Eating wild game is one of the most popular reasons that people give for hunting. However, many people — especially nonhunters — are often reluctant to eat wild game.

While there are many potential reasons for their reluctance, misconceptions about the safety and taste of wild game are probably among the most common reasons given. Fortunately, wild game can be both delicious and healthy table fare if properly prepared. Probably the easiest way to accomplish this is to use a high-quality wild game cookbook.

While I've eaten and enjoyed a wide variety of wild game since I was a kid, I'm always on the lookout for a new way to cook game. I am a reasonably good cook, but I'm not terribly imaginative. Consequently, I do my best work when I have a good recipe to work with.

Thankfully, I received a great cookbook for Christmas that made this task much easier for me. Knowing how much I enjoy hunting, my sister and brother-in-law gave me a wonderful wild game cook book as a present: "After the Hunt — Louisiana's Authoritative Collection of Wild Game & Game Fish Cookery" by Chef John Folse, a renowned chef from Louisiana.

Pheasant with bacon and vegetables prior to cooking.

After receiving the book, I was excited to try out some of the recipes. Unfortunately, I was unsuccessful during deer season this year and was unable to cook any of the venison recipes.

Luckily, my wife and I went on our pheasant hunt shortly after receiving the book, and we got the chance to test several of the many pheasant recipes in the book. Out of all the recipes we tried, our favorite was for pheasant pot roast.

To prepare the pheasant pot roast, we cooked the pheasant breast with olive oil, chicken broth, onions, carrots, rutabaga, potatoes, bay leaves, thyme and bacon in a dutch oven. After the pheasant was fully cooked, we moved the bird and all of the vegetables to a separate platter. Then, we mixed red wine with the pan juices and scraped the browned bits from bottom of pan.

We then added butter and flour to make a delicious sauce. When that was complete, we served the pheasant with vegetables and lavishly covered it all with the sauce. The result was a tender, delectable combination — the perfect way to cap off a successful hunt.

Cooked pheasant and vegetables with the prepared sauce.

Now, the exact source you use for your wild game recipes is not of particular importance. "After the Hunt" worked great for me, but there are lots of other outstanding sources for wild game recipes out there.

My advice is to find a couple of great wild game recipes and learn how to cook them to perfection. This will make your venison, rabbit, duck or whatever species of game you end up cooking the envy of all of your neighbors.

If you do that, it won’t take long for you to convince some of your nonhunting friends that wild game really can taste delicious after all.