While you are reading this article, I will likely be sitting on an edge of some high-country timber watching for a Colorado bull elk.

My brother and I left Pennsylvania to drive out to the Southwest corner of Colorado to hunt at the Saltado Creek Ranch earlier in the week. It was a tough month at the home so far this month as we had really poor luck with the home appliances. In the span of a week before the hunt began, we had the freezer go down, the oven baking element decide to give it up and the oil furnace which we keep tuned up regularly work one day and give it up the next.

Our service guy knew what was wrong and he gave us good news and some bad news … part was ordered, but it came in as the wrong part. Roger our technician is old school and he salvaged a used part off of an old unit that would work until the new part arrived. However, it would be here on Oct. 31n … Halloween, which I hoped would be a treat and not a trick as am sitting on a mountainside trying not to worry about what’s next.

Hunting is often an uncertain experience, weather, locations you choose and the game presenting themselves to your best guess all play an important factor if you will get a shot. The one factor for every camp experience is if you will have planned for a good dining experience.

A lot of camaraderie and information are shared at the dining tables. If someone happens to score on a deer or elk or bear, everyone looks forward to the whole story! Whilst we listen intently with a lot of humor and comments, we eat heartedly on the camp cooks’ meal.

What we eat in camp varies as we spend the early and late hours of daylight seeking our game. The main meal of the day at the elk camp is usually during the midday when everything is taking a nap, including the hunters. Coming in to camp in the evening is usually a lighter fare like soup and sandwiches as hunters straggle in at unpredictable times. The planning for the menu is up to the cook, but we do get some input as well. There is a distinctive Southwest flair in the dishes as this is that part of the good old USA.

Many times, the camp has hunters from all over the country, from Texas to Michigan, from Pennsylvania to the West coast. We all share the favorite camp food menus that we enjoy at all of our hunting and fishing venues.

We all agreed that the first day in camp is the time to have the best meal that you can present. It may be something already prepared or something that takes a little longer to prepare. Once the hunting really starts to take place, everyone’s mood changes and meals can be more basic. Basics like potatoes, onions, bacon, bread and eggs are common staples washed down with plenty of hot coffee. The folks decided that these meals were pretty solid choices in all of their camps, in no particular order.

The choices of chili, stew and soups seemed to always make the menu. All of them could be left on the stove on a low heat and be just as good for the first hunter that comes in and until the last straggler drags in to camp. A big pot is mandatory and left overs work for lunch or late snacks easily. The meat lovers will go for grilled steaks, chops and chicken on a woodfire or a gas grill. Everything but chicken can be cooked rather quickly and even by each hunter to their taste. We made pan-fried fish when we were at trout camp and many hunters bring venison or walleye along as well.

Venison from earlier hunts in the year can make some great stew meat, Swiss steak, roasts and meatloaf meals. Ground meat can be browned and added to pasta dishes with sauce such as ziti or penne, which is easier to cook than straight spaghetti. Pasta can be pre-cooked for convenience and reheated in hot water easily. Meatballs can serve double duty with these dishes or as a sandwich choice.

Finally, don’t forget breakfast as a dinner choice. Fried potatoes, eggs any style, ham, bacon, sausage and biscuits will be an easy meal to please most appetites. Pancakes and waffles are easy, too, and the batter can be pre-made and poured right onto the hot griddle. We have a griddle that can be a double burner for skillets or coffee and can switch up to a griddle for frying anything at once.

Every camp cook should have one of these labor-saving appliances run by propane tanks easily attached. So even if you don’t get your elk or deer or bear, you should get a hearty and delicious meal! Good luck!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle