A Season In Review

As I drove past the small reservoir and saw the ice, I knew hunting season was over.  Sure, some upland birds, rabbits, bobcats and lions are still open for a while, but my favorite seasons have come to an end.  Waterfowl season in Idaho is actually open until next Friday, but I won't be sneaking out from work this week.  My big game season slipped away in December.  Yesterday, when I returned from my duck scouting mission, I was feeling pretty antsy, and maybe even a little grumpy.  I had taken the Mini-HHMM and the dog, Jocko, with me.  Our goal was to scout a duck hunting spot, then find a place for a hike and upland bird hunt.  We needed fresh air and exercise.  The area I had chosen to scout seemed an arctic wasteland, I knew there would be snow, but living at less than 800 feet in a banana belt makes one naive of what  winter is like in the highlands.  Roads to potential hiking and hunting spots were drifted in or icy, and the break lands are steep, and since they were covered in snow and ice, they didn't seem like the place to be carrying a shotgun with a 14 month-old kid on your back.  No hike, no ducks, no hunt, and I knew my season was over.  We didn't get fresh air, we didn't get exercise.  Mission failure.

Good thing I had given my bride a glorious kid-free morning.  The kid was quite pleased with his road trip, but I came back a ball of tension, and the dog kept putting his head in Emily's lap and moaning.  It was an easy decision for Emily to grant my second leave request of the day.  I'd like to think I was doing her a favor when I moved the shotgun from the family wagon to my pickup, loaded the dog back up and headed out to one of my favorite local hunting areas.

Despite having no good reason to continue to be in a crabby mood, I couldn't help myself as I started along the snow encrusted rim of a small canyon.  I was busy wondering why I was such a crappy upland bird hunter.  I didn't seem to choose productive spots, and when I did find birds I couldn't hit them to save my live.  I am really worthless with a shotgun.  Then something mood-changing caught my eye across the canyon.  Three branch-antlered bull elk stood up from their beds and gave me their best hairy eyeball.  Cool.  I don't care how many elk you have seen, watching a bachelor group of mature bulls slowly melt into the safety of heavy brush at 150 yards never loses its magnificence.

That is when I started to reflect, to be more thankful of what I had experienced and accomplished this hunting season.  My last full season in Montana, before moving back to Idaho, was a banner year.  I started the year with an epic two-hour stalk for a fat pronghorn doe.  On one week-long trip, I harvested a fine pronghorn buck, a turkey, a mule deer doe, and a smattering of upland game birds.  Later that season, I took a small muley buck on the most satisfying deer hunt of my life.  No trophies, but I filled every tag I seriously tried to fill.  This year, my first full season in Idaho, was not quite so successful, but we won't be starving.  I really wanted to harvest an elk with a muzzleloader; I went down with the flu during our trip.  I really wanted to harvest a deer with my bow; I have a lot to learn.  I really wanted to harvest a fine whitetail buck with my rifle; I couldn't seal the deal.

But those bulls got me to thinking about what a wonderful season I had.  I harvested my first mule deer in Idaho - a fine doe on an antlerless hunt - after an exciting stalk.  I harvested a whitetail doe on a spectacular November morning and spent half a day packing her out of a steep and stunning canyon.  Few things in hunting are better than a back soaked with sweat and a pack heavy with meat.  That is the bottom line, right?  Horns are cool and satisfying, but not so satisfying as braised venison shanks with a wine reduction sauce.  Emily and I had a wonderful experience with some trophy mule deer on a snowy morning during her elk hunt.  I discovered a new hobby in traditional muzzleloader hunting with Dad and Uncle Don.  Of course, Dad and I had one really great duck hunt (see "Mud Hens and Buffleheads" post).  We have good stuff in the freezer for gourmet cooking... and for a quick weeknight pasta sauce.

As I completed my bird hunting loop at dusk, I crossed above the section of canyon where I had seen the elk earlier.  They filtered out of the canyon onto the farm field above, clearly agitated by my return. They drifted through the previously trackless snow.  Two hundred yards to the north of the elk, a group of whitetail deer bolted from the canyon and over the ridge, leaving four loosely braided dark strands in the white.  The elk reached the tilled ridge above the canyon.  There was too much color in the winter sunset behind them to leave them with anything more than a silhouette of hair and bone as they slid out of sight.  It sure didn't bother me that I should have had two gray partridges in my game bag.  Still can't hit the broad-side, as they say.  Something for me to work on in the off-season.

HHMM on the Home Front

It is time for a weekend at home....  It has been a long time.  Fishing, hunting, holiday, repeat.  This cycle didn't end with the New Year.  Last weekend, I punched even more fun tickets.  I went duck hunting with my Pop and I enjoyed a wild rendezvous in Spokane with some of my buddies from Helena.  I didn't trade any pelts for provisions, but I did enjoy local ales and a little whisky from Kan-tuck-ee.  It is time to put away the fun tickets for a weekend and earn a few more.  The homestead needs work!

