Charcoal Smoked Venison Burger Recipe

Last week I asked some of our Twitter followers to submit their own recipe for the ultimate "Man Burger," this is one of two I will be posting.

Derek Kapa is a Michigan based graphic designer, outdoorsman, and family man.  I chose his recipe first of all, because he was one of the first to respond, but also the recipe is so simple you could almost teach your dog to do it!

 Step 1: Take fresh ground venison, form into patties roughly .5" thick and 3.5" - 4" in diameter, making sure you don't pack them too tight.

Step 2: Season both sides of the patty with your favorite seasoning.  I like Montreal steak seasoning, but salt and pepper works just fine.

Step 3: Take your thumb and make a small indentation on the side of the patty facing up and fill indentation with Worcestershire sauce. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes before grilling.

Step 4:  Grill using charcoal and grill directly on grate, high-heat (450F+).  For Rare grill 3-4 minutes per side. For Medium - Medium Well 5-6 minutes per side.  Do not squeeze patties with a spatula.

Step 5: Serve each burger on toasted kaiser or sesame bun with your favorite garnish, I like to serve with roasted sweet potato fries or a side salad.

By: Derek Kapa

October, Fishing and Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer awareness month. To many, it will mean Halloween, the opening of deer season, maybe a vacation. For me, it’s 31 days of unforgettable memories of what fishing meant to my mom. It was her therapy.

Big or small, her eyes lit up with each catch. In her darkest time, her biggest battle was being fought. Each fish gave her simple joy, as she battled cancer. Fishing was her time think about anything except treatments, medicine, or her chances of survival.

Fishing means a lot of different things to each of us. To her, it was the escape that led to the escape of a disease she bravely fought each day. Each cast was another chance to win.

Her passion of fishing burns inside of me everyday. Call it an addiction, or what have you, but I like to call it honor. Mom’s last words to me were, “Always make sure your boat matches your truck.” Yes M’am.

Mom never seen me win big, or my son catching his first fish.

So, next time you hit the water, relish that moment, enjoy your time to escape, and don’t take it too seriously. Support Breast Cancer awareness. You never know, you just might help someone win.

By: Jason Baggett

What We Listen To: Noah Gundersen - David

Noah Gundersen is an indie/folk artist from the Pacific Northwest and this song is called 'David'.  He's been putting music out for nearly 10 years so we're a little embarrassed to admit we only recently stumbled upon him.

Festival of the Supermoon and Lost in the Woods

I had been invited to a small festival in celebration of the supermoon. The “festival” was set to be at a small community outside of town, surrounded by mountain and desert. I’d never been invited to something so hippyish in my entire life, so I was very interested and strangely excited to get to be a part of it.

I received some spotty directions and told my friends that as soon as I wrapped up work I would head straight over. My freedom was granted around eightish. I quickly shoved my work things into a backpack, hopped on my motorcycle and after about forty minutes I found myself in a foreign land with dirt roads. I was told that shortly I should see an “unmistakable” pull-out containing my friend's souped-up El Camino. Once there I would find a lone trail and I would follow that trail till I heard the sound of drums.

The directions seemed incredibly iffy to me, especially the bit about following the drums. When I reached the El Camino I took the first trail I saw and followed it for about twenty minutes. Evidently there had been more than just one trail, in fact there were about three trails. The first two I took led me wandering down in the complete wrong direction. Over an hour went by and just as I was giving up hope a wild skunk appeared. I halfway freaked out thinking that I would get sprayed and halfway wanted to approach it. I had never seen a wild skunk before so I wasn't sure how large they were supposed to be, but this guy looked about the size of an average dog! I ended up hopping over some cactus to get away and upon doing so heard the drum beats that almost seemed to be mythic by that point.

I found my friends and the night progressed well. It was far less hippyish and more peaceful than I was expecting. On the way back we didn't take any trail, we just walked through the desert until we reached the road. I’m pretty sure that trail never even existed.

By: Jonathan Terry