While it is true that slugs are consumed by some animals and even humans in certain cultures, it is crucial to understand the potential risks associated with eating them. Some slugs may carry parasites, which could cause serious health issues if ingested. One such example is the rat lungworm, which has been found in some slugs and snails, leading to severe infections in those who consume them without proper handling or cooking.

To ensure safety, it is important to know the correct preparation methods if one is to consider eating a slug. Cooked properly, slugs can be a unique addition to one’s culinary experience. Still, it is essential to weigh the risks and make informed decisions before consuming these slimy creatures.

Is It Safe To Eat Slugs?

Slugs and snails belong to the same family. However, while eating snails is very known around the world, slugs are more associated with garden pests than a choice for a meal. Similar to snails, there are risks and dangers associated with consuming slugs, but they also have a significant nutritional value.

Risks and Dangers

Before you consider adding slugs to your diet, it’s essential to understand the potential risks and dangers they may pose. Slugs can carry parasites and bacteria that could be harmful to humans. One such parasite is the rat lungworm, which can cause severe neurological disorders and even death if ingested. To reduce the risk of ingesting these parasites, it is crucial to cook slugs thoroughly before consumption.

Another concern is the potential consumption of toxic substances that slugs might have ingested. Slugs often consume decaying plant matter and various garden pesticides. These substances, if ingested by a human, can have detrimental effects on their health.

Nutritional Value

While there are risks associated with eating slugs, they do contain some nutritional value. Slugs are high in protein and low in fat, making them a potential alternative protein source for those looking to diversify their diet. However, it should be noted that the nutritional content of slugs may vary based on their diet and environment.

The nutritional value of slugs may not outweigh the potential harm they can cause, so it would be wise to consider other protein sources before resorting to slug consumption.

Preparing Slugs for Consumption

Befor slugs can be consumed, it is essential to prepare them correctly to avoid any risk of infection from parasites like Angiostrongylus cantonensis, which can be carried by some species. Here are some guidelines to how to choose the right slugs and some cleaning and cooking methods suitable for slug consumption.

Choosing the Right Slugs

When selecting slugs for consumption, always opt for those found in a clean environment free from pollution or pesticides. Be cautious of small, high-risk carriers, such as flatworms, which might be carrying nematodes like A. cantonensis. It is wise to avoid consuming wild slugs due to the potential risk of parasites and infections.

Consider sourcing edible slugs from a reputable supplier or grow them in a controlled environment, ensuring a hygienic and parasite-free habitat. This lowers the risk of infection and ensures the slugs are safe to eat.

Cleaning and Cooking Methods

Before consuming slugs, it is essential to clean and cook them properly. Follow these steps to prepare slugs for consumption:

1. Cleaning: After choosing the appropriate slugs, rinse them thoroughly under running water to remove dirt and debris. Soak the slugs in a saltwater solution for about 30 minutes to help remove any mucus and parasites present. Rinse the slugs again in fresh water to remove any traces of salt.
2. Cooking: Cooking slugs is crucial to kill any potential parasites and make them safe to consume. Boil the slugs for at least 15 minutes to ensure they are cooked through. After boiling, some people prefer to remove the slug’s skin and discard any internal organs. While this step is optional, it can improve the texture and taste of the slugs.

Different cooking methods can be used for preparing slugs, including:

• Pan-frying: After boiling and cleaning, pan-fry the slugs in a little oil or butter over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes on each side, until they develop a golden-brown color.
• Grilling: Place the boiled slugs on skewers and grill them over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes, turning occasionally until they are evenly cooked.
• Stewing: Combine the boiled slugs with vegetables, herbs, and spices in a pot or slow cooker. Cook the mixture over low heat for several hours, allowing the flavors to meld and the slugs to become tender.

Remember to always exercise caution when consuming slugs, ensuring proper cleaning and cooking techniques are followed to minimize the risk of infection from parasites.

Cultural Perspectives on Eating Slugs

Historical Usage

Eating slugs has been a part of human diet in some cultures throughout history. In certain Native American communities, slug consumption has been documented in holistic approaches to American Indian texts. These texts describe the use of slugs as a source of nutrition and their role in traditional food practices. It’s essential to consider the historical context when discussing the consumption of slugs, as different cultures and communities have varied perspectives on this practice.

Regional Beliefs

In some parts of the world, consuming slugs is an accepted practice, while in other regions, it might be considered uncommon or even taboo. For example, some communities in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, where slug species are abundant, have been known to include slugs in their traditional diets. The methods of preparation and consumption may differ between regions, but it is clear that slugs have been and still are a part of some communities’ food culture.

On the other hand, in Western cultures, the idea of eating slugs may seem unappetizing or even repulsive to some. Due to the slimy texture and appearance, many people might not view slugs as an appealing food choice. However, it is crucial to recognize and respect that different cultures and regions have their unique reasons and traditions surrounding slug consumption.

Randy Haines of Amery was bowhunting recently when an antlered buck walked near his tree stand in Polk County.

He drew his bow, took aim at the deer and released an arrow, which found its mark.

The events to this point were similar to thousands of other hunting stories in Wisconsin this fall.

But when Haines recovered the animal, he noticed something different.

The young buck had a whitish rump patch and a black tip on its tail. Its facial markings, too, were not something seen on most whitetails.

It was a mule deer, a species found in the western U.S. and parts of Canada and Mexico.

The closest established population of wild mule deer to Wisconsin is found in central South Dakota, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Haines contacted the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and told them about his kill. Conservation wardens and wildlife biologists with the DNR confirmed it was a mule deer.

Haines acted legally in shooting and tagging the animal. He now has one of the most unusual Wisconsin hunting tales of 2015.

The big question is: Where did the muley come from?

Is it a wild deer that traveled from the western U.S. into Wisconsin? Or is it an escapee from a captive facility?

Escapes from deer farms are especially concerning for the health of Wisconsin’s wild deer herd.

If you’re looking at probabilities, a wild mule deer has never been documented traveling 600 or more miles on its own power from its native range into Wisconsin.

On the other hand, animals escape from Wisconsin deer farms or shooting preserves at least several times a year.

State wildlife officials weren’t drawing any conclusions Wednesday.

“At this point, we really don’t know where (the mule deer) came from,” said Bob Nack, DNR big game section chief. “It’s not something we see every day, that’s for sure.”

Nack said the DNR had received reports in recent weeks of a mule deer being sighted and captured on trail cams in northwestern Wisconsin.

So when the kill was reported, it wasn’t a complete surprise.

Conservation wardens inspected the dead buck and found no signs of ear tags or other markings typical of a captive animal, Nack said.

Tissue samples were taken from the mule deer and submitted by the DNR for chronic wasting disease testing.

The deer was not aged by the department, but is thought to be 11/2 to 21/2 years old. It had relatively small, forked antlers and its body appeared to be in good condition.

White-tailed deer, along with their bigger relatives elk (about 200 animals) and moose (a dozen or so), are the only members of the deer family typically found in the wild in Wisconsin.

But a few mule deer have been documented over the years in the Badger State, including one that was killed in 1988, according to Kevin Wallenfang, DNR big game ecologist.

And in 2011, a Vernon County resident sent trail cam photos to Nack that showed what appeared to be a young mule deer.

In was not determined in either case, however, whether the mule deer were wild or escapees.

Could a mule deer walk from its native range to Wisconsin?

