Freezer filler ideas

[mdwest]

Another option is a combo flounder/crab gigging trip on the TX coast.. A guide is pretty inexpensive.. each person can take 5 flounder and there are no limits on crab..

the last time we did this, my wife, youngest daughter, and I limited out on flounder... and I cant remember how many total crab we got, but it was an outrageous number.. we were eating crab for the entire next year (may have been 60+ blue crab)..

we went in October.. the weather around Galveston is great that time of year... the water was clear.. and we had a blast...

 

[Angelo_orygun]

My two cents - wild pigs can be hit or miss depending on where, time of year and what’s on the ground. Sure is fun though, especially in TX!!

My vote would be cow Elk, or Nilgai and certainly some whitetail this fall. Be a well rounded freezer!!

 

[mdwest]

Not a super cheap option... but a definite freezer filler..

Hunt New Zealand..

Bag a bull elk... take a fallow deer.. maybe a red stag..

You can bring meat home from New Zealand.. nothing to it at all.. freeze the meat.. put it in a cooler.. seal the cooler... fly home... its that simple..

We just brought a ton of elk and red stag home a couple of weeks ago... we're actually having elk filets tonight for dinner..

I thought for sure either someone at the Christchurch airport or at LAX when we re-entered the US would give me some sort of grief... but it didn't happen...

No paperwork necessary at all... just hand the cooler to the lady at the check in counter and have her check it as one of your bags.. and then recover in the US... when the customs guy asks you "whats in the cooler?" you tell him "lots and lots of delicious game meat"... he'll respond "wow! cool!" and send you on your way

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

You’ve always got wade fishing in the bays along the gulf coast. I normally make a trip or two each year with a few buddies splitting the cost of fuel and beer.

You’ve got exotics in Texas. I grilled some deer Sausage, Nilgai and Oryx (NM) steaks this past weekend for my girlfriend and a few buddies, and the consensus was hands down oryx. Everyone preferred the oryx hind steaks over Nilgai backstraps cooked and seasoned the same way. If I decide to hunt any exotics I’ve been told an Oryx needs to be on the list.

Stripes Bass & Blues should start migrating along the New England shoreline here pretty soon.

Spring Bear seasons are coming in out west.

Alaska’s halibut and salmon fishing should be kicking off shortly. I brought multiple years worth of fish home a few years ago on a 6 or 7 day trip. I think between 2 of us we each had 150-180lbs

 

[pilar]

It’s super cheap and fun to make a tuna fishing trip/ meat haul to Mexico
We always go Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday, come back Friday
With a 100lbs box of yellow fin per person

 

[RESERVE RANCH]

I occasionally offer management hunts for a variety of species. Currently offering broken horn Scimitar Oryx Bulls at $3750 for 2 days all in - guide, luxury accommodations, meals and open bar. A few have only one broken so you could mount as is or have taxidermist repair plus outstanding table fare. Will offer some Red Deer hinds this Fall as well.

 

[mdwest]

I occasionally offer management hunts for a variety of species. Currently offering broken horn Scimitar Oryx Bulls at $3750 for 2 days all in - guide, luxury accommodations, meals and open bar. A few have only one broken so you could mount as is or have taxidermist repair plus outstanding table fare. Will offer some Red Deer hinds this Fall as well.

Definitely post those hinds up here when you decide to let them go… we might take you up on one…

My wife took a red stag in New Zealand… we have been thoroughly enjoying the meat…

 

[RESERVE RANCH]

Definitely post those hinds up here when you decide to let them go… we might take you up on one…

My wife took a red stag in New Zealand… we have been thoroughly enjoying the meat…

Will do, it’ll be later this Fall.

 

[RESERVE RANCH]

I occasionally offer management hunts for a variety of species. Currently offering broken horn Scimitar Oryx Bulls at $3750 for 2 days all in - guide, luxury accommodations, meals and open bar. A few have only one broken so you could mount as is or have taxidermist repair plus outstanding table fare. Will offer some Red Deer hinds this Fall as well.

If you come in the warmer months, you and Miss Tina can enjoy swimming in the Nueces River or relaxing by the pool when not in the field!

 

[shootist~]

Nilgai for sure.

We had Chicken/(Nilgai) Sausage gumbo for Sunday lunch.
Leftover Nilgai burgers

for lunch yesterday. And it's tacos tonight (Nilgai again).

And they make a nice mount.

 

[gizmo]

Sir we’d love to have y’all. You could hunt and fish and bring home plenty of table fare.

 

[Greffdog]

It’s super cheap and fun to make a tuna fishing trip/ meat haul to Mexico
We always go Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday, come back Friday
With a 100lbs box of yellow fin per person

Is this a charter or do you have your own boat?

 

[Safari Dave]

He has to have his own boat.

Charter trips are now running $2,500/day, plus gas, plus tip...



I used to keep a boat in Venice, LA.

My 26 foot center console with twin 225's couldn't keep up with the million dollar Freeman's running 4 - 400 HP engines.

