I eat a lot of speed goats over a given year.

The rumors you heard are true, if the antelope isn't dressed out and processed quickly the meat gets a gamey sage flavor, and the meat should be cooked on a hot grill for no more then two minutes, three minutes tops. When it comes off the grill and it looks rare in the center, it'll be awesome. Medium to well done and you've found yourself a rubber band to chew on.

-Dell

Did I lay a claim on Eastern Cottontail yet? Made some excellent soups out of those before.

VICtort, this crowd is pretty enlightened, so there should be no issues with you eating some non-native invasive species. I am not too sure on the legality of killing burros or horses out west, but they should be turned into me food, dog food, fertilizer or pets. I have heard what the governement does to protect those animals and it is absolutely ridiculous. Maybe we should supplimentally feed the pythons in Florida too.

Andy, the wild horse and burro act of 1974(?) gave absolute protection to burros and horses...and makes it a felony to kill them. (note my gustatory adventure was pre-act) I don't want to hijack this thread, but this and the marine mammal protection act, passed at the same time by Congress has proven to be profoundly ineffective legislation that has rendered wild life management/range mangement efforts ineffective. Public agencies are charged with maintaining the thousands of horses and burros that you easterners are failing to adopt according to the ill concieved plan! It is a real fiasco...There are so many long term untenable consequences of this ill advised legislation...with no solution in hand due to the unwillingness to stand up to the politically charged opposition.

It is the ultimate in yielding important management decisions to emotionally charged animal rights politics, I am not sure why congress thought Joan Baez and wild horse Annie were good sources of information on range management...?

Not sure why the muskrats ate your plastic, but another rodent, the porcupine, will eat anything with salt in it (plywood (the glue), etc.).
Salt is usually rare in nature (away from the ocean) and many animals will chew anything that tastes salty (mineral deposits, etc.).
We would be more aware of our own salt cravings if it wasn't so abundant in our western diets.

Eastern Cottontail as well. I really prefer squirrel, so I don't hunt them that often.


Curtis

Elk...Roosevelt type from Pacific coast and Rocky Mt. from Colorado. Elk is superb, amongst the finest wild game I have partaken of. Contrary to the stereotypes about hunters being motivated only for trophies, I am motivated to take an elk to eat it, they are excellent. As Dell mentioned with the pronghorn, proper care of a carcass is essential and makes a huge difference in the table quality...you will notice some friends consistently serve excellent wild game meals, others less so...quick cooling and butchering of a carcass and being prepared makes a huge difference.

Caribou. My dad has hunted them a couple of times and brought home lots of meat from them. I used to eat them around Christmas time in celebration of the holiday.

Well said.

Raccoon. I have eaten A LOT of raccoons.
Once we sprayed the bbq grill with lemon pledge to clean it ... then the coon tasted lemony. I called it lemon coon - a Chinese recipe like lemon chicken.
Another time I climbed a tree after a coon. I shot it above me, and it hit me on the way down.

One interesting thing about mammals is which ones the dogs liked to eat. I would always give them pieces (feet, fur) of whatever I was cleaning.
They loved beaver, loved groundhog. Didn't care for coon. They would eat the feet, but that's it. I think the smell was too strong for them. Well, I like the meat ... even if it's not fit for dogs!

Elk. Cabela's used to have a suite at Michigan International Speedway, and I tried it in the kitchen before it went out. Probably not the best way, but it was good.


Curtis

Deer...several shapes and sizes from pacific coast blacktails to Rocky Mt. and desert Mules, Texas and Alberta, Canada whitetails, to NZ red stag. All are great when properly cared for, but not as good as elk in my experience, it may be because many deer are so-o-o lean. Out west we constantly hear of the (over?) abundance of whitetails back east, why hasn't someone mentioned eating them, or did I overlook it? Maybe deer are too banal for Warren's adventurous taste? Warren, regarding 'coons...I once skinned a road killed one for a park museum that wanted the pelt for an interpretive display. I could not believe how fatty it was, is this typical or just an artifact of being a "campgroud" 'coon that rarely missed a meal?

Hunting is kind of frowned upon in the east, for a few reasons:

1. Animal rights
2. Most of the population is urbanized and can't hunt. In this situation (urbanization) you get a mental separation between "meat" and "animals." Meat comes from the grocery store. No one would think of eating roadkill (or killing it themselves).
3. Children of hunters are getting away from hunting for the above reasons. This means that many hunters are older and keep dying off, accelerating the decrease of hunting.

Re: eating deer, I have eaten Whitetails. I found that after eating only deer for a few weeks, beef was disgusting to me. It's like your "favourite beer" - what people claim is their "favourite" depends mostly on what they're used to.

