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I’ve often said that every hunting camp has two treasures. One is the storyteller who can make a missed turkey sound like a world-record gobbler. The other is the camp cook who guards family recipes like they’re hidden gold.
The problem is, those recipes rarely make it beyond the camp door.
That’s why I got a kick out of J-Ranch Wild Turkey Cuisine by Lee and Mike Joyner. The first edition is filled with 106 wild turkey recipes, more than 110 full-color photographs, and easy-to-follow directions that don’t require a culinary degree. Better yet, most recipes are quick to prepare and big on flavor--perfect after a long day in the turkey woods.
The Joyner's also prove they have a healthy sense of humor.
Just reading the table of contents will make you smile. Recipes include Squeal and Gobble Meatballs, O’Dark Thirty Biscuits, Kee Kee Burritos, Noon Whistle Turkey Hash, Long Beard Nigiri Sushi, and Loaded Double Clucker Skins. If those names don’t make you hungry, they’ll at least make you laugh. And when supper is over, there are 12 sunset cocktail recipes, including Big J Winter Jack, to help toast another successful day afield.
The 256-page cookbook is available in hardcover and softcover through Amazon and other book retailers, and it’s reasonably priced enough that it won’t empty your hunting budget.
What I appreciate most, however, is what the book quietly represents.
Every wild turkey recipe begins with one of the greatest conservation success stories in American history. Many of us remember when wild turkeys were scarce across New York and much of the country. Thanks to decades of work by wildlife agencies, conservation organizations, dedicated volunteers, private landowners, and sportsmen and women who supported restoration through licenses and conservation funding, today’s hunters can enjoy healthy turkey populations that many once thought impossible.
That’s something worth celebrating around every campfire and every dinner table.
So, whether you’re looking for a new way to prepare your spring gobbler or simply enjoy good camp cooking mixed with a healthy dose of humor, the Joyners have put together a cookbook that’s as entertaining as it is useful.
After all, every hunter enjoys hearing a gobbler hammer at daybreak. But before long, somebody around camp asks the question that really matters:
“What’s for supper?”
With this cookbook on the shelf, the answer just got a whole lot better.
Gotta love the outdoors.
CALENDAR
Jul. 31-Aug. 1: 21st annual Con Club Walleye Team Derby, $300 registration fee, 3-fish bag, 2 days; info: 716-366-8836.
Aug. 2: Chautauqua Lake Bassmasters, Points IV bass fishing contest, Bemus Point boat launch, 6 a.m. start. Info: 716-499-0747.
Aug. 2: Walleyes and Wailing Guitars Tournament and community festival, North East Community Marina, 11950 E. Lake Road, North East, Pennsylvania, visit NEMARINA.ORG.
Aug. 2: Ellington Rod and Gun, "Don't Know Partner Trap League," 1045 Hagerdon Hill Road, Ellington; Info: 716-287-3987.