About Ralph

Ralph Winingham

Ralph Winingham has been fine-tuning his cooking skills since he was a youngster watching his mother prepare some of the best wild game and desserts ever to cross anyone’s palate.

In addition to developing his culinary creativity from his mother and four brothers – all skilled game cooks – he has spent more than 40 years “borrowing” knowledge and techniques from some of the best camp and outdoor cooks across the country.

The collection of shooting tips and cooking tips presented on this web site and in his three cookbooks meld both outdoor worlds together with an assembly of fun tales; tasty recipes; expert shooting advice; tossed together with just a taste of veteran outdoor wisdom.

In addition to his recently released “Bustin’ Clays & Cookin’ Game with Old Boots & Bacon Grease II,”  Winingham is also an award-winning author of both “The Campfire Chef: Old Boots & Bacon Grease,” and “Revenge of Old Boots & Bacon Grease,” which was the 2006 Texas Outdoor Writers Association Book of the Year.

He is the creator of “Chef Ralph’s Super Seasoning;’’ a perfect blend of salts, peppers and spices for giving a culinary shot in the arm to nearly any dish. The seasoning is the ultimate combination putting just the right “whang” in wild game, fish, fowl, vegetables, beef, pork, chicken and even on the rim of a margarita glass.

In the wingshooting arena, he was one of the first U.S. journalists to cover the fledgling competition called sporting clays when the event was first introduced here from its native England in the 1980s.  

As an outdoor writer/photographer based in San Antonio, he has written about and interviewed many of the top shooters participating in the annual National Sporting Clays Association National Championship and other major events. 

His numerous newspaper and magazine articles have detailed the efforts of instructors and firearm/ammunition manufacturers in developing and promoting shooting sports across the country.

Winingham began his competitive shooting career as a member of the Tiro Al Pichon Association in the late 1970s. He earned the High-Over-All title at the 1984 TAPA Live Flyer World Championship held in San Antonio, edging out 168 of the best wingshooters in world during the two-day competition. 

Certified as a NSCA Level II instructor, in addition to his current ranking as a Master Class shooter, he has hundreds of hours of teaching experience with youngsters, women and veteran shooters.

He has retired from outdoor writing to take a well-deserved break from deadline pressure.  His award-winning articles and photos have been published in The Journal of Texas Trophy Hunters, where he was the Shotgun and Wingshooting columnist; Texas Wildlife Association Magazine, where he was the Guns and Shooting columnist; GunTest Magazine, where he was the Shotgun reviewer; Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Annual; Texas Sportsman Magazine; Texas Sporting Journal; Texas Outdoor Journal; Texas Deer Association Magazine; Texas Fish & Game Magazine; Texas Outback Magazine; Sporting Clays Magazine; Clay Shooting USA Magazine; Clay Nation Magazine; Readers Digest; Lone Star Outdoor News; the Amarillo Globe Herald; the San Antonio Express-News; and the Houston Chronicle..