Author: Kathy Dumalski

There are many ways to prepare wild game, and for the best recipes, I turn to Hank Shaw, author of Hunt, Gather Cook, and most recently, Duck, Duck Goose. Using Hank’s duck sausage formula, this mushroom cap recipe was a huge hit with extended family on Turkey Day – even those who purportedly “don’t like gamey tasting meat.” An email from my husband’s cousin said everyone is requesting, “those duck balls” again as Christmas Day appetizers. So I guess the mushroom caps (or duck balls) will be making an encore appearance. Ingredients 3 pounds duck meat 1 pound pork fat…

Training Gundogs When people ask me, “what kind of dog is that?” I usually reply, “a bad dog.” They’re obviously not inquiring about my dog’s temperament, but wanting to know the breed. My dog Wolfe, is an “Augie” –a hybrid of a Welsh corgi and Australian Shepherd. And while this working dog is supposedly a “designer dog”, he was immediately moved to the clearance shelf when his first owners dropped him off at a county shelter at just a couple months old. And I can see why after he ate a brand new pair of Marc Jacobs pumps, two pet…

The period between November 1 and January 29 truly is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s not the gathering of friends and family around absurdly large meals whose leftovers are still big enough to feed a small village in a third world country (although I’ll admit, that’s nice too). And it’s not the allure of 70% off department store sales or the prospect of being stampeded by thousands of your own countrymen when the doors all open at 5 am the morning after Thanksgiving like they were opening the gates at the running of the bulls in Spain…

Back in August I published an interview with one of the co-founders, Brian Ophus, as part one of a three part series on our veterans who hunt. This is part two. Meet Kurtiss Lamb, a retired US Army SGT who last year had the deer hunt of his lifetime courtesy of a unique non-profit organization whose sole purpose is to help disabled veterans return to the field – to hunt. During combat, severe damage was done to his right arm and shoulder. Kurtiss used to be right handed. Because of his injuries, Kurtiss had to learn to shoot his rifle…

Dream if you can a courtyard…an ocean of violets in bloom…animals strike curious poses…they feel the heat…the heat between – POP! POP! POP! Ah yes. Dove season is upon us again. And in case you haven’t already heard, California’s DFW has posted new rules and regs stating there will be NO BAG LIMIT on Eurasian collared-doves this season – statewide. Season lasts September 1 – 15 and from the second Saturday in November extending for 45 days. Now, if you’re an avid dove hunter this is BIG news. If you’ve ever asked a wing shooter how their dove hunt was,…

There are an estimated 21.5M veterans alive today, and of them, 3.5M are disabled. Thanks to both private and public programs, more of them are finding ways to get outdoors to help them heal both mental and physical wounds. Many chapters among the national organizations, like the National Wild Turkey Federation and Ducks Unlimited, hold special raffles for wounded warriors, or set aside specific hunting days just for disabled veterans. Many states also offer special Disabled Veteran hunting licenses that allow them to shoot from their vehicle. And of course I’m sure you’ve heard of the Wounded Warrior Project that…

In the winter of 2008, when most “Angelenos” were packing their fur-cuffed Ralph Lauren ski coats and boarding flights to snowy destinations where they would lounge by roaring fires and sip hot coffee and Bailey’s Irish Cream, I was standing in line at TSA in a water-proof double-lined “Duck Blind” patterned jacket in the stifling 80 degree heat waiting to check a 12ga. at the Jet Blue terminal in Burbank. This was my first time flying with a gun and apparently the Burbank TSA agents’ first time checking a gun. You don’t see a lot of hunters out here in…