Re: coons, all the ones I skinned were fattty. But they were Southern Ontario coons with easy lives. Never saw any northern coons who may have had a real struggle for survival. I've also never seen a coon in Alberta, but it's like Siberia - cold, dry, and a very harsh place to live. Based on roadkill observations, mammal density here is a hundred times lower than in southern Ontario (south of North Bay).

Raccoon???


Okay Ernest, I think I figured you out. You're Warren on the field herp forum, and Ernest T. Bass in real life.



Ernest ate Hooty owls, coons, possums, mice, muskrat, squirrel, ground-hog....the list goes on, and he had one hell of a rock chucking arm. He once lived in a cave for 6 months with a raccoon and squirrel. After watching the raccoon, he learned to wash his food before he ate it.


-Dell
Man, I loved that show.

Not so surprising.........who doesn't love eating some good beaver?


~Doug

@Dell: I didn't remember Ernest T, so I had to look it up. Thanks for the compliment!

I remember one time with my friend when we were on a steep hill beside a lake. There were two ducks in the water about 30 feet away. I picked up a huge rock and asked him if he thought I could hit them (I was asking about accuracy). He thought I was asking about strength (could I throw the rock that far), so he said no. I heaved the rock and it landed in the 7" gap between the two ducks. The giant splash launched them both into the air. I almost killed two birds with one stone!

Dell, Gerard over on the KS forum didn't even know what "the Beverly Hillbillies" show was..HAHAHA!!!

Even so, I saw the Andy Griffith show a while back on Nickelodian and saw the one with Ernest T. Bass all fixed up learning proper etiquette remembering to say...."how doooo yooo dooo Mrs. Wiley?" at the formal house party..

Ckeck this out!..HAHAHA!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztrLMXY_9TA




~Doug

Vic, I mentioned eating deer on the 1st page, 2nd post from the bottom. I think right now people are trying to go for the more unusual, and in these parts if you have eaten ANY wild game it is likely to be deer. But there is an incredible overabundance of deer in the east. A look at Ohio for example.

The carrying capacity of Ohio should be between 7-15 deer per square mile.
Most of Ohio is around 20-40, with some areas (including some of the parks I work at) as high as 200 deer per squaremile.
Our herd stands at about 750,000 for the whole state.
About 100,000 -+ hunters take the field each year for deer.
~250,000 deer are hunted in Ohio each year.
Every year the population grows.

There seem to be less and less people hunting, with a huge percent of the urban populations not understanding meat comes from an animal that was living somewhere, but there is still a lot of hunters out there (for deer at least) yet.

Andy

p.s. And to keep it on topic - Mule Deer I have eaten.

White-tail Deer



It just hadn't come up yet for me. I have actually had 3 meals of venison since this thread started. All of them stew.


Curtis

Ouch.
Well, you've missed some great small town t.v..


Okay maybe you're not Ernest T., because he would have kilt one those ducks.


Yeah, we're dating ourselves here Doug.
I remember that Andy Griffith episode, funny stuff.

To stay on topic, I've eaten my fair share of mule deer, white tail, and buffalo. I figured those are standard game animals, and considered them regular table fair.

-Dell

Sorry for the ageism, Dell!

Your entertaining comments are keeping this thread alive!

I'm glad you took it as a compliment, and checked him out, he's my favorite caricature on the show for sure. And if ever you have the stay at home flu one day, roll a couple of episodes, you'll enjoy it.

No worries on the age thing, I'm a young 48. My best friend is forum member Cole Grover who is 28 ( I'm closer in age to his dad(who I also really like) then I am to him.), and I get the old guy comments from him all the time. I also work in a young mans field as a fly-fishing guide and take constant abuse from younger guides, but manage to be good friends w/ a number of those whipper-snappers.

I hope I'm entertaining someone, but I've been blown away by all the mammals you consider table fair. Impressive, really.
I might be tapped out for mammals I've eaten. Now fish, and birds could be interesting.

-Dell

I've eaten a lot of game, but I'm honestly the biggest fan of pig. I really love pork, about anyway I can get it. So I'll put out that I've had wild/invasive hog. Nothing too exciting for my first dip in the pool here.

At this point, I am forgetting what I posted I have eaten.

I have been to a few game dinners. Everyone invited has to bring a dish made of wild game. I have eaten a few different things there, of which I can't even remember it all, but I know there were things like Elk, maybe Moose, etc...

Andy

I've eaten Black Bear at least 5 times now. I have to say that I don't like it as a roast, as steak on the grill, as jerky, as burger made into meatballs and I don't like it as a summer sausage. It is up there with the worst meat I've eaten. This was from 3 different bears, btw.

I've tried a fair number of the North American game species listed so far, but the one I can add that hasn't been listed thus far (unless I skimmed over it) is cuy (Guinea Pig).

