have your deer scouted and stands set, monitor the forecast closely for sudden weather changes. Both warm and cold fronts move deer. Smartphone apps make it possible to stay in tune 24/7. Both The Weather Channel and Weather Underground are reliable weather resources. During the early season, deer generally fall into nocturnal feeding patterns during lengthy periods of warmer temperatures. When a cold snap is on the way, deer sense the barometric change and get on their feet earlier. In my experience, and there’s research to back this up, no other aspect of the weather has as big an influence on deer movement as barometric pressure. That’s why you see increased daylight movement when a storm front is approaching. The best time to be afield is as a weather front is either moving in or leaving—indicated by a falling or rising barometer—with the approaching storm front the very best time to be on stand. Studies have shown that whitetails seem to move most when the barometric pressure is between 29.90 and 30.30 inches, with the best movement occurring at the higher end of that range, around 30.10 to 30.30 inches.

9. Pick Your Spots

[caption id="attachment_3625" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Knowing how the deer use your hunting property—where they bed, water and eat and how they get from one place to the other— will let you set up a killer stand.[/caption] The thing about the early season is, you still have a lot of time, often months, of deer season left if you don’t tag out. So, don’t hunt on days when the conditions aren’t right. If it’s hot and windy, chance spooking deer in a marginal day? It’s better to wait for conditions to improve.

10. Sleep In

During the early season, I rarely, if ever, hunt mornings, especially if my focus is on a food source. The exception is if I can get to a morning stand with zero chance of adversely affecting the evening hunt; the chances of spooking deer in the dark as you travel to a morning stand are extremely high. However, after sitting all day away from high-quality food sources, all deer can generally be counted on to move to their evening food sources like clockwork. If you can hunt a morning stand without hindering a high-quality evening hunt, then by all means, go for it. But during the early muzzleloader (and archery) seasons, you should never risk a low-value morning sit at the expense if a high-value evening sit. [caption id="attachment_3627" align="aligncenter" width="650"] An evening sit on a big food plot produced this nice buck for the author.[/caption] One caution about those evening sits. Since the last hour of daylight can be a magical time, hanging in there until last legal shooting light is critical. But that can make getting out of your stand without spooking deer almost impossible. If you're on a crop field, consider having a buddy pick you up in a vehicle or tractor. Deer are usually familiar with farm equipment and less likely to run off to parts unknown when they hear it. I’ve even sat in my stand for two hours after dark, waiting for deer to move off. It’s a pain in the petunias, but critical to long-term success.

Cooling your meat down, both internally and externally, is the key to the finest-tasting wild game possible.

By Bob Robb Growing up in coastal southern California, our deer season in the massive “A” zone opened the second weekend in August and lasted six weeks. Where I hunted for years, the daytime temperatures routinely soared into the triple digits, with nights never cooling below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. I learned early on that cleaning and cooling the meat in hot weather is the most important thing a sportsman can do to ensure the most flavorful steaks and burgers possible. [caption id="attachment_3615" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Meat care in the field is all about the tastiest meat there is in the freezer.[/caption] Hot weather intensifies the need for rapid and meticulous field care. There is a direct correlation between the quality and flavor of wild meat and the way it is cared for in the field. The key is to make life harder for bacteria by creating a cool, high-acid environment to slow their growth, limiting their food sources by bleaching out blood, making a protective glaze coating, and controlling flies.

Get it Cooled Fast

I like to get my animals quartered as soon as possible, with all blood and other bodily fluids removed either by washing the quarters or wiping them down with paper towels and then placing them on ice. If I’m at a place where I can hang the carcass whole after being gutted (a barn, garage, etc.), the first thing I do after skinning is hose down the carcass like I am trying to put out a four-alarm fire. Next, I let it drain, pat it dry with paper towels and start the breaking-down process. Depending on the final cuts you want and your transportation limitations (your cooler size, for example), you can either leave the bone in or take it out. [caption id="attachment_3616" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Getting the hide off the animal quickly is key to starting the cooling process.[/caption] Far from home or town, having a portable walk-in meat cooler like this one from Koola Buck is ideal if you have a camp setup where a power source is available. Most of you won’t have this kind of setup, though, so you’ll need to reduce the carcass temperature by hanging it so air can circulate around it. In a backcountry situation or remote hunting camp where hoses and such aren’t possible, the meat must be hung so that air can circulate around the entire piece of meat, which will help it cool. The key is to hang the meat in the shade where any breeze will gently blow across the carcass. [caption id="attachment_3617" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Deer killed in velvet are shot early in the season, when temperatures are sky high. Having a meat-care plan prior to the hunt is essential to getting it safely to the table. This is Mike Schwiebert, long-time Weatherby employee, with a nice blacktail taken in central California.[/caption] Meat will cool faster in smaller chunks, and smaller parts are easier to fit into a refrigerator or cooler(s) to chill. Before you reduce your big-game carcass to more than quarters, though, be sure you know all state regulations to make sure that taking the carcass apart in the field is legal and follow all tagging and registration requirements, including evidence-of-sex rules. If it’s legal, once skinned, break down the carcass into nine main parts: the two hindquarters, two front quarters, two backstraps, two tenderloins, and the neck meat.

Reduce pH to Kill Bacteria

To really get this right, you’ll need a citric-acid solution to reduce the meat’s pH level. “To understand how this works, you must understand that bacteria grow rapidly at a pH level of 7.0," Tommy Johnson, a professional butcher and avid deer hunter, told me. “The pH contained in lemons or limes is about 2.35. By using a citric-acid solution on the game bag, the pH level drops dramatically, helping kill off bacteria.” You can make a citric-acid solution by combining the juice of three lemons, one large bottle of lemon juice concentrate and one small bottle of Tabasco sauce. When hanging meat, once excess moisture has been removed, apply the lemon juice mixture A small plastic spray bottle is ideal for this task. This will create a high-acid protective glaze over the meat while it is drying. Once the meat is dry, it can be quartered, bagged and re-hung.

It’s in the Bag

First, never use game bags made from plastic, as they hold in heat and don't permit proper air circulation. (Note: Plastic bags have their place later in the process.) Your smart choices are heavy-duty cloth or cheesecloth-type game bags. The best are strong enough to carry meat yet allow for maximum air circulation, and they are woven tightly enough keep out flies. [caption id="attachment_3614" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Cloth-type game bags are the very best to use when meat must be hung up and air-cooled without refrigeration of any kind.[/caption] I like to treat my game bags with the same citric-acid blend I used to spray the meat, because it discourages flies from landing on the bags and inhibits bacteria growth. Before your hunt, soak your game bags in the citric-acid solution for 20 minutes to one hour, then let them air dry completely (not in your dryer!). Once dry, store them in tightly sealed plastic bags. In the field, when your quartering is complete, remove the cloth game bags from their plastic storage bags and put your meat in them and re-hang.

Building a Flytrap

If you hunt in areas where flies are a problem, the solution is to build a small flytrap near where you've hung the carcass to cool and glaze over. “All it takes to build a flytrap is a can of Starbar Golden Malrin and a black garbage bag,” Johnson said. “Eight to 10 feet away from the meat, lay a couple of branches on the ground. Pile meat scraps on and around the branches. Pour the Golden Malrin on and around the scraps of meat. Cut a slit in the center of the garbage bag and place it loosely over the pile. “The sun will heat up the plastic, which in turn heats the meat,” Johnson said. “The flies are attracted to the whole mess and crawl in through the slit in the plastic. The Golden Malrin kills the flies. When you're ready to leave the area, put the entire trap into a thick garbage bag and dispose of it properly.” Golden Malrin is available at many feed and mill stores, as well as some big-box stores like Walmart. [caption id="attachment_3618" align="aligncenter" width="650"] Many pronghorn seasons begin in late summer, when temps are soaring. This is the author’s friend Jared Pfeifer with a nice buck from New Mexico.[/caption]

Ready to Go

When I’m prepping for transport, I like to layer a lot of ice in the bottom of my cooler, bag the meat in 3mm plastic trash-compactor bags, lay those bags (single layer) on the ice, then cover everything with more ice. The thick 3mm plastic bags are hard to rip, and they keep moisture off the meat. I always keep the coolers in the shade until it’s time to pack it all out.

Field to Fork

Prime table fare is all about caring for the meat in the field. When it’s hot, the challenges increase exponentially. Just remember: Clean it and cool it now. Do that, and your family will enjoy the finest meat on the planet at its peak of flavor.