Dogwood
Blossoming trees, wildflowers, and chirping birds herald spring each year. In the Ozarks, it’s also hunting season, a time when gun-toting sportsmen/women take to the woods in pursuit of wild turkeys.
On the first and second day of a rainy hunt, Greg Powell and Dylan Salata are greeted by the dogs as they return to the farm empty handed.
Talking Turkey
The sport can be vigorous and costly. Intrepid hunters must roam the woods before daylight to find where the birds are hanging out.
There’s the expense of a turkey tag, camouflage gear, turkey stand (optional), repairs to the old shotgun, ammunition, and the ubiquitous turkey caller. The device is used by hunters to produce a mating call that tricks a pea-brained turkey into coming out of the brush, thinking that a good time awaits him in the clearing.
The Third Day Was Charm!
Dylan and Greg—two happy hunters.
“Hunting” Wild Mushrooms
Robin displays the stash of morels that came from foraging the woods.
The well-hidden fungi can be as elusive to hunt as wild game.
For those of a woodsy nature, it’s also time to hunt wild mushrooms. No camo or ammo required. Just spray your clothes with tick repellant, grab a grocery sack, and head for the great outdoors—preferably with a seasoned mycologist, who carries a mushroom knife in case you have to engage in hand-to-hand combat with temperamental fungi.
My daughter, an inveterate mushroom hunter, recently found some lovely morels here in St. Louis and more at the farm. She had the tasty morsels in a skillet in no time. We dined on Morel Risotto (an Ina Garten recipe) and sous vide Venison Tenderloin with Black Trumpet and Brandy Cream Sauce.
Morels get a buttery bath in the skillet.
Morel Mushroom Risotto
A freezer gift from a previous hunt made it possible to concoct a sou vide version of Ina Garten’s Venison Tenderloin with Black Trumpets and Brandy Cream Sauce.
Whether you forage the countryside or the local supermarket, a variety of both domestic and wild mushrooms is available for fungi fanciers. Just be sure to share your “catch” with someone, which makes the search, preparation, and eating far more fun.
