Dove Season and Camp Cooking Tips

 

As most of you know, Dove Season officially started yesterday! Rick tells me that excited hunters have been going in and out of Turner's, wiping out ammo supplies and dove decoys. 

As for us, Rick and I will hit the road Saturday morning to head towards the scorching, hot state of Arizona. A few friends are expected to be there, camped alongside the Colorado River. We will join them and hopefully bring some birds back. It'll be a new experience for the both of us. 

I'm excited, but not for the heat. Preparations are in way to make sure my hunter gets watered and fed, three times a day, along with tons of electrolytes. Since the birds don't wait, making and breaking camp will have to be quick and on the fly. I went to REI tonight, my favorite camping supply store, to pick up some Mountain House freeze-dried food. I know. I know. Freeze-dried food. But trust me, these things don't taste anything like MREs. We thought about cooking, bringing out some coals and a grill, but the backpacker in me urges to go light for trips like this. It's just easier. I don't know about you, but I hate having to unpack and repack the car. Especially in the gosh darn heat.

I bought a package of "Chicken Breasts and Mashed Potatoes" and "Sweet and Sour Pork with Rice." Each bag serves 2, and all you have to do is add boiling water, wait about 15 minutes and it's ready to go! After a long day of fun in the summer sun, sometimes I just don't want to spend all that time cooking and cleaning. Freeze-dried food is a great alternative. I've been eating this stuff for years, when I used to backpack a lot, and have never had a bad experience. (Except when it's expired. Then it's bad.) We'll let you know how we like those two dinners.

Soto OD - 1R Micro Regulator

Backpacking stoves are also great when you want to go light. They may be a bit on the pricey side, compared to your regular ol' Coleman stove, but I believe their a good investment. Especially if you're into the kind of hunting that requires lots of travel, backpacking stoves are light, space saving and easy. We will be taking and testing the MSR WhisperLite Internationale, along with the Soto OD - 1R Micro Regulator with us. The MSR model takes just about any kind of fuel, good of international travelers, and the Soto OD model has been dubbed the world's lightest stove. It literally fits in the palm of your hand, and comes with its own built-in starter. We'll come back with the verdict.

GSI Outdoors Bugaboo

Another important element of feeding yourself out there is having decent cook-ware. We bought this a couple months ago at REI, and will finally get to use it this weekend. It is the GSI Outdoors Bugaboo Backpacker Camping Cookware Set. Since getting Titanium-ware is out of our budget, we decided to settle on this. It comes with one non-stick frying pan, one non-stick pot, 2 cups, 2 bowls, a straining lid, a pot gripper and it all fits together inside a bag that also doubles as a wash basin. This set received good reviews, so we're going to give it a whirl.

Obviously, I can tell you more about camping than hunting. Rick will have to take care of that. This weekend will be my very first hunting experience, ever. I feel kind of anxious. (I hope I don't accidentally shoot anyone...) But, the important part is to just get out there, watch and learn from what others are doing and just enjoy the adventure. Still, it would be nice to actually take something down...

Stay cool, everyone! Drink tons of water and plenty of Gatorade. See you back in the kitchen! (We haven't decided whether or not we want to cook this Sunday.) 

Oh! And happy Labor Day weekend! Ya'll go out and have fun. The heck with work!