You’ll get up close with fur, feather and fin as we cover deer, pigeon and fish. The day will be very much hands on and the course will culminate in you enjoying a freshly cooked game casserole which celebrates the wild animals of the day.

On this course we will take you through the process of identifying if your game is fit for consumption, how to prepare each animal for cooking and use some of the cuts to create simple but hearty campfire meals. We will also discuss the history and uses of the various non meat parts of the animal and talk about the processes our ancestors would have employed to make as much use of the animal as possible.

This one day course will give you a solid grounding in using wild game in your cooking, all against the backdrop of the mixed woodland at Park in the Past.

Your special guest tutor for this course is bushcraft instructor Pete Morton of Red Oaks Bushcraft.

• Discover the seasons for game; what can be hunted, when and by whom
• Learn the benefits of eating game for your health and for pest control
• Get confident in knowing whether your game is fit for consumption
• Ensure your game is stored and prepared hygienically outdoors
• Build knife skills with skinning and gutting
• Prepare a range of game ready for cooking
• Use traditional dutch ovens, pans and willow frames for cooking
• Create a delicious game casserole over the campfire
• Enjoy a range of wild game freshly prepared by you and the tutor at basecamp

Wood Pigeon: learn about the bird, how to identify it, what it eats, internal organs specific to most birds, specifics to look out for with birds that have been shot. You will then have a demo of preparing the bird, first with a knife then without tools before having a turn for yourself. The meat will then be made ready for flash frying with elderberry balsamic vinegar and served in bread rolls with selected greens for your lunch.

Fish: discover how to gut fish with a knife, how to fillet a fish using just your fingers. Craft and set up a ponassing rig using living willow withies to cook your fish over the fire.

Deer: learn about the different animals, their history, what is gralloching? Then we will work on the skinning and prepare the skin for tanning while some of the group start on the jointing. You will look at selected prime cuts of meat and debone as much as possible, the bones will be kept for use on other courses (using as much of the animal as possible).

Please note; due to the nature of game being wild animals and not farmed we cannot guarantee all the above will be available but if not a suitable substitute will be provided.