[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

As compared to at home?

I tend to eat a little more healthy - granola bars, trail mix, fruits, cereal. And heck if I get something and grill some fresh wild meat, that's pretty darn lean & healthy, compared to Wendy's, Taco Bueno, or fattening home-cooked meals. Plus I eat less overall when hunting - not enough time - too busy trying to get back to hunting or trying to get to bed to get up early the next day.

[MCgunner]

On hunting trips (I ain't thinkin' just running down to my place to hunt, that's not "when hunting") I normally bag some camp meat, be it rabbit or squirrel depending on where I'm hunting. I'll pick some yard greens depending on territory, dandelion, maybe skin some nopalitos (prickly pear pads), for fresh veggies and I'll have canned veggies along. Until I kill something, I eat out of cans, denty moore, wolf brand, gives me the motivation to KILL something. :D Many trips, I've been WAY out away from any source of ice, so I only bought ice when I made a kill, had to run to town or something for it. Town might be 75 miles in New Mexico or west Texas, not so much in east Texas.

One spot I've hunted up in east Texas, the camp is by a river full of catfish. A throw line or 4 will yield supper there if you can find adequate bait. I can get ice there with less drama, more stores than New Mexico, so I have taken bait shrimp with me up there.

But, out hunting, I ain't eating at restaurants or eating a lot of carbs, so I reckon I eat better, especially if there are small game to munch until I can bag bigger.

[Art Eatman]

Depends on who's the camp cook.

If I'm on my own, all's well as long as the salami and swiss cheese holds out, along with the sardines and crackers.

I'm out there to hunt, not cook. I can cook when I get home.

[3pairs12]

In October I was in Mo bow hunting. By the time had gotten there my friend had already take a doe which we used for camp meat. I took a ham and a ton of breakfast suasage from a wild hog I had gotten a couple months earlier. So I'd like to think we ate healthier just a lot more food though.

[HGUNHNTR]

I guess I eat just as healthfully at camp as at home. We all love to cook at camp. It is nice to sit down, have a beer and enjoy some good food after pounding the canyons all day.

[HB]

It depends....
A lot of times it's granola bars, water, and whatever I cook on a fire (fish, chili) or a few packed sandwiches. But other times it's greasy suasage and bacon, or worse, the dreaded breakfast burritos from the gas station:uhoh:

[ReadyontheRight]

I'm out there to hunt, not cook. I can cook when I get home.

I agree Art. I usually have meals of summer sausage and crackers, a few cans of Coke, water and a small Snickers bar or two in my backpack or hunting vest so I can stay out in the field all day. So I guess I eat worse, but less, food when hunting.

[brighamr]

I eat about the same. At home my staples are beef jerky, coffee and oatmeal. Pretty much the same when hunting, only I do admit I'll drink more pop in the woods (need the extra energy). The other caveat is where I'm hunting. If there's a river near by, most times we'll have a fresh trout supper at least once during the trip :)

[Ifishsum]

I eat about the same kinds of food, only quite a bit more of it to keep up with the calories I'm burning. It's not uncommon for me to walk 8-10 miles in a day, I'm not a stand hunter at all.

[MCgunner]

My appetite shuts down when I'm out hunting. I don't get as hungry. I think it might be a natural thing, hormones shutting down the hunger pangs or something. I do enjoy an evening cooking the pickens of the land, though. It don't take much more than heating a can of Dinty Moore stew and it tastes a lot better. :D

Coffee in the morning, well, if I can take a relaxing dump afterward, LOL. Is that not high road enough? :D Cold cuts or canned stuff like Art's sardines make for a lunch. My one decent meal is in the evening. The reason I figured I eat better is there ain't any pizza huts near hunting camp, not out west, anyway. :D

[koja48]

Art, we share similar menus . . . and easy to carry & serve, too!

[Springfield_1911SS]

The place where I hunt we are fortunate enough to have an old farm house on the property, has almost all the comforts of home, we grab a doughnut in the morning and have deli meat sandwiches and frozen pizza for lunch and usually go out of dinner, town is only like 10 miles away

[eliphalet]

When you've worked in the mtn's as many years as I have, packing a lunch is an everyday affair. Lots of days we will just grab a buncha munchies, then if we're still hunting drop into someplace and grab a burger in the afternoon. Rural Idaho restaurants can make some great grub.
But then we have had days were you came back home to cook some ham and eggs with a critter in the back of the pickup already. I have gutted a deer and been home before sunrise more than once. Or sat out back where I usta live drinking coffee with binoculars and a spotting scope deciding if there was one you wanted to go after.
If we are out for days and camping we eat good usually, unless by evening we're to tired to cook which does happen. Then a can of stew or chili works just fine.
Sardines and candy bars, peanuts, or raisins etc. in a day pack are always a good thing just in case.

