About the author Mike Bolton is a lifelong outdoorsman and outdoors editor o The Birmingham News since 1986. He has won numerous awards in that position, including the Governor's Award as Conservation Communicator of the Year. His package ol stories on the quality of water in Alabama lakes was named as the top investigative story of the year by the Alabama Sportswriters Association in 1991 and was chosen as one of the Top 10 investigative stories in the nation by the Associated Press. Bolton's firstbook, The CompleteAlabamaFisherman, which was released in 1990, has become the handbook for fishermer in Alabama. It is now in its second printing. Bolton's expertise in outdoors writing comes from experience. In January, 1992, he won the prestigious Buckmasten Classic, the top deer hunting event in the nation. He is alsc believed to be the only angler to have caught fish from ever) public lake in Alabama. Bolton has fished in Alaska and Mexico and has hunted in Mexico, Colorado and all across the southeastern United States. His favorite hunting state is Alabama, however and his biggest thrill is cooking Alabama wild game for his family and friends. Bolton is married to the former Elizabeth Rae Shryock, of Enterprise, and they have two children, Cory and Lauren. They live in Argo in St. Clair County where they can watch deer, wild turkey, rabbits and quail in their backyard. The Boltons are active members of First Baptist Church of Springville.

Here Are Some Great Recipes

Pan Roasted Mallard Breast in Cherry Sauce | Roast Duck With Wild Rice Dressing Barbecued Mallard on the Grill  | Roast Duck  | Deep Fried Turkey | Simple Baked Turkey Breast Smoked Turkey Breast on the Grill  | Venison Mop Creamed Dove Breast | Dove Shish Kebobs | The Art of Venison Sausage Safe Deer Handling | Venison Mixed Gill | Grilled Fish in Scales  Fried Quail | Crock Pot Venison Barbecue | Eddie Salter's Fried Turkey Fingers | Eddie Salter's Turkey Salad | Mike Bolton¹s Backstrap Jerky | Rocco and Aleria¹s Oven Dried Jerky

Pan Roasted Mallard Breast in Cherry Sauce I had never been much of a fan of duck until I found this recipe. It gives duck and exquisite flavor • A Mallard duck breast • Black pepper • 2 cups cherry preservers • 1 cup balsamic vinegar • 1/2 cup brown sugar • Lawry's Seasoning Salt • 1 table spoon peanut oil Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly season the duck with seasoning salt and pepper. Bring skillet with peanut oil to high heat. Place the breast skin-side down in the pan and cook until golden brown. Drain the fat. Turn the breast over, place in the oven and continue cooking to medium doneness, about 12-15 minutes. Place vinegar, cherry preserves (jelly) and brown sugar in skillet and stir well. Cook until reduced by half. Ladle this over cooked breast before serving Back to Top |Back to Recipes Roast Duck With Wild Rice Dressing • 1 duck Giblets • 1 cup wild rice • 4 tablespoons margarine • Salt • Black pepper • Seasoning salt • 2-ounce jar pimentos • 2-ounce can mushrooms • 2 tablespoons chopped green pepper • 1 celery stalk, chopped • 1 medium onion, chopped • 1/4 cup chicken broth • 1 apple • 4 strips bacon Soak dressed whole duck in salted icewater overnight. Cook giblets in chicken broth until tender. Cook rice in I quart of boiling water; drain. Melt margarine in large skillet and add all ingredients, including giblets. Simmer 5 minutes. Remove duck from salt water and wipe bird dry. Salt body cavity and stuff 1/4 apple into neck of cavity. Stuff cavity lightly with dressing. Lay bacon strips across breasts. Wrap bird in aluminum foil and and bake at 325 degrees for 3 hours. Back to Top |Back to Recipes Barbecued Mallard on the Grill • I mallard, dressed • 1/2 cup salad oil • 1/4 cup lemon juice • 2 cups barbecue sauce of choice Mix salad oil and lemonjuice and brush on duck inside and out. Pour 1/4 cup of barbecue sauce in cavity and brush throughout. Brush remaining barbecue sauce on outside of bird. Place bird in foil-lined bread pan and place on the grill. Cook over slow coals until done throughout. Check for doneness with fork. Mike and Beth Bolton Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Roast Duck • 1 duck, dressed • 2 apples • 1 orange sliced • 1 12-ounce jar sweet and sour sauce Soak duck overnight in chilled salt water. Boil 20 minutes in salt water. Peel apples and chop. Stuffbody cavity with chopped apples. Place orange slices on breast and hold with toothpicks. Cover duck with sweet and sour sauce. