Easy Venison and Chicken Stir Fry

By Samantha Bickman, Huntress View ProStaff

Whenever I need a quick dinner, stir fry is my go to. Venison is a great addition to stir fry but I’m very picky about how my venison is cooked. I like it tender and never overdone. By adding the venison towards the end, the venison will be tender and delicious. It’s all about layering the different ingredients. Below is just one variation that I really enjoy because the Caribbean sauce adds some spice while the pineapple adds some tang. If you don’t like some of the veggies, replace it with peppers, snow peas, or water chestnuts. Have some fun with it!

Ingredients:

½ lb Venison Steaks (cut into ½ strips)

½ lb chicken (cut into bite size chunks)

2 cups coined carrots   

2 cups broccoli florets

1 can pineapple (optional)

12 oz bottle teriyaki sauce

½ bottle Lawry’s Caribbean Sauce

1 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbls olive oil

Directions:

Add olive oil to a large heated (medium-high) frying pan or wok.

Place chicken and garlic in the pan and add some teriyaki sauce after a few minutes of frying. Cover with lid after each addition to the pan.

Add carrots and stir in more of the teriyaki sauce.

After a few minutes of that simmering, add the venison. Stir occasionally for a few minutes.

Add pineapple and the Caribbean marinade. Stir and let that simmer for a few minutes.

Add broccoli last. After stirring for a few minutes, let that simmer for a bit and once the carrots and broccoli are tender but not mushy, it’s done! 

Serve over rice and enjoy.

Written by Samantha Bickman

Fried Morel Mushrooms Recipe

By Andrea Haas, Huntress View Founder

After a couple years of failed attempts, this year I was finally able to find some Morel Mushrooms! My husband and I found about 24 total this morning, just enough to fry up & have as a side for lunch or dinner. To say they were delicious is an understatement! There are a lot of morel recipes out there, but I wanted to share this simple recipe that we tried today & loved. -Andrea Haas

Ingredients

- About 10 morel mushrooms
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 sleeve of saltine crackers
- salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat up some canola oil in a pan on medium heat. While the oil is heating prepare the mushrooms.

When you first bring the mushrooms home, soak them in salt water for about 10 minutes. This will wash away the dirt and draw out any bugs that may be in the mushrooms. Pat dry with a paper towel. 

Cut the mushrooms in half lengthwise. 

Whisk the egg & milk together in a small bowl. 

In a Ziploc baggie, crush a package of saltine crackers mixed with salt & pepper (can add as little or as much as you like). Put in a small bowl.

Dip a mushroom half in the egg/milk mixture & then coat in the crushed crackers. Place them in the hot oil & fry until they start to turn golden brown. Then flip then over to brown the other halves. It doesn't take long at all to cook the mushrooms so make sure you have a plate handy to set the mushrooms on once done. 

We found that about 10 mushrooms were plenty for just my husband and myself. But if you wish to make more at one time just double the recipe.

Storage

If you have any extra mushrooms that you want to save & cook later you can store them in the freezer. To store them, place the mushrooms on a cookie sheet so they are not touching & place in the freezer. Once frozen, place the mushrooms in an airtight container. Next time you want to cook them they will be ready to go!

Melissa Bachman Interview

Q & A with Melissa Bachman

Melissa Bachman is an accomplished hunter with a unique ability to share her love for the great outdoors and all things wild with her passionate fans and viewers.

Growing up in a region known to sportsman for its unique blend of hunting and fishing opportunities, Melissa immersed herself in a central Minnesota lifestyle filled with options. Deciding which tree stand to hunt before school, or if she’d have better luck on snow geese were just some of the decisions the young woman had to make.

Surrounded by a family filled with love and mentors galore, Melissa pursued her academic life with the very same tenacity she approached her passion for hunting. After graduating with honors and armed with a degree in television broadcasting, and another in Spanish, from St. Cloud State University, Melissa set her sights on a career in outdoor television.

Melissa began as a TV intern, and within months was offered a position as a full-time producer where she traveled the country filming, producing and writing shows with a variety of incredible hunters on some fantastic adventures. 

Although close to her dream job, Melissa truly longed to be the one outwitting her prey, and squeezing the trigger. So she spent every spare moment of her free time arduously filming and editing her own hunts. Finally, with time, patience and persistence, Melissa got some solid shows into the right hands and her wish became reality.

Now Melissa spends nearly 200 days a year in the field hunting the globe and producing her show Winchester Deadly Passion, which airs Sundays at 11:30 p.m. ET on Sportsman Channel.

