By LEO MALONEY
Outdoors Columnist

With the hunting season winding down we hope that most of the hunting parties have venison to share. We are offering some recipe suggestions for variety.

Marinated Venison Stew

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds venison stew meat cut into small cubes.

• 1 and 1/2 cups dry red wine.

• 1/4 cup sliced carrots.

• 1/4 cup sliced celery.

• 6 green onions – chopped.

• 1 cup water.

• 1 tbsp. cooking oil.

• 1/2 tsp. thyme.

• Salt and pepper.

• 1 bay leaf. flour.

• 3 tbsp. margarine.

Directions: Place wine, carrots, celery, onions, water, oil, salt and pepper, thyme and crushed bay leaf in a nonmetal bowl and add the meat. Add more water if the meat is not covered. Cover and refrigerate at least five hours. Remove meat with a slotted spoon and drain vegetables, reserving the marinade.

Coat meat with flour, heat margarine in a large frying pan and brown the meat on all sides. Transfer browned meat to an ovenproof casserole. Brown the vegetables, adding more margarine if necessary. Add marinade to the pot and boil for a minute, scraping the bottom to deglaze.

Pour this over the meat in the casserole. Cover and place in a preheated 325 degree oven and bake for 2 hours. Add more water if it becomes dry. Serve with salad and hot rolls. Serves four.

Grilled Venison Cubes

Cut 4 pounds venison into cubes such as for stew. Mix the following ingredients and marinate for 24 hours:

• Crushed rosemary.

• 1 bay leaf.

• 1/3 cup cooking oil.

• 1/2 cup vinegar.

• 1 tsp. garlic powder.

• 1 tsp. salt.

• 1/2 tsp. pepper.

• 1 tsp. celery salt.

• 1 tsp. basil.

• 1 tsp. garlic salt.

• 1 tbsp. Parsley flakes.

Remove meat and grill it, basting frequently with tomato juice mixed with Tabasco sauce to taste. Serve hot with Italian bread.

Teriyaki Venison Steak

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean venison steak cut into four serving pieces.

• 2 tbsp soy sauce.

• 1 tbsp lemon juice.

• 1 tsp. sugar.

• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger.

• 1/4 tsp. cumin.

Directions: Place steak in pie pan. Mix soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar, ginger, and cumin and pour over steak. Marinate for one hour, turning twice during this period.

Broil steak about four inches from the heat for three minutes on a side for half inch thick steak or five minutes per side for one inch thick steak. Serve immediately on heated plates.

Western Grilled Venison

Use boneless steaks or tenderloin cut about 3/4 inch thick. Wrap each piece with bacon and grill about 12 minutes (according to taste) over hot coals. Avoid overcooking. Rub steaks with fresh garlic and brush with a mixture of equal parts red wine and oil while cooking.

Venison Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 1 pound venison cubes.

• Flour.

• 1/4 cup butter.

• 1 clove garlic – minced.

• 1/2 cup chopped onion.

• 1 tbsp. salt.

• 1/8 tsp pepper.

• 1 and 1/4 cup water.

• 1 cup mushrooms.

• 1 cup sour cream.

Directions: Roll venison cubes in flour and brown in butter with garlic. Add chopped onion, salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes. Then stir in water and simmer 30 minutes until tender. Add mushrooms and sour cream and heat, but do not boil. May be served over rice, noodles or mashed potatoes.

Short Casts

Bottom of the ninth: In baseball terms, it is the “bottom of the ninth inning” of deer hunting season and the majority of hunters are trailing or scoreless. Coincidentally, the season ends on the ninth of December at sundown. However, as Yogi Berra used to say – “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.”

Essentially the rut is over, although a buck will still be interested in the slim chance that a doe might be in heat. But generally they are now concerned with eating and adding bulk for the coming winter. They are also much warier due to the hunting pressure they have recently experienced.

A recent message from Neil Dougherty of North Country Whitetails illustrates the difficulty hunters will face this weekend. He was hunting all day on his property and noticed a nice buck at a distance across the field. All day the buck lay in heavy cover only getting up a few times to move about 15 yards and feed before laying down and hiding in the thick cover again.

Hunters should watch the food sources or be near heavy cover. Realizing that the odds are against you seeing a buck move during daylight hours, you may want to drive this cover if you have other hunters in your group, or still hunt it if you are alone. Don’t worry about disturbing the buck’s sanctuary; he has all year to recover from the intrusion.

Despite the odds, some nice bucks are taken each year on the last weekend so good luck and let us know of any success or unusual stories.

DMP transfers: With the end of the regular season in sight a lot of hunters will not have filled their Deer Management Permits (“doe tag”). Many will not have the opportunity to go hunting this final weekend. A recent change in the hunting regulations allows hunters to transfer their unused permits to other licensed hunters.

However the hunter who receives and carries this permit must record the number on his or her own license. One of the plastic tags in our string of tags and permits has a space for recording the numbers of the DMPs that we receive from others. Once you have taken a deer on that permit you must fill it out and attach it to the carcass as you normally do. You must report the kill by calling 1-866-426-3778. See page 28 of the current Hunting Guide for instructions.

Deer Tales: Earlier this week we stopped over to Phil Roe’s deer processing plant near Hamilton to drop off Terry Yardley’s deer. Yes, in case you are wondering, it was a nice deer but it won’t make Phil’s Wall of Fame. After taking care of the paperwork Phil Roe proceeded to show us some of the pictures of trophies on the Wall of Fame, as well as the large number of impressive photos he has taken of deer brought in this season.

Phil has been processing deer at his state of the art cooler and processing plant on Lebanon St. for 39 years and last year was his record year. He said that so far this year he is at the same rate as last year and has this weekend to go! What is amazing is the great number of large bodied deer or impressive racks that have been brought in so far. Also impressive is the number of deer brought in by women hunters in recent years. This year so far four 14-year-old hunters have shot trophy bucks.

A foot of snow in the woods and icy roads in the state forest lands made hunting a challenge last weekend in the northern zone above Florence. Despite the wintery conditions, Joe Beckwith took a deer to end his season on Saturday. A lot of nice bucks have been seen still running around the last weekend leaving hunters to start dreaming of next year already.

Remember landowners: Anytime, but especially during this season, you should remember the landowners who generously let you hunt or fish on their property. A small thoughtful gift will mark you as a responsible sportsman and may help you gain access next season.

Steelhead report: Steelhead fishing has been good on the Salmon River with anglers doing best with egg sacks or beads. Fly fishermen have had success with nymphs or egg patterns. Remember that the Upper Fly Zone is now closed to avoid disturbing the eagles that traditionally winter there along the river. For the latest reports on various waters check www.FishNY.com.