California
Turkey hunting may not have the appeal of 100-plus pounds of meat in the freezer and a set of antlers on your wall that mule deer hunting does. Still, the spring season makes it an essential time of year to better prepare yourself for success in the fall. If you found success filing last year’s mule deer tag in the early days of the season, It’s been almost six months since you went on a hunting trip. I don’t mean a day hunt or driving around forest roads to fill a B tag. I mean a real hunting camp out in the wilderness. Turkey season can be a great time to break out all the gear that I’m sure you put away in an organized fashion last fall and make sure everything is still in good working order.
I’m excited to share another Goñi González family recipe with the Mule Deer Foundation, adapted to use ground venison instead of the traditional beef or pork. Growing up, my great-aunt often prepared these albondigas (Spanish-style meatballs) for me, and they quickly became one of my favorite comidas. I would eagerly race home from school whenever I knew they were on the lunch menu.
Oak woodlands are an important ecosystem type for the long-term health and sustainability of our black-tailed deer herds throughout much of their range in Northern California and Southern Oregon. Black-tailed deer need a variety of habitats to thrive, but oak woodlands are one of the most important. Typically, a healthy oak woodland is made up of an overstory dominated by mature oak trees with enough space between them to allow sufficient light to reach the ground. The most common types are white oak, blue oak, black oak, valley oak, or one of several varieties of live oak.
Mushrooms are at once familiar and mysterious. Anyone who spends time outdoors is sooner or later going to run into these fruiting bodies of fungi. For many, mushrooms need no introduction. Childhood storybooks with pictures of toadstools colored bright red with flecks of white are familiar to all. Perhaps equally common are the experiences of a hiker or hunter coming across a mushroom in the woods. Most folks, without any special training, can tell with a reasonably high degree of accuracy if they are looking at a mushroom rather than a plant, and yet I’d venture to guess that many would be hard-pressed to name more than a handful of species.
A promise made by Rachel’s boyfriend to get her the biggest buck she had ever seen. The boyfriend talked a good game and spoke like he knew mule deer. They had gone out enough times that he was considered the boyfriend. The title lacked substance. The man held the position mainly because, he expected to see her every Friday night and because he had a way of showing up and taking over her plans whenever it suited him, but most importantly because he promised her a big buck. Beyond that, he never actually asked her to be a steady thing.
It is my pleasure to welcome our newest hire, Shelby Pollard. She will be our Region 2 Regional Conservation Coordinator helping us implement habitat projects and further our partnerships in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, and parts of South Dakota. Below is more information about Shelby, please reach out to her and welcome her to the MDF team!
This unique venison dish was inspired by the beef tataki and sides of seaweed salad I’ve often enjoyed in sushi restaurants. I wanted to combine them to make a full meal and was very happy with the results!
By: Jack Hennessy Photos by: Jack Hennessy Over the past couple years I have started…
The Mule Deer Foundation (MDF) applauds Senators John Curtis – UT-(R), Tim Sheehy – MT (R), John Hickenlooper – CO (D), and Alex Padilla – CA (D) for introducing the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) in the United States Senate. This bi-partisan Act will allow federal land management agencies including the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to improve the health of our public lands including work on important habitats for mule deer.
As part of our ongoing efforts to protect wildlife and ensure the survival of mule deer, we ask for your cooperation in respecting the winter range closures and restrictions that are in place during their critical winter survival period. Shed hunting is becoming a larger recreational pastime and it can be tempting to go out early especially as the weather gets better. However, the Mule Deer Foundation urges you to wait because now is an important time for mule deer and other wildlife trying to survive the last bits of winter. Late spring is when they are in the worst shape they will be in all year and any extra energy expenditure can be life threatening.
You have just finished a grueling day in the backcountry looking for Muleys. To the west, you see the sun setting. It’s time to make your way back to the truck, so you grab your GPS. You instantly know something is wrong as your thumb goes across the screen. It’s smashed!
Any angler who has visited Minnesota or talked with a Minnesotan knows those folks are fanatical about their walleye. Transplants in the state might argue marble eyes don’t put up a good fight and aren’t even that great-tasting, that they’re bland and nowhere near the flavor of say, for example, trout.