Game Banquet

We have been trying to decide how to post this one as it is quite different to what you get back in the UK. But we decided to go ahead anyway as this is very much part of the local life. Here conservation and hunting go very much hand in hand, the hunters are some of the most active campaigners to preserve the land and protect the lakes , as well as promoting wildlife by re-populating some lakes and streams. In a way it is perhaps the most 'honest' way of getting your meat if that is what you like eating as each animal has lived a free and wild life, the guy or girl has probably sat in the cold for ages or tracked it over a number of miles, its been killed quickly and efficiently and then the whole animal is used.

So with that said...on to the story....

We have been looking forward to the Fish and Game Club's Banquet for ages and at last the day arrived.

Shaun had been down at Winfield helping set up the tables for 300+ people during the morning and during the evening we were due to help out with the Moose Draw...wasn't sure what it was but game for anything.

Mr R. had done a bit of research with the blokes as to what was the dress code for the evening....banquet implied a bit of dressing up was entailed but participation in a yet to be identified Moose Draw warranted a more circumspect approach to the level of satorial elegance...so decided against the evening dress and black gloves and went for a half way option of heels and a mid length dress....

....TOTALLY overdressed, this was jeans, cowboys hats and boots kinda deal...I just screamed 'newbie'...still everyone was very kind and pretended not to notice....

....although might have helped with the Moose Draw...which turned out to be loads of tickets placed in little holes (600 of them apparently) painstakingly drilled into a giant moose antler. You pick a ticket, pay the amount on the ticket ($0-$5), write your name on it and it goes in a draw for a prize. We had a selection of rifles or bows as top prize and were very much the one to win, but there were other draws for a chainsaw, pamper hamper, a diamond ring and loads of other stuff.

All the money raised goes towards the hatchery where the baby salmon are raised to supplement the natural stocks, to the tune of 80,000 little kokanee. And everyone was amazingly generous, we had folks coming back time and again for more tickets and nearly managed to clear the lot (a local record!).

They drew the winning ticket after the dinner and a young chap won, who was so excited he couldn't speak....I then had to go and apologise to the 100+ people I promised had the lucky ticket! Still was all in a good cause...

But the main event was definately the dinner - all the food had been provided by the club members and was cooked by a local restaurant and the catering team from the local college. One of the oldest members of the club (90yrs) had given 74 smoked trout and kokanee salmon caught personally by himself on the frozen Wood Lake! And the beavers which were trapped (see earlier post) because they were blocking the salmon streams appeared on the menu...in a stroganoff!

It was so extraordinary that I had to take photos of some of the more unusual options!

Don't look any further if you are a cat lover but I figure these guys would sooner eat Spud than greet him as a fellow kitty....
In the name of research I did try a selection with the smoked kokanee and trout being absolutely amazing and a close second the roasted vension followed by the carpaccio.