Other Game

[Bounty_Hunter]

Just wondering, besides the usual game like game birds, deer, turkey, and rabbits what other wild game do you hunt or eat that would be out of the ordinary? How did you prepare it? There are lots of other game animals in my area that are open to hunting or trapping but I never tried any and I don't really know of any friends or other hunters that eat much more then the typical things I named above.

[Rod W]

I was wondering what to do with a raccoon that was getting in my pigeon coop, killing the pigeons. Trapped him and the wife barbecued the little guy. Probably 5-6 pounds, just as lean as can be, he's been in the freezer for about 3 months . Delicious!!

[birddogger]

[quote="Rod W"]I was wondering what to do with a raccoon that was getting in my pigeon coop, killing the pigeons. Trapped him and the wife barbecued the little guy. Probably 5-6 pounds, just as lean as can be, he's been in the freezer for about 3 months . Delicious!![/quote
As long as they are young and prepared properly, they are very good. Besides birds and rabbits, I am a squirrel hunter. Also, delicious!!

Charlie

[klewis]

squirell & gravy very good

[Bounty_Hunter]

I never had raccoon but read that if prepared right it is very good. I doubt the wife or kids would eat one if I cook one up but I am going to try some different game animals in the coming future. I had squirrel a long time ago and it was good. I am always tempted to do a squirrel hunt because they are so plentiful most everywhere I hunt. I would think that any wild game would be much better health wise then farm raised meat from the grocery store.

[deke]

We bow hunt rabbits all summer in preparation for deer season, we give all the meat to the farm hands at the place we hunt. They usually make a rabbit mole out of them, its pretty tasty.

[ezzy333]

Years ago when in Oklahoma we hunted and ate rattle snake. By the way if anyone is going to do coon, I strongly suggest parboiling it to remove all of the fat which is NOT GOOD, then bake it and it is delicious. I am convinced that all meat is good if prepared right. That is the challenge.

Ezzy

[Bounty_Hunter]

I have been told that rattle snake is tasty too, I just don't know if I could honestly eat it just because it is what it is, a snake. I have eaten frog legs though and they were excellent . Have heard pros and cons about bear meat, and would like to try that too but it seems bear hunters are always trying to unload meat when they are successful so it kind of makes you wonder.

[Bounty_Hunter]

We bow hunt rabbits all summer in preparation for deer season, we give all the meat to the farm hands at the place we hunt. They usually make a rabbit mole out of them, its pretty tasty.

You guys must be pretty sharp with those bows, I have trouble hitting rabbits with my shotgun using #6 shot. My dog points rabbits and that's what catches me off guard just when I close in expecting a bird to flush a rabbit makes a mad dash and throws me off my game.

[deke]

We bow hunt rabbits all summer in preparation for deer season, we give all the meat to the farm hands at the place we hunt. They usually make a rabbit mole out of them, its pretty tasty.

You guys must be pretty sharp with those bows, I have trouble hitting rabbits with my shotgun using #6 shot. My dog points rabbits and that's what catches me off guard just when I close in expecting a bird to flush a rabbit makes a mad dash and throws me off my game.

We are decent shots with bows, I know I shoot all year long. But the rabbits are not running, we hit them when they are at the edge of blackberry patches in a cow field. If we took out shotguns (and we have) you are looking at killing as many rabbits as you have shells. My personal longest shot with my bow was 65 yds at a stationary rabbit out in the middle of a field, most shots are under 40 though.

[Bounty_Hunter]

I Read an article years ago in Outdoor Life about some cat hunters out west, I think they got snowed in and were running short on food so they ate some of their prize. They were impressed at how good the meat was. Don't like the idea of eating a strict carnivore but when your hungry I guess anything would taste good.

[Rod W]

I killed an old, 175# Tom, Mt Lion in "99 and brought all the meat back, cooked it up and ate it. Tougher than Arnold Swarzeneggar. Then I remembered the first time I ate it we only had the tenderloin!

