The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game, Volume 1: Big Game - Paperback

by Steven Rinella (Author), John Hafner (Photographer)

A comprehensive big-game hunting guide, perfect for hunters ranging from first-time novices to seasoned experts, with more than 400 full-color photographs, including work by renowned outdoor photographer John Hafner

Steven Rinella was raised in a hunting family and has been pursuing wild game his entire life. In this first-ever complete guide to hunting--from hunting an animal to butchering and cooking it--the host of the popular hunting show MeatEater shares his own expertise with us, and imparts strategies and tactics from many of the most experienced hunters in the United States as well.

This invaluable book includes
- recommendations on what equipment you will need--and what you can do without--from clothing to cutlery to camping gear to weapons
- basic and advanced hunting strategies, including spot-and-stalk hunting, ambush hunting, still hunting, drive hunting, and backpack hunting
- how to effectively use decoys and calling for big game
- how to find hunting locations, on both public and private land, and how to locate areas that other hunters aren't using
- how and when to scout hunting locations for maximum effectiveness
- basic information on procuring hunting tags, including limited-entry "draw" tags
- a species-by-species description of fourteen big-game animals, from their mating rituals and preferred habitats to the best hunting techniques--both firearm and archery--for each species
- how to plan and pack for backcountry hunts
- instructions on how to break down any big-game animal and transport it from your hunting site
- how to butcher your own big-game animals and select the proper cuts for sausages, roasts, and steaks, and how to utilize underappreciated cuts such as ribs and shanks
- cooking techniques and recipes, for both outdoor and indoor preparation of wild game

Author Biography

In addition to being an expert chef known for working with wild game, Steven Rinella is an outdoorsman, writer, and television and podcast personality with an exceptional ability to communicate the hunting lifestyle to a wide variety of audiences. The host of the television show and podcast MeatEater, he is also the author of two volumes of The Complete Guide to Hunting, Butchering, and Cooking Wild Game; Meat Eater: Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter; American Buffalo: In Search of a Lost Icon; and The Scavenger's Guide to Haute Cuisine. His writing has appeared in many publications, including Outside, Field & Stream, The New Yorker, Glamour, The New York Times, Men's Journal, Salon, O: The Oprah Magazine, Bowhunter, and the anthologies Best American Travel Writing and Best Food Writing.