saint hugh cooks: tea smoked duck

This is one of our absolute favorite recipes. If you’re still cleaning out your freezer from last season, you’ve got to give it a try. If not, it’ll be worth the wait.

Tea Smoked Duck

Ingredients
For the ducks – 
6 whole cleaned ducks     
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 tablespoon crushed ginger
2 tablespoons ground peppercorns
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon honey
1/2 cup finely chopped scallions
1/2 cup Lapsang Souchong black tea

For the smoker –
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup Lapsang Souchong black tea
Wood chips
Water

Directions
Mix sea salt, 1 tablespoon of ground peppercorns, and 1 tablespoon of honey and coat the skin of the duck with it. 
Combine the cinnamon, cloves, ginger, 1 tablespoon peppercorns, honey, scallions, and tea in a marinade. In a shallow baking pan, stuff the ducks with the marinade, cover, and refrigerate overnight. 
Combine the brown sugar, tea, wood chips, and water in your smoker’s water pan and place at the bottom of the smoker.
Place the baking pan containing the ducks on the smoker’s top rack. 
Smoke between 200 and 225 degrees for 4 hours.
Remove the stuffing from the inside of the ducks, cut, and serve. 

New Orleans' own V's Teas has excellent leaves for both cooking and keeping you warm! 

Happy cooking!
Emily

basic instinct (or lack thereof)

Well... At least she looks the part. #WinnieWearsAShootersVest

With dove season underway and quail and duck seasons looming, some hunters have already had the opportunity to test the off-season training of their gun dogs. Many more (like me) may be nervously wondering about the natural instincts of the family pet who hasn’t exactly received the recommended amount training.

So, we thought we’d take a closer look at where some of the most popular gun dogs are naturally pre-disposed to excel.

Boykin Spaniel – A strong prey drive and natural affinity for swimming, makes these great all around hunting dogs. But, these high energy dogs can lack the focus for the repetitive training of blind water retrieves. 

Expect: instinctive flushing
Train: blind retrieves

Brittany – Their manageable size and family friendly personality make Brittanys popular hunting dogs. Though they are usually work more closely than pointers, Brittanys are natural retrievers.

Expect: shorter range pointing and retrieving
Train: water retrieves

English Setter –  The popularity of English Setters among hunters and kennel clubs has led to a dichotomy in the breed: some are eager runners and instinctive pointers, others not so much.

Expect: long range points and the focus to hold them until you’re ready to shoot
Train: water retrieves

German Shorthaired Pointer – Bred in 19th century Germany to be the most versatile gun dog, it’s no surprise that hunters can typically get by minimally training these pups. Originally used for upland, waterfowl, and big game hunting, blood tracking has been de-emphasized in recent years especially among American breeds.

Expect: long range points
Train: big game tracking

Labrador retriever – With double coats for warmth and water repellency, labs are quite literally made for the water. Smart and eager to please though, they can be trained for all types of hunting.

Expect: great water retrieves
Train: pointing and flushing

Goldendoodle -  We’re biased here, but we couldn’t not mention goldendoodles. Even though poodles were bred water retrievers and golden retrievers were bred gun dogs, goldendoodles are often overlooked among hunters. Descended from two of the smartest breeds, they are highly trainable. However, it can be difficult to find goldendoodles that come from a line of hunters, so they typically require training. But with their smarts and focus, don’t expect training to take very long.

Happy hunting!
Emily

in our sights: hunters for the hungry

At last weekend’s Pop-up for National Hunting and Fishing Day, I had the pleasure of meeting Kim Marie Tolson of Hunters for the Hungry. If you’re a hunter, you need to know about this nonprofit. Here’s why.

An estimated 6 million deer or 288 million pounds of venison are harvested by American hunters each year. Meanwhile, nearly 1 in 7 Americans face hunger a daily basis. Hunters for the Hungry bridges this imbalance by minimizing wasteful harvesting.

Through their Fresh Game Program, hunters can donate whole deer, ducks, or fish to those in need.

• Game is processed at no cost to the hunter when brought to a designated HFH processor
• Hunters can keep the backstrap of processed donations
• HFH partners with local food banks, soup kitchens, and shelters to provide nutritious meals to those in need

Since its inception in the 1990s, Hunters for the Hungry has distributed more than 150,000 pounds of donated meat to Louisianans in need. And in advance of deer season opening in most of the state, they’re hosting a “clean out your freezer” event this weekend. Donate frozen game or fish at Cajun Field in Lafayette this Sunday, October 2nd between 10:30 and 3:30. You can also donate throughout the season at a processor near you.

With chapters in Texas, Tennessee, Virginia, and elsewhere, Hunters for the Hungry proudly serves communities all across the country.

 As hunters, we have the unique ability to provide for ourselves and our families. Let’s do our part to help neighbors who aren’t so lucky.

Happy hunting!
Emily 

hey what's up hello

Introducing: Saint Hugh & You

Hunting is a sport. Saint Hugh is a lifestyle. Saint Hugh & You where they collide and form community.

what it is

Saint Hugh & You is a free space for you, female hunters, to find, share, and connect with each other. Unless you were born into a family of hunters, you've probably had trouble finding female friends to hunt with – if you’ve been able to find any at all. We know that struggle and wanted to try to make things a little easier. 

Enter: Saint Hugh & You. 

how it works

Here on the Saint Hugh & You Blog page you’ll find tips, game recipes, and musings on hunting in general. On the Saint Hugh & You Connect page, you'll find a series of forums titled #WomenWhoHunt in [your state], where you can find and share with other female hunters near you. Did you discover an awesome local preserve? Tell us about it. Did you bring home a type of duck you’ve never seen before? Someone else probably knows it. Are you new to hunting and just looking to make a few non-judgmental friends with whom to give it a try? Perfect, we are too. You don’t have to write lengthy posts; feel free to just ask a question, share a story, or suggest a meet up. This space is for whatever you want it to be for. But it is designed to be interactive. So post!

And don’t be shy about connecting with each other. Our goal is to build a supportive community where you can celebrate your successes, commiserate and learn from your failures, and just be there for each other as we grow in our sport, together. 

So I hope you find Saint Hugh & You useful. If after playing around a bit you’ve got suggestions on how to make it better, shoot us an email. We’re here for you, and we’re all ears. 

In the meantime, happy hunting. 
Emily