If it did, it would have to pass through Minnesota, which has no established mule deer population, according to Pete Takash, fish and wildlife information program leader for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Depending on where they live, some mule deer do migrate, said Kent Hersey, big game project leader for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

Hersey said typical mule deer movements are 5 to 10 miles between winter and summer ranges, with the extremes being 0 and 100.

Hersey, a native of Pennsylvania, said Wisconsin doesn’t feature typical mule deer habitat.

“I’ve never heard of a mule deer east of the Mississippi River,” Hersey said. “But in some wildlife, a young male will do surprising things.”

Hersey also said this: “You never can discount it being a release from a captive facility.”

Wisconsin has about 500 captive deer facilities. The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection on Wednesday did not provide information on the number of facilities in Wisconsin that have mule deer.

But at least some shooting preserves have captive mule deer and allow paying customers to kill the animals.

Deer Haven Acres in Adams offers mule deer hunting on its fenced shooting preserve, according to its website. And Huntingtripsrus.com advertises mule deer hunts at unspecified locations in Wisconsin.

As chronic wasting disease continues to spread across Wisconsin and other states and provinces in North America, wildlife health advocates are advising increased scrutiny on deer farming practices and regulations.

So a young mule deer several hundred miles out of place isn’t just a novelty that draws interest on hunting chat rooms.

It also raises alarm bells with those concerned about the future of Wisconsin’s wild deer resource.

“I’ve lived in this area my entire life, and I’ve never seen or heard of a wild mule deer here,” said Dave Clausen, a retired veterinarian and former chairman of the Natural Resources Board from Amery. “Maybe we’ll start to see a whole herd of them. Or more likely, it was an animal that escaped. Hopefully we’ll be able to find out.”

Deer farmers are required to report escaped animals. No such reports were available Wednesday.

State wildlife officials didn’t rule out the possibility of it being a wild deer.

“You don’t expect a mule deer in Wisconsin, but when it comes to wildlife, nothing surprises me any more,” Nack said.

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When you see someone participating in an air rifle shooting competition, you may notice that they are wearing a particular type of clothing. This clothing is not just for show – it serves a specific purpose that helps the shooter to be successful. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at why air rifle shooters wear suits and how it helps them to improve their performance.

What’s with the funny outfits in the Olympic shooting?

The first reason why air rifle shooters wear suits is for support. The jacket and pants are usually made from a stiff material, such as canvas, which helps to support the shooter’s body and minimize movement.

This is important because small body movements can have a significant impact on the accuracy of the shot. The shooting jacket and pants also have rough material on contact points, such as the elbows and shoulders. This helps keep the muscles from getting tense while holding the gun.

Another reason why air rifle shooters wear suits is for consistency and accuracy. The shoes that shooters wear have very stiff, flat, oversized soles, which keep the feet from moving.

Lastly, the gloves that shooters wear help to protect their hands from getting blisters or calluses from holding the gun tightly for an extended period of time.

Rear more >>> What is the fastest FPS air rifle?

You can listen to Gold medalist Ginny Thrasher explaining more here:

Most of us that read waterfowl articles in magazines dream of the wild hunts on massive grain fields teeming with thousands of geese and ducks. But what about the guy or gal that does not have a trailer full of high-end decoys, access to thousand-acre fields, and cannot afford expensive calls? There are plenty of hunters out there itching to call in their own birds, and see wobbling gray and black bombers with feet down, and hear the grunt of the honkers as they cruise within range with cupped wings. All of us want to yell, “Take em!” as we bust out of our layouts, dropping geese.

The good news is that any of us can live that dream with some planning and effort, even without access to big feeds and hundreds of decoys. In fact, fields less than 100 acres that are located in a daily flight pattern near water are killer locations, particularly later in the season. Throw in two-dozen decoys, a flag and a few layouts and you are in business.

Lighting the Flame

A few seasons ago my daughter and I were trying to do a little duck hunting on a tributary of our local river in Virginia. A farmer granted us access to a makeshift boat ramp at the end of the fields. Our duck hunting was a bust due to lack of birds, but we noticed a few small flocks of geese regularly passing over the scattered 50-acre grain fields that we dragged our boat through each morning going to and from the water.

When we stopped to pay the boat ramp access fee to the farmer, I left a “thank you” note commenting about how we noticed Canada geese flying over the fields, and how none of those birds came near our blind or the part of the creek we hunted.

A week later when we were leaving the same property the farmer stopped us and asked if we wanted to try to put a dent in the flock of geese to help save the crops. We could hardly contain our excitement, and promised to not tear up the fields—and insisted on continuing to pay the access fee.

Location Is Paramount

Since we lucked into that field to hunt, we have since started gaining access to other small, but similar fields. When looking for productive fields, we start scouting in the fall when geese filter in from the north. We use an online topo/satellite map and our online GIS maps for our local counties to locate farm fields near water sources around the Chesapeake Bay watersheds. These can be large swamps, ponds, large creeks, rivers or small bays. Smart hunters know Canada geese will roost on the water and then feed after the sun gets up.

Once we locate potential properties near where we live, we try to scout them before approaching the farmer. Binoculars are helpful. We watch for flight patterns to determine which properties the birds tend to fly over on a regular basis when going to feed and roost. Again, we focus on small fields under 100 acres that geese have flown over on a regular basis. They don’t necessarily have to feed in the small fields, but there should be some beans or grain of some sort for them to eat if they did land in the field.

While other hunters are hitting the large fields and putting in a lot of effort and time with dozens, or even hundreds of decoys, we are going light with two-dozen or less decoys and pulling down our limits right along with the big shots with all their equipment.

Hiding Is Everything

Since we are on a budget, we carefully select two-dozen field decoys of various poses, a few layout blinds from a box store retailer and a flag for motion. While it would be nice to get the top-of-the-line gear, we make do with what we can afford and make a point to take care of it to make it last. One of the things we do with our layouts is gather up stubble from the fields we are hunting a few days before and very thoroughly brush our layouts. We also take a few trashbags and rake up stubble from the ends of the fields and use it the day of our hunt to “feather out” the profile of our blinds and our dog blind too. It is critical to blend the blinds in as much as possible.

Steve Purks, a friend and self-taught goose hunter, explained how critical this was to us.

Geese that arrive in Virginia or Maryland after Thanksgiving when our season opens are wary and have been called to and shot at.

When we place our decoys in the field, we face a majority of them into the wind while leaving a hole for the birds to land in our kill zone; another trick we learned from Purks. We watch how the birds react to our set up and make changes as necessary. Sometimes we need to open the hole if the birds seem hesitant or sometimes we change the direction the decoys are facing if the wind shifts. Purks is always checking conditions and analyzing his spreads when we hunt with him and I keep a close eye on what he is doing and ask a lot of questions to learn as much as I can.

Next, we use the terrain to our advantage. A few rows of corn were left standing in one of the fields we hunted last season. We backed our blinds up to that hard edge and made them all but disappear. While the geese did not want to land right on our blinds, they did come in close enough for us to get our shots. We have also placed our blinds in spots that were slightly lower than the rest of the field. Doing so helps the layouts disappear and we have our decoys all around the layouts to blend in. Fencerows or hedgerows are great for this if the wind is correct for the setup of decoys. Birds won’t land if the wind is blowing towards the hedgerow; it leaves too little time for the birds to get down in the decoys. Hunters need the wind blowing away from the hedgerow for a good setup.