Learn more at http://melissabachman.com and follow her at http://Facebook.Com/WinchesterDeadlyPassion, http://Twitter.Com/MelissaBachman and http://Instagram.Com/Melissa_Bachman

Q: What advice do you have for a woman who is new to bowhunting?

A: If new to bowhunting, I highly recommend going into a local archery store and try out a wide variety of bows to see what you like the best. That way, you can get the bow fitted to you. This will ensure you have the right draw length and draw weight so then you are more successful. And more successful means you’ll have more fun in the process. Like any passion, you want to buy the best you can afford at the time and used bows are always a great option as well.

Q: What is the best way to get young girls interested in hunting and engaged?

A: Best thing is to start out slowly by taking them shooting at a range. Find a range that has a variety of guns you can rent and teach them gun safety with each one and go over the basics. If they are really into it, ranges have NRA Certified Instructors on staff that would be happy to give them a private shooting lesson. And maybe hearing instructions from someone other than “Dad” or a relative would go over better too! After that, pick a couple hunts that are fun, keeping in mind weather and length of time spent in the field. What is no big deal to you could be a huge irritant for a young girl in the field – so ask them questions on how they are feeling and show them things in the woods, like identifying trees or animal tracks. This could be a learning experience for the adult too!

If they don’t “take” to the hunt immediately, that’s ok. Just spend time with them outdoors and always offer to include them in your activities. You could ask 100 times and the 101^st time might be when she says “yes.”

Photo by John Hafner

Q: Being a woman in the hunting industry, how do you prep for hunting?

A: Since I hunt more than 200 days a year, I try to always be prepared at any given time! I keep one backpack ready with all the essential gear I need.  I also have one duffel bag with all of my clothing and body care essentials for any experience. I make sure to always have scent free products with me at all times as well – I recommend Wildlife Research Center’s Scent Killer® Gold® for Her™ kit – it comes with body wash, shampoo & conditioner, clothing spray and a bath puff. I always have a kit in my bag.

Q: Since it is spring turkey season, what are three tips you can give us?

A: Use great decoys – the saying ‘you get what you pay for’ is very true here; less is more when it comes to calling and when bowhunting, patience is essential, wait it out in the blind. And I’ll add a fourth – if you want to have some fun footage, set up some Cuddeback cameras (http://cuddeback.com) in your decoy spread. You’ll get some amazing footage of jakes and toms fighting it out over your decoys and you never have to worry about turning them on and off or batteries dying as they are motion activated and will take both pics and video.

Q: You’ve been in outdoor TV for quite sometime now – what piece of advice were you given that was gold? 

A: The one piece of advice someone gave me was nothing will pay off more than hard work and that is the absolute truth.  You can’t wait around for things to happen.  Some people may catch a big break, but by working hard and never giving up you don’t have to wait on a break, you can create your own opportunities and that’s exactly what I’ve done.  It hasn’t been easy and it has been extremely long hours year after year, but if you believe in yourself enough and are willing to work hard, anything is possible.

Haley Heath Interview

This month, we interviewed Haley Heath, host of Yeti's Ultimate Hunt on the Sportsman Channel. Haley was the first woman to ever receive "Viewer Favorite Personality" at the 2008 Sportsman Awards; Haley has participated in many outdoors and hunting programs. In 2006, she competed for ESPN's Ultimate Outdoorsman Search, coming in 2nd only due to her pregnancy. 

Mother of two, Haley has always tried to share her knowledge and passion for outdoors and hunting with others. In fact this was the reason behind her involvement in TV. Her first show, "Family Traditions with Haley Heath," available exclusively on The Sportsman Channel, premiered in 2008. 

Recognized for her passion and conservation, in magazines and new papers like AJC, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and Washington Times, Haley plans to turn a sport once viewed as a privilege for the elite into an activity every member of the family can enjoy.

Huntress View: As a mother of 2 and host of Yeti’s Ultimate Hunt on the Sportsman Channel I’m sure you stay very busy! How do you balance work & family life?

Haley: Working in the outdoor industry for over 9 years, each year my roles and jobs seem to change! This year is no different! I am still hosting Yeti's Ultimate Hunt and now added two new positions. I am a partner/spokeswoman for a new company called Monster Buck Scents and a member of the Women of Weatherby.  It is challenging at times to balance it all but I have and always will put my children's needs first. I schedule hunts and events around them and most of the time take them with me!! Luckily at this point in my career, I have more flexibility and it allows me to really be a hands on mother and have a job that I love!

http://www.womenofweatherby.com/

HV: I see you are also an ambassador for the Sportsman Channel’s Hunt.Fish.Feed SM. Tell us a little about that and your role as ambassador. 

