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Elk Camp Meals

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Elk Camp Meals

Postby GoGriz1234 » 08 02, 2020 •  [Post 1]

With the season fast approaching I am getting ready to prep and freeze camp meals for a week. We will be car camping for the most part, so we can carry a good amount of food and kitchen supplies. With that said, what are you guys prepping and taking to eat at camp? I was just thinking I might try pre-cooking and then vacuum sealing and freezing pizzas for the trip this year - what about you all?
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby saddlesore » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 2]

I tend to eat what I eat at home. There is a big chance in diet change can wreck the digestive system. Two things in elk camp are important. A good bed and good meals

Fajitas,Tacos, Enchiladas, Rueben sandwiches,pinto beans fixed with diced ham, chile, tomatoes, and spices. Green chile stew, spaghetti, Breakfast is always hash browns , eggs, sausage,(I usually buy the Jimmy Dean pre cooked). Sometimes cold cereal or oatmeal.

Most of those takes about as much time as defrosting frozen meals and heating them.I won't eat out of plastic bag.
Slow days ,I have two dutch ovens and I may make a cobbler or another desert and might cook up a camp stew.

Lunches are snacks like granola bars, protein bars, fruit pars, jerky,trail mix,peanut or cheese crackers, candy bars.Take some tortillas, peanut butter and jelly. Spread them on a tortilla,roll up and stick in a ziploc. Two of them will give you almost 800 calories and a good supply of carbs too
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 3]

Man, I've gotta swing by Saddlesore's camp if I ever get down thataway… some fine camp chow right there!

For our basecamp meals (about half of our 2 1/2 week elk hunt is out of a basecamp) pretty much consists of the following: Pre-cooked and frozen meals (vacuum sealed in bags that can be heated up in boiling water) - spaghetti sauce, chili, stew, sloppy joes, lasagna; I make/freeze enough of these to last a couple of meals for two guys for each entre. Of course, these are made with elk or venison, depending on what's left in my freezer from the previous year. We also each bring a good handful of frozen grilling meats (steaks, pork chops, kielbasas, blue cheese/sharp cheddar/diced onion burger patties) to be burnt on my little gas hibachi. My buddy always brings a few heads of cabbage (keeps much longer than lettuce), and some various shredded veggies to make side salads when we have the time (he makes a mean oil and vinaigrette dressing). Of course, we bring a bunch of taters for our main side with the meat dishes; I cube em up and fry them in a skillets with diced sweet onions. For the 2-3 day backcountry jaunts, we have our freeze dried MH and BP meals at the ready. I pre-pack my day pack snacks in quarter zip locks before I leave for camp so they're ready to just grab and throw in my pack the night before each hunt. Made some of the BL cheese/sharp cheddar/onion elk burgs a few nights ago (pic below)… they sure are tasty and I make em big enough that you can actually eat them like you would a steak (on a plate with a side dish).

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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Indian Summer » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 4]

Does anyone here can? I just bought everything I need to do it but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think it’ll make great camp food. No freezing or refrigeration. No thawing. I have some really good recipes too.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 5]

Indian Summer wrote:Does anyone here can? I just bought everything I need to do it but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think it’ll make great camp food. No freezing or refrigeration. No thawing. I have some really good recipes too.


Dean/WaWhitey cans the heck out of stuff. He's currently somewhere up north doing his work thing but maybe he'll chime in.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Lefty » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 6]

Indian Summer wrote:Does anyone here can? I just bought everything I need to do it but haven’t gotten around to it yet. I think it’ll make great camp food. No freezing or refrigeration. No thawing. I have some really good recipes too.
I do,.. but most of the items I can come on in September so im limited and dont do much.
This year i plan to can 30 gallons of bear bait jam.
My brother use to can lots of venison, disappeared faster than ice cream on a hat day. He made some great chili base and all sorts of salsa,

Hm Habinero bear bait pepper jam,,,, maybe that could slow down the bait consumption
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby saddlesore » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 7]

Another great quick meal is smothered burritos.

