Game for some wild eating?

Steve Hein has this advice for a first-time customer: Try mountain lion.

“Mountain lion is delicious –; it’s lighter and tastes like pork,” he said. “With it, you can make roast, do some nice sausages or burgers.”

But then, Hein has been suggesting a wilder experience with meats for more than 20 years. The owner of Steve’s Meat Market in Olde Town Arvada sells culinary meat delicacies that include deer, elk, moose, antelope, caribou, bear, buffalo, bighorn sheep, mountain goat and wild boar.

“If you’re going with bear, sausage is best,” said Rob Bobitsky, owner of Wheat Ridge Poultry and Meats and Rocky Mountain Meats. “It’s a very gamy meat. If you get it from the wrong place, it’s not very good.”

This kind of culinary savoir faire is the result of years of experience experimenting with different meats and styles of preparation for both Bobitsky and Hein.

Steve’s, Rocky Mountain Meats, and other wild game processing shops provide all manner of goods for hunters –; jerky, bratwurst and steaks, among other cuts.

“People like it because they know where their meat comes from,” Bobitsky said.

Both Bobitsky and Hein don’t just process the game for their clients –; they turn the meat into delicious treats by adding their own touches.

“We blend our own spices here for the meats,” Hein said. “Items like our smoked German meats and jalape o cheddar dogs are some of our most popular products because of the flavor we add.”

Neither Steve’s nor Rocky Mountain requires appointments, and animals must have carcass tags when they’re dropped off by hunters. How much meat the butchers can get depends entirely on the animal’s weight. An average animal will yield about 55 percent of its hanging weight, according to Hein.

Interest is growing in alternatives to beef, pork and chicken, particularly because of health benefits, Hein said.

“Wild game has less cholesterol and higher protein,” he said. “These animals have no chemicals or medicine in their system –; it’s the ultimate free range.”

The challenge comes in finding these meats for those who aren’t hunters. Most grocery stores don’t carry much in the way of variety. Hein said many non-hunters can shop online at places like Fossil Farms or American Pride Foods, but they can be pricey.

Instead, shoppers looking for game alternatives can visit Bobitsky’s Poultry and Meats, which has been in the family since 1942. Although a separate business from Rocky Mountain Meats, it’s become a community mainstay. Adventurous eaters can purchase their locally sourced beef, chicken, poultry and dairy as well as elk, boar and pheasant.

“People love it here because of the freshness of everything,” Bobitsky said. They will show up for their chicken just for the day, and know how fresh it is.”

For those looking for ideas about what to do with their alternatives, Cabela’s has that covered. In the store, amateur chefs can get information from employees, and the company’s website has a special “Cook with Cabela’s” area that provides everything from recipes to how to clean the animals to how prepare the meat.

Golden Transcript – Latest Stories