Haley: I travel all over the US and Canada hunting and fishing and instead of bringing home the meat, I have always donated the meat to local families, churches or homeless shelters. With The Sportsman Channel Hunt.Fish.Feed program I can not only donate the meat to those in need but in many cases I go to the homeless shelter, prepare and serve the food. It is a great experience to know that my hard work can feed hundreds of people and I can be there to see them smile.

HV: You are a big advocate for introducing children and women to the outdoors. What do you feel is the best way to go about introducing someone to hunting? 

Haley: Since I was a little girl I have always taken others hunting and fishing with me, because I felt and still feel like most people don't get the chance to see if they enjoy it. I grew up on my family's farm and most of the people I went to school with lived in neighborhoods and members of fancy Country Clubs. Girls/women have always found my love for the outdoors either fascinating or weird but luckily I was able to help many of them understand the outdoors! Once I became a mother I realized how important it was to keep the tradition alive and teach my children about the outdoors. Both my mother and father took me hunting and fishing growing up and taught me the love and respect for the outdoors that I have today.

The best way to introduce someone into hunting, in my opinion, is to invite them along to sit with you one day and just enjoy the outdoors and time together. Especially when taking a child for the first time, don't take the hunt too serious. Remember that a novice hunter doesn't know the non-scent shower/spray down routine, or staying extra quiet, or being very still routine that us long time hunters swear by! Make it fun and if you see something great but if not just enjoy your time while teaching them but be willing to not shoot if the newbie hunter isn't ready to witness that. Also, be ready to leave when they are ready even if it means at the "perfect time". The worst thing you can do is fuss at a new hunter or make them stay and be miserable in the stand. 

HV: Do you enjoy seeing your children harvest an animal more so than harvesting one yourself?

Haley: I love seeing anybody I'm with get their animal but I especially love when my kids do! I would rather them be the hunter/huntress and me just be there as a witness in making a great memory! I have killed many of trophies in my career but my children, husband and friends getting theirs and me being a part of it is far more rewarding!

HV: Everyone has a good “first deer” story. What’s yours?

Haley: I started going hunting with my mom and dad at a very young age. I loved getting up and going to sit/sleep in the blind and see the mornings wake up. I really wanted to be the one hunting though so my dad taught me to shoot. I loved it and at the age of 6 years old with my dad and babydoll dressed in camo beside me, I shot my first deer, a basket rack 7 pointer and dropped him in his tracks!! And I haven't slowed down since!!

HV: Do you feel that, as a woman in the hunting industry, you face more criticism?

Haley: I'm not sure criticism is the correct word for it. I feel like half the industry is in full support of the rise in female hunters while the other is trailing behind seeing females as sex symbols and good marketing tools if they are "modeling" the products well. I have recently become a member of the Women of Weatherby which is a new group created to encourage, help with questions, product selection and so much more for the female hunters by real female hunters! It's wonderful companies and groups like these that are the true leaders in this industry to be the best not only male hunters but for female and youth hunters. 

HV: It seems the question that women hunters are asked the most is “Why do you hunt?” Do you get asked this question a lot too, and if so, what would you consider the #1 reason that you hunt?

Haley: I do get that question from time to time. The number one reason I hunt is to enjoy God's greatest artwork in the sunrises and sunsets in each place I hunt. Seeing and hearing a morning wake up just as the sun is breaking, or enjoying the stillness, as most of creatures calm down for the night, as the sun sets. Getting the animal is just an awesome bonus!  

HV: -Thanks so much for agreeing to do this interview! We are honored to have you featured on our blog and admire you for being a great spokesperson for women hunters and always standing up for what you believe is right!

One last question, something fun to change it up a bit...

What songs are included on the soundtrack to your life?

Haley: It's a Beautiful Day by U2


Make sure you check out the newly launched Women of Weatherby website: www.womenofweatherby.com

Eye Dominance

If you're thinking about taking up shooting it's important to know your eye dominance. I learned from watching an episode of Tips & Tactics on NRA Women's Network​ that statistically 85% of women are left eye dominant. Most are not left handed, so that puts us at a little of a disadvantage. You want to mount the gun lined up with your dominant eye to get the best possible sight of the clay or bird. Check out this short video where Jane Brown Keller shows how you can determine if you are right or left eye dominant. If it turns out your dominant eye is opposite from your dominant side (like mine is), she also has a few tips on how to overcome that! 

Here's the link: http://www.nrawomen.tv/tips-and-tactics/video/tips-and-tactics-jane-brown-eye-dominance/list/shooting

-Andrea Haas