Treasure Valley Wild Game Cook-Off Recap

Boise brought the heat this month as local chefs, backyard pitmasters, food lovers, and families gathered for one unforgettable cookoff event. From smoky classics to bold creative twists, this year’s Boise Cookoff delivered incredible flavors, great energy, and a strong sense of community.

Held in the heart of the Treasure Valley, the event featured eight teams serving up crowd favorites while attendees sampled dishes, and enjoyed an afternoon of food, music, raffle prizes and community.

An Afternoon Full of Flavor

The cookoff showcased an impressive variety of dishes, with teams competing across multiple categories and bringing their own unique style to the table. Guests lined up early to taste everything from slow-cooked classics like chili to signature recipes and inventive local creations like elk tartare and snow goose tacos.

The atmosphere stayed lively throughout the day thanks to live music from Idaho’s own Connor Jay Liess, and the support from the Boise community. Whether attendees came to compete, judge, or simply enjoy great food, there was something for everyone.

Some of the biggest highlights from this year’s cook-off included nonstop tasting stations, creative recipes that pushed the competition to another level, and the incredible support from local businesses and sponsors who helped make the event possible. Local business Kestrel joined the competition alongside both seasoned competitors and first-time teams, all sharing the same passion for food and community. 

Generous support from Argali, EXO Mtn Gear, Vortex Optics, Work Sharp, and onX Hunt helped bring the event to life. Families, friends, and food lovers gathered throughout the day to connect over great meals, making the cook-off one of the most memorable community events of the season.

One of the best parts of the cookoff was seeing both seasoned competitors and first-time teams share the same passion for food and community.

Teams

A huge congratulations goes out to all of this year’s winners and participants for bringing their best to the competition.

Grand Champions: Two teams tied for the grand prize at this year’s competition. “Nice to Meat You”, a team led by Jim Bourke, led with an incredible elk tartare complemented by duck fat, smoked egg yolk, mustard seeds, and other goodies and served on an Idaho potato chip. Yum. “One Moore Bite”, a team made up of Clay Moore and his sister, Reagan Moore, was crowned co-champion for their amazing snow goose birria tacos - judges were blown away by a dish that could make snow geese taste that good, and Moore emphasized that his inspiration was to showcase what could be done with that meat when cooked the right way.

Best Camp Meal: This award went to Young Guns, a family team that whipped up elk tongue and turkey tacos complete with pickled onions and huckleberry drizzle. It was just the kind of meal that would be perfect for a night around the campfire (or anywhere for that matter). 

Every team brought something unique to the table, and the judges had no easy task choosing the winners.

Beyond the food, the Boise Cookoff continues to be about bringing people together. From volunteers and sponsors to vendors and attendees, it took a full community effort to make the event successful. The support from everyone involved helped create an experience that was welcoming, exciting, and memorable from start to finish.

Next year’s Treasure Valley Cookoff is going to be even bigger. Organizers and interested teams are already looking forward to building on this year’s momentum and bringing even more flavor, fun, and friendly competition to Boise.

Thank you to everyone who participated, attended, volunteered, and supported the event. We’ll see you at the next cookoff! Stay tuned for information about the 2027 IWF Wild Game Cook-Off series.