Monday marks opening day of hunting season
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Article RatingIt’s the last day of August and tomorrow marks the opening day of two Pennsylvania hunting seasons. In the morning and for the next 25 days we can hunt resident geese almost everywhere in the boundaries of the Commonwealth with a few exceptions so check the hunting digest that came with your license.
Two additional licenses are required for goose season. First is a Pennsylvania migratory bird license and the other is the duck stamp, familiar to all waterfowl hunters.
The Migratory license is new or almost new and was suppose to cost a dollar and help fund a woodcock study but of course now we need it to not only hunt woodcock, but also doves and waterfowl, including Canada geese.
Duck stamps, or what are formally known as a U.S. Department of Interior Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp, fund all wildlife refuges with little help from non-hunters if any, except “lip-service.” Franklin Roosevelt asked one of his harshest critics to devise a plan to begin protecting migrating birds. Ding Darling was a cartoonist, who regularly criticized Roosevelt in his cartoons.
On the west coast of Florida, a refuge was named for him and in the Remington Museum in Ilion, New York, hangs his first pen and ink drawing along with an original duck stamp donated by Mary Dodge of the Dodge family.
Dove season opens on Labor Day afternoon and marks the first season for most Pennsylvania hunters. All the ammunition companies love dove season because for most hunters it takes several boxes of shells to kill a limit of birds. Even good shooters miss about as many as they hit because toe fast fliers seem to zig when we expect them to zag, dive when we expect them to climb, and turn left when we think they should turn right. Doves are just difficult to hit.
I like to eat maybe one or at the most two batches of dove breasts in September but I really don’t attempt to freeze them. The breasts are small so the 15 bird per day limit is just about right for a small family. Just breast them out of their feathers and skin and soak them overnight. Wrap a strip of bacon around each breast and pin it in place with a toothpick, then place on a hot charcoal grill until the bacon cooks. Serve them with the last of the summer sweet corn or early butternut squash. If you hunt them into late September you can add cider to the menu.
Canada geese, during the early resident season, have generous limits of eight birds a day but I really don’t know what I’d do with eight Canada goose breasts. Probably my favorite way to cook Canada goose is in a crockpot soaked with barbeque sauce and slow simmered until the meat falls apart. We served it on several occasions during football season and the pot was empty, when everyone left for home.
Goose breast, unlike barnyard geese, really are lean once the skin is removed. Goose breast can be sliced thin and placed on a rack in the oven to make jerky. I cheat and simply soak my slice in Teriyaki before placing them in a 200-degree oven, on racks with cookie sheets underneath to catch the drippings.
Wild game cooking has always been my job and I really don’t mind. I’ve done it so long I rarely rely on a cookbook except the old Betty Crocker Kerri brought to our marriage 40 years ago. I’m sure there are some good ones out there though.
