Whether you grow and raise your own food or purchase food from your local butcher and grocer, you can generously expand the contents of your winter pantry by tapping into the bounty of edibles offered up by Mother Nature-especially during these late fall and early winter months.

All you need to do is "live on the wild side" for a while and make good use of the natural resources awaiting harvest.

For vegetarians and non-hunters, there's an abundance of wild edibles to be gathered and stored. In our section of the United States (Missouri), there are wild grapes, mushrooms, all kinds of nuts, watercress, fall greens and Jerusalem artichokes, to mention only a few items that can be easily gathered and put up for later use through drying, canning and/or freezing methods.

Jim with pet whitetail deer, Piper

To check on wild edibles where you reside, check with your conservation department to see if they have information tailored to your area. Then try these resource books: Peterson's Field Guide On Edible Wild Plants, Billy Joe Tatum's Wild Foods Field Guide-Cookbook, The Wild Foods Cookbook by Cathy Johnson, Simon & Schuster's Guide to Mushrooms, and The Audubon Society Field Guide to North America Mushrooms.

For those who enjoy the waterways, late Autumn offers the perfect excuse to hang out the "gone fishin'" sign. Indulge in this relaxing pastime (except for the sport of "jigging," which is far from relaxing) and justify it by bringing home fish to be frozen or smoked, and enjoyed all winter long in fried, grilled, baked, sauced, souped, stewed and casseroled form. Your conservation department can furnish information on the best seasons for varying fish species, fishing methods and limits applicable to your area. Great book references here are Preserving the Catch, by Erling Stuart; Fish & Shellfish, by James Peterson; and Saucing the Fish, by Shirley King.

For those who hunt-or would like to start-there's a literal panacea of nutritious and flavorful game meats available if you're willing to put in the time and effort to seek out the game, dress it out and process the meat for storage.

Not only do your hunting endeavors stack up pounds of meat for your household, they contribute tremendously to balancing the wildlife population and environment. And this greatly improves the chances of healthy survival for each species of critter that co-inhabits your neck of the woods.

Here at Timberlakes, most of our foodstuffs are either grown by us or derived from nature's bounty. The major source of our meat supply throughout the year is wild meat taken during the various hunting seasons (primarily this is late fall/early winter).

Over the last quarter century we've come up with some nifty ways to utilize the varying tasty meats, as well as some money and time-saving methods for dressing and processing them.

But first, this footnote: For those who are boundaried by urban life and the stresses that go with it, all is not lost! Try these tips: A late autumn visit (if timed correctly) to an area farmer, or even local grocer, might yield some very handsome bargains as far as filling up your pantry or freezer with their end-of-season oversupply.

Field dressing deer shortly after it is downed.

Take our case, for example. Providing there have been no killer frosts, we have loads of end-of-season produce on the ground. Much of it is not salable in our restaurant market, but definitely useable (such as tomatoes to be frozen or sauced, green tomatoes to be pickled ...ad infinitum). After we've put up our winter store, we'd be more than happy to give the voluminous remainder away just for the asking so that we could turn the plants under for green manure and prepare our fields for the next season.

As far as local grocers, catch them late Halloween evening or the day after and help them unload (at pennies on the dollar if not for free) any pumpkins that were left unsold. Catch them right after Thanksgiving or Christmas and "talk turkey!"

If you are unable to hunt or fish, find a buddy who does and offer your help on the dressing and processing end of it. Often, particularly in the case of big game such as deer, the meat from one or two animals may actually yield too much for the small family or freezer capacity. Share in the work here, and share in the take.

The golden rules

These rules apply to the hunting of all things, anywhere, anytime.

1. Before you even think about hunting, learn how to use and handle your equipment safely, particularly in the case of firearms.
2. Obtain a hunting license. In most of the United States, a hunting license or permit is required to hunt most things and these licenses are generally issued by the conservation department governing the state or area in which you live. In certain instances where there is an overrun of an unwanted species, a license may not be required, but it doesn't hurt to check first, to make sure of the details. For large game and certain game birds and fowl, a permit additional or separate from your hunting license may be needed. For some game birds, a federal stamp or permit may be required in addition to those issued in your state.
3. Hunt only during the dates specified for each season which is usually outlined by animal type or species (deer, rabbit, etc.) or hunting method (archery, firearms), and take only the limit share allotted you.
4. Ask permission before you hunt on private land. This is not only courteous, but could avoid having your head blown off (accidentally-because no one knows you are on the premises, or on purpose-because you are trespassing!)
5. Don't poach, and discourage others from poaching on your land. Why? First and foremost is that the season length, dates and limits of allowable numbers of any species to be taken by hunt is based on population tracking studies; changes in the habitat where the varying animals reside; when the young become independent enough to survive on their own; mating times and habits; and the number of hunting permits issued that year by conservation specialists.

