Why yes! Yes, I do!
I can't believe that I haven't written about this yet or shared these pictures!
Back in December Thomas was invited to go on an elk hunt here in Indiana. There is a gentleman, introduced to us by a mutual friend, who owns and operates an elk ranch; he supplies elk to hunting clubs. He needed to thin his herd, and Thomas was invited to help. Eler Beth was allowed to go along, and she had a blast.
Thomas came home with a bull elk, nearly 700lbs. field dressed. I had only had elk once before, and it was a roast prepared by someone else. I remembered that I didn't dislike it, but I didn't remember anything that special about it. Everyone kept telling us that it was better than deer, which we found hard to believe.
Well, we are now believers! Elk meat is the tenderest, juiciest, melt-in-your-mouth best meat that I have ever eaten! He is making arrangements to go on another elk hunt toward the end of summer. I'm sold! I expected that I'd have to do something special to the meat because it was such a big bull, but there was absolutely no wild flavor and no toughness at all. Thomas said that the meat was actually tearing as he was skinning it. I cooked it just as I would venison or beef, and I rarely, if ever, even do anything special to them (you know, like marinade overnight or something).
We are mounting the head, of course.
Following are some pictures of the bull elk, post-kill, so if you are squeamish or against hunting, you may want to move along, if you haven't already, although the pictures aren't gross or anything. I just don't want to offend anyone.
