Taste A Legend Review

With folks out putting critters in the freezer and all of the talk about hitting the grill I got lucky to be asked to try some marinades made for game. Melissa at Taste A Legend got in touch with me an asked if I would like to review what she makes which I was glad to do.

When it arrived I found several different bottles of marinade each formulated for a different type of meat along with a package of wild rice and a dry rub/seasoning mix. The first thing you notice is the packaging looks good, better than a lot of what you find at the store. I checked the ingredients list along with the cooking instructions to see how they suggested I use each type. The only problem I ran into, this was just before I took a deer so I didn’t have any venison for the first test. I did have some squirrels so decided to start with that using the marinade for chicken, pork, beef and lamb.

I marinated the meat for several hours only to realize I couldn’t grill that night. Great, since it says to grill. I baked it instead which is not the way I would do it again. My fault not theirs’. When I tasted it for the first time I will say it is not subtle, this is made for game which tends to be stronger than squirrel. The seasoning is so different from what we have here it took a couple of bites to be able to really taste what was going on. To me it has a strong influence of the Southwest, spices with lime and lemon, not spicy just bold. This blend has two of my favorites, basil and rosemary, which I grow to use on game. Despite my cooking it in the oven rather than on the grill it had a good taste. The smoke and texture from grilling would have made a huge difference which I found out later.

I managed to get a deer so next up was some Tennessee surf and turf. I had a channel catfish fillet ready to go along with a cut from the deer. The fillet was from a larger cat which tends to have a strong flavor which I am not a fan of. I normally spice these heavily to kill the fishy taste this time I put it into the fish marinade for 4 hours. For the venison I used the dry spices which I put on about 45 minutes before going on the grill.

I have to say it sure smelled good while cooking. The fish came off with a nice crust, the venison like a good steak. I didn’t add anything, no salt, oil, anything to change the taste. The fish marinade reminded me of one of my favorite things I use to cook fish, a friend from Japan introduced me to a Japanese BBQ sauce which is soy sauce based. Taste A Legend has a nice mild flavor but managed to tame the strong taste of the channel cat. Now this is saying a lot for a southern boy. While I love food from all over the world we have two ways to cook here, fried and on special occasions deep fried. Grilled fish has to be good for me to enjoy it and this was. I will use a higher heat next time to get a bit more crunch but the taste was good just as it was.

For the venison using the dry mix I grilled it to medium rare. I used a cut that wasn’t the best to see how the spices held up, I really liked this. Not salty or too strong and with smoke from the grill it sure made that venison taste good. I am a fan of using dry rubs, over the years I have used many commercial and custom blends, this one worked right out of the bottle. Again to me it tends to the Southwest tastes which I don’t get much here and was a nice change from what we use. Nothing hot or too spicy for the folks that can’t take the heat but a good well rounded flavor when grilled. I want to try it again with some vegetables on the grill to see how that works.

The first three flavors I tried from Taste A Legend were good and I can’t wait to try them again since now I know what to expect and how to use them. The first that I put on squirrel had a bold intense flavor and next time I will use it on meat that can take the strength. I can see on something like lamb or goat it would be the thing to use, I bet chicken grilled with it then used for tacos would be great. The dry rub was just plain good, I think I will stick to using it for when I have something to grill, it just seems to get better with the smoke added. The fish marinade is going to go fast here. I need to grill more fish but don’t like most of it no matter what is on it but this makes it into something I enjoyed. I have a lot of strong catfish that will be visiting the grill in the near future thanks to this sauce plus keep me from frying it.

I still have more marinades and their rice blend to try, I will get some cooking done so I can let you know how they do. Taste A Legend is a company that has the hunter and fisherman in mind with their flavors. They understand that wild game can take and at times needs flavors that can stand up to the strength of the meat. If you want some new bold tastes for your cooking I think you will enjoy what Taste A Legend has done.

Groundhogs Down!

Way back when I spent large amounts of time chasing the wily groundhog. I would travel many miles for a chance to shoot them at long distance, up close, whatever. I had several farms in Adams, TN that I could hunt anytime I liked since whistle pigs were so thick permission wasn’t a problem. I seem to remember them having gas grills and picnic tables in front of their holes, partying down while herds of them denuded the fields, that part might just be me but there were lots of them. Anyway, farmers loved to see me coming to thin them out. Over time I took several people there to hunt and it was always a blast, I don’t think I ever went and didn’t get shots. Here is an early summer trip with my future ex brother in-law, Jeff.

As summer rolled around we would start to get ready for our chasing of the ground pig. My shooting buddy wasn’t a fisherman but loved pulling a trigger, either punching paper or groundhogs, both worked fine for Jeff. Oddly groundhogs were the only thing he hunted even though his brother was a big time deer hunter. We would head out to tune up our tools of destruction, burning more rounds at the range than we shot all summer at pigs. Jeff shot a scoped AR-15 but I am a bolt gun fan and had found a model 1500 S&W in .223 with a heavy, free floated, parkerized barrel, beautiful 2 pound trigger pull and oiled stock to which I added a good scope and a Harris bipod. Jeff’s AR was good but that Smith was a tack driver, one hole at 100 yards with 5 rounds was common. I seem to remember many 55 grain boat tailed hollow points and soft nosed running through that gun.

