What animals have you eaten?

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:02 am

I was thinking of starting this thread a couple months back, when observing someone's reaction when I offered yak salami, swiss cheese, and crackers.

The thread about woodchucks reminded me.

What animals have you eaten? Fish are OK of they are interesting ones.

Extra points if the animal was shot with a lever gun

Here is my list (I might have to update it as I think of more):

Sitka Blacktail (levergun)
Whitetail (levergun)
Moose (levergun)
Caribou and Reindeer
Bear (lever gun)
Mountain Goat (lever gun)
Musk Ox
Bison
Elk
Yak
Dall Sheep
Red Stag
Fallow Deer
Wild Cows
Minke Whale
Bowhead Whale
Bearded Seal
Spotted Seal
Walrus
Beaver
Cottontail Rabbit
Arctic Hare
Alligator
Snapping Turtle
Rattlesnake
Frog
Wallaby
Woodchuck
Octopus
Squid
Sea Urchin
Chiton
Limpet
Barnacle
Ostrich
Spruce Grouse, Blue Grouse
Wild Turkey
Quail, Pheasant, etc.
Several kinds of sea ducks
All the normal ducks, geese etc.
All the standard fish, shellfish, crustaceans

Plus Iraqi mystery meat, generally reputed to be some kind of chicken.

So this girl once took me home to meet her family over Christmas when I was in college. Her multitude of little cousins found out I was from Alaska and started asking questions. Well, I grew up in the bush where there were no stores - all of our meat was shot or caught. One thing led to another and they were all asking me what kind of animals we ate. I was happy to tell them all the details.

Turns out that their parents had spent considerable effort trying to hide the fact that meat came from actual live animals. I suppose it spontaneously generates itself when you spread plastic wrap over a styrofoam tray?

Anyway, it was a shambles. I was like the guy who exploded their belief in Santa, only worse; I exposed the fact that people murder Bambi. I became the symbol of all that was raw and ugly in the world. I was treated like the devil himself, with bad body odor on top.

The kids? They were unfazed. I think they had probably figured out where hamburgers came from a long time before.

Different culture I guess. My dad had me "helping" him skin deer when I was three.

I bet some of you guys have eaten some interesting stuff, and fed it to your kids too.

madman4570 · Post by **madman4570** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:49 am

Woodchuck
Rabbit
Whitetail---Lever .35 Rem ( Marlin 336C)
Fish
Gator
Mountain Lion
Steer turned wild---Lever .35 Rem (Marlin 336C)
Possum
Grouse
Turkey
Pheasant
Quail
Duck
Geese
Bear---Lever .35 Rem (Marlin 336C)
Boar---Lever .35 Rem (Marlin 336C)
Shellfish
Crustaceans
Rattlesnake
Turtle
Elk
Moose----Lever .35 Rem (Marlin 336C)
Bison
Best taste for the wild----Moose, then Mountain Lion, then Elk

Domestic raised
Pig
Cattle
Chicken
Fish
Goat
Turkey
Lamb

Best taste for the domestic----cattle, then pig, then chicken

Best taste of just about "anything" ever eaten domestic or wild---- A sweet braised extra thickened Guinness sauce (Guinness, garlic cloves, beef broth, honey, dark soy sauce, yellow onions) over Darkened Moose with grilled potatoes, asparagus and cob corn. Fresh corn bread/butter.
And more stout to wash it down!

firefuzz · Post by **firefuzz** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:18 am

All the below shot with lever guns, that's all Grandpa and Uncle ever hunted with.

Squirrel
Possum
Coon
Rabbit (cotton tail and jack)
Deer (whitetail, blacktail, mule)
Elk
Boar
Javelina
Antelope
Buffalo
Bear

Don't know what they were shot with:

Gator
Turkey
Pheasant
Quail
Duck
Goose
Turtle
Rattlesnake

Domestic:

Cattle
Hogs
Chickens
Turkeys
Goat
Lamb

About every kind of fish, both fresh water and salt, that you can imagine.