Brown1# of ground elk or?
Add 1 can diced chilis with a little chili powder,salt ,pepper,garlic
About 1/2 can of green enchilada sauce in with the browned ground elk , warm the other half can in a separate pan

Warm some flour tortillas ,lay a bed of graded cheddar cheese on each one, spoon on ground meat, chiles in center

Roll each one up and top with more graded cheese and cover the whole thing with the warmed green enchilada sauce. .
You can put them in an oven, but if the meat and sauce is warm and tortillas are warm ,eat it as is.

Two medium sized filled tortillas will do me, but if there are others ,figure about a 1/2 # of ground for each and another can of enchilada sauce
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Lefty » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 8]

saddlesore wrote:Two things in elk camp are important. A good bed and good meals


Rueben sandwiches,
chile,
tomatoes,
Green chile stew,
spaghetti,
Breakfast
hash browns ,
eggs,
sausage,
Sometimes
oatmeal.
might cook up a camp stew.
Lunches are snacks like granola bars, protein bars, fruit pars, jerky,trail mix,

I use to make big bagel eggwiches and granola bars
Vince seems to eat similar to what I do.
I often have a trail breakfast and lunch , and generally only cook in bad weather or if Im fresh in camp. I do a limited amount of cooking Even with a camper Im too tired at night . And while it smells great I dont like to smell like camp, I find it easier to start the generator and microwave dinner :lol:

Lots of nuts.
I like the canned snacks often 2- 3 of those a day
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Sometimes the stew and chilies and spaghetti sauce I make at home, Spaghetti squash noodles Otherwise I have some canned fruit, soups and Dinty Moore for backup , even some SPAM
I like a big mix of peppers with my eggs and will have eggs and pepper maybe with potatoes any time of day

I take lots of what comes from my orchard and garden ; apples, pears, italian plums tomatoes tomatoes cooked squash

This year Ill pre-cook potatoes f
My morning vice is a Rockstar or MtDew
Ill also snack on yellow and red currents while hunting
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Lefty » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 9]

I do want to know what other are doing for pre planned meals
My first elk camp in 91(?) We ate much better than at home, breakfast and supper were incredible and each of us was in charge of one meal. Supposedly the deal was the first one to get a bull wouldn't cook or clean. I killed the first bull,.. still cooked and cleaned because "I had time",,,, in reality I kept looking for ducks
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Billy Goat » 08 03, 2020 •  [Post 10]

my elk crew (varies between 3 and 8, depending on the year) "assigns" group meals in advance.

you pre-cook (usually) your meals and freeze them in gallon baggies. A gallon will feed about 4 hunters.

Thaw them out the day prior.

whoever gets back to camp first starts the burner and puts the meals on to warm back up in a huge (3 gallon??) teflon pan.

my favorite meal of the year is "Jambalaya Hooey". Or thats what my cousin calls it:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/31848 ... ype=Search

is the recipe we follow and it's fanflippintastic. easy to prepare, too. hardest part is finding a couple ingredients (andouille sausage and File (fil-a) powder.

Pro-tip here.... use REAL rice, not minute rice. the minute rice stuff turns to mush on freeze+reheat. regular rice breaks up too, but not near as bad.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Fridaythe13th » 08 05, 2020 •  [Post 11]

You fellas are going to hate me. We base camp hunt and every night is the last super, 3 nights of rib-eyes, smoked pork chops, bacon wrapped chicken, shrimp alfredo, spaghetti and marinated chicken. That this year menu.
I can eat granola bars and trail mix all day but super is good food and a cocktail because I'm on a vacation.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby 7mmfan » 08 05, 2020 •  [Post 12]

I don't have much to add. All of my meals have been stated on here already. Most are pre-cooked and vac sealed/frozen. Pulled out in the morning before we leave so it's thawed by that evening usually. One thing we started doing though is a big fish fry, usually first or 2nd night in camp. Couple of dutch ovens filled with oil and I tempura/panko a bunch of halibut/rockfish/lingcod with some Cajun seasoning, and fry away. Even bring a couple big bags of french fries. Man you stuff that down with a big pile of tartar sauce and I'm in heaven.

