By: Bruce and Elaine Ingram

Bruce Ingram is an NDA member and freelance outdoor writer from Fincastle, Virginia, and he is a regular contributing writer for NDA. Bruce and his wife Elaine write a weekly blog at Bruce and Elaine Ingram Indoors and Out. http://bruceingramoutdoorsblog.blogspot.com/

Hunting Deer Out of State Means Different Planning in the CWD Age

Nov 5, 2024 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

On a recent Saturday during one of West Virginia’s antlerless deer firearm seasons, I drove 56 miles from my Virginia home to my Monroe County, West Virginia land, which I bought in 2008 so I…

read more

Hunt & Gather: Mild Venison Chili and Wild Grape Jelly

Aug 4, 2021 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

Many years ago, I interviewed a veteran West Virginia hunter who had recently killed a mature buck with his bow. The Mid-Atlantic region was in the midst of a poor acorn crop, and bowhunters were…

read more

Spring Tonic Salad With Deer Heart and Morels

Apr 7, 2021 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

According to Southern Appalachian folklore, blood “falls” in the winter and “rises” in the summer. Come spring, in order to force one’s blood to start percolating again, a spring tonic was necessary. I’m not sure…

read more

Hunt & Gather: Venison Burgers With Oyster Mushroom Toppings

Jan 6, 2021 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

The bitterly cold, blustery winter morning in Virginia’s mountains had not been conducive to good hunting. No deer, turkeys, or even squirrels had been spotted. When I observed two black vultures ominously circling above me,…

read more

Hunt & Gather: Clean Out the Freezer Stew

Apr 29, 2020 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

The other day, I took a tour through our freezer and discovered a quartered gray squirrel from February, turkey wing meat from the fall of 2018 (yikes), and just two packages of roasts among our…

read more

Hunt & Gather: Venison Burger with Wild Watercress Potatoes and Dandelion Salad

Mar 4, 2020 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

In mid-to-late winter and early spring on the 38 acres Elaine and I live on, I perform many of the typical tasks NDA members do: look for sheds of the never-seen buck that made all…

read more

Hunt & Gather: Apple Venison Roast

Dec 11, 2019 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

My wife Elaine and I enjoy venison year-round, and we also enjoy gathering and eating fruits and other foods that result from habitat improvements on our land. We’ve planted apple trees for deer nutrition, but…

read more

Hunt and Gather: Venison Pasties and Persimmon Nut Cookies

Oct 25, 2018 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

The deer should have been coming within range of my bow, and the fact that they were not was making me become more and more frustrated and perplexed. I had found a classic food within…

read more

Hunt and Gather: Sumac Lemonade and Venison Tenderloin Medallions

Jun 29, 2017 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

As fellow QDMA member Bryce Clingenpeel and I are driving down a rural road in Botetourt County, Virginia on a late July day, he suddenly slams on the brakes, quickly parks his truck on the…

read more

Hunt and Gather: Venison Roast and Wineberry Cobbler

Jan 26, 2015 Bruce and Elaine Ingram

“There are white oak acorns all over the woodlot up the hill,” the landowner said when I arrived for a scouting session a week before Virginia’s Urban Archery Antlerless Season began. “That’s where I want you…

read more