Best "tag soup" recipe

[Dave Holquist]

Anyone have a good one? :)

[Rick Harrelson]

Dave i don't have a recipe, but I have all the ingredients: 2 deer tags and a fall turkey tag.

[Bowjack]

Rick,

The following recipe is guaranteed to be loved and enjoyed by all.

For tag soup: take a clean pot filled with fresh water and add: garlic, onions, celery, carrots, salt, pepper, potatoes, a little oil, the tags and bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat and place on simmer for 3 months until the turkey season starts, or you can leave on simmer, but continually add water to maintain the level letting the ingredients meld together for another 3 months. Around the ides of October add 1 1/2 lbs of fresh venison stew meat or any cuts you choose.

Three words: De...lic...ious

This recipe takes some time to prepare, but it is worth the wait.

The best thing about one pot meals, if you cook it slow enough it allows you much time to practice and scout before adding the final ingredients.

[Rick Harrelson]

My mouth is watering...

[DanaC]

Hehehe, I just park 'em in the MNY drawer...meanwhile, here's a 'recipe for Hunter's Stew I wrote some time ago.


“Hunter’s Stew” Copyright 2000
By Dana Charbonneau

There are things I want to take home from the woods that I can’t cook.”
Gene Hill, “Sunlight and Shadows.”

It’s early June, late spring. The temperature is rising, and we’re into the heart of fishing season. Yet even as summer approaches, I’m already starting a new batch of deer hunters’ stew.

“Deer hunters’ stew” is not a stick-to-your-ribs concoction of venison and potatoes, vegetables and a thick broth. No, it’s a different sort of nutrition, fuel for the soul, calories for the heart. It’s a rich gumbo of hopes, scouting, dreams, preparation and practice, seasoned with ever-increasing anticipation.

It starts with the arrival of a new ‘fall’ catalog, usually around the start of summer. It’s 94 degrees out, neighborhood kids are splashing in the pool, and the Red Sox are finding new ways to lose. Hunting catalogs already? You idly flip open a few pages, not really interested, but…hey, what’s this? That is one hot lookin’ bow. And these arrows! And the old camo is getting kinda ragged, too.

You don’t order anything yet. You’d feel silly buying warm boots in July. But the catalog sits on the table by your favorite chair, to be looked at again. And again.

A few weeks later an outdoor magazine arrives. The cover features a giant bass exploding on a floating lure, but there on page 36 is an article titled, “Early Scouting For Deer.” It gets you to thinking, and you dig out your portable tree stand, to touch up the paint. Your mind drifts back to that November morning when the 3 does walked by, just out of range. If only you’d hung the stand in that hemlock, ten yards closer…

In the corner of he workshop, the reloading press catches your eye. “How many shells do I have left for the rifle?” A quick inventory of the ammo box ensues, and you’ve either got a bunch of old loads that beg to beg to be taken out and fired, or you’re down to a single half-box left from last season. Either way, it’s time to think about starting rifle practice. And you might as well drag the slug gun along too.

Another quick check reveals a half dozen slugs left over from last December. Time for a trip to the store. Behind the counter, Rich is sorting through boxes of shells. He recommends one brand, but you know from experience that your gun prefers another. A few minutes later you’re on your way.

As you leave the store, you spot a full-size 3D deer archery target in the corner. You get to thinking about those old hay bales in the back yard. Good enough for one more season? When you get home you take out the bow, hang a paper plate and shoot a few dozen arrows. Your old backstop still works fine. Another memory surfaces, of the two four-pointers who snuck in on you a few years back, too close to draw the bow. You tried anyway, sending them snorting and crashing away through the pines. If either of them survived this long, he’d be an old mossy-horned monster by now. Come September, it might be smart to get back up that hill and look for new rubs.

Thinking of goods places gets you to remembering other good spots. Places like The Condo, where you shot your first deer, or Turkey Ridge, where you often bump into a big flock of hens, and, two years ago, a rack buck who still rattles your knees. Definitely have to get back there, maybe get serious about fall turkey hunting, and you probably should build that ground blind you’ve been thinking about. Bring the saw and some twine.

Now where is the folding saw? Oh, yeah, bottom drawer. Wool socks, hats, calls. You pull out the grunt tube, put it to your lips, and then you remember, the reed fell out last fall, on that last cold day of the muzzle-loader season. You’ve never had much luck with this thing, but you’ll buy a new one anyway. Even if it hasn’t worked yet, you just know that one day you’ll hit it just right. It will be magic, like the Pied Piper’s flute, charming the biggest buck in the woods right to your feet. You smile thinking about it, and then you grab the fishing rod and head out to the river. It’s still early, after all, and deer hunter’s stew needs to simmer for a good long while before it’s ready.

[Dave Holquist]

Tasty sounding recipe, Bow, but that's a heckuva lot of simmering. Must be necessary to tenderize the plastic-like coating on those unfilled tags? :)

Nice story, Dana. Well done!

[Bowjack]

Yup, those plastic coated tags are tough, and release synthetic estrogens when cooking (yikes). However, the old paper ones needed far less time to tenderize, and were more healthy for you. Nevertheless, the recipe still called for the same cooking time. 6 mos or better regardless of tag material.

No honestly, there is no shame in tag soup. I could kill nearly every deer I see from my treestands with a gun. I have often thought about this. Getting them within 20-25 yds is the hard part. Even when they step in range there are no still no guarantees of backstraps in the pan.

[DanaC]

Bowjack, I spent several days in NY this past October, early ML season. Added a nice shiny NY tag to the soup bin ;-) Don't taste much different than MA or VT tags...

[Bowjack]

Yup, I have had out of state tags and you're right, they don't taste much different than in-state. However, I think in-state tags are harder to swallow.:)