After we got tuned up we would head out to the fields. Adams, famous for the Bell Witch, has plenty of fields where you can see hundreds of yards, this part of Middle Tennessee starts to level off as you near the Kentucky line. Fields of soybeans and grass for hay separated by tree lines make a perfect home for pigs. Around the end of May we began our assault. Groundhog hunting is a matter of glassing till you find one then either shooting from your location or stalking to get into range or slipping along fence rows till you see one. This is a great reason to do this when you can’t deer hunt, your hunting skills really increase with this kind of practice. These guys are alert, live where there isn’t much cover to use in stalking and require skills to hunt.

We arrived at the farm, parking in front of the old brick house we got ready and simply walked around the to the backyard to start our hunt. The yard turned into a field which dropped down into a flat then rose again to end around 500 yards away where a barn sat on top of the next hill. The pigs liked to live down in the bottom where they were harder to see. We started glassing, looking for movement. After just a few minutes I looked to our left, there was a pig about 120 yards away halfway down the hill where we had never seen one before. I poked Jeff, pointed to the pig and told him to take the shot. He turned, got a rest on a fence post, as I watched through binos I heard the distinctive sound of his AR going off as pig number 1 dropped in it’s tracks.

We picked up number one as we moved down to a fence that ran down the middle of the field then up to the barn. Fence posts make great rifle rests for those longer shots. We saw our next one just about 300 yards out, since we had no cover and couldn’t get closer I decided to try a shot. I dropped the legs on my bipod, laid down in still damp grass, settled into the gun just to realize all I could see was grass. The hill was in the way and the grass was just too tall for me to see. I got up and quickly found a post to rest the rifle on, got on the scope only to hear,
“Too late it’s running.”
I settled the crosshairs, took lead and touched one off in one of those Zen moments of shooting. I just knew it was right without even thinking about it. Dust flew up in an expanding cloud where the pig had been as the rifle pushed back and I lost sight of the target.
“You missed.” Jeff says as he looked through his binos.
I got the scope back down, checked my spot and said, “Really? Then what is that laying down there with it’s feet in the air?”
Jeff says, “Oh Shit!! You hit it.” as dust settles where he can get a better view.
I stood up and we headed down to pick up hog number 2 after ranging the shot. 320 yards, slight downhill, zero value wind at a running groundhog. When we got there it had gotten to within 3 feet of it’s hole. The round had hit exactly on the left shoulder then exited the right, I am still proud of that shot.

As the day got on we drove around to some of the fields farther back on the property stopping to scan for pigs or the areas they had mowed down. By now it is midday, hot and the pigs have mostly gone underground. As we drove along a farm road at the edge of the field to check a new spot we, in a ditch about forty yards from us there was one sitting up in a scanning pose looking at us. Jeff stopped the truck, eased the door open to get out since you can’t shoot from a vehicle here. I looked to see if he had his AR but got a surprise when he chambered a round into his 1911 .45. He eased to the left front of the truck, got a rest on the hood and touched it off. I watched as the pig did a back flip and disappeared into the ditch. Jeff couldn’t see because of the recoil as the 220 grain soft point went to work and thought he missed.
“Nice shot.”
“Did I hit it?”
“If you didn’t kill it, it isn’t real happy right now.”
We walked over and found the pig had flipped in the air then fell right back down it’s hole headfirst. Hole in one. A .45 caliber bullet at 40 yards makes an impression on an 8 pound groundhog. He had hit it center mass with a frontal shot, other than the back flip, it never twitched.

We drove around to find places where pigs were feeding so we could watch them on our next trip since we had to head home soon. We were out of Cokes, Mountain Dew and beef jerky which pretty well ended the trip, well and the women folk waiting to go out that night to eat. We were lucky in the fact that our wives were very understanding about these trips and never once complained about them. Good times.

Some young ones taking a look around.


We got home, got the pigs cleaned and soaking in salt water with a few new stories and great memories to add to our list. After getting ready we headed over to Camden for catfish and steaks at the Catfish House, what a great way to end a day hunting plus we had pigs for barbecue later.

I still love hunting groundhogs but don’t get to go as much as I did. When summer rolls around fields green up and as I drive back roads I always find myself watching fencerows to catch movement telling me a groundhog is around. Maybe this year I can find a few spots close to me to get some trigger time.

Airborne

Once upon a time summer was dragging. It had been a good year, rainfall was plentiful but the heat had been rough. The result was a great mast crop. All the trees were loaded, this promised a good deer season. Like many folks I didn’t have huge budgets to maintain massive food plots (still don’t by the way) and was glad to see acorns bending the limbs for a change.

September took it’s sweet time getting here but opening day was within sight. I got my bow and finished tuning up for that 4th Saturday in September, our permanent opening day. Then the weather forecast came in, clear, humid and hot, not just hot, 100+ degrees hot, but I don’t miss opening day.

