Feasting at Deer Camp Mountain Man Style

My favorite book of all time is “Mountain Man” by Vardis Fisher. It was the inspiration for one of my favorite movies of all time, “Jeremiah Johnson”. The book is a historically correct, fictional account of a mountain man free trapper in the Rocky Mountains in the mid 1840’s. One thing in particular that jumps out at the reader is the great joy the mountain men took in their opportunities to feast. Most of the time they did not have the luxury of a hot prepared meal but when they did it was quite the occasion. Wild meat, biscuits, gravy, berries, and hot coffee was the menu for a fine-right feast. Following in the footsteps of the free trappers, at our deer camp the Friday night before opening day, eating is the objective and this year was not different. Four deer shoulders, one deer ham, and coffee, all cooked over the open fire, was the menu and it fed us for the whole weekend.

At deer camp simplicity is the order of the day. Preparing the deer shoulder and ham roasts simply entails covering the whole roast in garlic powder, spices, bacon, potatoes and peppers. You wrap it all up in about 8 layers of aluminum foil and put it on a grate above the fire for about 4 hours, turning it every 30 minutes. After the cooking time is up you cut the aluminum foil lengthwise and peel back the layers like opening a book. Then everybody takes out their pocket knives and helps themselves with their fingers. As I mentioned, simplicity is the rule so no pots and pans, no utensils, and no plates. Rather, we use aluminum foil, pocketknives, and fingers! It’s a little unrefined by some standards, but hey, its deer camp and we’re hillbillies so what do you expect! It is also a delicacy like you’ve never tasted and it is especially good in the woods. It’s so good, in fact, we even occasionally cook deer shoulder for Thanksgiving.

This year the crew ate 3 shoulders on the first night and we held back the 4th shoulder and a small ham for the next few days. Even as several stragglers filtered in throughout the weekend the 4th shoulder and the ham managed to feed us all through Sunday afternoon. When it comes time to eat you simply throw the previously cooked roast, still encased in the aluminum foil, on the grate above the fire for about 20 minutes on each side and it’s as good as it was after just being cooked. Sitting around the campfire laughing, telling stories, and peeling off chunks a tender deer roast with your pocket knife as the smoke swirls up all around you gives one a sense of feasting with friends at a mountain man rendezvous 170 years ago. The spirit of the free trappers is still alive and well in the Ozark Hills.

In the book another aspect of the mountain man’s personality that jumps out at the reader was their versatility and the ability to cope with any situation. This trait also played out this year in our camp feasting. You see, the last time we camped this past summer my wife had used my camp coffee pot as a bacon grease receptacle and it goes without saying that we forgot to empty the grease. So, after cooking the meat and preparing for some coffee, I discovered the bacon grease in the pot. Even though I heated up the grease and poured it out and then boiled water in it, the first two pots of coffee were definitely bacon flavored! Before each sip everybody looked into the cups of coffee and couldn’t help but notice the oil-like sheen on top of the surface. With a half smirk and a cocked head we all commented how it tasted just like breakfast…literally! After drinking the coffee and hunting that afternoon, my friend Steve Bryson showed true Ozark mountain man spirit when, tongue in cheek, he commented that when he got hungry in the woods that afternoon he simply ran his tongue over the front of his teethe and tasted the bacon! Now that’s truly showing the resourcefulness of a mountain man and being able to find a silver lining for every dark cloud!

Good food, good friends, and camping, there is really nothing to equal the experience. Add in a little trapping, hunting, or fishing and there’s an experience to develop a life around. If you get a chance check out “Mountain Man” by Vardis Fisher. It’s a great read for any mountain man from the Ozark Hills. As for bacon flavored coffee, after some reflection I cannot recommend it. It’s tolerable but the waxy bacon taste just isn’t complementary, contrary to my friend Steve Bryson’s opinion! So says the One-Eyed Hillbilly.

Greg Stephens is a 35-year veteran & life-time student of the great outdoors. His column appears weekly in print & online publications. You can email him at gregstephens@one-eyedhillbilly.com. For more columns go to www.one-eyedhillbilly.blogspot.com.