A Moose can run up to 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour).

 

 

 

 

A Mule Deer can run up to 35 miles per hour (56 kilometers per hour).

 

 

 

 

A Snowshoe Hare can run up to 27 miles per hour (43 kilometers per hour).

 

 

 

 

A Grouse can fly between 25-50 miles per hour in the open.

 

 

I would call them fast – for woodland creatures. But never did I think I would call them food – until the first Thursday of June.

On this balmy evening, wife Elaine and her team were chaperoning a UBC Student Orientation dinner at the hillside home of Dr. Cheryl Holmes and husband Denis. These two are avid hunters – I can only imagine what their freezer looks like?! Game night was on the menu for the young doctors-to-be and special guests.

I was a late invitee tasked with one assignment, sous chef to grill master Denis. Plum assignment, until I saw the trays of raw meats headed to the hot grates. Here’s the roll call – Moose burgers, Mule Deer steaks, and Grouse legs. Say what?! Where’s the regular beef?! The Snowshoe Hare was already cooked and shredded into a green salad with raspberries. Burp – this was going to be a gastric night to remember. At least there were plenty of certified doctors in the house.

 

 

Denis put the burgers and steaks on flax buns. The bird legs flew solo. I delivered the cooked entrees to the kitchen with waiter-like precision. Dig in. None of the students or guests seemed to balk. It was feeding time and the buffet line was slow and congested with plate-filling.

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s my Jimmy Flay culinary review – with 5 taste buds being excellent and 1 taste bud being not-so-excellent:

Moose burgers – chewy, rich, decent flavor……..4 taste buds

Mule Deer steaks – chewy, kinda gamey, limited flavor………2 taste buds

Snowshoe Hare in salad – chewy, middling-to-decent flavor…………3 taste buds

Grouse legs – tinyish, dry + muted, did not taste like chicken…………..1 taste bud

Who’s game out there? Send me your own call-of-the wild reviews and preferences.