Like many of you I’m sure, I spent the earlier part of this week ‘cooped up’ in the house thanks to that Alberta clipper that came roaring down and turned much of the country into a walk-in freezer!
The afternoon before old man winter hit I was able to spend some range time sighting in my new ATN Thor 6 mini compact thermal scope. This little thermal scope is not only compact but extremely user friendly and the images are sharp and clear. I haven’t had the chance to put it to work on hogs yet but as soon as the ice melts in North Texas I plan to put some pork backstrap in the freezer. Those hogs will be hitting corn feeders like, well...hogs to a trough when the ice melts!
Speaking of backstrap, let me share with you one of my favorite ways to put pork or venison steaks to good use. I absolutely love stir fry and lean pork or venison lends itself well to this tasty Asian dish. Just yesterday I made a big skillet full of venison stir fry so the ingredients and procedure are fresh on my mind.
You will need to put a couple cups of Jasamine rice on to cook and then begin by thinly slicking steak into small, bite size pieces. In a Zip Lock bag, add the meat and cover with Kikkoman Stir-Fry sauce and a little soy sauce, place in refrigerator overnight or a day or two.
Cooking is very quick and easy. Have a bowl of your favorite stir fry veggies chopped and ready. You can use whatever you like but to my way of thinking a good stir fry mix must have cabbage, mushrooms, onion, minced garlic, broccoli, Jalapeno, carrots and a handful of nuts. Begin by heating olive oil (or any cooking oil you choose) in a skillet, I use a small cast iron wok.
Add the marinated steak pieces first, along with the liquid marinade. The meat will be done in about five or six minutes. Next add the veggies and stir to blend everything together. I usually add a bit more stir-fry sauce to ensure the veggies remain moist while cooking. On high heat, it only takes a few minutes for the veggies to cook. You want them slightly crunchy rather than fully cooked. I usually toss in a handful of nuts to add a bit of extra crunch to my stir fry.
Served over a bed of Jasamine rice with a bit of extra soy sauce added, you will find this to be a stir fry that rivals what you might expect at an expensive Asia restaurant. I love chicken fried or smothered backstrap with gravy but stir fry is a great alternative to the more traditional ways we enjoy our venison or wild pork.
I’ve also been keeping busy converting some 35mm slides to jpeg photos with a little inexpensive slide converter I purchased on Amazon. It was fun to look at some of these old images, some from as far back as 35 years. Back in the day, most major magazines required color slides rather than film negatives or photos. I was amazed at that young man in the photos posing with a fish or big game animal (Me!).
Life as an outdoors writer has certainly changed through the years. When on the water doing fishing articles these days, I have become lazy and depend upon my smart phone to capture close-up images but as sure as I leave my Nikon and long lens at home, I’ll spot a bird or boat or scene at a distance I wish to capture. Smart phones are excellent for close grip and grin shots but leave much to be desired for long-range photography!
Hopefully by the time you’re reading this in your local newspaper, the roads will be open again and those of us that love the outdoors can be back out there ‘doing it’. A group of friends and I have a squirrel hunt with some champion squirrel dogs planned for several weeks. Donny Lynch has for years raised and trained some of the best squirrel dogs in the country. Donny is planning to join me and several good friends on Mr. Edgar Cotton’s Becker Bottoms Ranch in Kaufman County later this week, weather permitting.
This promises to be not only an action-packed hunt but a chance to get out and enjoy some great fellowship and food. The plan is to hit the woods around mid-morning when the temperature is expected to be in the forties. We will use a couple of side-by-sides and drive the remote roads, stopping to loose the dogs at likely spots. It’s been a while since any of us have enjoyed a good squirrel stew or squirrel and dumplings and chances are very good we will all have some fresh squirrels for the dinner table.
The menu is yet to be decided but our friend Larry Weishuhn aka. “Mr. Whitetail” is coming up to hunt deer, the property is under a TPWD managed land permit and hunting is allowed through the end of February and several bucks and doe still remain to be taken. Larry is a master at grilling boned chicken thighs, and it just so happens I have a big package in the freezer for just such an occasion. I’ll probably bake a bunch of sweet potatoes and maybe some fried cabbage. Edgar Cotton killed a bull elk in Colorado this year, some fresh elk burgers would go well with the grilled chicken. The menu is still in the planning stage but if you are a hunter, you know plans can change fast around hunting camp. We might just have some fresh venison backstrap to grill along with the chicken!
Shallow water blue catfish bite expected
This record cold should produce some red hot blue catfish action for the next couple weeks. Shad are delicate fish that don’t do well with drastic drops in water temperature. Savvy catfish anglers are expecting a big shad die off and when this happens, catfish go on a feeding frenzy in shallow flats where wind and wave action deposits the shad in huge numbers. I’ve fished a few days after this occurrence and actually caught the largest blue catfish of my career.
At Lake Tawakoni, the trick is to wait for the wind to blow steady out of the south for a day or two and fish the shallows on the north side of the lake. Few sights in the outdoors match hooking a giant blue catfish in shallow water and watching him surge up from the water in efforts to shake the hook, much like a largemouth bass.
Yes, there is much to look forward to in the outdoors but for now, it’s time for your outdoor scribe to get back to work sorting color slides...it will be a couple more days before the much-anticipated thaw!
Listen to Luke’s weekly podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends” just about everywhere podcast are found. Contact Luke through his website www.catfishradio.org