[Deer Hunter]

I eat healthy all the time...

So no change!

[41magsnub]

Unhealthy, family tradition is the raw onion and cheese sandwiches on a white hamburger bun. Some people add liverwurst but I just can't do it. I have no idea whose idea that was to begin with, but we keep on doing it.

[wheelgunslinger]

Just as healthy.

I eat seasonally, so in the fall I'm eating a lot of apples and garden stuff. That way, when I'm still hunting I don't smell like the dozens of other hunters who have the perfumes they put into fast food coming out of their pores.
What? You didn't think that fast food smelled that good on its own did you?

[rhubarb]

I'm good to go with nuts and jerky. Not that I'm thinking about how healthy it is. I just want something that won't spoil if I leave it in my pack between deer seasons. :D

I've been hunting with guys that think it ain't hunting if there's not a big meal waiting for them back at the ranch house after the evening hunt. And a cooler full of beer. I like a belly full of groceries and a couple of cold ones as much as the next guy, but not when I'm hunting.

[Cypress]

Coffee and cheap cigars with a Copenhagen backer. The cornerstone of any nutritious breakfast!!!

[jedwi]

UNHEALTHY as can be.....The guys I hunt with bring the biggest steaks you can buy...And the baked spuds with sour cream, butter and bacon..Rolls and butter...Breakfast is sausage, grits, eggs and buttered buscuits...Gravy.......Plus the wine......I add a few pounds...It ain't bad, they are good cooks and I clean dishes pretty well.......my payoff.......

[paintballdude902]

i think it evens out

i tend to eat more fast food when im in a hurry to get out
but i end up eating back straps home made jerkey bear fixens (guy loves cooking at the farm so i end up with bear chili, bear burgers, bear burgerhelper, anyhting u can throw bear infront of pretty much)

but i eat less while in the field just because i start thinking ... humm i bet as soon as i lower my rifle out of the tree the biggest deer i have ever seen will run out or it will comeout while im in the house eating

[HunterGirl]

I eat pretty healthy on a day to day basis. So when we go out hunting - we like to pack our favorites. Beef Stew, Sausage gravy and biscuits, split pea soup, applie pie, smoked oysters, port wine cheese - it's amazing we don't keel over of a heart attack at the end of the week :)

[ArmedBear]

Beef Stew, Sausage gravy and biscuits, split pea soup, applie pie, smoked oysters, port wine cheese - it's amazing we don't keel over of a heart attack at the end of the week

Damn! Hunting with the guys isn't sounding so good any more.:)

I mean, my usual hunting buddy likes to eat crap, but it's not GOOD crap.

[EricTheBarbarian]

I usually just use copious amount of smokeless tobacco and water. I hunt better hungry, gives me the feeling Im hunting for a meal.

[skinewmexico]

Seems like I'm usually going with salesmen, and they tend to bring big honkin' steaks. And wine. And good Scotch. And eggs and bacon. oops.

[Deer Hunter]

Damn.

I've been missing out! My hunting spot is two miles from my house, down a little dirt road and into the property my family leases. I'm never very far from a meal.

[hobbeeman]

When someone invites me to their lease, I bring the food. Usually Steaks, potatoes, and seasonal veggies for dinner, My famous breakfast burritos for AM, and crockpot stew for that second full day of hunting.
I want to treat them with gratitude for the invite!!

When at my lease, my son and I usually grab 3 footlongs at Subway. He eats one that evening, and one the next day, and I eat 1/2 at the same sittings. We take a 12 pack of cokes and about 4 apples and water for our snacking and hiking, etc.

[john917v]

I am a bodybuilder-well, I am making a transfer from being a 300-lb overweight kid in high school to hopefully a 300-lb athlete, with 5-7% bodyfat...sweet!!! But, I always eat relatively healthy-except for my weekly cheat meal, which is not really that unhealthy. On trips, it is hard for me to eat the things I am supposed to eat, (and have grown to love even more) like steamed rice, raw/steamed veggies, freshly broiled meats, and low-sodium foods. The last part is the hardest, since salt is also a preservative, making food last longer. I take a lot of nuts for energy, raw oats, protein powder, dehydrated veggies/fruits, and enough water for a mule team!! Now that I think about it, I'd like to go on a hiking/backpacking trip.

If anyone else is interested in body building, or fitness, check out bodybuilding.net, I am john917v.

