Hunters who take groundhogs this summer can turn them into a meal for the table.
Photo from Pixabay
You want outdoor extras? We’ve got outdoor extras.
Gear of the week
Gear name: Bear Creek 2
Company: Mountainsmith (www.mountainsmith.com/)
Gear type: 2-person tent
Product description: The Bear Creek 2 is a freestanding tent offering 30.5 square feet of interior space. It’s got one door that’s covered and then some by a rain fly with a vestibule for keeping muddy boots out of the tent, but out of the weather, too. It has a bathtub floor, no-see-um mesh walls and ventilation windows. The guylines and stake-out points are reflective to keep you from tripping after dark.
Available options: This comes in three- and four-person models, too. The Bear Creek 4 comes with a divider – or “rear panel closet door” – for storing additional gear.
Suggested retail price: $134.99.
Notable: The tent comes with its own footprint. It’s possible to use just that and the rain fly to make a sun shade or, if you’re an ultra-light backpacker, a sleeping shelter that doesn’t actually rely on the tent itself.
Tip of the week
When it gets really hot in summer, bass like shade as much as anything else. Looking for them under docks along the riverbank or lakeshore, beneath downed trees and other sun-blocking cover can be productive, especially during the middle portion of the day. Try finessing a jig around that structure. Just be sure to get as far back into the cover as you can.
Recipe of the week
Woodchuck stew
Ingredients
- 1 woodchuck
- 2 onions, sliced
- ½ cup celery, chopped
- 2 potatoes, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Clean the woodchuck, removing the glands, and cut into chunk-sized pieces. Soak overnight in a solution that’s equal parts water and vinegar, adding a little salt and one chopped onion, too.
Drain and wash the next day, then parboil for 20 minutes. Drain that and cover the woodchuck with fresh water. Add the other onion, carrot, potatoes and celery. Salt and pepper to taste.
Cook until tender, then thicken with flour.