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake at 275 degrees for 3 hours. Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Eddie Salter's Fried Turkey Fingers • 2 filets from one wild turkey breast • 2 eggs, beaten • 1 cup of milk • Flour • Salt and pepper, to taste • Vegetable oil Cut breast meat into fingers and soak in mixture of milk and beaten eggs for 1 hour in refrigerator. Remove and salt and pepper to taste. Batter in flour. Heat vegetable oil until right before it smokes. Fry fingers quickly on both sides so they don't lose their moisture. Eddie Salter, Brewton Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Eddie Salter's Turkey Salad This is where Eddie Salter's turkey legs, thighs and other dark meat end up. • Dark meat pieces of wild turkey • 1 medium-size jar pimentos • 1 tablespoon sugar • 5 eggs, boiled, chopped • 1 bell pepper, diced • 1 stalk of celery, diced • 1 small onion, diced • 1 cup mayonnaise • 2 salad pickles, diced • Salt and pepper, to taste Boil turkey pieces until done. Scoop off top layer of broth and save. Allow turkey pieces to cool, then debone. Chop meat into pieces and add all ingredients except mayonnaise and broth. Add 1/2 cup broth and stir in desired amount of mayonnaise. Eddie Salter, Brewton Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Deep Fried Turkey • 1 wild turkey breast • Vegetable oil to fill fish cooker Heat oil in cooker until paper match laying in oil on the bottom of the cooker bursts into flames. Slowly lower breast into cooker and cook until outside is dark brown. Unbelievably simple - unbelievably good! The late Ben Rogers Lee, Coffeeville Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Simple Baked Turkey Breast • 1 turkey breast • 1 stick of margarine • 2 apples, unpeeled • 2 large onions, peeled • 2 stalks celery, whole Melt margarine and give turkey breast a good rubdown Place on rack in roaster. Place apples, onions and celery on rack. Add I inch of water to roaster. Cover and place in oven preheated to 500 degrees. Cook 1 hour and turn oven off and leave overnight. Do not open door. Mike and Beth Bolton Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Smoked Turkey Breast on the Grill • 1 turkey breast • 2 cups white vinegar • 2 cups red wine • Garlic salt to taste • Seasoning salt, to taste • Hickory chips Soak hickory chips in water at least 24 hours. Dip breast in cold water and sprinkle with garlic salt and seasoning salt. Place pan filled with vinegar and red wine under rack on one side of covered gas grill. Light opposite burner and place hickory chips on rack above fire. Place turkey breast on side with no fire, meat side up. Cook on low heat for 6 hours. Mike and Beth Bolton Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Venison Mop I liberally mop this mixture on all venison that I cook on the grill. The flavor is unusual and spectacular. It's especially good on venison kabobs. • 3 cups olive oil • 1 cup Moore's Marinade • 1 table spoon garlic powder • 1/4 cup Tone's Steak Seasoning or Montreal Steak Seasoning (dry mixture of spices) • 1 table spoon fresh thyme • 1 cup Dijon mustard • 1 table spoon dried oregano • 1 cup lemon juice Place Tone's Steak Seasoning, fresh thyme and oregano into blender and cut into a fine powder. Add olive oil, Moore's Marinade, Dijon mustard and lemon juice. Puree for several minutes to thoroughly blend oil and other liquids. Brush this mixture onto grilled venison. It may be necessary to blend again as olive oil separates from other liquids. Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Creamed Dove Breast • 15 dove breasts • 1/2 cup flour • 2 chicken bouillon cubes • 1 medium onion, sliced • Salt and pepper to taste • 1/4 cup whole milk Salt and pepper dove breasts. Flour and brown in oil in skillet. Remove dove and drain on paper towel. Pour excess oil from skillet. Add flour to remaining skillet drippings to make gravy. After paste begins to brown, add water to desired thickness. Add crushed chicken bouillon to gravy. Put doves back in pan with gravy and top with onion. Ad milk and stir. Cover and cook over low heat for 1 hour Back to Top  | Back to Recipes Dove Shish Kebobs This a recipe we picked up in Station de Santa Engracia, a small Mexican town in the state of Tamulipas, while whitewing dove hunting several years ago. It was intended for whitewing dove Paloma ala blaca, as the natives call it but it works just as well for mourning dove. We substituted Dale's Seasoning for Worcestershire sauce • 15 doves breasts, filleted • 8 slices of bacon • 5 medium onions, quartered • 1 pound fresh mushrooms • 3 bell peppers • 1 pound cherry tomatoes • 1/4 cup cooking sherry • } 2 tablespoons Dale's Steak Sauce • 1/4 cup white vinegar • 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt Marinate dove breast halves in cooking sherry, Dale's, vinegar, and garlic salt overnight. Save mixture. Wrap each dove half in 1/4 slice of bacon, Place dove, onion, dove, bell pepper, tomato, dove, mushroom, dove, in that order, on skewers and place on grill sprinkle with seasoning salt. Brush often with remaining marinade Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Safe Deer Handling After killing your deer, you need to field dress it from the tail to the neck as soon as possible so bacteria won't spread through the rest of the meat. If it is warm weather get bags of ice and put in rib cavity as soon as possible. If the temperature is in the 40's or colder, transport direct to processor as soon as possible. The cleaner the deer is, the least trim you throw away and Bacteria don't spread thru deer. •Deer Cube Steak Seasoning •1-cup Sugar •1-teaspoon Garlic Powder (heaping teaspoon) •1-teaspoon Onion Powder (heaping teaspoon) •Mix and put in shaker •Sprinkle on steak like you would salt, then flour and fry. BIlly's Deer Processing Highway 31 South Saginaw, AL 663-2936 Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Venison Mixed Grill •1/2 - 3/4 pound venison loin steak •1 onion cut into large chunks •1 cup italian salad dressing, divided •1 zuchinni squash, cut into •1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt •strips •1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning •6-8 small carrots •1 Baking Potato, cut into large strips •6-8 mushrooms •1 turnip cut into large chunks •6-8 cherry tomatoes •4 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese •1 bell pepper, cut into strips •salt and pepper to taste Place venison steaks in a bowl and pour 1/2 cup Italian dressing over and marinate for one hour. Pierce potato with fork and microwave at high for about five minutes (or until partially done.) Cool slightly and cut lengthwise into four wedges. Microwave turnip for three to four minutes and cut into chunks. Any other vegetables can be precooked in microwave to make vegetables all be tender at the same time. Cut all vegetables into chunks or strips and place on broiler pan or grill. Mix one teaspoon Italian seasoning with 1/2 cup Italian dressing. Brush on all vegetables. Broil or grill four inches from heat for five or six minutes. Drain steaks and sprinkle with garlic salt. Add steaks to grill and turn vegetables. Brush vegetables with dressing again. Cook five to six minutes. Turn steak and vegetables. Sprinkle vegetables with Parmesan cheese and cook for five or six minutes more or until venison and vegetables are done. Be sure not to overcook steak; over cooked venison becomes dry and tough. Season with salt and pepper as desired. two servings. Tip: Use vegetables of your choice to vary mixed grill and to make more seasonal. Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Grilled Fish in Scales This is a good recipe for heavy-bodied fish, such as big red fish, and easy to prepare. All you do is fillet the fish removing two tenderloins, but leaving the scales on. Place the fish in a shallow baking pan, scale side down, and pour two 16 oz. bottles of Kraft's Zesty Italian Dressing over the fish. Cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least eight hours. When you get ready to cook, fire up the grill (charcoal or gas). Drain the fillets reserving liquid for basting as it cooks. Salt and pepper the fish lightly. Then rub one teaspoon of liquid smoke into each fillet with your hands. After the grill has been lit for about fifteen minutes, place fish over coals about eight inches from the heat, scale side down. Then cover the grill and let fish cook. Check every five minutes or so and brush with reserved marinade. When fish has turned opaque and begins to flake apart, it is done. Dish up with a spatula, the meat scoops away from the scales very easily. Serve with dirty rice, coleslaw, and hush puppies. Toby's Fishing Guide Service 4233 Wood Glen Trace Orange Beach, AL 36561 (251) 979-0265 Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Fried Quail Denise Ducati-Davis makes some of the best Fried Quail ever tasted. This melt in-your-mouth delicacy of quail is prepared in a timeless fashion and has been served countless times here at Dapady Ranch. Ingredients: •8 cleaned and dressed quail (whole or halved) •Salt and pepper to taste •2 cups cooking oil •1 1/2 cups self-rising flour •1 cup buttermilk Rinse Quail in cold water and season with salt and pepper. Pat dry with paper towel. Heat cooking oil to 400 degrees in electric skillet. Dredge birds in flour, then buttermilk and again in flour. Place immediately in hot grease (turn only once) Cook 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Remove and drain on rack. Keep warm in oven while you make gravy (the real secret) Serve with cheese grits and biscuits. Enjoy! Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Crock Pot Venison Barbecue •1 small venison roast •Pinch of dill •1 large onion, quartered •Salt and pepper, to taste •2 packages Lipton •Barbecue sauce of choice •Onion Soup mix •Brown sugar •4 strips bacon •Pinch of fennel Wrap roast in bacon strips and secure with toothpicks. Place in crock pot. Add onion soup mix, fennel, dill, salt and pepper, garlic salt and onion. Fill crock pot half full of water, cover, and cook on medium heat until the meat will pull off the bone easily. Allow to cool until you can handle meat. Remove meat from bones and place in baking dish. Cover with barbecue sauce and sprinkle on brown sugar. Woody Ward, Union City, GA. Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Mike Bolton's Backstrap Jerky 1 backstrap 1 bottle Dale's Steak Seasoning 1 cup brown sugar 1 teaspoon paprika Garlic salt, to taste Onion salt, to taste Coarse black pepper, to taste Cut backstraps with the grain in strips 6 inches long, 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch thick. Mix 1 bottle of Dale's, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon paprika and sprinkle with garlic salt and onion salt to taste. Mix well. Marinate strips in this mixture all day. Remove strips and save marinade. Sprinkle strips with coarse black pepper to taste. Pour marinade into pan in smoker. Allow coals to burn down and drape strips over racks in smoker. Smoke 8 hours. Back to Top  | Back to Recipe Rocco and Aleria's Oven Dried Jerky 1 venison hindquarter 3 cups Dale's Steak Seasoning 2 tablespoons black pepper Cut venison into strips of desired length and width. Marinate all day in Dale's and Liquid Smoke. remove from marinade. Pepper to taste. Place rack in oven at highest level and remove all other racks. Place aluminum foil in bottom of oven and curl edges to catch drippings. Run a toothpick through venison strips 1/4 inch from end and hang from rack allowing toothpicks to catch on rack. Put oven on lowest setting and block open oven door 1-inch. Dry jerky overnight. Rocco and Aleria Lorino, Birmingham Back to Top  | Back to Recipe

From Mike Bolton's Preparing and Cooking Alabama's Wild Game. This guide to cooking all wild game found in Alabama is available by sending $10, plus $2 shipping and handling, to Wild Game Cookbook, Seacoast Publishing, P.O. Box 26492, Birmingham, AL 35260. Mike Bolton's books are also available at Bookland, BooksaMillion and Amazon.com