20 yard group with my Bear, yes that is 4 arrows inside a coke bottle top.

Early morning Saturday, I headed over to my little corner of the woods and set up in my ground blind. Just walking to the stand left me soaked. It was so still, humid and hot that you just sat and dripped. No self respecting deer was going to come near me even if they did move. I sat muttering bad things about weathermen, deer, bugs, the stupidity of people that do this, Al Gore with his global warming, finally gave up and went home. All I saw was a herd of tree rats feeding in a tree 5 yards from my blind. They came from every direction and fed there all day showering me with their nut leavins. That night I sat reading online how no one was seeing deer and tried to figure a way to salvage the next day. I knew I wasn’t deer hunting again until something changed in the weather. I kept thinking about the squirrels, I do love me some fried squirrel or squirrel and dumplings. I got out my small game vest, air rifle and pellets. I had my plan. I love hunting small game but don’t go enough. This was a good excuse to fill the freezer.

The next morning it’s pushing 80 degrees at daylight. I slipped into my blind, this was just something I threw together using whatever brush I could find, so with no top, I can be comfortable and watch for squirrels. I had my folding chair, some water, Little Debbie snack cakes, my Gamo .177, a can of Gamo Hunter pellets and a fresh can of Off with Deet. Yesterday had proved the ferocity of local skeeters and tenacity of our ticks and chiggers. Now I needed a squirrel or ten.

The first squirrels started showing up just after sunrise. I waited to see if they were going to the same tree. Like yesterday each one made his way to the corner of the field where the feeding tree, a big white oak, grew. I let a couple get started cutting then picked one that was coming my way. I had to remind myself to be patient, this was an air rifle not a regular .22. The squirrel kept coming as I eased up from my chair to hide behind a tree. This gave me a good rest and when he got to about 15 yards I got a good look through the scope waiting for him to stop. He finally did before jumping to the next tree.

 The shot hit just under the chin and he spins, takes a couple of steps up the tree then comes down in a tail twirling freefall after a sweet back flip. A nice thud announces his contact with the ground. The other squirrels stop eating but an air rifle doesn’t make much noise. I stand still for a couple of minutes, they start cutting again. The scraping of teeth on shell, pieces of hulls falling through leaves making ticking sounds as they pile up on the ground mark each one. I ease over to retrieve my first of the morning. A .17 caliber pellet moving at over 1000 fps does a fine job stopping a charging rodent.

Slipping back to my chair I wait on the next one. It doesn’t take long. Leaves are thick making it hard to find them, I can see hulls fall and limbs shake but can’t get a shot I feel good about. No hurry since there are several using the same tree. A couple of minutes later one is coming down headfirst almost directly above me. I get braced, take up the slack on the trigger and hit this one behind the shoulder as he turns to go along a limb. Not even a twitch, just falls. That’s two.

 I watch as skeeters bash away at the barrier I set up with half a can of Off. Sprayed on me and all the bushes around me I am trying to confound them. So far it’s working but the heat is getting bad fast, I know I won‘t last long. It takes a little while for the woods to settle but before very long here comes #3. This one takes almost the same track as the last one. I line up, get my sight picture and drop another one. After gathering up those two with heat and bugs getting worse, I decide one more is enough.

My moving around plus the shooting has run off the few that were here. It takes some looking for me to pick up more movement. Limbs are moving in the distance in several places, a couple of them headed my way. I wish he would hurry up, my water is hot and my Little Debbie‘s are melting. The heat is bad, the skeeters are massing along the border, I’m ready to go home. It must have heard and starts my way.

I slip out of my chair and hide as it moves high in the trees. I watch limbs bending and shaking showing his path near the top of the mature trees. These are big oaks and maples, he is using the tops where the others had come in lower. I have to pay attention or lose him in the canopy. Staying hidden as he takes his time stopping to check a hole before coming in, I have a spot picked, if he comes through I will have my shot. Lucky for me he is following the same path as others did once he gets close. That unseen highway through the trees. At 20 yards he sits at the base of a limb, curled up, looking over the area. It is another easy shot and he hits the ground with a satisfying thump. I gather him up, take a few pictures and head home.

Rather than spend a day sitting at home my air rifle provided me with a morning of fun. An adult air rifle can run into some money, mine wasn’t cheap, but they provide a good challenge along with inexpensive ammo. Many places can turn into a range where you could never shoot regular guns. I hope to add a precharged pneumatic .22 and eventually a .45 or .50 caliber. The air gun challenge bit my long ago when I was a kid sitting on the porch with my Mom as she taught me to shoot with my lever action Daisy. Later I got a 760 Crosman which lasted for years, still one of my favorites. The guns available now are hard to believe, from the ones we had as kids to high dollar, high tech machines worthy of the target bench. If you are looking for a new facet to add to your outdoor experience this might be for you.

Disclaimer: All products mentioned were purchased by me. I am not affiliated with nor was I compensated by them.