Frontier cooking

Any experiences eating squirrel, raccoon, wild ducks, hunted and prepared your own small game meats?

Ihave experience with deer, bear, elk, caribou and other larger game but Ive never gotten into eating the smaller game.

I know a guy in north stonington who used to do that stuff.
He taught me some 'interesting' hunting practices.
One that comes to mind was fishing line with a series of hooks on it. It was weighted down with rocks. each hook was baited near a water fowl population. They would get hooked and look like they were feeding underwater. return to a few on the line and hoist them in.
I dont condone his ingenuity, but he was sure entertaining to hear.

Originally posted by thisguyrighthere
Any experiences eating squirrel, raccoon, wild ducks, hunted and prepared your own small game meats?

Ihave experience with deer, bear, elk, caribou and other larger game but Ive never gotten into eating the smaller game.

Ducks, turkeys, doves and whatnot are good all the time, if you don't care much about the hunting seasons. Other birds you might catch are ok but can taste like motor oil. Coots come to mind.

Rabbits and squirrels will have "bots" or "wolves" in warm months. It doesn't hurt the meat but they're nasty looking and mess up the pelt.

Squirrel needs a lot of cooking to be tender, if you had power, a crockpot or pressure cooker makes fast work of them. You could use a pressure cooker over a campfire if you're careful.

You have a better chance of getting tularemia from rabbits in warm months too, so if you're hunting out of season you need to be careful not to cut yourself or get blood into cuts before you cook it.

'Coons need special care for several reasons. First and foremost, a small percentage will carry rabies in warm months. You might not want to eat a rabid coon. I'm not sure how you know without a microscope, but generally people pen them up and see if they act normally for a while. Next, a lot of 'coons are infested with trichinosis, and you really don't want that. You'll want to cook them thoroughly, like pork, until there's no pink.

Finally, you have to dress them out like a sushi cook does fugu. There's scent glands under the skin in several places, if you cut one open the meat will taste godawfully gamey. It doesn't really damage it in terms of food value but it will be as nasty as you could imagine. Coon meat is really greasy. I know people that swear by it but I don't care for it.

Possums generally have to be penned and fed something non-carrion for several weeks. Their normal diet makes their meat really funky. You can eat it, but it's nasty.

Armadillo is not bad but takes a lot of cooking as well. In the South they can carry Hansen's disease, although it's not likely. So you won't want any rare armadillo.

Wild hogs are not unheard of down here, you have to cook them very thoroughly due to trichinosis.

I think you're overlooking a significant source of dietary protein in the post-SHTF period, and that's roast Fido. Dogs will be everywhere, you will want to keep the numbers down so they don't eat the deer (or your kids). Also coyotes can be caught by hanging a treble hook on a steel leader, about six feet off the ground, baited with rancid bacon. Dog is a lot better than possum.

Don't forget Snake. Snake is quite yummy and you don't need a weapon to catch them.

Forget about Raccoon, they taste bad, are very greasy, and as mentioned earlier you have to be very careful when cutting them up and they carry all sorts of diseases. 'Coons get both Canine and Feline diseases. I have had raccoon, but I would rather eat dirt, and I will generally eat anything.

Bugs can be a good source of protein, particularly grubs. I prefer them pan fried to live, but either way is good. They taste pretty good actually.

Dog is quite good and should not be overlooked. If you have pets, Guinea pig is a common food item in the land of its origin in South America.

There is always "long pork" if things get that chaotic, but never try to eat a Zombie.

Well, if we're going really alternative here, in the Gulf Coast area you can eat nutria.

Nutria are quite tasty. They don't generally have any diseases at all.

Nutria is actually quite tasty. They are originally from South America, but are now all over except Antarctica and Australia. They have been raised for fur for centuries and they are useful as meat livestock. Here is a good source of Nutria Recipies Tasty Nutria Recipes

Pretty much all rodents are good to eat, from the smallest mouse on up to the Capybara, the largest rodent about the size of a large dog. I have eaten several species and highly recommend utilizing rodents as a food source. They are near the bottom of the food chain and if there is life on Earth rodents wont be far from you. Most rodents have a very healthy diet although you might want to think twice about city rats due to disease. My personal favorite rodent meal is Paca, (Agouti Paca). I prefer them roasted over a fire, BBQ style.

