📍 Somewhere between Capitol Reef and Moab
🗓 July 24, 2025
What starts as a routine gas station stop on a Higgins/Kerr road trip almost never ends that way. On our way from Capitol Reef National Park to Moab, we pulled in for water, snacks, and a quick bathroom break, but walked straight into what can only be described as the Mecca of Munchies.
Think: freeze-dried candy, racks of taxidermy oddities, and an entire wall of jerky. Not just beef. We’re talking elk, venison, buffalo, yak, alligator, and even a few mystery meats we tried not to look too hard at.
Naturally, we did what any group of questionably rational travelers would do: We bought a variety of options and declared a challenge.
Ratings, rankings, and regret to follow.
The Jerky Challenge: How It Worked
We prepped six mystery bowls, each filled with one kind of jerky and secretly numbered on the bottom. No labels. No clues. Just flavor, texture, and way too much confidence.
Instead of individual ballots, we used a shared rating sheet to track everyone’s votes. It was chaotic, completely unscientific, and absolutely on brand.
Scoring Rounds:
Round 1: Guess the jerky from 1–6 and match the number to the flavor (the circled numbers were the correct guesses)
Adam won the day, guessing 3 flavors correctly!
Round 2: Rate each on a scale of 1–10
(10 = “I’d eat this again on purpose”
1 = “Please never speak of this again”)
Reactions & Regrets
- Reese gave beef a zero and added a sad face. She’s still in recovery.
- Ally rated buffalo a 0–1 which is generous considering her facial expressions.
- Daniel was the scientist of the group: measured, thoughtful, mostly 8s.
- Madison? Harsh but fair. Mostly zeros. We respect honesty.
- Quinn shocked us all by crowning yak her top pick.
- Jon ranked buffalo a 2, but we suspect that was generous—his standards drop dramatically when protein is involved.
- Adam loved elk, but gator was a close second. Beef and yak? Not invited back.
- Mandy gave every jerky a solid middle-of-the-road score and stood by classic beef as her top pick.
- Patrick leaned into his role as a seasoned jerky judge, boldly selecting favorites.
🏆 Official Jerky Rankings
Individual Results
| Person | Top Pick | Lowest Pick |
| Adam | Elk | Yak |
| Ally | Beef | Yak |
| Daniel | Gator | Buffalo |
| Madison | Elk | Buffalo |
| Mandy | Beef | Venison |
| Jon | Beef | Venison |
| Patrick | Venison | Buffalo |
| Quinn | Gator | Buffalo |
| Reese | Elk | Yak |
Rating the Jerky
| Jerky | MVP Raters | Lowest Score |
| Elk | Jon, Quinn, Adam, Ally (7s) | Reese (0) |
| Buffalo | Daniel (8) | Ally, Madison (0–1), Reese (☹️) |
| Venison | Reese, Daniel, Adam (8s) | Patrick, Quinn, Ally, Jon (6s) |
| Yak | Quinn (8) | Madison (0) |
| Gator | Daniel, Quinn, Madison (10s), Ally (9–10) | Mandy (8) |
| Beef | Daniel (8.5), Mandy (favorite) | Madison (0), Reese (☹️) |
Final Thoughts from the Judges’ Table
Who knew gator jerky would unite us more than divide us?
Who knew yak could be so divisive?
And who let Reese near the rating sheet with that many zeroes?
This challenge had it all: mystery meats, unexpected favorites, and more personal drama than a reality TV reunion. Would we do it again? Absolutely. Would we change anything? Maybe a palate cleanser between yak and venison. And a therapist for Reese.
Got a jerky flavor we missed? Or a meat we probably shouldn’t try but obviously will anyway?
Drop your recommendations (or warnings) in the comments!
Go Together Life 
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