EAT YOUR BAMBI BURGERS!

"Vegetarian" - Indian word for lousy shot. OK, it's an old joke but for those vegan types who cringe at chowing down on something that was once alive (how can they justify pulling those screaming carrots out of the ground?) here are some facts about a game dinner.

According to a wire service report, compared to standard red meat most game is considerably healthier. A pound of boneless elk, for example, has 496 calories. A pound of supermarket sirloin has 1,202.

A broiled tenderloin of deer is comparable to chicken in most nutritional categories except?

That would be iron. Venison supplies 48 percent of the daily value, a similar portion of chicken is only 3 percent.

And speaking of iron, what type of game supplies the most? Duck, squab (pigeon) or squirrel?

It would be the latter at 118 percent of the daily value.

See, I always said squirrel pot pie is great eating, and (without too much gravy and crust) good for you.

Bon appetit.