I spent a summer in the Peruvian Andes doing field work during my undergrad and was treated to it by a local truck driver our group had hired as transportation while there. Knowing absolutely no spanish, I didn't know what was coming until the little rodent was set on the restaurant table. I remember enjoying it, but that may have had as much to do with what I had been eating in the prior days as it had to do with the dish itself.

Chris

I've already said I've eaten Black Bear, once, but didn't comment on how it tasted. The bear I ate was smoked and really good. I'm surprised the summer sausage didn't taste well Justin, summer sausage anything is usually good, even Goose.

I think Curtis Hart stated he has eaten G-Pig. I've also had it a few times in Peru. I didn't care to much for it. Those things are better left for Python, and Boa food.

-Dell

I ate a guinea pig in college. it unfortunately belonged to somebody who was a bit traumatized by the study skin placed back in the cage. not really the best choice to make at the time. it was delicious though

Cruel...funny, but dam thats meanish.

-Dell

Hey Warren, have you ever eaten Porcupine?
I haven't, but I was wondering if you left one of the big rodents off your gastronomical list. I've never heard of people eating them but then I'd never heard of anyone eating armadillo either. Phht, still can't get over that one.

-Dell

I'll go with Black Wildebeest this time. I had it as Boeriwoers in South Africa at Marrick. See related post.


As far as eating porcupines go, I have not done it, but have a great story about it. It is part of my Porcupine Trifecta of stories. Unfortunately, I do not share these stories online, only around campfires when I am quite drunk, unless you are Hans.



Curtis

Yeah, I"ve eaten porcupine and (armadillo).
Porcupines are pretty good. It's a good animal for people lost in the woods to eat: easy to find (in some places), easy to catch, and easy to kill.

I will tell three porcupine stories. The first is that I was playing with a baby and I got some quills stuck in my hand. No biggie.
The second that is new dogs would often get into them. No worries, I just took pliers and pulled the quills out (they have hundreds of barbs like fishing hooks). It hurt, but the dogs let me. I don't get people who are owned by their dogs and "not allowed" to do that.
The third is that my brother went on a diet where he was only gonna eat what he killed. He was in the workshop when a porcupine wandered in. He hit it with a sledge and its eye came out and rolled across the floor (it was killed instantly).

Just returned from The Gambia in West Africa where I ate Warthog. Tasted just like tough pork (no surprise there then). Later in the night I went out into the national park and found my own Warthogs, although I didn't eat them this time.

Geez whats the risk of zoonoses with eating coons?

I tried Javelina for the first time this week. We cooked it 5 different ways. The best way was wrapped in bacon with lots of salt, pepper, and cumin, then cooked on a grill in tinfoil.


Curtis

Hi5s on this choice Curtis, Kudu is delicious (kuduwoers is also awesome). I don't think I've seen Capybara listed. Nice enough when stewed, a little stringy.

I've eaten dog. It was a local custom where I was and my neighbors were already cooking it up for a birthday party, so I went ahead and tried. It was seasoned/spiced heavily, so I wouldn't have been able to distinguish it from fatty beef.




Blows my mind. Bear was the best meat I've ever eaten. I should say that I've only eaten one bear, though we made a bunch of meals out of it. (mostly roasts and steaks)

I'm kinda new to the Mammal Forum, so you'll have to forgive me bringing up old stuff. I'm slowly reading through some of the posts.....

I'm surprised nobody said American Bison



This guy, who owns a herd of Bison, owed my uncle some money, so my uncle accepted a cow in trade. But he's got a bum shoulder, so my brother and I went with him and flipped a coin to see who got to take the shot. I won the flip, so I picked out the fattest cow with the nicest cape and bagged my first bison. The whole herd was made up of smaller animals than I've ever seen, kinda like some kind of dwarf bison. Still, if you look at her back legs, you can see the chain we used to pick her up with a bulldozer. The reason Ben and I look so short in this photo is that it took both of us leaning hard into her side just to keep her upright for a photo. Lots of meat on those guys.

Beautiful marbling, perfect fat content. Better than any deer or elk I've ever had.

In Germany a couple of weeks ago and seem to be able to serve wild game at restaurants. I had a few dishes made of deer, of which were likely either Roe Deer or Red Deer, both were pretty common. There was also Wild Boar mixed in many of the dishes.

In response to above: Bison or buffalo really wasn't mentioned in this whole thread? Seems crazy as that is a pretty typical "exotic type" meat in many restaurants... and delicious.

Andy

[quote="Joshua Jones"]I'm kinda new to the Mammal Forum, so you'll have to forgive me bringing up old stuff. I'm slowly reading through some of the posts.....

i really like bison burgers, if only i still lived in memphis!!!