About Us
Wild Game Cook started as a blog on Instagram in the fall of 2013 to provide average everyday sportsmen and women with ideas and approachable dishes they can tackle at home. Something other than wrapped in bacon, stuffed with cream cheese, and or marinated for 4 days. Our goal is to inspire others to get outside of their comfort zone with their wild game cooking. When was the last time you tried something new?
Most of the food showcased on Wild Game Cook channels is made with ingredients that are easy to find, and do not go to waste after using them just once. My wife and I cook a lot with the flavors we like and most of the dishes start with a quick google search for a recipe that looks like our style, other times, it just comes together with an idea of what might taste good. We love the occasional gourmet dish, but it’s not always in the budget, nor do we have the time with kids/work. You may not always see a recipe on our social media posts, but we are getting better at taking time to write a recipe down and when we do, we’ll share those with you on this page.
As of May 2023, nearly ten years of building a platform online, I decided to take Wild Game Cook full time. My hope is to inspire many more people through my work, including in-person cooking demos, classes, camps, and workshops. If you are interested in attending one of these, be sure to contact us with your interests and be on the lookout for upcoming events.
Wild Game Cook is built on Integrity, Authenticity, Humility, and Conservation Ethics. Our sponsors, hosting outfitters, and participants all agree to this standard. It is imperative that we introduce people to the outdoors the right way, so they understand right from wrong, legal vs ethical, and be able to effectively mentor someone new to hunting in the future.
Meet The Wild Game Cook
John is the Founder of Wild Game Cook and is a passionate self-taught home cook and outdoorsman. He and his wife, Jamie, have been married for 18 years, they have 3 beautiful children who love the outdoors, and they cook with wild game for a majority of their meals. They also have a young chocolate lab, Ronda, who is in training to become their trusty hunting partner. She steps in where their first hunting dog, Zeke, left off. She is his niece and well on her way to being a solid retriever and bird finder extraordinaire.
John found a passion for cooking while in college. He was tired of eating the same old things most college kids eat, Hamburger Helper, mac and cheese, Ramen, and fast food. Starting out with simple chicken or venison pasta dishes. After impressing roommates, he began watching Food Network and Cooking Channel and began to pick up a lot of tips and tricks. Simple things, like seasoning every step of the way, searing meat in a hot pan, letting it rest properly, learning about creating balance within a dish. As he became more confident in the kitchen, he expanded the dishes he and his young family ate week to week.
In the fall of 2012, one year before starting Wild Game Cook on Instagram, John, encouraged by his friend (and landowner whose property he was deer hunting on), took on processing a deer for the first time. John was tired of paying $140 a deer, only to have it turned into ground meat, steaks, and roasts. The premise of hunting, to John, was to provide ethically harvested meat and make it to where it was a financial savings on their budget. After processing that first deer with nothing more than some knives, whatever bowls and containers they could find, a vacuum sealer (gifted to them at their wedding), and a Kitchen-Aid grinding attachment, he made the decision to invest in some basic processing equipment.
He purchased a stainless 2’x6’ table, Outdoor Edge butchering knife set, 3 meat lugs, bulk rolls of vac sealer bags, and a packing system (bags, tape dispenser). In total, it was about $560, nearly half of which was the stainless table (which he still uses today). At the rate in which it cost to process a deer, this investment would’ve paid for itself in just a couple of seasons. After 2 seasons of using the Kitchen-Aid Attachment, John realized it was not very efficient, so he invested in a $99 grinder from Northern Tool.
In 2019, John partnered with LEM Products and upgraded his grinder and got a stuffer. This is when options expanded from just ground meat, steaks, and roasts. Now it was much less intimidating to make summer sausage, other cased sausages, like brats, Italian, polish, and smoked sausages.
In 2023, John was blessed to partner with MidwayUSA on making wild game cooking content and that is what gave him the courage to make this a career. John’s relationship with MidwayUSA goes back to 2013 with his time working for Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever. MidwayUSA is a brand you can trust and they sell Just About Everything you need for the outdoors.
In 2024, John is still learning new ways to butcher, process, and cook wild game. His kids are now getting involved in all aspects of the hunt, including the processing and cooking, deepening their knowledge of where their food comes from.