Last, we use inexpensive calls, but they work. We use them sparingly, mostly for getting the attention of the geese from a distance and a little grunting as they pass over. We flag the birds when they are coming off the water and heading to the bigger fields nearby. By being in the flight path, we get their first looks and then work hard to peel off birds and get them curious before they even make it to the larger fields. All it takes is a few to commit and come on down for us to get our shots and watch the dog work!

One last tip is to be in place early whether it is a morning or afternoon hunt. When the birds go to feed you want to be in place when they start flying or they will see birds landing a half-mile away and keep following them. Be at the front of the flock when they come over and work those birds.

Small Investment, Big Rewards

Hunting small fields on a shoestring works for several reasons. First, the geese sometimes get wary of the larger fields and large spreads of decoys and they begin to look for something different, something a bit more secure. Sometimes the group of birds will peel off the big flock looking for food. Being in the flight path, carefully positioning our decoys and layouts by using and considering the terrain in the field, and calling sparingly but using a flag to attract their attention, really makes a difference for us. We don’t need to purchase a trailer load of high-end decoys or spend hundreds of dollars on a lease and expensive calls to get our limits. It works, and we spend far less money and time setting up to have our fun.

Nightcrawlers are common earthworms that are found around the world. Rather than overspend for live nightcrawlers at a fishing supply store, you figured you’d try catching your own. Where can you find nightcrawlers to use as fishing bait?

To catch nightcrawlers, seek out a crop field or a garden with tilled soil. You can even check your own backyard. In daylight or nighttime, dig a few inches deep into the soil and it should be wriggling with live worms. That will especially be the case after it rains.

This guide to catching nightcrawlers will be chock full of information that any aspiring angler should keep handy. You’ll learn where to find nightcrawlers, how to get them out of the ground in large quantities, and how to keep them alive so you can use them as live bait later. Keep reading!

Finding Nightcrawlers – Where to Look

The Lumbricus terrestris or common earthworm-which is also known as the nightcrawler-may have originated in Western Europe, but today, the worms are anywhere and everywhere across the United States.

That’s why anglers find the prospect of catching their own nightcrawlers so appealing, as they don’t have to expend a lot of effort to track down the worms. Here are some places you can go nightcrawler hunting today.

Your Backyard

Why not start with the most convenient place you could possibly find nightcrawlers, right in your backyard?

Nightcrawlers live in loam soil, which contains 20 percent clay, 40 percent silt, and 40 percent sand. Most soil in the US is categorized as loam, but only you know what kind of soil you have around your property.

If your soil is drier and sandier than 40 percent, then you probably won’t be able to find worms in your yard. Also-although it goes without saying-if your home features asphalt or rocks rather than a dedicated yard, then you’ll also have to venture elsewhere for your nightcrawler hunting.

Just don’t start digging in your neighbor’s yard, as they’re not going to appreciate that!

Crop Fields

If you can’t find nightcrawlers right outback, you can always seek local crop fields. A crop field is a large agricultural area that usually features tilled soil.

Another feature of crop fields is dead debris such as old leaves that nightcrawlers can conveniently feast on from the safety of the tilled soil.

However, if you don’t know who the crop field landowner is, you won’t want to hunt for nightcrawlers. You could get in possible legal trouble for entering someone else’s property and technically defacing it. Ask for permission first or find yet another place to dig for nightcrawlers.

Gardens

Gardens are packed full of soil, and if that soil is loamy, then you already know nightcrawlers will be there.

As you work in your garden, you’ll want to dig strategically to avoid upsetting plants, flowers, and trees that are still growing. Try to replace the soil after making holes so your plants don’t tip over due to stability issues.

Parks

You can always find plenty of greenery at your local park. You know what we’re about to say, you can’t dig at a park without permission from the landowner or a parks and rec association at the very least.

That said, you can look under fallen trees or beneath rocks for nightcrawlers since you’re not damaging the soil. You don’t need permission for that.

Almost Anywhere After the Rain

If all the above methods sound like too much time and trouble, you don’t necessarily have to do any of it. You can always check the forecast for the next rainfall. Nightcrawlers come out in droves after the rain, especially if it rains during the evening.

You won’t have to look hard for them, as they’ll be nearly anywhere and everywhere. Check the sidewalks, the surface of the lawn or soil, and rocks and trees. You’ll see plenty of worms.

Fun fact: if you live in an area where rains are rarer, you can always trick the nightcrawlers into thinking it’s raining if you wait until dusk and water your lawn.

We recommend bringing some sawdust when you’re catching worms after the rain. The already-slippery insects will become even harder to grasp thanks to the moisture of the precipitation. Using sawdust gives you a better grip on the nightcrawlers.

Plus, the rumor is that that the worms don’t like the texture of the sawdust so they’re more eager to pop out of their holes.

How to Get Nightcrawlers Out of the Ground

Once you’ve seen at least one nightcrawler wriggling about, you can assume that more are in the area. Here are some of the avenues you can use to begin catching nightcrawlers by the dozen.

A Shovel and Bucket

The most old-fashioned method is using a gardening shovel and a bucket. The shovel is for digging into the loamy soil.

As we established earlier, you shouldn’t have to make inches-deep holes to find nightcrawlers.

By removing the top layer of the soil, you should see the worms wriggling. Pull them from the ground (more on this in a later section, so definitely check it out!) and then store them in a plastic bucket.

If you don’t have a bucket, then any similar container should work. The key is to choose a container with tall sides so the worms can’t easily crawl up and over. The container should also ideally have a carrying handle for easy transport.

In the bucket, add a bit of soil and worm food such as dead leaves. This will keep your nightcrawler alive until you get home.

Water

We already talked about this, but water is a very reliable way to get nightcrawlers to reveal themselves, especially if you’re struggling to find any worms.

Why do nightcrawlers like water so much? As worms, nightcrawlers usually stay under the soil where it’s dark and moist because there’s little risk of them drying out. They won’t poke their heads out in bright, sunny weather for that very reason.

When it rains, the worms can finally emerge from underneath the soil while staying nice and moist. The rain also accelerates a nightcrawler’s speed so it can cross greater distances.

As we mentioned earlier, watering your lawn at dusk means that by nightfall, the earthworms should be plentiful.

Worm Grunting

You can also try worm grunting, which is known as worm charming and worm fiddling. This activity is common among anglers who want to catch many nightcrawlers at once. It’s even a competitive activity!

First, you have to create vibrations in the soil. This will bring the worms nearer the surface. Then it’s a matter of catching the nightcrawlers.

Car Battery

If you don’t mind that your nightcrawlers are dead, then you can always electrocute them to the surface using a car battery.

This method is a little harsher than the ones we’ve discussed to this point, and if you do it, you should ensure that the landscape is clear of other living creatures (that you can perceive, anyway), especially those on or in the soil.

You’ll need jumper cables, metal rods, and your car battery. Please wear rubber-soled shoes to ensure your safety as you go about catching nightcrawlers like this.

Take two of the metal rods and insert them several feet into the ground, no deeper than three feet. Then attach your jumper cables to your car battery with the rubber grippers. Connect the other end of the jumper cable grippers to the affixed metal rods.

As electricity generates, the nightcrawlers will immediately spring to the surface to get away from the volts. You can catch them easily from there.

More Tips for Catching Nightcrawlers

Want even more tips to make you a nightcrawler-catching master? No problem! Here’s what we recommend.

Bring a Flashlight for Nighttime Catches

Nighttime is prime time for catching nightcrawlers. After all, these common earthworms are known as nightcrawlers for a reason. At night, when it’s usually cool, the worms will emerge to the surface of the soil. Nighttime is also a period when fewer predators abound.