Daytime eats are usually snickers, RX Bars, trail mix, and elk jerky. Sometimes I cut up some cheese and elk or bear summer sausage.

We definitely don't starve.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Swede » 08 05, 2020 •  [Post 13]

I do not know what I am doing wrong with camp meals, but I gain weight if I am not very careful. I know I do not pay enough attention to calories or fat content. In camp I eat home style meals even if some is just heated canned items.
When I go out for a remote camp on the mule, it will be Mountain House slime in a sack, jerky, energy bars, candy and nuts. YUCK!
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby 7mmfan » 08 06, 2020 •  [Post 14]

Meals when backpacking or bikepacking are a little bit more of a challenge. I find that getting enough calories is difficult for me. Fat and protein are rarely an issue though.

I recently came across some bone broth soups at Safeway that are quite good. They're an instant soup, in their own little cup. The Thai Coconut soup has 270 calories, 9 grams of fat, and 24 grams of protein. Mix that with some thai chili tuna and you have a high density evening meal that will fill you up and warm you up before bed. They're lighter than slime in a sack as Swede calls it, and in my opinion taste much better. I also picked up some single serving packets of ghee to mix into my oatmeal and coffee in the morning to supercharge my morning meals. Midday snacks/lunch are all the same. RX Bars, jerky, summer sausage as long as it's not to hot.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby N2mywake » 08 07, 2020 •  [Post 15]

We horse pack in. I want to eat comfort foods, I find on an 11 day hunt I stay more mentally sharp if I'm not dreading dinner. We have a soft sided cooler that I've prepped and frozen ground beef, ham, cheese, BBQ(because it's a camp tradition). We eat the BBQ early, the ground beef we mix with Velveeta hamburger helper (doesn't need milk) we all love this with instant mashed potatoes (we eat this 2-3 times). We sink the ham and cheese in the creek when it thaws and we make grilled ham and cheese at least 2x it's very satisfying (just a tip if you vac pack the bread loaves it will stay fresh for a long time ). We also take precooked bacon and can cheese for sandwiches with miracle whip packets. For a horse camp hunt the weight of these things isn't bad and it's very quick and satisfying after a long day.

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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Lefty » 08 07, 2020 •  [Post 16]

7mmfan wrote:Meals when backpacking or bikepacking are a little bit more of a challenge. .

For fat Ill eat lots of nuts and the packets of tuna/salmon if I dont plan to catch fish. But if Im fishong Ill bring olive oil and butter
Lots of freeze dried eggs too

Ill take Bear Creek soups and add more freeze dried veggies and powdered milk
https://www.bearcreekcountrykitchens.com/products?search=page:1
I was on a Boyscout canoe trip, one scout only brought
https://idahoan.com/
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 08 07, 2020 •  [Post 17]

Forgot about the Bear Creek soups, those are damn tasty.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby N2mywake » 08 08, 2020 •  [Post 18]

Lefty wrote:
7mmfan wrote:Meals when backpacking or bikepacking are a little bit more of a challenge. .

For fat Ill eat lots of nuts and the packets of tuna/salmon if I dont plan to catch fish. But if Im fishong Ill bring olive oil and butter
Lots of freeze dried eggs too

Ill take Bear Creek soups and add more freeze dried veggies and powdered milk
https://www.bearcreekcountrykitchens.com/products?search=page:1
I was on a Boyscout canoe trip, one scout only brought
https://idahoan.com/
I eat tuna for lunch each day too. I make a lunch in a quart bag prepped at home (tuna packet, miracle whip and relish packets , plastic fork, cheese crackers, candy bar of choice and some fruit gummies.
Just grab and go each morning

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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby >>>---WW----> » 08 09, 2020 •  [Post 19]

Got't forget some dehydrated Rocky Roads ice cream. YUM YUM!!!!!!!
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby GoGriz1234 » 08 10, 2020 •  [Post 20]

