Meals In Hunting Camp

[leo]

I consider myself spoiled rotten when it comes to camp cooking. Our hunts are a family affair. My wife always comes along and runs the camp. Typical day is up an hour before legal light, shave, wash and brush teeth. Then out the door with a bottle of water and spot and stalk hunt from legal light until I tag a critter or make my lap. Then have a full breakfast and lots of coffee. Afternoon is spent cruising around on a sxs looking for grouse, cutting firewood and having a few beers. Lunch is usually light, supper is a full cooked meal, then head out for an evening hunt or just watching game. Evening is spent around the fire telling stories and having a drink or two. Then, repeat.

[Moo Snukkle]

When it comes to hunting, the meals together to me are a very big part of the experience.[/QUOTE]

This right here.
Being in my 50’s, you just never know which hunting buddy won’t be back next year. Nobody fights a sleep in morning. The coffee and conversation has value beyond measure.
Sorry for the derail Op

[aragor764]

This is a great thread! Do you guys have any advice for Mid-November tent camping meals (will have heat in morning and night)? mainly worried about water and eggs and stuff freezing, any comments is appreciated, thanks.

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by aragor764

This is a great thread! Do you guys have any advice for Mid-November tent camping meals (will have heat in morning and night)? mainly worried about water and eggs and stuff freezing, any comments is appreciated, thanks.

With eggs, you will need to pre-crack them and put them in ziplocks etc. Some put them in muffin tins (sometimes with a bit of salt) and then freeze them at home, transferring them to ziplocks when they are frozen.

Water, can't help much there - On late hunts I heat fresh snow when I need water, or I try to keep it in small batches (pop bottles/milk jugs) where it will stay somewhat thawed in the sleeping area which stays somewhat heated.

Other methods include covering/burying your water, or keeping it in your sleeping bag to slow down the freezing process. Some like to keep the container upside down so the freezing starts at the air gap - which is then technically on the bottom of the container - the idea being that the water at the mouth of the container will freeze last. So much depends on how cold it is!

[Hilgy]

Originally Posted by DiabeticKripple

hey they are good! i just hate waking up at 6am and chowing down. next time ill warm it up on the sami's exhaust manifold later in the morning.

I’m actually going to get a Muff-Pot for the Sammy. Should work perfect for that.

[Demonical]

Originally Posted by aragor764

This is a great thread! Do you guys have any advice for Mid-November tent camping meals (will have heat in morning and night)? mainly worried about water and eggs and stuff freezing, any comments is appreciated, thanks.

I did a solo tent camp last Nov 19 to 25 (so 6 days).

It was mickle cold in the morning... Nov 24 it was -12C inside the tent, like -20C outside iirc. Other mornings it ranged -5C to -7C inside the tent.

My water jug froze. Any food I had was already frozen in containers so that wasn't affected. Coffee percolator froze a couple mornings.

I didn't have stuff like eggs to worry about.

I'm a bit of a dunderhead? Being by myself I never bother to get out to stoke the fire. I can definitely tell you that stoke the fire, take turns with you group doing it and it will prevent some of that. If that matters to you.

Cold in the morning, wake up, re-heat coffee in the percolator, 1 cup of coffee then hit the bush.


Comment that may only matter to me:
I also hunt from morning until dark and don't return to camp until dark. So whatever the temp is during the day, the tent is pretty much back to ambient temps inside by the time I do get back to camp.


It's just what I do... who I am.

[Hilgy]

Originally Posted by aragor764

This is a great thread! Do you guys have any advice for Mid-November tent camping meals (will have heat in morning and night)? mainly worried about water and eggs and stuff freezing, any comments is appreciated, thanks.

First year I took my oldest boy ( he was 12 ) we were in the Drayton area and it was nasty cold. Never got above -18 that week we were there. He had never been camping in a wall tent and was a little nervous that we were staying way out in the middle of nowhere in a tent in the cold. Once we had the wood stove going he felt a little better.

I use a good cooler in the winter to do the opposite of what you normally use it for. You can keep most stuff from freezing if its inside a good cooler and not exposed to the cold for long.

