Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk camp menu items

I will definately give this a try, it should be a hit in camp as well as at home.

elk steak fajitas, at least one night in camp, then the rest of the time it is pretty much sandwiches and easy items.

You guys are making my mouth water talking about fresh elk liver and onions!

Wow, you guys have solid menu's.

We split meals, you bring one or two days, all three and you are the 'Hopsing/cook'.

Breakfast early on is a grab and go, biscuit/sausage/egg or granola bars.

May have a hot bubba breakfast of eggs/bacon if there is time (i.e. short morning)

Simple omelet that is always a hit.

Bacon bits (real or soft pack works, crispy)
Green pepper pieces (small)
Shredded cheese
Box or two/three of betty crocker dry hashbrowns
Dozen eggs or so depending on amount of hashbrowns - beaten

Cook the bacon bits, set aside, leave some bacon fat in the pan, add the hash browns and water to match the number of boxes, add your green peppers same time, get the eggs beaten, when the hashbrowns are done (water absorbed and flipped) add your eggs, bacon, and cheese, mix it in the pan. Turn to medium heat. Cook solid on one side, cut into pie or square shape pieces and flip it. Good hot or cold. Jalapenos added are good to.

Dinners -

Also grill up steaks, pot roast, pulled or make meatloaf/baked potatoes or sliced potatoes/onions/camp beans.

Usually have beef stew in the fridge for afternoon warm up or lunch and a sandwich.

Gotta love the Elk Steak Fajitas,

I have a new hunting partner this year just becuase of them,
I fridge age the steak 4 days, rare "RARE" grill them over a wood fire, then suatee red, green, and yellow bell peppers with some roasted anaheim peppers, and onions then slice the steak up and put it all in a tupperware container, Then when we get to the lake I just throw the mix in a cast iron pan over the campfire and reheat (which also cooks the steak a little more hence why I grill them real rare) then add any fresh lettuce etc.
But one of my fishing buddies after eating them is going this year.

Have you guys tried the omlet in a bag option we just bring some pre cooked bacon or ham add eggs and in plastic freezer bag and boil while making coffee it is great wrap it in a soft taco shell and its clean no mess and it takes less than five min we can cook enough in one pot for 5 guys. Breakfast and we are out of there.

We do the each guy brings a meal for night and then you only have to cook once or twice on the trip. Lunches are just plain old soups and sandwiches.

We also do a poor man's chilie relleno.We do grilled cheese sandwiches,but place a whole roasted/peeled chile pepper between layers of cheese. Filet the chile out and remove the seeds

Blackened Elk Back-Straps....

For this you need a couple chunks of firewood, thick cut back-strap stakes (about an 1 1/2 - 2" thick) fresh garlic, butter and a very hot fry pan.

While the butter and garlic are heating up to the point of smoking. Pepper the back-strap stakes and set them on one of the chunks of fire wood. With the other chunk of fire wood, smack that back-strap stake like you mean it! You want it to grow to about 150% of it's diameter.

Have all your stakes ready and toss them in the pan at the same time.

You want the butter and garlic to be so hot that the smashed back straps crackle and do a summer-sult when they first hit the pan!

Keep turning the stakes to cook a good black crisp on the outside, but reduce the heat as soon as they blacken and let them just simmer till there 'just' cooked in the middle.

Having everything else ready and serving while there still sizzling is what life is all about!

I know this an old thread, but I'm kicking in high gear for this years trip preparations. Food is a big part of it since I like to splurge on food when I camp. I've got one elk horse pack in hunt under my belt with a great group of very experienced guys, however the long time member, and camp chef has decided his knees can't take it at 75. For all of you horse and mule packers, do you take in any frozen meals and/or meat ? I and my boys will be in 1 full week and 2 more guys will stay in another week. At 9,000 to 10,000 feet can it keep safely for a week for the fresh and frozen stuff in a cooler ? We didn't have any trouble with eggs, bacon, etc for two weeks before, but I'd kinda like to make 7 or 8 dinner meals and freeze instead of trying to dehydrate if possible. I'm hoping for max food quality with little prep time to hunt as much as possible ? I can do the mountain house and freeze dried if I have to..but like to keep it to a minimum.lucnh is on the go and minimal.
Thank you

I cook chili, beans with ground pork and green chilis, taco soup, and freeze before hunts. Once fully frozen, I vacuum pack in shapes to accommodate truck camping or pack in on horses (soft cooler). Any of these with flour tortillas turns into multiple meals and only requires reheating to be ready.

Can you just call "Cookie" and as him what was his M.O.? What worked for him? Then adjust from there.

eh76

How many folks does that basic recipe serve?

Thanks guys. This is an old thread, so I don't if you'll hear back from eh76. Our old camp cook did a great job..but I'd just like to upgrade some menu dinners with some things they haven't tried before. From Saddlesore's menu post's , I should probably ask him.