[jimbo&rooster]

Old pig farmer down the road used to give me $1 a piece for skinned out coons, and possums that I either trapped or my dogs treed. (never once did i skin a possum). I happened to be at his place one subnday around dinner time and his wife served up some of the best barbecue I had ever eaten, apparently it was a mixed batch of coon, and grinner. On another occasion, he put me on the trail of some ground hogs that were in his alfalfa field, and when I whacked a few of them, he had me stick around and he put them in the pressure cooker, and fried them like chicken. It was also good eats.

My grandparents, old italian imigrants, rarely let anything go to waste and when my grandfather would shoot sparrows out of his garden my father says it wasnt uncommon for them to end up in the tomatoe sauce.

Jim

[Rod W]

I am sure groundhog would be excellent. I have been told that bobcat is delicious, also. The lion that I ate was indeed the biggest "bleep" I have ever eaten, 1/8" short of Boone & Crocket

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

An old country friend of mine who passed away a couple yrs ago,told us this story while standing around the campfire one evening.He said when he was a teenager he used to kill house cats skin them & sell them
to people in town as rabbits,He said if you skin a cat remove it's tail feet & head you can't tell the difference & evidently they must taste about the same because he said there wasn't many stray cats running around
these parts.
I know in some foreign countries they eat cats & dogs both.I have also heard of skunks being eaten,so I guess if it's fixed right you can eat about anything!!

I just happened to remember this story a friend told me about his dad.They belonged to a gun club & every year they would have a wild game cook out out.His dad was eating what he thought was squirrel & kept going
back for more,finally it was all gone & he asked if there was any more of that squirrel left as it was the best he ever ate.The guy kinda smiled & said that wasn't squirrel it was muskrat & all of a sudden his dad got sick of his stomach.
I think our mind has more to do with what we eat then our taste buds.

[Rod W]

I've eaten beaver, pretty good, and muskrat, didn't care for the rat!

[Bounty_Hunter]

I guess it does have a lot to do with mind over matter, because when I watch the discovery channel and see those natives eating those big grubs and roasted spiders they are always smiling like they are eating a gourmet meal fit for a king. I think I will start my quest a bit simple with some chucks this spring, and maybe some beaver and raccoon in the fall and go from there. Any one do the turtle soup thing, because I always see snapping turtles crossing the roads in my area?

[birddogger]

As a kid growing up, I spent a lot of time at my grand parents who lived back in the hills, pretty much away from normal civilization. They were very poor people and pretty much lived off the land with a couple of dairy cows, chickens, a few hogs and a garden. I absolutely loved it up there and since there was never much meat for our meals, my grandpa was an opportunist when it came to meat. Therefore, I have eaten raccoon, opossum, snapping turtles, ground hogs, frogs and ofcourse the normal rabbits, squirrels and game birds. In other words, just about any furbearing animal, foul and water creatures we came across. And I never remember eating any of it that I didn't like although sometimes a critter would have a little age on it and be a little tough. I tend to agree with Ezzy that just about any animal can be good if prepared properly.

Charlie

[Neil]

It is all good.

[Mountaineer]

My mother's request on her birthday was always a mess of squirrel brains...I never took to them.
Most of us of an age and background have been served game that does not presently fit the ideal or the present day description of game....it all works if prepared correctly and of a nature that was palatable...liking it is most often about length of time one ate it and the situations involved and memories it evokes.

Young groundhog is much better than old groundhog, to me.

[Bounty_Hunter]

What about ageing meat, its done on almost all game? I always do it with my deer, usually about 8 to 10 days if weather will allow it and I have been doing it even on the game birds I shoot but just 2 or 3 days on the birds. I think that ageing and properly field dressing game can also make a real difference in taste too.

[Bounty_Hunter]

As a kid growing up, I spent a lot of time at my grand parents who lived back in the hills, pretty much away from normal civilization. They were very poor people and pretty much lived off the land with a couple of dairy cows, chickens, a few hogs and a garden. I absolutely loved it up there and since there was never much meat for our meals, my grandpa was an opportunist when it came to meat. Therefore, I have eaten raccoon, opossum, snapping turtles, ground hogs, frogs and ofcourse the normal rabbits, squirrels and game birds. In other words, just about any furbearing animal, foul and water creatures we came across. And I never remember eating any of it that I didn't like although sometimes a critter would have a little age on it and be a little tough. I tend to agree with Ezzy that just about any animal can be good if prepared properly.