While I was out chasing fish and game all Fall, the gigantic sycamore tree in our backyard dumped cubic yard after cubic yard of leaves.  Already, Em and I have sequestered a Lincoln Continental-sized pile, destined to be organic material in our coming lasagna gardens.  Additionally, I have hauled a heaping pickup full to the composting plant, with another two pickup loads waiting to go out.  Meanwhile, I am not a fastidious person (HHMMen have to keep up appearances); my gear is strewn about the house haphazardly, and it needs to find a more permanent home.  If the DIY arts require a canvas, ours is far from clean, and it is my fault and time to look to the home front.

I had hoped to be building this weekend.  Em and I have been sequestering various recycled materials for development of the urban homestead.  Sure, this leads to more clutter, but we have big plans.  When your farm is small, build up, not out, right?  We are going to create structure to support growing things that climb and cling.  Blackberries, hops, grapes, pole beans... a fortress of solitude and horn of plenty all in one.  Too bad the ground finally froze this week.  Guess I won't be breaking any ground this weekend.  Instead, I guess it is time to put the elk and deer calls away that have been sitting on the table in our living room for three months.  Time to organize the brewing equipment in the basement.  Time to find a place for the vegetable chest freezer.  Time to hang up the hunting clothes that have been left carelessly around the house.  Time to vacuum the house.  Time to go scouting for a new duck hunting spot on Sunday?

Easy Cider

Home brewing has become increasingly popular in recent years, and I have jumped on the bandwagon.  While brewing ales and lagers is fun, I got into the home brew business for one primary reason: apple cider.  To me, cider isn't the over-sweetened cheerleader beer, or the delicious brown juice sold at harvest fairs (the brown stuff is must, a raw ingredient of finished cider).  To me, cider is crisp, dry, fizzy, and delicious.  Furthermore, a few glasses of cider ought to make it so even the hairiest and burliest of HHMM are rendered incapable of safely operating their Hawken rifles.

Pressing cider the old fashioned way... certainly a family affair.

I also like cider because it is an alcoholic beverage where I can reasonably aspire to growing or gathering the bulk of the raw ingredients required of a batch.  Emily and I have had great satisfaction in harvesting apples, grinding them to a pulp, pressing pulp to produce must, and fermenting the must into cider.  This is fun, and extremely satisfying, but it is time-consuming and hard work, and sometimes it is good to keep up the skills by taking an easier path.

Many apple orchards produce commercial sweet cider, or must (the brown juice I was referring to earlier).  If the must isn't adulterated with preservatives or pasteurization, you can get a beautiful cider brewing in minutes.  These ciders are often tasty, because they are (or at least should be) well blended from multiple apple varieties.  Get a fermenting bucket, with a lid, and an airlock from your local home brew supply store.  These places also sell racking canes, wine thieves, hydrometers, bottling buckets, sanitizers, cider brewing guides and other handy tools that will make your life easier.  Once your gear is ready (expect around $120 for a complete kit) you can put up cider and be as smug as I am about the most premium of home brewed beverages.

Follow this recipe for a refreshing and crisp easy cider:

5 gallons of sweet cider (must) from your local orchard
2-4 cups of white sugar, dissolved in 1 quart boiling water (optional, if you want to kick up the alcohol content)
2.5 tsp. yeast nutrient (available from home brew supply stores)
1 packet of champagne yeast (available from home brew supply stores)

Let the sweet cider come to room temperature, then wipe down the caps and rims of the jugs and dump them into your fermenting bucket.  Add the sugar syrup and yeast nutrient.  I re-hydrate the champagne yeast according to the manufacturer's recommendations.  While the yeast is soaking, I whip the must in the bucket into a froth with a big, sterilized, plastic spoon.  Dump in the yeast, put on the lid, secure the airlock, and let it go at 65-75 degrees Fahrenheit.  Fermentation will be very active for a week or so, and I always let mine go for at least 2-3 weeks before I get interested in the next step.

Two hard ciders brewing, right this moment, in my home.

When you are ready to bottle, add about a half cup of brown sugar, dissolved in water to your cider.  This is priming sugar that yeast will consume to carbonate your cider in the bottle.  I think the brown sugar lends a nice flavor to the finished cider.  I am assuming here that you have verified a complete fermentation (see cider  how-to book) and you aren't prepping cider grenades for your cellar.  Ensuring a vigorous fermentation and waiting 2-3 weeks to bottle should alleviate any shrapnel issues.  Worst thing I have experienced is hyper-fizzy cider.

After a week in the bottle, your cider should be ready to drink... and it should be delicious.  If it has strange flavors wait a month or two or 12.  Cider gets better with age, and our experience is that even bad cider can mature well with some time.  Cheers!

The Mini-HHMM doesn't understand why he is too young for delicious apple cider.

p.s.  Don't be afraid to cook with your hard cider... wonderful culinary adventures await.  Perhaps it is time to try American coot braised in cider with a side of roasted root vegetables?