You can also add Gator to the list. They are not at all hard to catch and the meat is plentiful. If you have a flash light you can shine it in their eyes and they freeze like deer do in headlights. Then you can canoe on up to them and spear them in the head. That's how I survived on Caiman in the Amazon.

[edit on 22-1-2007 by Terapin]

[edit on 22-1-2007 by Terapin]

Not alot of experience with smaller game but...... In regards to cooking them, if you do not need to be mobile, a heavy cast iron dutch oven is an essential tool for cooking this stuff up.



[edit on 1/22/07 by FredT]

Originally posted by FredT
Not alot of experience with smaller game but...... In regards to cooking them, if you do not need to be modile, a heavy cast iron dutch oven is an essential tool for cooking this stuff up.

Hear! Hear! Dutch ovens rock. So do heavy cast iron skillets. And if it's a fixed camp, you should seriously look into a pressure cooker and some spare gaskets.

It takes a bit of practice to use but you can do it.

Way better than gopher on a stick. That gets really old.

edit:

Again, I'll put in a plug for Horace Kephart, someone I'd liked to have met (and apparently gone drinking with, he was a boozehound). You should do yourselves a favor and go to Amazon, and there get you a copy of both "Camping and Woodcraft" by Kephart, and "Woodcraft and Camping" by "Nessmuk".

They cover everything from hide tanning, to making a pole cabin with nothing but a camp hatchet, to game cookery, all done with a minimum of equipment and 1920's level technology.

There are few better references for long-term roughing it, in what we call the "deciduous woodland environment". I don't think they'd help a lot in ice, jungle or sand, though.

second edit:

Kephart also wrote a book called "Camp Cookery" (forgot one!) wherein he goes into detail on how to prepare game with simple ingredients. Also at Amazon.

[edit on 22-1-2007 by Tom Bedlam]

Rabbits don't have a lot of fat on them which is good in peace times but in survival times, one needs fat. I raise rabbits and like them best baked like pork chops coated in "shake-n-bake". They're easy to catch. My kids catch them out here in the country (usually because the lizards are too quick for them) and then they let them go.
Snake is easy to catch. All meat. Tastes ok. I've only had it at rattlesnake roundups and we cooked it on a spit over an open fire. There may be better methods of preparing it to make it tastier. I'm not picky though so I've not experimented.
Alligator is my absolute favorite. Deep-fried in a tempura batter. MMMMM
I even have a recipe for locust soup but I've not been hungry enough to try it.
I'm not a big fan of deer meat. I prefer the squirrel (must parboil first) because it can be prepared a number of ways. If I had to choose between eating raccoon and eating my grandmother, I admit I would hesitate before choosing the raccoon. Possum is alright. Can usually find them in persimmon trees-make a persimmon pie to go with it and it's tolerable.
In a survival situation, I would concentrate on eating other predators first: dogs, cats, owls, mountain lions, etc. as they will be competing with you for all the rest of the meat. Prey tends to multiply rapidly and if you cut down the number of predators, your meat supply is practically guaranteed.
Most small birds are hardly worth the effort. You spend as many calories catching, plucking them as you get from the meat. Good for target practice with a slingshot and for feeding to your dog, though. Many are quite tasty but not really worth the effort.
Gigging frogs is easy and they're easy to prepare. Have to keep the lid on or they'll "hop" out.
Fish is probably the easiest to catch and to prepare. Armadillo and dumplings is a very tasty dish. I think 4wd trucks are their only enemy. They do have the potential of carrying disease. A good method for testing any wild game's health is to look at it's liver. If it's spotted, whitish or diseased looking, throw it out. If the liver is healthy, the animal is probably healthy.
And no, almost none of the wild game tastes like chicken. Happy hunting and if you need recipes, I wrote a book on preparing wild game. (probably should get it published. hhmmmm....)