Charlie

I really envy people that got to live that kind of life, it seems like they just knew how to enjoy life better back then. You can't help but wonder what's gone so wrong with society now days. Here's a prime example: Just yesterday not far from where I live someone found a dog locked in a crate on the side of the road, not sure if it froze to death or starved or both as we have had temps in the single digits with wind chills well below 0. Why? No emotions, No conscience? Anyone's call...

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

AND we had RESPECT!! if we didn't take care of what we had we didn't expect to get a new one the next day we were punished when we misbehaved.We wore pants that fit,the girls didn't talk like sailors etc yes things sure have changed.

[ezzy333]

As a kid growing up, I spent a lot of time at my grand parents who lived back in the hills, pretty much away from normal civilization. They were very poor people and pretty much lived off the land with a couple of dairy cows, chickens, a few hogs and a garden. I absolutely loved it up there and since there was never much meat for our meals, my grandpa was an opportunist when it came to meat. Therefore, I have eaten raccoon, opossum, snapping turtles, ground hogs, frogs and ofcourse the normal rabbits, squirrels and game birds. In other words, just about any furbearing animal, foul and water creatures we came across. And I never remember eating any of it that I didn't like although sometimes a critter would have a little age on it and be a little tough. I tend to agree with Ezzy that just about any animal can be good if prepared properly.

Charlie

I really envy people that got to live that kind of life, it seems like they just knew how to enjoy life better back then. You can't help but wonder what's gone so wrong with society now days. Here's a prime example: Just yesterday not far from where I live someone found a dog locked in a crate on the side of the road, not sure if it froze to death or starved or both as we have had temps in the single digits with wind chills well below 0. Why? No emotions, No conscience? Anyone's call...

Unexplainable things like that have happened since time one. And if we knew the story it probably wouldn't be as strange as our imagination makes it out to be. But there was a difference and it is still around if you want to live that way. But along with the romantic part we dream about remember we also had to make the 100 ft.+ journey to the outhouse in the middle of the night in winter as well as summer. We had no air conditioning, sometimes even no electric, and all of the things that came with it. Sometime around 6 or seven years old I had to get up and help milk cows by hand, do the chores before breakfast, eat and walk to school in the early years and ride a 7:00 AM bus to high school. I rode a horse to school in the summer, hurried home made a sandwich, filled old milk cans with gas, and drove our truck to the field where Dad was working so we could fill the tractor with gas and I stayed out and plowed or whatever till 8 or 9 in the evening while DAd and my older brother did the chores. Before this time we did it all with horses. The house was heated with kerosene or coal, no insulation, hotter than heck in summer and cold in winter if you didn't sit close to the fire. No car to run to town every day, no other kids to play with, and no TV, play station, cell phone, or other electrical toys.

But there was a closer relationship with nature and God. We understood the important things in life such as having to work for what you had or wanted. And a much closer tie to your neighbors and family since you needed both sometimes to get through everyday problems.

We also treated animals like animals. We didn't have the money to treat them like people. A thing I will never forget is being given the gun and having to shoot my pony when she broke her leg one winter when I was 10 or 11. Or doing away with other animals in ways I would be put in jail for today. But one good thing is we did not have neighbors or other individuals looking over our shoulder telling us how we had to do things. I think it was because we all did things pretty much alike since no one had the time or money to tell the rest of the world how to live. Right and wrong was pretty much explained by the Bible and not the government or some group who think they know more than everyone else.

[Rod W]

What about ageing meat, its done on almost all game? I always do it with my deer, usually about 8 to 10 days if weather will allow it and I have been doing it even on the game birds I shoot but just 2 or 3 days on the birds. I think that ageing and properly field dressing game can also make a real difference in taste too.