I also now have a stove that will hold 7-8 hours of burn time so we fill it before we head out in the morning and if we hit camp for lunch its still pretty warm in the tent even in -10-15 temps.

On Whitetail trips in Nov one thing i always plan for is leaving to get to our destination early in the morning so that we can arrive set up camp and spend the afternoon cutting enough wood for at least a couple days if not the entire trip.

[Sitkaspruce]

Great thread

Moose camp meals are some of the best meals of the year!! We have kept track of the time we have killed our animals and we have only killed one bull before 9 am (and while guiding, only killed 3 bulls before the same time), so we sleep in and head out around 8ish and hunt all day until dark

Breakfast is all about which wife made what: muffins, egg cups, homemade granola, cookies, loafs...the list goes on.

Lunch is packed sandwiches, fruit, trail mix and our favorite, those mini Halloween choco bars (coffee crisp and snickers are usually the first to go) plus cookies, granola bars etc.

Dinners are split between each hunter; Chili, stew, steak, burgers, Indian (my specialty) and chicken wings just to name a few. We use the fire, BBQ, can cooker and camp chief for our cooking.

BUT the best dinner is the one where we build a big fire and heat a bunch of these rocks we have found especially for this. Dig a 30" hole, place a few heated rocks, the salt/peppered/garlic rubbed last year moose or elk roast wrapped in foil is next, then another few rocks, then foil wrapped potatoes with garlic and butter, more rocks, foil wrapped veggies from the garden, more rocks then all buried and left until we all return. Best part is that if we are late with a moose/elk down, the food is still hot and ready to eat with a 10 min prep, most of it digging it back up. Amazing dinner!!

Salivating after reading all these posts!! Thanks

Cheers

SS

[Mavrick]

Dinners are all pre made, tinfoil pan on the wood stove in the tent, a few whiskey and its ready. One of my favorite times of day after a good day hunting.

We do B fast at noon if we come back to camp, if we stay out we make sandwiches.

Always coffee in the morning with biscuits because we are an old group and are up at 5, lots of dark before hunting.

[Phil McCracken]

Every year, the camp guys will bring 2 frozen meals plus trimmings from home, along with a variety of desserts. We have a deepfreeze at camp so the prepared meals are taken out as needed.

Meals are usually prepped up in the afternoon, and some will be cooked in a slow cooker, and all is ready when all return from the evening hunt.

As most leave at daybreak or before, breakfast usually consist of muffins, cereals, and coffee.

Brunch will be leftovers, or the usual eggs/sausage/bacon/pancakes/etc.

And as others have said, not many tenderloins make it back home.

Nobody gets hungry...

[aragor764]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Dinners are all pre made, tinfoil pan on the wood stove in the tent, a few whiskey and its ready. One of my favorite times of day after a good day hunting.

We do B fast at noon if we come back to camp, if we stay out we make sandwiches.

Always coffee in the morning with biscuits because we are an old group and are up at 5, lots of dark before hunting.

yeah, same here, that is why i would love to be able to take some eggs out there, i got about 2 hours before legal light in the morning so eggs, bacon and coffee would be awesome, i will try and leave em in a cooler as suggested, off the ground, and see what happens.

[nimrod]

One of the best things i did was buy a propane oven, for camp use, put a store bought lasagna, or any other meal in at 3 pm, ready done at 6 pm when we arrive back at camp, November

[Big Grey Wolf]

When young use to make can beef stew and then spam for sandwiches. Camped by two older fishermen while moose hunting and when they put T-bone steaks on changed philosophy. Now complete meals Bac/eggs/toast, quality lunches and steaks for supper. If you have good wood heater, stoke fire in morning, nothing will freeze in tent including eggs.
When you hunt hard need good quality food to chase them elk and moose over the ridges and through the deep river valleys.

[Bassett]

I’m the same as you, pre cooked in tin foil containers.

Normally have homemade chilli Mac, perogies and sausage, lasagne, beef and noodles, butter chicken curry, yard pimp pie (basically a shepards pie but with chicken and mushroom soup instead of minced) a vodka pasta sauce on pene. Only thing cooked at camp would be some side dish veg and the perogies. Every breakfast is a full bacon eggs sausage and hash browns.