In certain instances, the balance of animals is very fragile and poaching (illegal taking) of certain species without the knowledge of the conservation guys and gals, can easily upset the this balance and could endanger the animal's continuing survival in your area.

Second, you could get fined big time and/or you could end up in jail. The hunting licenses (if you are hunting in your home state) are cheap. The fines can be steep, canceling out any savings you might have gained by hunting for your own food. And jail time just about takes away any enjoyment you might have had for the endeavor in the first place.

Deer is hung to cool for at least six hours.

Wild meat-in general

Although this may not be tremendously scientific, I categorize wild game into three types: big game, small game, and game birds (those that can fly).

For big game in our neck of the woods, we hunt the whitetail deer. For small game, we take rabbits, squirrel and raccoon, although there are groundhogs, muskrats, armadillo, 'possums among others out there for the creative cook.

In the "we can fly" group, we have taken turkey, duck, goose, dove, quail, woodcock (also known as timberdoodles) and blackbirds.

The yields

In terms of useable meat for your homestead, I'll share with you how I figure it in terms of either weight or meals, nutritional merit and cost-savings.

Deer: An adult whitetail deer in these parts, after dressed and cleaned, yields about 80 pounds of venison. To save on freezer space we de-bone all of the venison before packaging, except for the neck, saddle and some leg bone portions. We also cut and package the major amount into 1-1/2 to two-pound roasts. When later thawed, these packages can certainly serve as roasts, but they can also be sliced up in any configuration for stroganoffs, Swiss steak meals, stews and soups.

The rugged portion around the wound site and other smaller meaty pieces we have stripped from the bone are set aside for stews, jerky, or grinding for later transformation into a kielbasa or bratwurst-type sausage. The liver is split up into three packages, and the heart is packaged whole on its own.

"Skinning process.

Given these combinations, for the two of us, each deer yields about 50 meals, or one venison meal a week. While our total allowable take is three deer apiece, we generally quit at three or four total taken between us, which gives us three or four venison meals a week year-round, give or take.

While this lean red meat touts 50% more protein, 15% fewer calories and 60% less fat than equal portions of beef, when it comes to calculating the amount of money saved (as in "not spent at the butcher shop") for this volume of venison, beef is its closest cousin on the market price-wise.

Assuming that this week's grocery ad holds true, a quality lean beef roast runs around $3.50 per pound, fresh name brand bratwurst or kielbasa a dollar more, and steaks even higher than that. Using a low side $4 per pound figure, one deer values right at $320! In our case, we subtract the $5 spent on sausage casings, so it's $315. Should you use a commercial processor, that could reduce this estimate considerably.

As I mentioned, we dress, clean, process and package our own venison on the place, not solely to avoid the expense, but so that we can customize the cuts to suit our preferences and needs.

Squirrel, rabbit and duck

I place these in the same category, simply because they are of similar size.

I don't know the exact dressed out poundage yield of any of these three. I do, however, know this: One squirrel, rabbit, or duck is about the satisfactory serving for one adult.

While there may be a small portion left over in this single serving estimation, it's better to be safe than sorry. If you feel there's too much left over each time, package and freeze the leftover meat in a zippered plastic bag (no matter which one of the above three it is). Use the meat mix later, in a noodle-based casserole, a stir-fry mix, or a stroganoff creation. You'll be delighted with the flavor mix, particularly if you've got some wild mushrooms to add to it.

For us, two of these critters equals a meal and for the original meal we cook the same meat types together, as the cooking techniques from raw to the finished product vary tremendously between squirrel, rabbit and duck.

On the nutritional end of things in comparison to beef, rabbit ranks about the same as deer. Wild duck beats domestic duck in all categories, hands down.

As far as the cost-savings, let's face it, if you were to purchase rabbit, duck or pheasant in a gourmet market, you probably wouldn't consider it. If we were to enjoy a satisfactory dinner at home with the purchase of meat (except for beef), it would cost about $4-5 per meal. So every meal we replace with this type of wild game earns that $4-5 value, as far as non-existent cash outlay.

Dove, quail, woodcocks and blackbirds

From my figuring, a meal for the two of us requires 4-6 quail, 6-8 dove, 6-8 woodcocks, or about 8-10 blackbirds.

Cut up venison chunks being moved by wheel barrow.

While the meat comparison chart I have (compiled by the Georgia Cooperative Extension Service) has values for quail, and since we skin all of our birds and waterfowl which lessens the fat values, I am not sure of its accuracy here. However, the chart does indicate that when compared to domestic chicken, the quail does have a higher protein value, but also has slightly higher calorie and fat values. When compared to domestic duck, however, the quail shows a much higher protein value, and drastically lower (by about 50%) calories, and 1/5 the fat gram content. Here again, I use the $4-5 per meal replacement ratio.

