The element of chance and three turkey drumsticks must be given due credit, but I turned some chunks of venison (cut from a roast) into the juiciest, most tender, and best-tasting deer meat I have ever encountered.

Luck and turkey drumsticks? You bet!

I had thawed a beautiful shoulder blade roast with the thought of turning it into jerky, but as I trimmed the meat from the bone there were some good-sized pieces of meat that would have been difficult to slice into strips.

I didn't know for sure what kind of dish I would use these chunks in--last time I used them in a beautiful venison stew. But I also had three turkey drumsticks to roast and I wondered how it would be to just roast the venison chunks around the drumsticks in my old iron skillet (covered).

I rubbed the drumsticks lightly with olive oil, then administered a good sprinkling of salt and pepper. I dittoed this treatment with the chunks of venison, including the olive oil.

I roast turkey drumsticks and wings with some regularity for two reasons. First, the groceries offer them at a pretty good price. Secondly, the white meat of wings, or the dark meat of drumsticks, is good for snacking (no bread) for my weight-loss program.

Once the wings or drumsticks are roasted, the meat can be pinched off and used in many dishes--"Turkey Wing a la King" is big in my kitchen, but this meat also lends itself well to fried rice, "skillequing" (barbequing in a skillet on the stove top), or just to give a green salad a kick. And it is nothing but healthy.

I do the drumsticks and wings for about 75 minutes at 300 degrees (covered in an iron skillet), turning them every 20 minutes or so to avoid burning. When I turned the drumsticks, I also turned the venison chunks.

I presumed the venison chunks--with so little preparation-- would be just so-so.  But one taste proved the venison so beautifully exciting to my taste that the drumsticks begged for attention until all of the venison was gone. No bread! No veggies! No nothing--just venison supreme.

Many times I have roasted venison that was quite tasty. So what did I do to change the quality of the finished product? It was simple. I merely roasted it with turkey drumsticks (skin on). Moisture and taste of the turkey presumably were roasted into the venison. 

I would think that venison could be roasted just effectively with chicken wings, or other parts (skin on).

ICEMAN ARRIVES

He came a bit late this year--he usually times his arrival with that of the old geezer in red. But the iceman arrived in the northern tier counties of Hoosierland last week, and as of Monday there was a lot of ice-fishing opportunity in the natural lakes country of the northeast.

Larry Stover, owner and operator of The Tackle Box at North Webster, told me Monday that hard-water angling picked up over the weekend. Bluegills and crappie were providing most of the action, although several other species were being taken.

Larry reported bays and channels of the larger lakes were in good shape for fishing now, adding that the ice would continue to get thicker as lower temperatures were predicted.

The larger, deep-water areas of Lake Wawasee were not yet safe, Larry said, but he thought this could change with the deep freeze predicted for this week.

Larry says the winter jigging Rapala lure is popular with anglers fishing for everything from bluegill and perch to northern pike. As the fish species gets larger, the size of the Rapala grows.

Larry says sizes 2-3 are most popular with those who are fishing for bluegill and perch, size 5-7 for bass, and 9-11 for northern pike.

In the meantime, central and southern icers will have to bide their time. Ice in these parts of the state is not yet safe.