Recipe 26 Slow Cooker Moose Stroganoff Provided by: Sue Rickards 3 lbs moose steak cut into strips 2 cans cream of mushroom soup 2 cups milk Johnnys season salt Pepper Flour Oil Fettucini noodles Roll moose steak strips in flour, season with Johnny's and pepper. Brown in small amount of oil in skillet. In slow cooker, mix 2 cans mushroom soup with 2 cans water and 2 cups milk. Add steak strips and stir. Cook on low about 5 hours stirring occasionally. If it gets too thick add more milk. Cook fettucini noodles according to package directions, drain and add to meat mixture. Stir and enjoy. Add a nice green salad and some french bread and you have a delicious meal. www.scinw.com Sue Rickards with her Moose taken in Alberta, Canada October 2011.
“ Don’t worry honey, the chances are only about 30% that I will draw the tag and have to go hunting this year…” By John Higgins So started my 2011 Montana big game hunting season. With three young children, I knew that heading over to Montana to hunt was probably not being a good husband – but I applied any‐ way for the tag with a good friend, Sean Thompson, in what I thought was going to be an effort to just earn some hunting pref‐ erence points and perhaps get drawn in the future. But thanks to the Montana legislature, and $950, this year would be differ‐ ent. <strong>The</strong>y had apparently raised the price about $300 in an effort to increase state revenue. But in a good lesson of supply and demand, they also learned that there is a price above which peo‐ ple say “no thanks” (economists call it the clearing price). So when I got the call from Sean, I was surprised to learn we were going hunting in Montana this year. In Montana, the rifle season for deer and elk is mostly concur‐ rent – and so if you want to hunt during the rut, with a rifle, then deer are your only option. But with a deer/elk combination per‐ mit, I wanted to hunt both. So after much thought, I decided to hunt opening week for elk and then come back later the next month and hunt the whitetail deer rut. I was going to hunt elk with Sean at his family’s place in Southwest Montana (Wise River area) and later deer at my wife’s family cabin in the Swan Valley. So the 2011 hunting season started with the long drive to Wise River (south of Anaconda/Butte about 30 miles, on the Big Hole River). We got there on Thursday night, with opening day on Sat‐ urday morning. Friday was out scouting day for elk – we drove all over our hunting area. Public land – both National Forest Service and BLM land, looking for sign and anything else that would lead us to believe we’d found a good spot for elk. We were also fortunate enough to get a two hour guided tour of the area by a local and accomplished hunter. <strong>The</strong>re were three of us hunting together – Sean, his uncle Frank, and me. We did as much scouting as you can in a day and settled in for the evening, excited about the prospects of opening day. On opening morning, we drove to our area and deployed to each of our hunting spots. I walked in about half a mile to a nice park and the convergence of three different travel routes. Sean took the high ground adjacent to some private property. Frank stayed near the truck and watched another park. At about 9AM, I heard a few shots and briefly turned on my radio to make sure that every‐ one was OK. A strange conversation followed… “John, you there?” “John, you there?” “Yes, Frank, everything OK?” “Well, I have a flat tire.” “What?” “I have a flat tire.” “Well, do you have the tools to fix it?” “Well, I dropped my gun in the mud.” “What was the shooting?” “I saw some elk, and missed, and dropped my gun in the mud.” “Really, can you get it cleaned off?” and on it went… I didn’t really understand, and just kept sitting at my spot, waiting for elk. About two or three hours later, I radioed my friends to see if they wanted to meet for lunch – we arranged a 27 spot, and off I went. I was surprised to learn when I got to the truck that a “flat tire” was code for “John, I shot an elk, and I need some help getting it out of the woods.” In any case, Frank had shot a rag horn 5x5 elk and needed help getting it out of a “no motorized access” area. So (as Frank watched) Sean and I lashed ourselves to a small log, and like a mule team drug the elk about half a mile down a dirt road to the truck. Narrowly avoiding a hernia, we got the elk into the truck. We brought it home and the work began… That afternoon we went back into the woods, but didn’t see any‐ thing – and so called it a night and got ready for the next day’s hunt. Day two, Sunday, was a day I’ll never forget. After studying the maps the night before, I realized there was an easier way into the spot where I was hunting. So instead of walking in along the elk trail, I realized I could quietly approach from a road about a quarter mile above the spot. And so, at about 20 minutes before shooting light, I left my friends on the road and began navigate down the hillside to my spot. About 200 yards in, I heard a loud crash and saw the back end of an elk running down the hill ahead of me. It was definitely a bull just based on its size – and I was excited. I continued walking, quietly up to the spot. My handheld GPS was able to get me there easily – and I stopped just short to make sure my gear was in order. Someone once told me to never just crawl into your hunting spot – but to instead make sure and glass all around first. I’m not sure why, but I remembered those words of wisdom and decided to take a look around the park before settling into my spot. As I was looking, something caught my eye. Move‐ ment, about 250 yards away, on a far hillside. It looked like a big elk rack moving – but I wasn’t sure. Knowing that you continued next page... www.scinw.com
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