Well, are you ready for the upcoming hunting seasons? They will be here before you know it. By now, you probably have your hunting license and perhaps have even looked over your hunting equipment to see just what you need to upgrade or replace for this fall. For some of you, vacations have been scheduled, and perhaps trip plans have been made for a hunt in one of the western states this year.

But, even if you plan to just hunt locally, are you really ready?

If you take a bear or perhaps a deer or two to feed the family, are you ready to store the meat for several months? Are you like some folks who have a relatively full freezer with no open space for whatever game they may take this fall? Well, now is the perfect time to make some room and get ready for some fresh harvesting. Here are a few things you can do if you need to make some space in your freezer.

Do some canning:

Venison is an excellent meat for canning. Once canned for storage, the meat remains very tender, with absolutely no loss of flavor. Most folks who try canned venison for the first time are pleasantly surprised by the flavor and tenderness of the meat. It can be used in soups or stews, served over toast with gravy, or served over rice or mashed potatoes. Canned venison can be used to make a sandwich, enhanced with a bit of lettuce, onion, or tomato- or whatever your imagination can conjure up. Kept in the refrigerator after opening, a jar of canned venison makes a nice snack right out of the jar. Canning venison is not difficult, but it does require a bit of a learning curve. Numerous books are available on canning, and an unlimited amount of advice is available online, particularly with the dozens of videos on YouTube that even a novice can easily learn from. Leftover venison roasts are the perfect cut for canning, but steaks can also be used by cubing the cuts into ¾- to 1-inch squares. Venison burger can also be canned and then used at a later date for soups, stews, meatloaves, casseroles, or lasagna. I’ll bet that if you try canning venison, you will become a convert and end up canning some every year!
Make some jerky:

There’s truly something special when you are sitting on a deer stand or hiking through the forest or sitting along a stream, and as the hunger pangs begin, you reach into your backpack and pull out some of the venison jerky that you made. Not only does it taste great, but you will, no doubt, reflect back to the hunt when you actually got that deer! It is the perfect source of protein when you are hiking, hunting, or fishing.

Making jerky is not hard to do. There are numerous manufacturers of jerky-making kits that supply the right seasonings and cures, based on whatever flavors are your favorites. Simply slice a venison roast or steak across the grain about 1/8 inch thick (thicker if you prefer). Marinate the slices in the cure and flavor mix as directed. Then, dehydrate the meat in your oven or one of the many dehydrators available today. Vacuum pack the dehydrated slices, then keep them in the refrigerator – and Good Luck keeping the kids from finishing it all before you have a chance to enjoy it! By the way, venison burger can be easily converted to jerky also, by using the jerky kits and a jerky gun to create venison sticks, followed by the dehydrating process.
Have a Picnic:

If you find you are in need of using up some of your frozen venison, why not host a game dinner in the form of a summer picnic? It would be a great opportunity to introduce someone who is unfamiliar with the wonderful taste of game meats to experience the flavors of the various game meats you have been saving in your freezer for just such a special occasion. Have some of your hunting buddies and spouses over and suggest that they bring along to share one of their favorite game meat appetizers or dishes, OR invite the landowners where you hunt to join in the festivities. But, whatever you do, don’t have your hunting buddies and the landowners come at the same time! You may suddenly find your “friends” moving in on your favorite hunting grounds!