Kephart's books rock! I'm with you on that.

Dutch oven cooking rules. I even do it around the house during the summer to save on the cooling bill. I've even cooked deep dish pizza in one.

Some people tell me that cat is very good to eat, I've never tried it. Has some traditionally prepared Kae go gi in Korea back in the '80s. Wasn't bad it all. Rover never look say tasty before.

With small birds, they are best defeathered, gutted and throw whole into the stew pot. Stay away from any bird that is carnivorous or just eats bugs these days because they're loaded with pesticides.

Worms and grubs cleaned and de-veined like shrimp are good grilled and fried.

I'd be wary of any wild shell fish like freshwater clams because they 're filter feeders and many lakes and streams around human habitation are now contaminated with all sorts of pesticides and herbicides. But if you're facing immediate starvation beggars can't be choosers.

I'll stick to deer, turkey and rabbit!

What happens when the wandering hordes of starving folks wipe out all the regular game in your hunting ground? Turkeys were almost completely wiped out in most of the Southern states after the Civil War. Their recovery has taken over 100 years in some places. Deer will get wiped out in record time cause most now aren't fearful of humans anymore except during hunting season. You can wipe out rabbits in an area pretty quickly,too.

Native Americans who lived in the eastern US learned to eat way more than just the big three and they were past-master woodsmen and hunters. Even with our technically superior weapons, I know that they were much better hunters than I'll ever be.

I'm figuring the "city folk" will eat each other up like Kilkenny cats within six weeks. That might not be true, in the post-Katrina period Nawlins went right straight to hades, but the Gulf Coast did not. So I guess it sort of depends on the nature of the area.

At any rate, a huge percentage of people will not be able to hunt and will die off in short order when the water quits coming out of the tap.

Imagine NYC. Or better, don't.

Cooking will be not problem for me, and when it comes to game or other critters I can make a stew that will render any bad tastes obsolete.

When it comes to been hungry and what is available to eat people don't care from where it comes from as long as it taste good.

Is alot of wild roots and seasoning wild herbs that can put a hummm on a yukkk.

Native americans has done it and they survive very well.

You overestimate the number of hunters, many people won't know where to get food if it isn't in a store!



PS - I can always control the number of hunters with pre-emptive attacks!

Out of the list of smaller game, squirrel is all that I have killed, and eaten myself.

We did have to cook it excessively. That was on the East coast. Grey Squirrels.

Out West, where I live now, there are ground squirrels. You have to be even more careful there. They can sometimes carry plague. Sterilize them over a fire first. Then skin, and gut them.

Mel1962 I am still laughing about the pre-emptive attacks.

Spacedoubt I agree about some critters carrying diseases, but the key is not only like you say sterilizing on an open fire but also cook them and cook them good.

I have no problem skinning animals or gutting I grew with farm animals and killing, gutting and skinning was a weekly event alone with open pit fire cooking.

Originally posted by marg6043
Mel1962 I am still laughing about the pre-emptive attacks.

Spacedoubt I agree about some critters carrying diseases, but the key is not only like you say sterilizing on an open fire but also cook them and cook them good.

I have no problem skinning animals or gutting I grew with farm animals and killing, gutting and skinning was a weekly event alone with open pit fire cooking.

Marg

I would hunt hot dogs and hamburgers if they were native to my part of the country! But I am left to hunt small game, like amateur hunters to fill the void

I don't have much experience with small game, but wouldn't it be better to make a soup or broth from the game, rather than roasting the meat? A small bird might be very tasty, but it gives very little meat.

In tough times you can make squirrel meat feed more people by cutting it into small chunks and putting it into gravy after its been well cooked.

Same way you make sausage gravy overy biscuts. Tastes better too.


Also, Quail is not a bad meal, if you have a shotgun handy. Just don't pull a Cheney when they jump up out of the brush.





[edit on 1/22/07 by makeitso]