You’ll need a flashlight to spot nightcrawlers on the ground. You can have a friend or partner carry the flashlight or you can bring it yourself. You can even use your smartphone flashlight, although not if you’re planning to hunt for a while. That’s a great way to drain your phone’s battery!

Headlamps Are Your Friend

Outside of flashlights, it’s a good idea to bring a headlamp as well. After all, once you find the nightcrawlers, how are you supposed to dig them up? You can’t hold the flashlight in one hand and dig with the other hand. It just doesn’t work.

Use Red Light

Nightcrawlers are adept at sensing the light. As soon as you shine a bright spotlight on a nightcrawler-such as from a flashlight or a smartphone-the worm will retreat underground.

To a nightcrawler, light = sunlight, and sunlight = danger, either from predators, drying out, or both.

Nightcrawlers are smart too, in that the one that senses the light isn’t the only worm to hide. Any other worms in the vicinity that might have been poking their heads up will also duck back down. You lose out on a lot of potential catches.

Using red light is the best way to mask the brightness of your light while still illuminating the yard. You can either buy a flashlight or headlamp with a red light or you can tape a piece of red cellophane over the light. You can even put cellophane on a smartphone flashlight.

Tread Lightly

Besides being able to sense light, nightcrawlers can detect vibrations caused by sound as well. If you usually have a heavy gait, it’s worth practicing quieter walking if you hope to be successful in your nightcrawler hunts.

We’re not saying you have to tip-toe here, but you do want to be as light on your feet as possible. If you’re not, the worms will sense you before you ever get close and you won’t see any.

The only exception to this is when it’s raining. It could be that the worms sense the vibrations of the rain falling to such an extent that your footfalls don’t stand out among that sound, but worms don’t react to heavy footsteps as much in the rain.

Wear Light Shoes

Even if you’re stealthy like a ninja, it’s still not a bad idea to wear light shoes when you’re digging for nightcrawlers. Ditch the combat boots, Timberlands, and heavy shoes like them. Wear house slippers (that you don’t mind getting muddy) or shoes with very light soles.

Skip the flip-flops though, as the flopping sound is not going to help you catch nightcrawlers.

Know When and How to Grab

As we said we would, we want to discuss is how to pull nightcrawlers out of the ground. To do so, you’ll have to get good at distinguishing the worm’s head from its rear. The head is what usually emerges first from the soil, which is a helpful hint.

The center of a nightcrawler’s body features a series of rings that allow the worm to have traction in the dirt. Then the other side of the worm is its tail.

When you see the nightcrawler emerge from its hole, grasp your hand around it and begin to pull up horizontally. Vertical pulling could cause you to tear the worm, and then it won’t be very good as fishing bait.

The body will be in the soil at an angle, so pull the nightcrawler at whatever angle it’s situated itself.

Remember to take your time when pulling and don’t use excessive force. Otherwise, you’ll kill the nightcrawler!

How to Keep Nightcrawlers Alive to Use as Live Fishing Bait

We’re assuming that you’re interested in keeping your nightcrawlers alive so you can eventually use them as fishing bait, right? Here’s how it’s done.

Move Your Nightcrawlers to a New Container

The container that will be the nightcrawler’s more permanent home should be full of loamy soil as well as worm food.

Dead debris like vegetables and grass as well as old coffee grounds (that are still moist) are recommended. The coffee grounds are easily ingestible for worms, so don’t be surprised if this is what they start with!

Refrigerate the Worms

Yes, that’s right, we’re telling you to put the nightcrawlers in the refrigerator. We know this sounds weird, but it’s part of maintaining the worms’ optimal temperature, which is between 68 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Keep the Soil Moist

Time will cause the soil to dry out, so every couple of days, you might have to add more water. You should only spill in a few drops at a time.

Add More Food

The nightcrawlers will eventually eat everything you give them, even if that takes a bit. While you’re checking the soil moisture levels, consider adding more food like coffee grounds or old leaves as well.

However, if there’s still food in the container, don’t feed the nightcrawlers yet. You could accidentally feed them too much, and then they’ll die.

If you continue doing the above, you could keep your nightcrawlers alive for weeks. Plan that fishing trip soon!

Final Thoughts

Nightcrawlers are a species of common earthworm that are prevalent throughout the country. You need only look in your backyard for nightcrawlers, although they’re common in crop fields, parks, and gardens as well.

Rainfall remains your most natural way of bringing out the greatest number of nightcrawlers, but you could always shock them out of the ground using a car battery and some metal poles if you don’t mind that your worms are dead.

Now that you know how to find, catch, handle, and keep nightcrawlers, you should never have to shop for live worm bait again!

(Last Updated On: November 5, 2024)

Since I was hunting and harvesting meat in my teens, I was trying to come up with ideas on how to honor and add extra value to the meat I worked for in the wild.

Now 20 or so years later, I still use a lot of wild venison meat cuts for many projects, and often for meat curing and salami making.

I wanted to provide some information about what I cook and use with the various cuts of venison meat. It’s a little different in New Zealand, where I do most of my hunting with an abundance of wild deer and many are semi-farmed also.

I’ve eaten/butchered farmed venison and been able to contrast the differences.

This article relates to both with some generic aspects due to the slight variation in the deer species (ie. fat vs lean meat). In New Zealand we have about 6 species of deer.

We aren’t required by hunting regulations to remove the whole carcass hunting public land, often we are semi-burying the meat or just leaving it for the scavengers.

The most common cuts to harvest and use are the loin along each side of the spine “back steaks” as well as back legs (hind leg). Since this is where the majority of the meat from the animal is.

If you think about most cuts and edible aspects of the deer, here is the framework.

Many cuts and areas of the deer can be used for slow cooking to tenderize. Whilst other cuts like the loin and tenderloin are best for fast cooking methods. The deer’s heart and liver are the best parts for cooking first after the animal is killed whilst the offal is fresh.

I assume you have a basic idea of butchering a deer, since this is about what you can do with the deer meat, including all the major muscle groups and subprime muscle groups.

Most hunters I know will look at mincing a good percentage of the meat they harvest. The other aspect is cubing or dicing the meat for dishes like stews and curries.

How To Use Different Cuts of Deer or Venison Meat

There are so many ways you can look at the muscles and edible parts, to make it simple, the basic categories for how you cook the venison are slow or fast. Then after this, I will look at it from the sections or different areas of the deer/venison animal with some added thoughts.

• Slow Cooking Venison= Often Cooked in a liquid
• Fast Cooking Venison = Often Cooked under Direct Heat until rare to medium done

Slow Cooking Venison

• Neck
• Shank
• Ribs
• Any Meat of the Deer
• Bones for Marrow
• Trotter/Hoof

For slow cooking, I like braising methods, but I’ve always found the ribs hard work since many deer in New Zealand are so lean.

I hunt with just a knife often, I don’t have a bone saw to take bone on shanks or neck cuts. Unless the hunt is on friendly farmers land, where we can drive a 4wd or quad motorbike to retrieve the whole carcass.

Unless the deer is small, often isn’t the case where we hunt locally.

The main deer across wide aspects of New Zealand is the red deer, which is often a large-bodied animal.

If you simmer or slow cook any aspect of the meat, you can break down the muscle fibers with a stew or other liquid-based broth. I’ve found this just takes time and patience. Depending on the deer species and toughness of the meat, after 3-4 hours this can be achieved.

