Smoking Javelina Jalapeno Sausage 1st in 2019

Archery Javelina hunting in Arizona is a blast. It happens in January and you have to have an Arizona hunting license and a big game permit tag that has to be applied for ahead and drawn for. There are leftover permits in some areas, so we were lucky this year to get a second tag for a different archery hunt. Javelina are not feral hogs that currently do not live in Arizona. I want to someday go to Texas to hunt them.

The archery season this year started out with 9 inches of wet snow in both of our hunting areas. It was slippery but every track can be seen from a long ways off through good optics.

I am lucky to have a loving wife who for my 60^th Birthday bought me a Swarovski STX spotting scope, Gitzo Traveler tripod and a Manfrotto MHXPRO-2W fluid head. She also years ago bought me a pair of Leica Ultravid 10X42 BL way before all the high definition and built in range finders. I bought an Outdoorsmans brand quick release Binocular Tripod Adapter and a stud that goes on my binos.

Don’t be tricked by Vortex hype. People who love Vortex haven’t looked through good glass or are too cheap; it’s not their fault. I bought a Rem 700 LR 30-06 for a fair price considering the Nightforce Picatinny 20MOA rail and 30mm rings. Now I have a Vortex Viper 4-16x44 that has glass about as good as my Simmons 8 point that is on a 22LR. For a 30mm tube it has an eye box that is pathetic. You can’t harvest what you can’t see. The rifle now has a Leupold Mark 5HD 3.6-18x44 TMR Illum and went from 1 to ½ MOA.

I have a couple of rifles with Nightforce ATACR  5-25 x 56 F1 MIL-R Illum scopes that are in a league of amazing. I just bought a Sig Sauer Tango 3-12X42 MRAD Illum for my Areo Presicion Enhanced AR 338 Federal that I haven’t even plumbed to the mount. It has a generous eye box and is perfect for the 400 yards caliber; and yes, it is foreign made that doesn’t pretend to be made in the USA.

Eberlestock packs fit more people like a glove and make weight feel like ½ of what you’re carrying. Just remember though, “Every Ounce Counts”. "Go in light, come out heavy". The rule of thumb is 1/3 your peak body weight or less and no more than 50% even on flat ground. I hunt at 25% total gear including firearm. Packing out with Leki trekking poles I’ll go 45% max on the 1^st trip at 3 miles or less. My adult son goes 30% and 50% with a couple of 65% elk head only pack outs. I cannot do that any more. 20 years ago I did a 200 pounds of meat for a half mile on flat ground. We de-bone everything and don’t leave any meat like a lot of guides and hunters do. Those tough cuts make great sausage.

This is my son with a nocked arrow ready for the downed boar Javelina to charge. If a Javelina is not cold stoned dead it is dangerous. Just before passing they have gotten up and charged. This goes for elk, deer and even a turkey that all try to get away and then pile up. Approach them from behind slowly while watching and listening for anything. A final poke of the eye is a great idea, but my grandfather was hospitalized by a bull elk that got up after being poked in the eye. He was kicked several times, gored and batted 30 feet by the antlers of the bull elk attempting escape.

Proper field care of the meat is essential to great tasting table fare. Note the use of nitrile gloves during the skinning process to keep sweat oils, dirt on the skin and fur off of your hands so you don’t get it on the meat. I sock skin Javelina before I even gut them. When working on field dressing a bull elk I will go through 6 pairs of nitrile gloves. I’ve been told ten thousand times that wild animals are gamy. That is people who hang meat with the skin on, cross contaminate the meat with musk from the fur, don’t properly cool the meat, hang the meat too long or hang the meat around contaminates.

I have a buddy that hangs deer and beef in a freezing barn in Minnesota with his combine harvester and diesel truck. His wife won’t eat the bitter “Gamy” meat. She tells everyone that Arizona meat is fantastic tasting and she hates corn fed Minnesota meat. She thought their stores imported the beef meat from other states besides Minnesota.

The 2019 Javelina Jalapeno Sausage recipe: (1st 6A boar)

13.75 pounds of fine ground Javelina

1/4 Cup - Sea Salt Ground

1/4 Cup - Black Pepper Ground

1/2 Cup - Onion Powder

1/8th Cup - Paprika Powder

1 at 12 ounce jalapeno's including liquid (Hatch brand)

1/3 Cup - Fresh Minced Garlic (1 Head)

1/4 cup garlic powder (not garlic salt)

2 pounds Mild Cheddar Grated Cheese

2 @ 1 oz packets of Ground Cumin (Tampico)

2 @ 1 oz packets of Ground Mexico Oregano (El Guapo)

1 oz packet of Ground New Mexico Molino Red Chili (El Guapo)

Tampico, Mojave and El Guapo are all great quality and can be ordered online if not available in your local grocery store.

I am using LEM Clear Fibrous 1 ½” X 12” casings. Six thick slices of the 1 ½” diameter sausage cover the bread with lettuce, red onion, mustard and tomato for a scrumptious sandwich.  

Start soaking your casings in warm water. Mix all the spices in a food blender, and then pour over the fine ground meat and cheese. Mix very well, stuff the casings and put it in the refrigerator for at least a day for the spices to hydrate and blend.

LEM 5 Pounds Stuffer wing nut attached to an old cutting board that I put 2“ rubber feet. The wing nuts spin off for easy cleaning and storage of the smoker.

   

Now the smoking;

I did not preheat the smoker. After loading the cold raw sausage in the Masterbuilt 30” Digital Electric Smoker. Top vent ½ open and no water in tray.

Started at 10:28 Temp = 160*F and set the time for 7 hours. One scoop of maple wood chips and one of apple. 

At 11:43 added ½ scoop apple and ½ scoop mesquite.

At 12:52 added 1 scoop maple.

Pulled the sausage at 4:00 PM at 5 ½ hours of smoking.

Cooling the sausage on cookie racks. Cooling them horizontal and turning them over a few times seems to allow the moisture to evenly absorb back into every inch of the sausage.