Don Maulden and his wife Elizabeth have been hunting together for over thirty years. Don is a veteran who served for twenty-three years; anytime he was off duty he would go hunting, and Elizabeth went with him. She originally started just to spend more time with her husband but hunting quickly became one of her lifelong passions too.

A staple in many American homes, most people agree lasagna is wholesome comfort food. As I tried to recreate a recipe for lasagna using venison, I had come to the realization that store-bought ingredients just won’t do for this. I took it a step further and decided to make the ingredients from scratch. The pasta, tomato sauce, and ricotta are all scratch-made in this dish. Making them from scratch not only makes the dish more memorable to you but shows more respect for the animal. This dish will not only create a memory for you, but also for those that eat it. Those memories help that animal be remembered forever.

In the last 2 months millions of pounds of venison were harvested by America’s hunters. The deer from which this enormous quantity of meat was taken in all sorts of weather, in nearly every terrain and was harvested by rank amateurs and expert hunters alike. No government inspectors will be on hand to insure proper cleanliness and other procedures are followed. It’s up to the hunter to do it right. Some will and some won’t; and for those who don’t, the result is likely to be some gamy-tasting deer meat.

Some hunters believe canned meat is the pinnacle of a deer’s culinary worth once the backstraps are gone. Maybe, you have been guilted into taking a jar home from an enthusiastic family member only to drown the contents in store-bought spaghetti sauce. For hunters, the pursuit of the game is the prize. However, there is the opportunity to view bringing the hunt from the field to your table as the ultimate reward.

I once laid over in London while traveling to Morocco and spent the night in a lovely cottage that had an amazing pub downstairs. It was something you have seen in the movies. A dark room with stone clad walls and a crackling fireplace. I am pretty sure it was lit only by candle and oil lamp. I grabbed a fresh pint of beer and sat at a table next to the fire. I squinted in the firelight as I read each menu item line by line. The one item that caught my attention was a beef and ale pie, aka pot pie or meat pie.

Late-season scouting can be a valuable tool to evaluate your deer season. The snow that covers much of the state offers some of the best scouting of the year. Make it to the woods before rain eliminates weeks worth of sign.

 Think it’s all over and still can’t believe how quickly the deer season came and went? Well, for the determined, the show still goes on in a few select places and while it may be too late to cash in on a road trip to one of these late spots this season, it’s never too late to begin planning an extended deer season for next year.

It was 4:00 AM and we were already heading out to hunt. The air was cold and the sky was clear. The stars and the moon were the only light around. The moon bathed the rolling hills in an eerie blue light and the yellow prairie grass sparkled in the moonlight. In the distance the jagged lines of the snow-covered mountains glistened. We were headed into the lower slopes of the mountains in hopes of harvesting a mid-season Wyoming mule deer buck. We had been hunting now for three days but had been unsuccessful at filling our tag. We were hunting public land just on the outskirts of the Bighorn Mountain range.

I like every kind of hunting season but for me, the December muzzleloader season for deer is perhaps the most special.

It all started years ago when I purchased a secondhand Kentucky Rifle replica that couldn't shoot straight and ended up blowing a piece of percussion cap into my eyelid. As I drove myself to the doctor’s office on that memorable fall morning a couple of decades ago, I realized three important things: 1. always wear safety glasses while shooting 2. Cheap used firearms are being sold for a reason, and 3. I love muzzleloaders.

The fall hunting season is in full swing, and most of you are already reminiscing about the success of the season so far. You are all set with gear, and have your spots picked out —but what if you could increase your chances of tagging that monster buck? Well, you can, utilizing what was once one of the best-kept secrets in hunting.