Ever eat any "unusual" meat from your catches?

[John Gusmano]

I figured I would just open this thread up, out of my own curiousity….

How many of you eat the meat of your catches, and would you try it if you haven’t already? Anyone eat fox, coyote, or bobcat? How about mink or muskrat? The examples can go on and on.

I am just curious how many of you are open to it? I for one, wouldn’t mind trying any kind of meat, at least once. And also, since we are harvesting the animals, why not use every part of them we possibly can???

[trapperandhunter]

i have had bobcat and beaver before, both were pretty good, but ill stick to my deer steak and duck breasts

[Jack of all Trapping]

I think and believe I have tried just about everything that has walked or crawled on my trapline at one time or another. Partial to snapper and beaver. Not partial to stinky (skunk) or coon.

[TRAPnHUNT]

I've had fixed up beaver and coon. I prefer the beaver myself.

[mrchicken]

We made fried beaver nuggets (back straps) and then smoked the rest. It was good. The nuggets got the highest rating.

The smoked meat would have been really good smoked, then put in a crock pot until to cooked down to the consistency of pulled pork.

I'm going to try cooking one that way this next season. Or Ill smoke it for a couple hours and then add a little marinade and wrap tightly in foil for a couple hours.

[carpenter]

Eat a couple beaver beaver a year and all the muskrat legs we catch.

[Brad H.]

Every year a trapper and dog runner in our area puts on a game feed. Serves anything he traps. I have tried muskrat, coon, coyote, beaver, and other mystery meats. One time was enough. I'm with trapperandhunter. I will stick with venison and duck.

[reddog15]

Only thing from the line I have tried has been beaver. One was done in the crock pot and I have to say it was pretty good in my books. Mind you, I'm a "picky" eater. I also fried up some blackstrap from a different beaver and they were good as well. I've heard that if you deep fry muskrat legs they put chicken wings to shame. Never had them but I've had a couple people tell me this.

[patricimo54]

I ate muskrat one time, marinated it in apple cider. Tasted a whole lot like the way swamp mud smelled.

[Deleted]

Love muskrat meat, especially when cooked properly. It's a big thing in NW Ohio for game feeds.
Won't touch most other critters from the trapline though.

[happersilderness]

Beaver backstraps, yum yum. I love beef and pork liver as much as I love a nice steak so I've thought about trying beaver liver but I don't think I ever will, don't trust it sitting next to the other guts for a day or two.

[rhyla]

I've eaten racoon, and fed otter to my dog (no desire to try that one myself, but he loved it!) neither were critters I had trapped, but I was skinning them and putting up the fur and the meat was good so I figured why waste. The coon was tasty, I'd eat it again. Really want to try bobcat, beaver, and muskrat...

[bobl44]

My dad used to tell me how good skunk tasted until somebody told him what he was eating.

[outdooreverything]

Defiantly eating snapper soup and the occasional muskrat. Got bit by a long star tick during turkey season this year and got an allergy to Red meat called alpha-gal (it sucks believe me) so from now on if it doesn't have fins or feathers its off the menu.

[rhyla]

You got an allergy from a tick bite? Yikes, I didn't even know that was possible. I feel for you. That sucks!

[tnbeaverman]

Muskrat, coon, Beaver
are very much prized by myself and family
along with deer, Rabbit, squirrel, Dove and Duck, turkey.
I raise beef for sale. Hunt hogs when the opportunity comes up.
We eat more fish and wild game than anything. But we also eat
a large quantity of chicken. I just wish I could take the time to raise
my own. Perhaps when I retire.
Wild Game its what's for dinner!
Enjoy it
JW

[mitrapline]

Thought this might apply here.

[outdooreverything]

Yes I got an allergy from a tick bite. Being an avid hunter it really put a hurting on the dinner menu. It's an going problem problem that is spreading faster every year. Please everyone spray down for ticks believe me it's not worth it. I can tell you my buddies had my freezer cleaned out about 3 days after I was diagnosed lol.

[crossroads]

I've always Been pretty open to trying different stuff, this year I was fortunate enough to eat some fried mt.Lion and found it to be deliscoius. Also, a few weeks ago I decided to cook up some coon. First I cleaned all the fat off then cut the back legs into 1" cubes and boiled them for about 5 min. Strained the meat out and put it in a crock pot with a litte fresh water 2 cans of stewed tomatoes some potatoes carrots celery and some seasoning. 4 hours later I fed it to my very skeptical family and we all thought it was very good.

[Admin]

I can't bring myself to eating coons. I think it's cause they are the last thing to get eaten on the carcass pile. Must be a reason for that.

[Skinner]

I have not tried anything from the trap line but I agree coon is one of those animals I will never put on my dinner plate. I see a lot of people seem to eat squirrel. How does that taste?

[Admin]

Jan 12, 2014 13:55:38 GMT -5 Skinner said:

I see a lot of people seem to eat squirrel. How does that taste?

Taste like chicken.

[crossroads]

Lol I hear that a lot about the coons staying in the carcass pile, but it really was quite good. My three step daughters are city slickers and very picky eaters, even they liked it enough that the lady overs were gone by the time I got home from work the next day.

[blazinriverrat]

Coots yummy....

[Jack]

I made a coon and opossum chili last week and brought it in to work. The whole pot was gone in a few min. Everyone that ate it will tell you it was really good, in fact most went back for seconds. As long as it is cleaned and prepared correctly it is actually really good. Sounds crazy but I am convinced that I can prepare it, tell you its chicken and beef and you would not know the difference.

[nutriaratman]

Talking about coons being the last eaten on a gut pile , down here ( Arkansas ) the only thing NOT eaten is otter seen buzzards eat everything but them lay there till they rot away everything else cleaned up , maybe it's a north / south thing   , just odd that the animals eaten in one area are not in another , keep this in mind with lure's also what piles up fur for me might not work at all for someone in a different area . But as for myself I to will stick with deer meat , duck , crappie , & good ole flathead ( only cat I care to eat ) .

[jackpinesavage]

 I used to pheasant hunt in NE Iowa. My hunting buddy's mom has been fixin coon for almost 50 years. She only wanted us to bring Her medium sized coons. Male or female. For some reason she didn't want to work with real big or small ones. She told me there are seven glands that need to be removed before cooking. It was cut up like pieces of chicken, breaded and browned in cast iron then baked. It was tender, tame and delicious. I think it may be one of those dishes that require a practice.