Camping and woodcraft - Scoutmastercg.com

DRESSING GAME AND FISH 277divisions between the muscles. With big game like elk,some of the muscles of the thigh are so thick they requireto be split in two. A piece of meat should not exceedfive inches in thickness. Skin off all enveloping membranes,so that the curative powder will come in directcontact with the raw, moist flesh. The flesh must be sufficientlyfresh and moist that the preservative will readilyadhere to it. The best size for pieces of meat to be curedby this process is not over a foot long, by six or eightinches wide and four inches thick.When each piece has been neatly and skilfully preparedrub the powder upon every part of the surface, and letthe mixture adhere as much as it will. Then hang up eachpiece of meat, by a string through a hole in the smallerend, and let it dry in the wind. If the sun is hot, keepthe meat in the shade; but in the North the sun helps theprocess. Never let the meat get wet. If the weather israiny for a long period, hang your meat rack where itwill get heat from the campfire, but no more smoke thanis unavoidable, and cover it ai night with a piece of canvas.Meat thus prepared is not at its best for eating untilit is about a month old ; then slice it thin. After thatno sportsman, or hunter, or trapper can get enough ofit. . . .No; this is not "jerked" meat. It is many times better.It is always eaten uncooked, and as a concentrated, stimulatingfood for men in the wilds it is valuable.{Camp-fires in the Canadian Rockies, 201-203.)It is a curious fact that blow-Hies work closeto the ground, and will seldom meddle with meatthat is hung more than ten feet above the ground.Game or fish suspended at a height of twenty feetwill be immune from " blows," if hung on atrimmed sapling well away from any foliage.Jerked Venison.— " jerky " or jerked meathas nothing to do with our common word " jerk."It is an anglicized form of the Spanish charqui,which is itself derived from the Quichua (Peruvian)ccharqui, meaning flesh cut in flakes anddried without salt. It is the same as the Africanbiltong. Those who have not investigated thematter may be surprised to learn that the roundof beef is 61 per cent, water, and that even thecommon dried and smoked meat of the butcheishoos contains 54 per cent, water. To condense