Breakfast is normally a brunch though. Hunt until 11-1 depending how it’s going, then after last light we put the meal on bbq, have some beers and chat about the day and the plan next day, eat and a couple more beers then sleep and repeat. Having a walk in cooler at camp is a huge help and we set up the outfitter tent back in the woods so hunting starts soon as we open the tent.

[Mike_W]

Originally Posted by Sitkaspruce

Great thread

Moose camp meals are some of the best meals of the year!! We have kept track of the time we have killed our animals and we have only killed one bull before 9 am (and while guiding, only killed 3 bulls before the same time), so we sleep in and head out around 8ish and hunt all day until dark

Breakfast is all about which wife made what: muffins, egg cups, homemade granola, cookies, loafs...the list goes on.

Lunch is packed sandwiches, fruit, trail mix and our favorite, those mini Halloween choco bars (coffee crisp and snickers are usually the first to go) plus cookies, granola bars etc.

Dinners are split between each hunter; Chili, stew, steak, burgers, Indian (my specialty) and chicken wings just to name a few. We use the fire, BBQ, can cooker and camp chief for our cooking.

BUT the best dinner is the one where we build a big fire and heat a bunch of these rocks we have found especially for this. Dig a 30" hole, place a few heated rocks, the salt/peppered/garlic rubbed last year moose or elk roast wrapped in foil is next, then another few rocks, then foil wrapped potatoes with garlic and butter, more rocks, foil wrapped veggies from the garden, more rocks then all buried and left until we all return. Best part is that if we are late with a moose/elk down, the food is still hot and ready to eat with a 10 min prep, most of it digging it back up. Amazing dinner!!

Salivating after reading all these posts!! Thanks

Cheers

SS

And here I thought all you could do is boil crabs!

[Mike_W]

Breakfast is usually a coffee and granola bar or its a brunch if we make it back to camp otherwise a couple extra granola bars in the pack.

We usually pre-make a meat pasta sauce, sheppard's pie, ham, lasagna and a cheesy potato casserole. Even at 37 as an only grandchild my grandmother always sends me away with a few dishes (hamburger soup and meatballs in gravy and cookies) my mom cans potato's which goes great with the meatballs and gravy or diced and fried for a late breakfast brunches are usually sausage or bacon/back bacon eggs and toast late lunch is usually a smokie and then a steak night.

All premade meals are done up in tinfoil containers and put on the bbq or in the oven.

[EZM]

For both fishing and hunting trips, the big meal of the day is lunch usually. We take turns for this meal in our group.

Typical meals might be things like;

- chicken/prawn jambalaya rice (peppers, onions, garlic, etc.. and clamato base for rice).

- your typical steak and potatoes

- a chilli or meat sauce with pasta (Bolognese) which is probably the one and only thing that might be pre-prepared (as these do get better flavor after a day or so).

- a good stew of beef (or venison), with a rich red wine gravy with all the carrots, potatoes, onions and other typical veg and some fresh baked buns or garlic butter cheese biscuits

Evening meals are simple - smokies, brats, kabobs and sometimes soup and sandwich and some snacks to go with that evening drink

[Sitkaspruce]

Originally Posted by Mike_W

And here I thought all you could do is boil crabs!

haha....That's why I leave the easy stuff to you.

SS

[1Heavyhitr]

Originally Posted by Sitkaspruce

Great thread

BUT the best dinner is the one where we build a big fire and heat a bunch of these rocks we have found especially for this. Dig a 30" hole, place a few heated rocks, the salt/peppered/garlic rubbed last year moose or elk roast wrapped in foil is next, then another few rocks, then foil wrapped potatoes with garlic and butter, more rocks, foil wrapped veggies from the garden, more rocks then all buried and left until we all return. Best part is that if we are late with a moose/elk down, the food is still hot and ready to eat with a 10 min prep, most of it digging it back up. Amazing dinner!!

Salivating after reading all these posts!! Thanks

Cheers

SS

You should make a video of that meal this year and post it. Sounds awesome!