444afic, We're pretty spoiled.... We have a small chest freezer in our camper, and the wife prepares a lot of the "main" meals in casserole pans and freezes them. Quick and easy in either the oven or micro. Of course, there's the full breakfast every morning. And, occasionally something special like.... crawfish etouffee, sausage/chicken jambalaya, grilled pork loin, or everyone's favorite "elk burgers"! memtb



After finding out "how old" this thread is, I just wanted to say ... The elk burgers are "not" from '09! memtb

When hunting, I want to spend as much time hunting as I can and I don't want to spend a lot of time cooking. Meal time for me is just refueling. So my meals are simple, easy to prepare, easy to cleanup, and most are also lightweight for backpacking. I use a mix of freeze-dried, dehydrated, and canned foods so that foods are nonperishable

In each category, the easiest to prepare are at the top of the list. Items get heavier and more complex near the bottom of each list. Although none of them are very complicated.

I save cafe' packs from restaurants for my condiments.

BREAKFAST
Oatmeal - Quaker Fruit & Cream
Breakfast Cereal & Milk
Breakfast Wraps - Mountain House Breakfast Skillet + Tortillas
S.O.S. - White Gravy Mix (dehydrated) + Summer Sausage (chopped) & Slider Rolls
Pancakes & Eggs- Bisquik Shake & Pour, Syrup
Potato Pancakes & Sausage - Potato Pancake Mix (dehydrated) + Syrup + Summer Sausage (sliced & warmed)
Hashbrown Potatoes & Eggs (dehydrated hashrown mix + Mtn House Eggs with Red & Green Chilis or Backpackers Pantry Juevos Rancheros)

LUNCH
No-Cook Snacks
MREs
P B & J
Cup-O-Noodles

DINNER
Burritos - Mtn House Italian Pepper Steak + Tortillas
Fajitas - Mountain House Chicken Fajita Bowl + Tortillas
Chicken Casserole - Chicken Casserole Mix (dehydrated) + Chicken (canned) + margarine
Mac & Cheese - Velveeta Shells & Cheese + Ham (canned) + margarine
Beef Stew - Dinty Moore Beef Stew or Chunky Soup + Bread
Hot Dogs & Beans - Hot Dogs, Beans (canned) + buns & condiments

NO-COOK SNACKS
Beef Jerky
Summer Sausage
Cheese Balls, paraffin wrapped
Trail Mix
Granola Bars & Candy Bars
Sandwich Crackers
Cheese Crackers

DRINKS
Cocoa (instant)
Coffee - Folgers Coffee Singles, creamer
EcoDrink
Tang

We do the same about a month before hunting season make large meals , save about a 3 person portion,
vacuum pack frozen left overs. Then have a pot big enough to bring frozen food to a boil shut heat off and about 20 minutes its ready. A small cooler will hold a dozen meals, and no smell or mess in bear country.

Fried Spam, taters, beans and coffee.

Most years one or more of the guys will have wild game of some sort they have taken that year that they want everyone to try. I always look forward to those. I've had wild hog lasagna, antelope chow mien, pheasant casserole, elk or venison burgers, and a variety of grilled wild game on those nights.

We always have grouse fajitas one night. I'll bring tortillas, onion, green pepper, fajita mix, sometimes shredded cheese. A couple of the guys in camp have .410 handguns and we always kill a couple grouse. This has become a meal everyone looks forward to.

We nearly always plan to have an open fire cooking night. Some years the weather doesn't cooperate and there have been years when this meal hasn't happened. Usually this is later in the week because we don't go for open fires early in the hunt. Everyone brings a long handled skewer (or they are forced to make one). Fare can be anything from hot dogs to polish to various types of kabob meat that everyone has brought.

Each year we bring a large skillet for one particular meal. The skillet is used for elk loin, potatoes, onions, in the skillet. Usually this night occurs when the first elk is down.

Spike camp food is nothing anyone wants to remember. Usually MREs or Mountain House.

One year my brother brought a live chicken to elk camp, slaughtered it, and cooked for everyone. It came out good but grouse are usually readily available and less work.

I will stick to saddlesore and kc. I try to have the same food I would at home. If backpacking I carry normal food for 4 meals, the rest is ultra light snacks.

Good grub can make or break the hunt. But I am usually too bushed to cook or do much of anything. I like to make a big pot of Chili and leave it and coffee on the fire or stove all day. Then I can eat at anytime and maybe catch a few Z's mid day. When that is gone I make a big pot of stew which hopefully will have some Elk meat in it. This helps me to eat my veggies as it is easy to forget them. Carbs should be high on the list potatoes or pasta usually providing these. Lot's of snacks in the day pack: jerky, granola bars, dried fruit, snickers, Reese's etc. I also carry something nasty like Vienna sausage or Spam that I will only eat if I am really hungry or in an emergency situation.

No freeze dried stuff unless it is a hardcore back pack affair. The windyness is enough to spook any Elk in the territory.


When doing the perpetual chili or stew and coffee routine more than once I have had other hunters help themselves to a cup of cowboy coffee which I am glad to oblige but help yourself to the venison chili and I would have to shoot you. This has worked out well as I got the benefit of their scouting efforts and have even shot an Elk on info obtained this way.