Since there is a lack of collagen or sinew in the loin or tenderloin. These cuts of meat aren’t very successful when slow cooked I have found.

Browning slow cook cuts of the meat will bring the natural sugars to the surface and helps the overall flavor a lot I’ve found.

Fast Cooking Venison

• Heart
• Liver
• Back Steak
• Tenderloin
• Aged Rump (Hind Leg)
• Aged Sirloin (Hind leg)

If you are harvesting a deer, heart and liver are the first and most logical things to eat, as long as they are fresh and not overcooked. They are rich in minerals and can be sliced and fried or cooked on an open fire very easily with a stick.

TIP – Overcooking is easily done with offal, so keep a close eye on it whilst frying!

The tenderloin would be the next option for me, then it would depend on the age and type of deer whether the loin could or would be used, normally aged.

Cooking or Frying a loin until rare done-ness is another way of making it pleasant to eat without aging.

Aging other cuts of the hind leg are often necessary to make it enjoyable and break down the toughness.

Edible Parts of a Deer in Detail

Now I will look at the deer areas and meat sections of the venison/deer.

• Loin (Backsteak)
• Tenderloin
• Hind Quarter (Back Leg)
• Forequarter (Front Leg)
• Neck Cuts
• Offal & Organs
• Ribs

For each of these above categories, I will go into detail based on what I know and what I have used to make food or wish to try in the near future.

If you dry age or wet age different subprime cuts of the front or back legs, you can ‘technically’ get more fast frying or cooking cuts.

Loin (Backsteak)

Options for Venison Loin

• Steak Cuts
• Salt Cured and Hot Smoked
• Dry Cured (Lonza, Lonzino, braesola but with venison)
• Italian Style Biltong Dried (or Cold Smoked)

Lean meat from the area adjacent to the spine.

Depending on the species of the deer, this could be short or long. The diameter may vary somewhat as well. The cut goes from in front of the back leg muscles, right up until the upper neck.

In a fine dining restaurant I was associated with in Scotland, the head chef showed me the technique they used for aged cuts, submerge in extra virgin olive oil with fresh rosemary sprigs and juniper. It was left in the fridge and cooked when needed.

Because the oil protected the meat from oxidation, it was able to be kept for up to 2 weeks and cooked when needed.

Traditional most harvesters and hunters of meat will use this cut for steak. However, it can be used for many salted then possibly cold or hot smoked recipes.

Venison Loin Recipe Links

• Venison Loin with Red Peppers
• Venison Steak Diane

If you need some tips on wet aging steak cuts of venison in your fridge – here is an article I wrote on how.

Tenderloin

Options for Tenderloin Venison

• Fast frying – oil, salt, pepper
• BBQing – direct heat and hot
• Roasting

Very soft meat from a deer, some love it. Some find it lacks flavor, it’s one of the cuts that could be used straight after harvesting to some extent I’ve found. I treat it very similar to the loin, in terms of cooking.

Personally, I like to add some spices and flavor, such as juniper berries, rosemary, pepper, or other hard green herbs.

This a fast fry cut, soft and cooked fast. The muscle isn’t used a lot by the animal, so it tends to have soft intramuscular aspect to it.

Really very similar to the loin or back steak in some ways, maybe some folks can taste the difference.

I do eat sugar and saturated fat, however, they are often used as shortcuts to flavor, in my opinion, I see many recipes where bacon is wrapped around or criss-crossed lean meats. Sure this works, however, cooking rare is my personal preference to taste quality meat instead.

Tenderloin Recipe Links:

• Venison Tenderloin in Blueberry Sauce
• Roasted Tenderloin

Hind Quarter (Back Leg)

• Rump
• Top Side
• Bottom Round
• Eye of Round
• Sirloin Tip
• Tri-Tip
• Shank
• Hind Leg Bone

Here is a very informative article on deboning a hind leg of venison I found online.

Rump, Top Side, Bottom Round, Eye of Round, Sirloin Tip, Tri-Tip

• Roast
• Indirect Hot Smoked
• Aged and Sliced for Steak
• Wet Pickled/Brined and Pastrami Style (Acidic Brine)
• Cube or Mince Meat
• Dry Curing any of these Cuts
• Jerky or Biltong

Either slow or fast cooking can be done with many of these venison hind leg muscles.

Once you have removed the sinew binding between the different muscle groups, there are so many options!

Venison Pastrami has been amazing! I have used a simple portable smoker, as well as a pellet grill smoker for this.

Hot Smoking Indirect, otherwise known as Low and Slow Smoking coined the Modern term, developed from German and Czech-Slovakia early American immigrants. Basically, heat on one side and passing or surrounding meat at temperatures of approximately 200-250°F (with either charcoal/wood or pure offset wood chunks)

I love to make slow cooker stews or many different types of masala-based curry with venison also.

Any venison makes great mince/ground meat. I even did a blind tasting with a bolognese I made with beef mince and venison mince. Since my partner was reluctant to eat venison I harvested when I met her.

Guess what?

She could not taste the difference! Although, I know that based on the time of the year, diet, and species of deer there are a milder or more intense game meats.

The easiest ways to age the rump meat is, ideally hanging the entire hind leg in a chiller or fridge environment for 7-12 days.

Often I don’t have the use of a chiller fridge.

Here is an article I wrote on wet aging venison meat, or another simple technique is to vacpac the cuts, for 1-3 weeks in your fridge (although I don’t like the single-use plastic aspect of this, there are environmentally friendly vacpac bags available).

Summary of Aging Venison

We take the subprime cuts like sirloin, rump, and loin (back steak or backstrap), place them on a non-reactive grill to create distance, then onto a baking tray. It then is wrapped with cling film / cling wrap (which again I am not fond of). The goal here is to have it aging in the normal kitchen fridge.

However, not sitting in the blood or juices that comes off the meat is what ‘spoils’ meat quickly. From what I have learned, the temperature being barely above freezing will also mean the unwanted bacteria growth will be minimal.

Unwanted bacteria on meat is exponential as the temperature increases. This is why from harvesting venison through to any type of cooking or dry curing/salami making. Keeping the temperature as cold as possible is very important.

7-10 days with this method, which we have been using for many years.

Another method that uses too much plastic in my opinion, is vac packing this fast cooking cuts for 2-3 weeks in the back of the kitchen fridge. You can also marinate at the same time using this method as well.

I have also been reviewing a dry aging and dry curing cabinet fridge from the USA. Here is a link to the article I wrote on it, this could be use for dry aging venison.

Main Hind Leg Recipes

• Venison Roast
• Simple Slow Cooker Venison Recipe
• My Biltong and Jerky Article
• Whole Venison Leg Roast Recipe

Shank

One of the toughest parts of the deer, long slow cooking in liquid is the key here.

Definitely slow cooking in liquid is needed for this tough area which is lean and has a lot of connective tissue, the collagen-rich aspects will create a wonderful broth with a few herbs, spices, and vegetables.

It is also one of my favorite parts of the deer!

Hind Leg Bone

Ideal for stock, or a wonderful treat for a dog. On the farm, we would freeze bones, and give the dog a treat every now and then. A frozen bone will give a dog a longer level of enjoyment!

Forequarter (Front Leg)

• Shoulder
• Chuck
• Shank

Options for Forequarter Meat

• Minced Meat
• Cubed Meat
• Deboned, Wet Brined, and Smoked/Cooked
• Dry Cured

Most of the time when we are processing the front leg of the deer, it’s extra labor and takes time to remove a lot of the sinew. If you are hunting the venison, often you have to work around the hole from the bullet (or arrow/bolt).

