First camp dinner of the season....

[iccyman001]

Season is only a few days away from us, others it\'s only a few weeks.


With that being said, what is going to be your first dinner of the hunt?
Do you have a tradition? Something special planned?



I will be using my final package of ground elk and making elk sloppy joes. :upthumb:

 

[Jaquomo]

Smoked baby back ribs marinated in apple juice that I bring from home.

 

[elky McElkerson]

barbacoa tacos!! corn tortillas, guacamole, salsa
and a fat tire ale!!!! maybe a nip of bourbon to ease me to sleep..first night jitters! and i ALWAYS miss my wife. i gotta drink my sorrow..tiny nip..i dont drink much, so it really helps me sleep. hahah.

i think i\'m gonna be the first out of our group..my truck is loaded!!

 

[iccyman001]

Both of your meals sound \"lick your fingers\" good.....


I think I may need to change mine now.

 

[cohunter14]

We normally do steaks on the grill, weather permitting. Add some of the simple bags of mashed potatoes that you just add boiling water to along with a Hawaiian roll, and it\'s a great way to start off the season!

 

[AndyJ]

The first mountain house I grab out of my food bag. I hope it\'s chicken and rice.

 

[Anonymous]

...

 

[bowhunter]

Probably some sort of chicken and rice, nothing fancy.

I don\'t know how you guys do all those fancy meals. When we\'re base camping, by the time I get back to camp I would almost rather just go to bed. I need more than 5 hours sleep.

Same here. I warm up a can of soup or something simple. I then get my pack ready for the next day and fill water bottles then it is lights out.

 

[Lark Bunting]

Probably some sort of chicken and rice, nothing fancy.

I don\'t know how you guys do all those fancy meals. When we\'re base camping, by the time I get back to camp I would almost rather just go to bed. I need more than 5 hours sleep.

The boiler bags I make are all homemade meals. I boil water and change clothes, refill water, refill food in pack, drink a beer. By then the water is boiling, I put the bag of frozen food in the boiling water and my son gets out paper plates, plastic forks, etc, I drink another beer. About that time the food is scorching hot. We divide the food onto plates, eat, and talk about the day, or plan the next day.

It makes for awesome food, no mess, no clean up as everything can be burned in the fire. Plus, they are quick!

 

[Swede]

My dinner will be something quick made up at home. It will be just be heated and served. I will get in to camp late afternoon or evening and set up camp. After that I hope to check on a couple of cameras that are out in the forest. It is less than three days now until I leave.

 

[Eyeeyecaptain]

Usually some nice fast food on the drive from work to camp.

 

[timberland]

Probably some sort of chicken and rice, nothing fancy.

I don\'t know how you guys do all those fancy meals. When we\'re base camping, by the time I get back to camp I would almost rather just go to bed. I need more than 5 hours sleep.

We eat our big meal at noon then its a sandwich or snacks before bed. That being said, the last couples years someone in camp has tagged out and earned title of \"Camp B***h/cook/bottlewasher\" until the next person has tagged out. Let me tell you, in a camp of five lazy guys to take care of, you think harder about earning camp chores than about packing meat out before you pull the trigger.

 

[cohunter14]

I don\'t know how you guys do all those fancy meals. When we\'re base camping, by the time I get back to camp I would almost rather just go to bed. I need more than 5 hours sleep.

We were talking about the first meal, so that is different for me. We typically head to camp early Thursday. Set up camp, get everything organized, and then have a nice big meal Thursday. Friday is more prep work before the opener on Saturday, so typically we have two solid meals Thursday and Friday. The rest of the time, it is still good meals, just not as much prep-work. Somewhat similar to what Lark does.

 

[Eyeeyecaptain]

Probably some sort of chicken and rice, nothing fancy.

I don\'t know how you guys do all those fancy meals. When we\'re base camping, by the time I get back to camp I would almost rather just go to bed. I need more than 5 hours sleep.

I feel ya there! I can\'t tell you how many doritos and trail mix meals I\'ve had on the ride back to camp... We found the just add boiling water meals from Mountain House and Backpacker\'s Pantry (I think that\'s who they are) and those are pretty much what we do. Usually whooped at the end of the day.

 

[Deertick]

Not sure just yet ... this topic deserves some special attention, and I plan on giving it plenty of thought before D-day.

There is an opportunity to have a real \"Beggars\' Banquet\", though.

 

[Billy Goat]

we stay at a campground where I bow hunt, then drive about an hour up the mountain on logging roads, then hike in daily. the 1-hr drive back means we get home laaate.

so, we pre-cook all our dinner meals in crock pots, before going on the trip at all.

before we leave to hunt each day, we just dump the pre-cooked meal in the crockpot and use a delay timer to start it heating at mid-day (noon or so???)

that way, when we walk in the door at end of day, its ready to dish and eat. doesn\'t work so well on our off-grid hunts.

as such, we eat like crockpot kings.

This years lineup: King Ranch Chicken, Jambalaya Hooey, venison chili, chicken spaghetti, beef stew, corned beef sandwiches, shrimp etouffee, smoked turkey noodle soup, chicken and sausage gumbo, and hopefully, FRESH ELK AND BAKED POTATOES (reserved for last meal of the trip.... fallback is leftovers. =/)

it is realistically possible to gain weight hunting with my group. I\'ve managed to draft 3 excellent cooks out of our group of 5.

best invention ever: crockpot liners!!!!!! dangit, this thread is making me hungry.

 

[WontQuit]

Lasagna!!! Actually it\'s the evening before we start hunting. Kind of like the carb load before the big game the next day.

The rest of the hunt the meals are \"heat and eat\"....and to bed as quick as possible. There are 4 of us and we each plan to bring 2 dinners worth of \"heat & eat\" stuff. My contribution is chicken/bacon/wild rice soup. It\'s a hit every year.

 

[bowhunter]

we stay at a campground where I bow hunt, then drive about an hour up the mountain on logging roads, then hike in daily. the 1-hr drive back means we get home laaate.

so, we pre-cook all our dinner meals in crock pots, before going on the trip at all.

before we leave to hunt each day, we just dump the pre-cooked meal in the crockpot and use a delay timer to start it heating at mid-day (noon or so???)

that way, when we walk in the door at end of day, its ready to dish and eat. doesn\'t work so well on our off-grid hunts.

as such, we eat like crockpot kings.

This years lineup: King Ranch Chicken, Jambalaya Hooey, venison chili, chicken spaghetti, beef stew, corned beef sandwiches, shrimp etouffee, smoked turkey noodle soup, chicken and sausage gumbo, and hopefully, FRESH ELK AND BAKED POTATOES (reserved for last meal of the trip.... fallback is leftovers. =/)

it is realistically possible to gain weight hunting with my group. I\'ve managed to draft 3 excellent cooks out of our group of 5.

best invention ever: crockpot liners!!!!!! dangit, this thread is making me hungry.

I like the idea. I don\'t camp anywhere near electricity but I will keep that idea in mind if I ever do. :think:

 

[Zpd307]

when I have hunted, and again this year, the season has already started by the time I get out to the mtns. so, quick and easy boil water and rehydrate meals are on the menu for me....

 

[cohunter14]

One thing I just thought of is the sunrise and sunset times and how they differ for you archery guys. I just looked and the opener of archery sunrise is 40 minutes earlier than 1st rifle season in Colorado and the sunset is 66 minutes later. That\'s an hour and 46 minutes of extra time we get. That adds up when it comes to making meals, sleeping, etc.