Special edition
The Tongue River Telegraph
Miles City, Mont.
The Smokehouse on Pleasant Street
A brick smokehouse, two brothers, a woodpile of cottonwood and chokecherry, and the same overnight marinade since the shop first opened its door to the street.
From the smokehouse day-book
A Smoke Day, by the Clock
- Mon 3 pmTop round, flank and bison brisket arrive from two ranches off the Tongue River. Emmett trims every thread of fat.
- Mon 7 pmStrips go into five marinades, one crock for each heat, and sit in the cold room overnight.
- Tue 4 amWade lights the firebox with split cottonwood and a few lengths of chokecherry.
- Tue 6 amRacks go in strip by strip — thin-sliced on the top shelves, thick-cut and hung bison below.
- Tue 2 pmThin-sliced comes out first. Every rack gets the bend test: it should fold like a strap, never snap.
- Tue 8 pmThick-cut and bison come out after fourteen hours, rest on screens and cool to room heat.
- Wed 7 amBagged, vacuum-sealed, signed and walked to the post office on Main. Warm ends sold at the counter.
Entered by E. Hazelrig
The proprietors
Wade Keeps the Fire, Emmett Keeps the Knife
Wade learned the smoke from their grandmother, who hung venison in a lean-to behind a ranch house on Sunday Creek. He still judges a fire by the colour of the smoke coming off the stack — thin and blue, never white.
Emmett spent ten years cutting meat for a grocery in Billings before coming home. He trims, slices and seasons every strip, and he is the one who argued for a Hellfire bag. Wade still won’t eat it.
“We sell it the day after it comes out, so there’s no warehouse and no shortcuts. If the smoke wasn’t right, that rack doesn’t get bagged.”— Wade Hazelrig
- 2smoke days a week
- 14 hrslongest rack in the smoke
- 2ranches supply the beef
Counter open
Come by the Counter
- Tuesday
- 8 am – 5 pm · smoke day, warm ends
- Wed – Thu
- 8 am – 5 pm
- Friday
- 8 am – 5 pm · smoke day, warm ends
- Saturday
- 9 am – 3 pm
- Sun – Mon
- Closed — the brothers go fishing
Find us
418 Pleasant Street
Miles City, Montana 59301
Two blocks off Main, the brick building with the stack. Park in the gravel lot behind; trucks and trailers welcome.
Telephone(406) 555-0148
Wirecounter@hazelrigsmokehouse.com
Fall Smoke Day: Saturday 16 October 2027, doors at 9 am, free and open to everyone.
Notice to shops, camps & outfitters
Selling Hazelrig Jerky
Article I.What is the smallest wholesale order?
Two cases of 24 bags, mixed however you like. Shops get 40% off the counter price; hunting outfitters and camps get the same on orders of four cases or more.
Article II.How far ahead should I order?
A week for most orders. Before hunting season — September and October — give us three weeks, because the smokehouse runs full every Tuesday and Friday.
Article III.Can you put our name on the bag?
For lodges and outfitters, yes — a printed sticker beside ours on orders of ten cases or more. We don’t make private-label jerky with someone else’s recipe.
Article IV.Can I watch a smoke day?
The smokehouse is a working kitchen, so only on Fall Smoke Day. Any Tuesday or Friday afternoon you can buy warm ends at the counter and smell it from the street.
Send a Wire to the Smokehouse
Wholesale, gifts for a crew, a hunting camp order or a question about a bag — write it on the blank and Emmett answers within two working days.
RateFree · no word limit
- Shops
- 40% off counter price, two mixed cases of 24 to start
- Camps
- Same rate from four cases, packed by hunter
- Ships
- Wednesday and Saturday, freight at cost