There is a fair amount of meat, but it takes that extra time to get the tough sinew off from a wild animal.

Once trimmed of sinew, blood clotting, etc, the meat is often in the diced or minced pile. I will highlight below some of my favorite recipes around this.

I haven’t aged any front leg muscles, but I am sure with patience you could get a tender fast cooking chunk or muscle. Generally, I have always cubed or minced the meat from the front leg.

Shank of Forequarter

Same as Hind/Back Leg, slow cooking in liquid is best! The bone can be utilised in the same way, I’ve read that as humans we weren’t really hunter/gathers so much as scavengers who would brake bones for the marrow, tens of thousands of years ago!

Front Leg Recipe List & Links

Any red meat cubed or minced recipe could be used for this meat. It would literally be 10,000s of recipes, just use google.

Same as Hind Leg in some ways, expect more sinew, however.

Neck Cuts

Options for Neck Cuts

You need a bone saw to work through the bone/meat section of the neck, there is meat but of course a lot of bone and connective tissue. This is definitely long slow cooking, again ideally in liquid in my option.

Venison Neck Recipes

• Osso Bucco (shank or neck could be used)
• Neck Braised
• Pressure Cooker

Flank

Options for Venison Flank

• Tenderized and Crumbed (Schnitzel)

A thin cut of meat, often I am not focused on.

Has potential, if you are willing to take the time to extract and trim the flank properly.

Here is a guy on u tube way more interested in flank than me.

Organs and Offal

• Heart
• Liver

Options for Heart and Liver

• Fast frying, Sauteed
• Terrine or set in aspic (using collagen to gelatine to create a jelly structure)
• Crumbed and deep fried
• Liver Pate

Sliced and Fast frying is my favorite method since these are the best fresh and soon after harvesting.

It’s often forgotten about, the offal carries so many minerals and vitamins. The issue is, if it is a wild animal, often there is a penetrating, expanded bullet going through this region.

Now let’s move on to the ground or minced venison in more detail with some more ideas.

What To Do With Ground Venison

• Fresh Sausage
• Hot Smoked Salami
• Dry Cured Salami
• Minced Jerky
• Cottage Pie
• Burger Patties
• Tartar (raw option, Hungarian Style)

Minced meat is a beneficial thing, however when you have minced pork, beef, or other farmed animals of the red meat type. For any sausage or salami, you have to use a minimum of 20% pork fat (because it’s neutral in flavor), I focus on 28-30% pork fat for nearly all my fresh sausage links and salami.

It can be embedded with fat generally speaking, red meat like venison from the wild isn’t. The farmed venison I’ve come across has a minimal amount of fat, apart from the odd animal.

Fat from some certain deer in America, I’ve heard doesn’t taste too nice. I’ve never experienced that though in New Zealand where I hunt.

Pork fat is the neutral flavored fat that is used generally speaking, for sausage, salami, or even burger patties.

Venison meat is lean, but I’ve found cooking with it, basically it is the same as cooking with beef mince, unless you overcook it to the point of complete dryness or if you have cooked it would some kind of liquid to keep the cooking environment wet.

My favorite uses for minced venison is to use it for, sausages, salami, lasagne, cottage pie and many other dishes/recipes.

In some ways minced and cubed venison meat is the most versatile for cooking or making smallgoods like sausages or salami. I often cube the meat and freeze it if I am going to make dry cured salami.

Minced Venison Meat Recipes

• Venison Salami Recipes
• Venison Sausage Recipes
• Minced Jerky Recipe
• Basic Pemmican (Fat, Dried Fruit, Meat)
• Venison Patties Recipe

Biltong

For venison, many different cuts can be used for this basic type of cured and dried product. Unlike jerky, this meat-based snack is preserved, whilst also having a lot of flavor!

I am a big fan of Biltong made from venison, I often used many of the subprime cuts in the hind leg.

I am using salt and often malt vinegar to ‘cure’ the meat, using the salt to inhibit the unwanted bacteria that spoils it. The other preserving ingredient is vinegar, I have used red wine or malt vinegar mainly. Vinegar creates a more acidic environment which the unwanted spoiling bacteria don’t like very much.

The vinegar also has the same effect as cooking, called ‘denaturing’ the proteins. I can’t explain the exact science. It definitely works though!

Here is something I wrote about biltong.

Pickling and Preserving Venison Meat

Canning or preserving venison cubes in a jar are other ways of preserving the meat without refrigeration.

I haven’t tried these methods yet, but have been reading and researching them. Here is some detailed information about it.

You have 2 options, either pressured sterilization with a pressure cooker.

For pressure cooking, there is hot or raw packing, here is an article with a lot more info on this.

Sous Vide

The key to sous vide is all about cooking in a water bath at a precise temperature with little variation. Also, often it’s placed into a vac-packed sealed bag to seal in all the flavor.

I’ve eaten sous vide venison, and you can truly get the precise rare vs cooked aspect you desire. Although, it’s in a way a lot more work, and often using single-use plastic vac seal bags, which I try to avoid.

I have found reusable sous vide bags, they do last for multiple cooks.

Difference Between Wild Deer and Farmed Deer

Most wild deer I have come across are lean, I have heard of deer across USA and Europe that have fat. From my experience fat is more likely with farmed deer, it can also add flavor. I think it goes back to the saying, it is what it eats.

Some of the finest deer I have eaten have been wild animals, with access from the forest onto fertile grass farmland. Which creates more fat development for the red or fallow deer, and the fat was very mild.

An evolution of the legendary Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, Federal’s new Terminal Ascent bullet is a cutting-edge projectile possessing excellent aerodynamics and outstanding accuracy. It offers arguably the most versatile on-impact performance characteristics of all big game hunting bullets.

The short video below shows a hunter taking a Texas aoudad at 600 yards with Federal Custom Shop Rifle Ammo loaded with a Terminal Ascent bullet. Other equipment used: Mesa Precision Arms Rifle, Swarovski Z8 Scope, Silencer Central Banish 30 Suppressor.

Along with factory-loaded ammo for myriad popular cartridges, Federal introduced the Terminal Ascent in component-bullet form. Initial calibers and weights include a 130-grain 6.5mm version with a G1 ballistic coefficient of .532, 136-grain .277 (BC.493), 155-grain 7mm (.586), 175-grain .308 (.520) and a 200-grain .308 (.608).

The Terminal Ascent is basically the fourth generation of Bear Claw-type bullets. Following the original Bear Claw was the composite-tipped, boattailed Trophy Bonded Tip big game bullet optimized for all-around use on deer- to moose-size game.

Third came the Edge TLR, which provided excellent aerodynamics and on-impact performance, but Federal felt it lacked the extraordinary accuracy demanded by today’s extended-range hunters.

Two years of R&D have resulted in the Terminal Ascent, a bullet that shares the ideal impact performance of the Edge TLR and regularly shoots 0.6-inch, 10-shot, 100-yard groups.

Like the Bear Claw, the design features a rear portion of solid copper and a lead front core bonded to the jacket. As a result, no matter how fast it is driven and how close an animal, the Terminal Ascent won’t “grenade” on impact. A good mushroom shape with a generous shank will create a large-diameter wound channel and drive deep—no matter how much heavy bone and dense muscle it encounters.