[john917v]

Hobbee, that is good. When friends invite me to go hunting, I also take gifts for them, and candy if they have kids. Being allowed to hunt is a great privilege, which I really like. Have you tried a dutch oven?

[EricTheBarbarian]

Sounds like I need to get some new hunting buddies, everyone seems to be eating good when they go out hunting considering steaks and such.

[hobbeeman]

Have you tried a dutch oven?

Not in quite a few years, actually since I was a Boy Scout! However, I do own a dutch oven and should take it I guess. What would probably keep me from using it much is having to stay in camp while the fire is still hazardous.
Wouldn't want to burn down someone's lease/home/livelyhood! :eek:
I have taken a bag of apples with me and fried them in butter with sugar and cinnamon and served them with the tortillas, etc. It is special for the kids and quick so I can enjoy the hunt too.
For the stews, my friends all have slow cookers in their trailers.
Oh, and FYI, the steaks are generally from my game freezer, so my wife does not object to the added expense!

[Caimlas]

I don't understand the question.

When hunting, or outdoors during cold weather in general, I eat more. It doesn't really matter what; I just eat more.

Though, I do typically eat out more if I'm out and about. My wife is a good cook, though, and has good food readily available. :)

Stews are good for when hunger is what ails you, and a large portion of a hearty stew with a slice of warm bread.... mmmm.

ETA: one difference is that the eating schedule is a bit different, and I seem to get a lot less sleep. Breakfast is usually substituted with just something quick, like a granola bar and coffee, and hunger sets in with a vengeance around noon, at which time it's time to take a break and find a different vantage point, anyway, more than likely. Lunch will then be something quick, like packed-in soup, jerky, or maybe more granola depending on how good the planning was. Then until dark, back at it... and dinner is a feast - easily 2k calories.

Im personally also likely to be snacking all day long; my metabolism is dangerously high...

[Caimlas]

If I'm on my own, all's well as long as the salami and swiss cheese holds out, along with the sardines and crackers.


What are you hunting, Bavarians? Don't think some of those foods will scare your prey away? :P

[yongxingfreesty]

prob less healthy, eat beef jerky, chips, fig newtons and all kinds of junk food, but drink lots of water

[Caimlas]

However, I do own a dutch oven and should take it I guess. What would probably keep me from using it much is having to stay in camp while the fire is still hazardous.

Start fire, put rocks in fire. Dig hole. Put food in oven. By now, rocks should be hot (very hot). Put rocks in hole with oven on top; Cover with sheet of metal and then soil. Come back to hot, safe meal.

[Caimlas]

I'm kind of surprised that a bunch of hunting carnivores consider eating a lot of meat to be unhealthy.

Haven't any of you goobers heard of Weston A Price?

Hint: there's a reason why indigenous cultures which eat a diet primarily of nuts, berries, and animal proteins are as healthy as they are. Part of it is because they expend a lot of energy; the other part is that they're not eating a lot of grains and sugars.

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

I ain't saying meat is unhealthy. In particular meat just off the hoof is not unhealthy.

But healthiness, or lack thereof, is a big-picture kind of thing, taking everything into account: Saturated fats, mono-unsaturated fats, trans-fats, simple sugars, overall calorie count and carb intake, etc., etc. It's not hard to figure out in a general way whether a diet overall is mostly healthy or mostly unhealthy, if you pay attention at all to news reports and nutrition information. Veggies, fruits, and lean meats (freshly prepared), in moderate quantities==>Good. Fatty meats, white bread and other bleached grain products, excessive cheese & other dairy, empty calories (simple sugars) & empty carbs, processed foods, deep-fried foods (trans fats)==>Bad. Being a hunter doesn't mean you have to throw common sense out the window.

Good replies, though - interesting mix. :)

I don't understand the question.

Do you eat more healthy or less healthy when hunting? (as compared to when at home)
-I eat MORE healthy when hunting
-I east LESS healthy when hunting
-About the same

Note to self: Don't ask Caimlas his real name - you might confuse him with such a complicated question. :p :D

[JohnMc]

Every Saturday during deer season, lunch is a "cheeseburger all the way," which is topped with cole slaw and chili. Wendy's in the area call this a Carolina Burger, FWIW. Only, this little roadside stand, packed with guys from the club, ain't Wendy's!
Then, dinner at the cabin is deer meat, preferably backstraps, cubed, soaked in milk, dipped in flour and fried in lard. The drippings used to make gravy. The sides are fried potatoes and buscuits. The only "vegetables" are peppers and onions fried in the drippings just before the gravy is made.:D