By all means age your birds, pheasants, grouse, geese 3-7 days, pen raised pheasant, quail, woodcock, and ducks 1-3 days depending on their age. Read this article in Hunter-angler-gardener-cook by Hank Shaw www.honest-food-net/2012/10/20/on-aging-pheasants-2/ All birds aged before plucking and with innards still intact

[Bounty_Hunter]

But there was a closer relationship with nature and God. We understood the important things in life such as having to work for what you had or wanted. And a much closer tie to your neighbors and family since you needed both sometimes to get through everyday problems.

That's kind of what I was looking for as to what might be the missing link or at least a starting point for the problems with society. No religious faith, little or no family time or closeness, and lack of concern for our neighbors along with other things. I am also old enough to remember sitting at the kitchen table for dinner and (whats that today) just talking to each other. Today kids have their noses buried in cell phones, I-pads, Xboxes ect. You ask them a question and you get one word answers. Now I know I wouldn't like the idea of running out to use an outhouse especially in the middle of winter but there are lots of things I would give up to go back to a better time and place that I have heard of, but that's just me. I think many would though if given the chance.

[Bounty_Hunter]

By all means age your birds, pheasants, grouse, geese 3-7 days, pen raised pheasant, quail, woodcock, and ducks 1-3 days depending on their age. Read this article in Hunter-angler-gardener-cook by Hank Shaw www.honest-food-net/2012/10/20/on-aging-pheasants-2/ All birds aged before plucking and with innards still intact

Some good information there Rod, and recipes too. Thanks!

[Bounty_Hunter]

AND we had RESPECT!! if we didn't take care of what we had we didn't expect to get a new one the next day we were punished when we misbehaved.We wore pants that fit,the girls didn't talk like sailors etc yes things sure have changed.

How about all the kids today that buy those jeans and shorts with rips and holes in them, made that way and pay top dollar for them. My nephew was wearing them and said they are common and in style. :roll:

[ezzy333]

AND we had RESPECT!! if we didn't take care of what we had we didn't expect to get a new one the next day we were punished when we misbehaved.We wore pants that fit,the girls didn't talk like sailors etc yes things sure have changed.

How about all the kids today that buy those jeans and shorts with rips and holes in them, made that way and pay top dollar for them. My nephew was wearing them and said they are common and in style. :roll:

I blame the parents for most of that. When the kids come here the phones are put away and we sit at the table and talk after a little sulking by a couple of them. LOL

[birddogger]

[quote]Now I know I wouldn't like the idea of running out to use an outhouse especially in the middle of winter but there are lots of things I would give up to go back to a better time and place that I have heard of, but that's just me. I think many would though if given the chance.Bounty_Hunter
Yeah, we had to walk to the outhouse in all kinds of conditions. There was no running water....water was carried in buckets from a spring as many times a day as needed [best water I have ever drank though] and they had no electricity until I was 5 or 6 years old [can't remember for sure..it just wasn't available back in the sticks at that time]. And as Ezzy commented on, the house was heated with a coal stove which was hot up close and cold away from it. Those things were'nt any fun but I still loved it there and am glad I had the experience.

Charlie

[Bounty_Hunter]

Anyone have trouble preparing geese? I have heard many complain they are tough no matter how you cook them. But I did read an article a while back that said if you smoke them in a smoker they taste like tender jerky and the meat is very good. I only had goose one time years ago and it was kind of tough. Tasty but tough. Plenty of them around though especially where I live.

[slistoe]

Goose sausage is especially tasty.

[Rod W]

I usually won't even shoot a goose just because they are so tough. I have been given a few geese these last few years. smoked. This is definitely the way to go. Can you imagine a goose being quite moist after being smoked? This is the way they turned out, altho they were quite tough yet, they were definitely desirable!

[Bounty_Hunter]

It is hard to believe it would be moist but I have to say I never ate anything smoked that I didn't like. I guess goose is good prepared many ways like the sausage slistoe mentioned, its just not a game bird that should be cooked like other game birds. I should pick up a smoker and do some goose hunting because those birds are everywhere and we have resident populations that stay all year long. I have noticed that there is much less activity this year though because all of the lakes and even some creeks have frozen over this winter and that hasn't happened here for a few years. Can't wait for spring!