A boattail enables air to flow around the rear profile with minimum friction and cavitation. A sophisticated heat-resistant, hollow composite tip with a sleek profile further enhances aerodynamics and provides an unparalleled on-impact expansion mechanism.

This composite tip is heat resistant, so it doesn’t erode and suffer reduced, unpredictable aerodynamics like common Delrin polymer may when high-BC projectiles are fired from extreme-velocity cartridges.

Because of the hollow composite tip, which collapses inward on impact and exposes the massive hollow nose of the main projectile, the Terminal Ascent design provides reliable expansion at velocities as low as 1,500 fps—and in many versions 1,400 fps. This means that even when impacting at long range, your bullet will expand reliably and kill cleanly.

To test how easy it is to obtain good handload results with the Terminal Ascent, I assembled 10-round batches for three different cartridges, using an educated guess to pick propellant types and charge weights.

For my Ruger M77 Hawkeye African, I loaded the 130-grain 6.5mm version over 47 grains of Reloder 16 in once-fired Lapua 6.5×55 cases. For the 155-grain 7mm, I loaded a test batch for my .280 Ackley Improved Kimber Mountain Ascent, charging Nosler brass with 59 grains of H4831sc. I loaded the 200-grain .30 caliber version for my Kimber 8400 .300 Win. Mag., charging once-fired, nickel-plated Federal cases with 70 grains of H4831sc.

An all cases I primed with Federal Gold Medal primers. Before seating the Terminal Ascent bullets, I contacted Federal’s tech guru Jared Kutney for some seating-depth advice.

“Terminal Ascent bullets have a secant ogive—some more noticeable than others—but in contrast to standard secant ogive bullets, they do like a little jump. We recommend starting with .050 to .075 inch of jump and adjusting from there. We have found that .060 inch works well for the 6.5mm and 7mm bullets, specifically.”

Following his suggestions but wishing to mix it up a little, I seated bullets in the 6.5×55 test batch .060 inch off the rifling leade but seated projectiles in the .280 Ackley Improved and the .300 Win. Mag. ammo to .050 off the leade.

Three consecutive three-shot 100-yard groups averaged 0.69 inch out of the .300 Win. Mag. Velocity averaged 2,842 fps with a standard deviation of 13 fps. The Ruger 6.5×55 produced superb accuracy as well, averaging 0.77-inch groups for a series of three consecutive three-shot groups at 100 yards. Velocity averaged 3,029 fps with a standard deviation of eight fps.

Finally, I tested the 155-grain 7mm Terminal Ascent in the lightweight Kimber. It has a spaghetti-thin barrel, and it will shoot sub m.o.a. with ammo it likes, but it takes considerably more tuning than heavier rifles.

My handload did not produce sub-m.o.a. accuracy—averaging 1.23 m.o.a. for three three-shot groups—but standard deviation was just 4.6 fps. Average speed was 3,000 fps.

So two out of three of the rifles tested produced sub-m.o.a. accuracy with the first Terminal Ascent handloads attempted—and that was on a day with winds gusting to 15 mph. I’d say that’s downright impressive.

As for the rifle that didn’t, I’m going to work with it. The 155-grain 7mm Terminal Ascent bullet is theoretically perfectly balanced for the .280 Ackley cartridge, and I’m determined to find an accurate load. Judging by the easy accuracy provided by the 6.5mm and .30 caliber versions, I suspect it won’t be difficult.

One other element of the Terminal Ascent bullet line intrigued me. I’m a big fan of the Trophy Bonded Tip bullet and had excellent luck using the Edge TLR in Africa, but I wanted to know more about the AccuChannel grooves around the Terminal Ascent’s shank.

“Solid shank bullets benefit from grooves from a dispersion standpoint,” he said. “Our leading theory is that it makes the bullet more malleable by creating a void into which bullet material can displace when engaging the rifling. The effect is a reduced magnitude of vibration applied to the barrel, and therefore, by way of reduced harmonic reaction of the barrel, a more consistent launch vector from shot to shot.”

There is a drawback, though. “The downside of grooves is the added drag they impart to the bullet in flight,” Kutney said.

However, all grooves are not created equal, and good engineers can minimize adverse effects.

“The AccuChannel provides a smoother geometry from a fluid flow standpoint so as to minimize the drag penalty of each groove,” Kutney said.

How much BC reduction are we talking about? Not much. Comparing the aerodynamics listed for equal-weight Edge TLR and the Terminal Ascent, the more accurate newer version gives up just 1.5 to 4 percent of BC.

I’ve taken a number of animals with Trophy Bonded Bear Claws, Trophy Bonded Tips and Edge TLRs. In every case, terminal performance has been textbook perfect.

Because the Terminal Ascent shares the construction characteristics of its predecessors and adds an unprecedented level of accuracy, it will undoubtedly provide excellent, dependable performance in the field.

Summer is here, and you know what that means: it’s fire pit season. In recent years, backyard fire pits have exploded in popularity, because let’s be honest: what’s better than sitting around a warm fire on a cool summer night while roasting marshmallows for s’mores? Nothing, that’s what. And if there’s one brand that can take the lion’s share of the credit for making home fire pits a thing, it’s Solo Stove.

Solo Stove’s popularity can be attributed to a number of factors. Its fire pits are ruggedly-built, well-designed, easy to use and (mostly) portable. The brand’s trademark smokeless technology actually works, eliminating the most annoying thing about traditional fire pits and bonfires: the smoke that seems to constantly always be in your face no matter how hard you try to escape it.

The Texas-based brand offers a number of products outside of its core fire pit lineup, including pizza ovens, patio heaters, camp stoves and an array of accessories, but when most people say “Solo Stove,” they’re referring to fire pits. But there isn’t just one definitive fire pit made by the brand — Solo Stove makes a number of different models in various sizes to suit different needs and situations. So if you’ve been wondering about different Solo Stove sizes and wondering which of the brand’s fire pits to get, here’s what you need to know.

What All Solo Stove Fire Pits Have in Common

Signature 360° Airflow: This is the defining feature of Solo Stove’s fire pits. It’s a proprietary ventilation system that uses a system of perforations throughout the fire pit to continually feed fresh oxygen to the base of the fire while simultaneously pumping superheated oxygen to the top of the flame. This results in both a hotter and more efficient flame and a near-total absence of smoke.

304 Stainless Steel Construction: Every Solo Stove fire pit, regardless of size, has the same general design made from 304 stainless steel. That makes them extremely durable and resistant to heat, while also keeping them relatively lightweight. Even the largest Solo Stove is technically portable (though you might need some help lugging it around).

Lifetime Warranty: Finally, every fire pit sold by Solo Stove is backed by a lifetime warranty against manufacturer’s defects. And even if your Solo Stove is damaged through your own misuse, the brand will still give you a 50 percent discount on a replacement.

Solo Stove Mesa

• Diameter: 5.1 inches
• Height: 6.8 inches
• Weight: 1.4 pounds

The smallest Solo Stove fire pit is the Mesa, which is designed to sit on a tabletop and stands just 5.1 inches tall on its included stand. But don’t let the diminutive size fool you: this is a Solo Stove fire pit, through and through. It features dual-fuel capabilities, meaning you can use either wood pellets or firewood — very tiny firewood — as fuel. Unlike other Solo Stoves, the Mesa is also available in a variety of colors other than plain stainless steel, including limited-time options that pop up now and then.