Those charter captains could each fish 4 oil rigs before I could make it out of the mouth of the Mississippi.


Now, I'm trying to figure out my next move...

Anyone in the market for a 25 year old Regulator???

 

[BGGMKLR]

At least once a week, Tina and I have wild game or fish for dinner. We have pheasant, quail, deer and some locally caught fish currently in the deep freeze, but last week she said "Our wild game supply is running low, what are we going to do?".

So I find myself casting about for ideas.

There are Bison hunts that would certainly fill the freezer with top quantity table fare. Cow elk hunts would be equally fine eating. A southern hog hunt would be fun, but an outfitter should be carefully selected so as not to end up in a "Pig in a Poke" situation.

I've considered Gizmo's Rockin G Ranch, the Comstock Lodge, and a few others

What type of hunts would be fun, inexpensive and add a large quantity of meat to my larder?

...and yes, this is the same gal that 5 years ago said "I don't want any guns in the house"!

Define "inexpensive".

At least once a week, Tina and I have wild game or fish for dinner. We have pheasant, quail, deer and some locally caught fish currently in the deep freeze, but last week she said "Our wild game supply is running low, what are we going to do?".

So I find myself casting about for ideas.

There are Bison hunts that would certainly fill the freezer with top quantity table fare. Cow elk hunts would be equally fine eating. A southern hog hunt would be fun, but an outfitter should be carefully selected so as not to end up in a "Pig in a Poke" situation.

I've considered Gizmo's Rockin G Ranch, the Comstock Lodge, and a few others

What type of hunts would be fun, inexpensive and add a large quantity of meat to my larder?

...and yes, this is the same gal that 5 years ago said "I don't want any guns in the house"!

Define "inexpensive" for us.
One man's filet is another man's ground round.
Cheers
Spike

 

[pilar]

Is this a charter or do you have your own boat?

We charter a 25-30 foot panga/ center console boat , a split it up between 2-3 guys
Boat = $500 per day
Room = $220
I forget how much the fish vacuum packing for a 100lbs cost , but it’s Airline ready flash frozen in a box
So about $800 per person excluding food and drinks total

I don’t fish Venice La anymore, the captains basically kidnap you to fill up their boat @ about $300 - $400 per person before they get back to the lodge, lol

 

[Greffdog]

We charter a 25-30 foot panga/ center console boat , a split it up between 2-3 guys
Boat = $500 per day
Room = $220
I forget how much the fish vacuum packing for a 100lbs cost , but it’s Airline ready flash frozen in a box
So about $800 per person excluding food and drinks total

That’s really reasonable. I’m in Houston so might have to bug you for more info about this someday!

 

[Green Chile]

As an alternative, if you are anywhere near DFW, I’ve got a chest freezer full of late season whitetail burger and summer sausage. I’m the only one here that eats it and I would happily donate a large amount to you.

 

[coreydb]

Don't know where you live, but in Pennsylvania there is a great-and I mean great hunting ranch with the lowest prices for hunts. It's the Stonebridge Hunting Preserve. I'm a repeat hunter there and their buffalo prices may very well be in line with your budget. Check them out on the web.

 

[Mtn_Infantry]

We charter a 25-30 foot panga/ center console boat , a split it up between 2-3 guys
Boat = $500 per day
Room = $220
I forget how much the fish vacuum packing for a 100lbs cost , but it’s Airline ready flash frozen in a box
So about $800 per person excluding food and drinks total

I don’t fish Venice La anymore, the captains basically kidnap you to fill up their boat @ about $300 - $400 per person before they get back to the lodge, lol

That's pretty reasonable. I've done the Venice deal and it was 3x that

 

[skydiver386]

Define "inexpensive".
Define "inexpensive" for us.
One man's filet is another man's ground round.
Cheers
Spike

Fair enough.

Driving anywhere within 2,000 miles, less than $300 per night lodging, and tags less than $5,000.

A cow Elk, cow Bison or Nilgai is easily less than that, and most cull hunts also.

I have no problem going well above this, especially if it's a mixed bag hunt, with several species, plus bird hunting and fishing available. Whitetail I can and do hunt in my home State of Ohio, but that's the only large animal available.

What I'd like to avoid is a $10-15,000 bull Elk hunt type of thing. I already have 2 hunts planned this fall, including Red Stag and Chamois in Romania. Problem is, I don't think the U.S.D.A. will let one single scrap of that wonderful Red Stag into this Country as raw meat. This leaves my freezer empty, and my annual hunting budget spent.

Tina is pretty hardcore for a gal, but when I asked her to go on a horseback hunt in New Mexico for Mule Deer, she was all in.....till she found out it was tents, no showers, and only baby wipes for a week. She wants a bed, showers, food and a way to do laundry other than creekwater and a few rocks. She is a 62 year old woman that has had one hip replaced, and is in need of another hip replacement, so I can't blame her.

I count my blessings having a gal like her, so I'm trying to make it fun for her, filling the freezer, and staying within a reasonable budget.