“I like it to be not too moist and not too dry,” she said. “I like it to have a little kick, but not too much. The flavor can’t be overwhelming; I like it not too salty.”

The judges judge the venison jerky on several criteria: appearance, flavor and texture.

“It has to pull apart fairly easily,” she said.

One of the sausage selections, known only to the judges by a number, made Jeremy Adams’ afternoon.

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Teran Beekman, 10, of Otho, contemplates the complex flavor profile as he tries a piece of pheasant jerky Saturday afternoon during the Iowa Outdoors Store third annual Deer & Wildgame Jerky and Sausage Contest.

“I could sit there and watch TV at night and eat that all night,” he said.

Some of the entries were average.

“I’ve seen better, I’ve seen worse,” he said of one.

Diane Happel, of Fort Dodge, who was also helping with the judging, found one entry quite strongly flavored.

“Oooh,” she said. “It’s really smoky.”

-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen
Diane Happel, of Fort Dodge, examines a piece of venison/cheese sausage before tasting it.

Entries were not limited to venison.

Don Westering, of Manson, brought samples of duck, snow goose and goose jerky along with his venison jerky.

The process of drying and flavoring the meat is much the same for feathered fowl, but he said you have to be a bit more careful with it.

“It’s basically the same process,” he said. “Waterfowl does have a strong, gamy taste; if it gets overcooked, you’ll really taste it.”

To counter that, he uses seasonings and works carefully.

In other cooking competitions, barbecue and chili, the cooks often closely guard their recipes.

Westering is pretty open about his.

“I get mine from Fleet Farm,” he said. “I’m more than happy to show people how to do this. I like people to be able to do it also.”

He also had a taxidermied goose on the table.

“I stuffed that myself.” he said.

Colleen Stringer, of Fort Dodge, tried the goose jerky.

“I loved it,” she said. “It’s very good; it’s nice and smoky. That might be my pick.”

Aaron McKinney, manager of the Iowa Outdoors Store, said the annual event is a great way for his customers to get their cabin fever cured for an afternoon. Entry to the contest is free and the store provides beverages to their guests while they’re sampling.

“It’s a great way to get people into the store and let them enjoy themselves,” he said.

It’s also an opportunity to socialize.

“You hear a lot of hunting and fishing stories,” he said.