Author: Mike Reeber

There’s no secret that you can kill a longbeard with everything from a .410 to a 10-gauge, crossbow to compound or even a recurve. Heck, turkey hunters of the early days likely ventured out with nothing more than their favorite pump-action shotgun with whatever shells they had laying around on the kitchen table and that worked just fine. But those days are long behind us, with this sector of the hunting world looking drastically different than it once did. Some time back in the early 2000’s I can recall standing in a gun shop, looking over the few turkey guns…

So your turkey vest has a compartment for 8 different slate calls, 4 box calls, several mouth calls, an owl hooter and probably a few more, but I’ll just stop there. There was a time in my early turkey hunting career that I filled every pocket and compartment with something. Surely, the turkeys wouldn’t stand a chance against my vest chock full of random calls, right? Well, it didn’t take long for me to figure out that having a multitude of calls was often pointless, especially when hunting henned up longbeards as the season pushed-on into the late spring. What…

The Four Tools You Need It didn’t seem like it was all that long ago when we used to sit around the kitchen table at camp with a giant roll of freezer paper wrapping up someone’s recent kill. If I remember it correctly, we had a couple people cutting and a couple wrapping and at some point, the wrappers would say something to the effect of “slow down, I got a pile of meat here already and no place to wrap!”. Oh, freezer paper, for something that seemed so simple, it did such a poor job of keeping freezer burn…

If you haven’t tried a coffee rub on a piece of wild game, then I can assure you that you’ll want to make that a New Years resolution. And, although coffee rubs can vary quite a bit in strength and flavor, the rich flavor of elk can handle it all. Recently I’ve been on a real tri-tip kick. Whether it’s beef or wild game, the flavor is tremendous, and the texture is incredible when barbecued correctly. This elk recipe is versatile for all types of wild game cuts, but there’s a great harmony between the tri-tip and the earthiness of…

Pecan and Sausage Stuffed Turkey Breast For the last couple of turkey seasons, I’ve made it a habit to put in a little extra work once I get back to the house by plucking feathers and keeping the skin. Who knows why, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve cut the breasts out of the bird without saving the skin and that has been a huge mistake on my part. By taking an extra 10 minutes to pull the breast feathers out, you’re quite literally left with a different main ingredient to use. Turkey skin is outstanding when…

I wish that I could sit here and tell you that all turkey vests were created equal. That all of their designs were thoroughly tested in the turkey woods, by diehard turkey hunters and that each pocket was sewn in just the right place, for just the right purpose. But, as reality has it, I can’t say that because that would make me a liar, and I can’t stand to be labeled as such. So, I’ll do you one better and tell you the exact turkey vest that you need to ask Santa for this Christmas season. Whether you’ve been…

Trough the thick glass case of most Italian butcher shops in the Bronx lives an unmis- takable steak that makes an appearance on thousands of grills each summer. As a kid growing up there, I fondly recall seeing stacks of these delicious creations piled up at the shops, tempting everyone that passed by. I recall that once you opened the market door, the vivid fragrance of fresh garlic, cheese and herbs hit you almost immediately. And, it would be a total miracle if you actually left the shop without buying a few of these steaks for the week ahead. Generally…

As I sat at the base of an old oak tree overlooking the steep valley floor below, a loaded muzzleloader in my lap and 30 minutes of light left, I sat hopeful that there was still enough time for a deer to walk my way. I wouldn’t be picky either, a healthy doe would do just fine by me. For a season that was full of close encounters, the gut wrenching feeling of the curtains closing on yet another season was a tough one to look past. It’s a gut wrenching feeling that we all know too well; that last…

Behind our barn, somewhere between a disorganized pile of T-posts and a few old tractor tires, sat a beat-up utility trailer that needed some work. Honestly, that trailer had been laying around our ranch for longer than I care to remember. The boards were warped, the lights stopped working and it definitely wasn’t ready for any highway travel. So, it sat there season after season, randomly used to haul some farm equipment from one spot to another. That was, of course, until I found its greater life calling: using it to make a mobile hunting blind. Now, I’d be lying…

What I love most about so many Asian-inspired recipes is that they’re designed to be hot, fast and full of flavor. Thin slices of meat, fresh vegetables and a bold sauce can literally be assembled in a wok in just a few minutes to create the perfect meal. I’ll tell you that this recipe is certainly no exception. From start to finish, this is a 15-minute recipe. The most time-consuming part is frying the goose. So, break out your wok and get your stopwatch ready, because this is a quick and delicious wild game goose recipe! For me, goose is…