[pikergolf]

For us it was always more about the experience than the hunt, meals were a big deal. We only ate twice a day, after the morning hunt and after the evening hunt. We cooked big, brunch was some sort of pork, bacon, ham or sausage with eggs and hash browns or pancakes. Supper was beef of some sort with canned vegetables and some sort of twist on potatoes. Man those times when we were young.... great memories. Smiling as I type this.

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by pikergolf

For us it was always more about the experience than the hunt, meals were a big deal. We only ate twice a day, after the morning hunt and after the evening hunt. We cooked big, brunch was some sort of pork, bacon, ham or sausage with eggs and hash browns or pancakes. Supper was beef of some sort with canned vegetables and some sort of twist on potatoes. Man those times when we were young.... great memories. Smiling as I type this.

I miss the big wilderness trips for sure, any time I get a chance though , I tag along or drop into a camp and visit.
Even my extended trips these days are normally centered around the Patricia Hotel.
Most of my hunting lately has been day trips only.......
Cat

[trophyhunter]

Originally Posted by waldedw

Just wondering what you do for your meals for hunting camp, given that I am the camp cook I started doing pre made meals and freezing them years ago, best thing ever, each meal is frozen in 2 lb tinfoil containers, perfect size for a nice hot meal at night. We take a deep freeze with us to camp so every morning I take out the meals to thaw, at night 20 minutes on low in the BBQ and viola, just enough time to have a beverage and a little cigar.

I have 54 individual meals done already and need to do about 30 more ( 6 guys 14 days ) . Cantonese pork and rice, Italian sausage and penne, stew, chicken alfredo, baked ham with scalloped potatoes and veggies, and today I did a roaster full of sweet and sour ribs with rice. Lasagna is next and roast beef with baby garden dill potatoes and veggies, and a pot of chili and that will do it.

It sure makes life in camp easy when you do it all at home ahead of time. The only night that takes a little time is steak night, but those new york strip loins are worth it. Of course we need our bucket pickles, beet and onion bucket pickles and dills, those are all done and resting for camp already.

Anyway it would be interesting to hear what others do.
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Wow! Where does one apply


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[StiksnStrings]

At the old hunting camp everyone would bring a meal for their "cook night", it always worked well and you only had to cook once. I liked to time my night for midweek and have a camp day.

These days it's just me and a buddy. Early season we stay in his trailer. Costco does most of our meals. Their premade pot pies, lasagna, shepards pie and such are good. Late season we rough at a local motel, so dinner is what ever a guy orders.

[Big Grey Wolf]

Our hunting camp rules were very simple. Anyone that did not cook some meals, make lunches or wash dishes usually got to eat his wives food at home the following year.

[waldedw]

Originally Posted by trophyhunter

Wow! Where does one apply


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sorry we are not taking any applications at the present time. The camp is a family group, 2 brother in laws, 3 nephews, 4 nephews sons and another guy and his son that we sort of adopted about 20 years ago, we've never had the whole crew in camp at the same time as work and school dictates their hunting schedule, they come and go as time permits.

This year will be 6 of us for the most part then 8 for a couple days, am looking forward to it again, we go Sept 15 - Oct 3

[KGB]

I haven’t spent as much time in a hunting or fishing camps as you guys, max it was 3 days. I usually treat my buddies with some traditional Russian camp food. That is how it looks…

[waldedw]

Hey shashlick YUM YUM one of my favorite meals when I was in Russian and the Kyrgyz Republic with raw onions soaked in vinegar

[ghostguy6]

Im lucky enough to hunt from a permanent blind with a wood stove so we usually have a dutch oven full of venison stew heating up early in the morning that is ready just in time for lunch. We also have a private trout pond on the property so just after the morning hunt dies down someone will go catch a trout or 2 and we cook it up right in the blind. Its not un-common for marinated steaks to show up either. Of course there are usually cans of beans being heated as needed. Plenty of smoked trout, sausages and jerky gets passed around too.

[KGB]

Originally Posted by waldedw

Hey shashlick YUM YUM one of my favorite meals when I was in Russian and the Kyrgyz Republic with raw onions soaked in vinegar

That’s right, that’s how we call it. Not a single outing goes without it!

[OL_JR]

Wife will pre make some breakfast and supper calzones for days that time is limited but other than that nothing to complicated just fresh food from the cooler or gun.