Chef Ron takes to the woods

Ron Hankins knows his way around a kitchen. The classically trained chef has prepared food in restaurants here and in Atlanta, and for about six years operated his own take-home food service giving fine dining a unique twist. 

Though when it comes to wild forests around his native Dublin, Hankins is the exact opposite. Even after being named the executive chef of Trophy Quest Lodge, a local hunting destination, Hankins kept to great indoors. 

“I never thought I’d be in the woods. Never in my life,” Hankins said recently while preparing three quail dishes in the lodge’s kitchen. “When I first started working here, I never went outside. I stayed right here in the house.” 

Hankins has cooked gourmet meals for the hunters who flock to the property, in Laurens County near Irwinton, each year for guided deer, quail and turkey hunts. Over the course of the years, however, Hankins has taken a liking to stepping out of his comfort zone. 

“Now I love to go out to the woods,” he said. “I like to go out at night and listen to all the sounds and try to identify the animals out there.” 

His appreciation for the outside world has grown so much, that this past season, Hankins even tried his hand at hunting for the first time. 

Though he has a personal dislike of firearms, there is more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case, kill a deer. 

“I don’t like guns,” he said. “I have never owned a gun, never shot a gun, but I do like crossbows. I own a couple and would spend some time target practicing.”

So last fall, armed with one of his bows and some bolts and under the assistance of Trophy Quest Lodge’s operation manager and guide Rocky McDade, a lifelong hunter in the woods of Middle Georgia, Hankins took a seat in a deer blind. After hours of waiting, nothing came along that he could set his sights on. The deer were either too small or out of range. 

Such is hunting. It’s a game of patience and perseverance. 

Later, Hankins returned to the field, but unfortunately yielded the same results. It wasn’t just his luck against him – sometimes amateur mistakes prevented a harvest. 

“I learned you have to be very observant. You can’t be on your phone,” he said. “I looked down for maybe 30 seconds and there was a doe at the feeder. I couldn’t lift my bow because it would have scared the deer.” 

Hankins didn’t bag a deer, but he is still killing it in the kitchen. Using his culinary training, the chef is showing the hunters at the lodge new ways to enjoy wild game suppers. 

“There are so many variations on how to cook things. I try to show them something new,” he said. “It brings a whole new experience to the hunt.”

Come next fall, or maybe even this spring as turkey season comes in, Hankins said he’s ready to try again. 

“I’m pretty good with my bow. I think I can do it,” Hankins said. “No luck yet, but better luck next year.”