Raccoon and goose

An average good sized coon or goose is a great reason to have company over for dinner. Stuffed and baked, either could easily feed four to six people comfortably, especially with side dishes. When serving fewer people, halve the goose by splitting down along the breast; or halve the raccoon by splitting across the middle (yielding a top/rib side with legs and a bottom stomach cavity side with legs).

One of these critters I value anywhere between $12 -15. I'd hesitate to think about the purchase price of a goose at the market. I know before I hunted them, I tried to purchase one for a Christmas dinner. I couldn't find any at the grocer, but an area grower sold his live domestic geese for $50 each (and I'd still have to dress them out).

Wild turkey

Invite all your relatives and maybe even some of their friends for this feast, as wild turkeys are huge, and if you thought you knew the taste of turkey judging from your experiences with the domestic variety, you'll find the deep taste both remarkable and memorable.

As with the goose, the turkey can be split along the breast and baked in halves or cut into pieces as is ordinary domestic chicken.

Now that you have it,
what do you do with it?

First of all, make sure the animal is no longer alive. Particularly with big game, you stand the chance of getting severely injured if the animal is merely wounded, and small game can bite!

First, in the woods or field:

Big game: Once you have downed a large animal, be sure to gut it as soon as possible. Roll the carcass on its back and spread the hind legs. Slit along the centerline of the belly from the breast bone down to the tail, slitting through the thick hide and abdominal muscle, avoiding cutting directly into the intestines. Cut around the anus, then drawing it up into the body cavity. Turn the body on its side and remove the innards, saving the heart and liver.

Roll the deer over, belly side down and let the blood drain out. Tag it according to the regulations in your state.

Once it's fairly well drained, drag the deer (head higher than feet so that it further drains), load it into your vehicle, and take it to the deer-check station. When you arrive home, hang it up. As a matter of preference and ease in dressing, we hang ours by the neck, with the head toward the sky. Others hang theirs by the feet, head toward the ground.

Venison should hang for a minimum of six hours before processing, as freezing the deer more quickly than this can result in a tougher meat.

Small game or fowl: If you're fairly close to home, no field work is necessary, particularly if the temperatures are fairly cool. If you're nervous about the ordeal or far from home, it's okay to field gut, but this does make the dressing out more complicated and messier (at least if you use my method).

Dressing the critter

No matter the size, I skin and dress out all game the same.

Cut off legs (I do this with ordinary small hedge clippers), slit around the neck and slit vertically from the neck down to the pelvic region. For anything other than large game which has already been gutted, this slit is the top skin layer only, leaving the abdominal sheath and its contents temporarily intact.

Then, working with a knife at the neck slit, separate the skin from the flesh, and pull down toward the tail, removing the skin from the legs, like you would a child's sleeper pajamas. Once you get to the tail in small game, pull the now bared body out of the tail. In fact, the finished hide product should ideally look like a pair of sleepers with a tail attached.

In small game and fowl, now is the time to remove the innards. Remove the head.

Cleaning and processing

For smaller game and all fowl, I perform the entire dressing, skinning out and cleaning on a large oak picnic table we have for that purpose with a water hose handy. Once the innards have been removed, I flush out the inner cavity with the hose nozzle on high and then detail clean the entire body.

For big game, Jim cuts and saws the deer into large workable sections as it hangs in the barn, placing the sections into a wheelbarrow.

Initial wash on outdoor table.

The full wheelbarrow is then taken out to the picnic table where the venison is thoroughly hosed off and washed. Other than the for the bone-in roast cuts mentioned earlier, Jim removes the meat from all other bones. He then rewashes the separate cut pieces outdoors, placing them into a sterile container which is taken periodically indoors for me to finish up.

Once inside, the meat is washed and cleaned for the third time with every effort made to remove any hair, debris and/or clotted blood remains.

The washed roasts are drained in an ordinary dish-drain tray. Each drained roast is placed first in a plastic bag, then wrapped in freezer paper, labeled as to type of roast or meat use (for stew, sausage, jerky, etc.) and taken to the freezer. (Ed. note: This would also be a good time to date the packages, in order to avoid that "How long has this been in here?" question.)

All our game is packaged likewise.

The entire process for one large deer from the initial skinning to the freezer stage takes the two of us about three hours, about the same amount of time (if not less than) it would take us to drive to and from the nearest town, purchase our groceries and put them up.

Game cookery

There are a variety of recipes available for all game meats but I've found these three books invaluable: North American Hunting Club Wild Game Cookbook, Wildlife Harvest Game Cookbook, edited by John M. Mullin and especially, The Bounty Of The Earth Cookbook, by Sylvia G. Bashline.

Live comfortably and eat well by trying the wild side!