Last fall, BHA's Collegiate Program hosted their inaugural Critter Classic: part R3, part stewardship, part wild game cooking competition. Brought to life by Mississippi State University club president, Landon Carlton, the event was an opportunity to get new hunters afield and connect them to hunting through the lens of a local, sustainable, and often overlooked source of food: small game. Points were accumulated for each small game hunter or license, bag of trash packed out, and small game dish submitted.
New and seasoned hunters took to the woods exploring new and familiar tracts of their local public lands in search of rabbits, squirrels, and trash. Gonzaga BHA hunted until sundown when they congregated around a small camp grill to cook up their harvest and share stories from the day. In the end, Murray State University took the title of Critter Classic champions due in large part to all the trash they packed out (11 30-gallon bags to be exact!). Mentors Kevin Murphy and Paul Skees joined Murray State to help make the event a success and club members Zach and Cassandra even harvested their very first squirrels!
What resulted from our first Critter Classic was a day of camaraderie outdoors for several of BHA's college clubs and some killer recipes fit for any small game hunter. Give them a try next time you find yourself hunting some public land critters!
Squirrel Tomato Stew by Matteo Bellazzini (University of Minnesota)
Simple Grilled Squirrel and Rabbit by Gavin Siegel (Gonzaga University)
Peavey's Squirrel Confit by Mississippi State BHA
Smashed Squirrel Potatoes by Murray State BHA
About Kylie Schumacher
Kylie is a self-identified “mediocre hunter, terrible angler, wild game eater, wannabe chef, and dog mom.” When she’s not at the office, you’ll find her in the backcountry, on the water, in the kitchen, or somewhere romping about with her black lab, Holt