The Cook-Off

I wasn’t sure what to expect when the folks at the Pope and Young Club called and asked me to be one of the judges at their upcoming 34th Biennial Convention in Glendale, Arizona. There was going to be a wild game cook-off, hopefully the first of a regular event, to celebrate bowhunters’ love for cooking and consuming the animals they hunted.

Although known for their trophy measuring and record keeping, the folks at Pope and Young are just as passionate about wild game. Images by Michael Pendley.

Original plans called for multiple judges, a good idea since everyone’s tastes are different, and what one judge likes, another might not. Plus, it takes the heat off of a single judge. More on that later. The teams would cook on Camp Chef gear and could make whatever wild game-centric meals they came up with.

Each team would cook on and get to keep a full Camp Chef setup.

Honestly, I headed west without a lot of expectations. I’ve been a part of several wild game cooking competitions through the years, on both sides of the judging table. The dishes are usually pretty simple; basic wild game meals done well, but nothing over the top because of limited kitchen space and quick turnaround times.

It quickly became apparent that the competitors were serious about their wild game dishes.

When I arrived at the venue, I quickly found out that, because of a family emergency, I would be the sole judge at the cook-off. The stakes were high. In addition to competitors getting to keep the Camp Chef gear they cooked on, the grand prize was a full set up of Meat! brand game processing equipment. The prize package was every wild game processor’s dream setup, and I could tell right away that each of the participants were dead serious about winning.

The grand prize of Meat! brand processing equipment made everyone bring their A game.

The event was the kick-off for the convention, so everyone was excited to see how it went. The teams started cooking early, busily preparing their dishes for the late afternoon turn-in.

As the meals came together, I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be an average cook-off. Instead of simple dishes, the competitors were preparing meals that would have been right at home at any white table cloth restaurant. I knew I was in trouble when I saw one of the teams hand sawing an elk shank into cookable sized sections. I wasn’t going to see fried turkey nuggets and bacon wrapped poppers for this event. (Not that there is anything wrong with either of those, I love them both.) These teams were elevating wild game to another level.

This was clearly going to be no ordinary plate of wild game.

To say I was blown away by the turn-in boxes is an understatement. The menu included wild-caught Alaskan salmon with lemon cream sauce; javelina green Chile pazole; elk osso bucco made with Guinness beer instead of the traditional wine; grilled elk backstrap stuffed with javelina sausage; a mule deer, Coues deer and javelina chili; classic Cerf (venison) Bourguignon, the Julia Child version unless I miss my guess; a bear pepperoni flatbread pizza; and an antelope sausage armadillo egg with moose bacon. Tell me the last time you had a dish with antelope and moose in it?

Dishes ranged from classic to interesting combinations and preparations I had never considered.

I say all that to say this. These teams killed it. And this is where things got dicey. Like I mentioned, because of unforeseen events, I was the sole judge at the event. To make it worse, I got to talk with all the teams as they cooked, getting to know each contestant and see the passion they were pouring into their wild game dishes.

Competitors went all in, preparing multiple dishes for each turn-in.

That means they got to know me a bit as well. And because this was the kick-off for the entire multi-day event, they recognized me whenever we passed in the hallway or got on an elevator together for the remainder of the event. I’m not going to lie. I caught a few stray side eyes and terse nods from the teams that did’t win. I understand. Each turn-in box would have won most wild game competitions going away.

I enjoyed the conversation as the teams cooked as much as the food.

In the end, I judged each dish on several categories; flavor first, use of wild game, appearance, and uniqueness. The competition was so close that even I didn’t know the winner until after adding up the scores. It came down to just tenths of a point between first and fourth place. Each team turned in a meal that would win just about every wild game cooking competition it entered.

Many dishes featured game and ingredients local to the Phoenix area, such as javelina and green chile peppers.

Although I was too busy eating and adding scores to take photos of the finished dishes, I snapped a few shots as the teams worked on their masterpieces. I’m a junky for roasted bone marrow, and in the end, those marrow bones in the elk osso bucco probably nudged that dish to first place. But man, was it close.

Congratulations to the team of Bryan Chapmen, John Foster and John Gardner. They knocked it out of the park and went home with some really nice gear.

The competition came down to just tenths of a point for the winning team.

The 35th Pope and Young Convention will be held in 2027 in Little Rock, Arkansas. I’m already stoked and hope to make it back. Wild game cooking is a staple in those parts, and I already know there will be a smorgasbord of good eats. Get your teams together. It’s never too early to start planning those menus. I hope to see you there.