Given its small size, this isn’t the fire pit for the family to gather around in the backyard. It’s designed to live on a table, with a warming radius of just one or two feet. It’s ideal for a couple or to add a little ambiance to an outdoor meal.

Solo Stove Mesa XL

• Diameter: 7 inches
• Height: 8.6 inches
• Weight: 2.3 pounds

The Mesa XL is, as you may have deduced, a larger version of the Mesa. It’s two inches wider, roughly two inches taller and weighs about a pound more. But don’t let the “XL” give you the wrong impression. This is still a tabletop fire pit. It differs from the regular Mesa only in size and capacity. The XL holds up to 1,000 grams of pellets compared to the original’s 285-gram capacity, it has a burn radius of two to three feet and its burn time is 45 – 60 minutes rather than 30 – 45 minutes.

If the Mesa seems just a little too dainty for your needs, then you’ll likely be happy with the Mesa XL.

Solo Stove Ranger 2.0

• Diameter: 15 inches
• Height: 12.5 inches
• Weight: 15 pounds

Moving off of the table and onto the ground, we have the Solo Stove Ranger. Solo Stove positions the Ranger as its most portable full-size fire pit, as it’s large enough for a small group hangout but still light and small enough for a single person to easily tote around. As one of Solo Stove’s full-size fire pits, it features the brand’s easy-to-clean removable ash pan and can only be fueled with wood (unless you spring for the pellet adapter). It also includes a carrying case and works with a wider range of accessories than the Mesa, such as the Heat Deflector and Pi Fire Pizza Oven attachment (read our review of the Pi Fire here).

Solo Stove Bonfire 2.0

• Diameter: 19.5 inches
• Height: 14 inches
• Weight: 23.3 pounds

The Bonfire is Solo Stove’s flagship fire pit, and its most popular. In other words, it’s the right choice for most people. It’s large enough to live in your backyard at nearly 20 inches across, but also still light enough to take to the beach or campsite (like the Ranger, it includes a carrying case). It provides plenty of heat for a crowd and features all of the brand’s latest technology, like the removable ash pan. It also, given its popularity, has compatibility with just about every Solo Stove accessory.

Solo Stove Yukon 2.0

• Diameter: 27 inches
• Height: 17 inches
• Weight: 41.6 pounds

The Yukon is the fire pit for party people. It’s by far Solo Stove’s largest, measuring well over two feet across and weighing nearly 20 pounds more than the Bonfire. This means that it’s best suited to live permanently on your patio or in your backyard. Though it is technically portable, there’s no included carrying case and it’s awkwardly shaped and fairly heavy, so you’ll want help moving it. Since it’s the largest, the Yukon of course throws off the most heat of any Solo Stove fire pit, making it best suited for larger spaces and bigger crowds. Like the Bonfire and Ranger, the Yukon is compatible with a number of Solo Stove accessories.

See how to store Chicken of the Woods in 3 simple ways. This will help you harvest a lot and still keep your mushrooms fresh for up to 12 months.

The season for Chicken of the Woods is typically from June to December. At least you can find them growing during this time frame. That means it is available for almost 6 months out of the year.

This means you can find it fresh a lot of the time. But you still may want to have some available the other 6 months of the year to eat as well.

Another thing about the Chicken of the Woods is when harvesting there will typically be A LOT of it.

How to Harvest Chicken of the Woods

You have 2 choices when you find it:

1. Only harvest enough that you can eat in 7 days fresh.
2. Harvest all of it and learn how to preserve Chicken of the Woods so it doesn’t go to waste.

If you choose to leave some just be aware that if someone else finds it then it will be gone or it could dry out before you are ready to harvest the rest of it.

One thing to note is that Chicken of the Woods (laetiporus sulphureus) is completely different mushroom from the Hen of the Woods (Maitake).

Before we get into how to store Chicken of the Woods, lets take a look at how to clean it before you store it…

How To Clean Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

When it comes to cleaning the Chicken of the Woods it really doesn’t change to much from any other mushroom that you want to clean.

The main goal is to get it clean without it being wet for too long. If it is wet for to long the mushroom will start to absorb the water and get mushy.

Cleaning procedures:

1. Trim away any tough or bug eaten pieces.
2. Brush off as mush dirt as you can with a semi-wet mushroom brush.
3. Give it a quick rinse and rub down to get any other dirt off.
4. Immediately dry it completely with a paper towel (gently).

Now let’s take a look at the different options on how to store Chicken of the Woods mushroom…

How To Store Chicken of the Woods Mushroom

The method you choose in storing Chicken of the Woods mushrooms will basically depend on how long you want it to stay fresh as well as how you plan to eat it… Let’s learn more about preserving Chicken of the Woods.

1) Refrigerator

If you plan on eating your Chicken of the Woods within the next 7 days then you could use the refrigerator method.

Storing procedure:

1. Place the Chicken of the Woods mushroom in into a paper bag.
2. Put the paper bag into you refrigerator’s vegetable drawer.

Some people have had them last up to 3 weeks this way but after 1 week you would be pushing your luck.

If you plan to eat it all year round then you could store it in the freezer… Let’s see how to freeze Chicken of the Woods.

2) Freezer: How to Freeze Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

If you plan on harvesting a whole lot of Chicken of the Woods for future consumption then you might want to consider freezing Chicken of the Woods. This is my favorite method!

Storing procedures:

1. Cut up your Chicken of the Woods into half inch shanks.
2. Place as many pieces into a big zip lock bag as you can.
3. Place the bag into the freezer.

This method has been show to keep your mushrooms super fresh for up to 12 months. When your ready to eat them just take them out and throw them onto the skillet (No need to thaw them out first).

They don’t seem to lose their flavor after being frozen so you won’t have to worry about them.

The cool thing about the Chicken of the Woods is that it can be stored without cooking it first. Many mushrooms (like the button mushroom) need to be cooked prior to freezing or they will lose their texture and flavor. This one doesn’t!

3) Drying Chicken of the Woods

If you goal is to use Chicken of the Woods in Soups then you could consider using a food dehydrator to dry out your mushroom.

Drying procedure:

1. Slice your Chicken of the Woods into half inch chunks.
2. Place the chunks all over the dehydrator tray so they are not touching.
3. Set the temperature to low and allow to run for 8 to 10 hours.
4. Place the dried chunks into a sealed mason jar or a zip lock bag and keep in a cool dry place.

If you do decide to dehydrate them then you can later put them in a soup to reconstitute them. If you want to reconstitute them without putting them in a soup then you can soak them in water for 15 – 60 minutes and then strain the water out.

Conclusion

Now you should have the confidence to know how to store this choice edible mushrooms so that you can enjoy it all year round.

This means next time you are out and come across the Chicken of the Woods you don’t have to worry about harvesting more then you can eat because you know that you will have 12 months to eat what you pick.

If you will be eating your mushrooms within the next 7 days you would use the refrigerator method otherwise you would want to use the freezer or drying methods.

Once it is time to cook your mushroom you may be interested in checking out our other article on the top 3 healthy ways to cook the Chicken of the Woods here:

In that article we cover the following healthy recipes:

1. Deep fried Chicken of the Woods
2. Sauteed Chicken of the Woods
3. Chicken of the Woods soup

This meaty textured mushroom is packed with protein, tastes like chicken and is a great substitute for meat. Don’t eat it raw though because it could cause gastric distress. It also has some pretty amazing medicinal benefits.

Thanks for reading and if you have any other ideas on how to store the Chicken of the Woods we would love to hear about it in the comments below!