What are your guys dishwashing setups like? In the past I have eaten out of the vac seal bag and then thrown that away for no mess- no cleanup, but it looks like I might need an actual dishwashing setup if I want to eat like some of you.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby N2mywake » 08 10, 2020 •  [Post 21]

we just use a foam scrubber that has soap in the handle for the times we do mess up a pan. we cook on foil alot and use paper plates that we can burn.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby CMF » 08 10, 2020 •  [Post 22]

For base camp we usually do spaghetti, chilli, or chicken dumplings pre-cooked and froze in gallon bags. Also porkchop or ribeye plus a vegetable like green bean or corn on the cob, maybe premade coleslaw or pre-mixed bag salad.
On a road trip this year the wife made taco salad in individual quart ziplocs, just added sour cream, taco sauce and frito/dorito. made a quick easy meal on the side of the road.
we're trying our own backpacking meals this year, but have only tried a couple so far, they are ok, but the meat is not rehydrating as well as a MH. Spaghetti and Chicken Fajita so far.
For dishes, we try to use bags to eat out of or paper that we can burn in the fire. We just use a collapsible water jug with spigot on the edge of a table for the dishes we do have.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Lefty » 08 10, 2020 •  [Post 23]

GoGriz1234 wrote:What are your guys dishwashing setups like? In the past I have eaten out of the vac seal bag and then thrown that away for no mess- no cleanup, but it looks like I might need an actual dishwashing setup if I want to eat like some of you.

Last year I would hunt2 - 3 1/2 days then come home 3 1/3 or 4 days, so most of my food was prepped at home, then meals just needed heating.
Im at hunt camp I'm too tiered to really cook.
Pre made meals, Ill use the generator and microwave for that :lol: That is my best solution.


Ive been on 27 Boyscout camps and 13 LDS girls camps plus who know how many other scout camp-outs with youth. Prep the food at home.take sliced onions and par boiled potatoes for hashed potatoes in burritoes or fried eggs. or even in oil for crunchy nuggets
For individual meals One pot, or one bowl that you dirty that you can cook out of and eat out of.

or no dinnerware meals

Even at school in my shop and classroom I taught students the toughest part of a job is, mess management and clean up. Construction or cooking

At school a local Mexican restaurant gave us big burrito wraps Most of the time free https://www.zomato.com/pocatello-id/los-robertos-mexican-food-pocatello
some pretty great breakfasts can be wrapped up. I sometime for my own use a variety of seasoned bagels of the best sandwich bread and buns you can find


In the camper my wife and I use a 1 quart pot for heating water.


I havent gotten the pan with the finish I want for the RV that I use to cook and eat of. 11 inch outside rim width an 3 inch steep sides sides If Im eating a just add water breakfast like oatmeal and fruit. warm up water in the pot and I have a stainless steel bowl Ill eat out of, just wipe clean with a paper towel


And if the dogs in camp let the dog clean out the cooled pan. :lol:

At scout camp boys we taught the boys to eat up the best they could out of their personal bowl, Use a sop bread biscuit or burrito , lick off their silverware. Wipe down with a paper towel until there isn't any food left, looks clean. At camp they then dipped their personal bowl and utensils in bleach water then hot water rinse.
Im sure there are web pages of one pot meals or burrito wrap meals
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Billy Goat » 08 15, 2020 •  [Post 24]

it was about 105F here today, so I'd planned to cook my elk meals today.

at 4am I woke up thinking about it and couldnt go back to sleep.

so I started cooking dinner for October mid August at 4:30am. Elk hunters are strange peoples.
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Re: Elk Camp Meals

Postby Magic » 08 16, 2020 •  [Post 25]

If we are backpacking in our meals are freeze dried. OK but not award winning.

If we are staying in the camper we eat much better because we have a frig/freezer, microwave, and cook top. Breakfast is cereal or oatmeal. Mid morning, noon, and mid afternoon is sandwiches. Supper is regular cooked meals. Our veggies come from a can but the entrees consist of pork loin, chicken breast, shrimp, roast beef, hamburger steak, soup, stew, etc. that is cooked, vacuum packed and frozen. Caned peaches or pears with cookies round it out. We eat well.
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