Rob

missionary5155 · Post by **missionary5155** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 7:56 am

Good morning
I visit a mountain village each Tuesday. They are in the habit of eating whatever dies so I get included...
Cat
Dog
LLama
Vicuna ( camal type)
Burro
Horse
Cui (Guinea Pig)

Then when we were visiting out along an Amazon tributary...
Monkey
Croc tail
Pirrana
All are tasty when cooked correctly. Cat does have a taste.. I rather eat dog anyday.
Mike in Peru

3leggedturtle · Post by **3leggedturtle** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:15 am

Haven.t had carobou yet but have eaten:

iguana
rattlesnake
bullfrogs, plus all the other usual critters

7.62, what does walrus taste similar too?

Streetstar · Post by **Streetstar** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:39 am

domestic beef-chicken -pork-turkey (no brainers there)

Bison/Buffalo - (my favorite)
Wild boar
venison
elk
ostritch
kangaroo
- too many varieties of seafood to list
squirrel
frog
rabbit
snapping turtle
alligator
quail
lamb

--- im sure there are some i missed

like 762's middle eastern experience - i have had mystery steaks before that were so tough we assumed they were goats -- LOL - but after 4 months in the dez, any charbroiled meat was a welcome change from MRE's, although later i ate a metric ton of Gyro's in Saudi Arabia - yummy (dont know what of meat that was specifically either , but i think lamb also )

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:16 am

You guys are a LOT more adventurous than I am.

bdhold · Post by **bdhold** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:34 am

No thank you, Delmar. One third of a gopher would only arouse my appetite without bedding it down.

Not to offend, haven't eaten any varmints - have eaten pretty much everything on Doug's list except for the kangaroo.
I can throw in javelina - you can eat anything that's been slow-smoked for two days - in fact, its great.

Seafood around the world is always interesting. Best octopus and squid I've eaten was in Italy, sauteed to melt in your mouth. They fry their shrimp whole, and eat them head first.

and of course in Korea, dog - both roast and bbq

Canuck Bob · Post by **Canuck Bob** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 11:11 am

Wow, I started a list and quickly realized it was not even close to other's experience.

I can add Prairie Oysters, actually a part of the domestic bull calf.

My only claim to adventure in food was during our trips to adopt our daughters in China. I ate some dishes I was sure were still squirming. I didn't ask and they didn't tell. The markets were very interesting, much live stock killed at order including eels, snakes, monkeys, fowl, and fish and many unrecognizable and recognizable parts not on my list ever. Daily slaughtered hogs hung at the butcher counter and streetside and slowly butchered as the day wore on. This was Beijing so it seemed the Chinese want their meat fresh because refrigeration was certainly available. My friends with oilfield experience have some stories to tell as well, usually some place that ends in -stan or in Africa.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:40 pm

missionary5155 wrote:Good morning
I visit a mountain village each Tuesday. They are in the habit of eating whatever dies so I get included… Then when we were visiting out along an Amazon tributary...

I guessed you would have some interesting ones. When I was in college the school set up a sort of satellite program in Peru. Students could do two semesters and a summer there, and in order to pass, had to be fluent in Spanish by that time (some of the classes were taught in Spanish), and one of the requirements was to go to a restaurant and order and eat a guinea pig. The guinea pig was actually about the most dreaded part of the program.

This program had a really good effect on the kids who did it. They came back with a lot of confidence, and less squeamishness.

M. M. Wright · Post by **M. M. Wright** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:49 pm

My pick for best meat is frog legs!!!
Crappie come near the top as does Flathead catfish. Should be 20+ pounds and bled to death.
Whitetail
Pronghorn
Elk
Bear
Hog, (trapped, cut and fattened)
'Coon
Squirrel
Cotton tail
Swamp rabbit, (another near the top)
Rattle snake
Ground hog, (tastes like big squirrel to me)
Geese, (several species)
Ducks, (had a couple of blue wing teal that were really good but I was plenty hungry too)
Does a fat Hereford steer shot off a pond dam count? (.270 if you gotta know)
Mutton and Lamb
Goat
Turtle, (soft shell is best)
Quail
Pheasant
Rio Grande turkey
Meadow lark
Wood pecker, (tastes like pine knot even when you're hungry)
Possum, too greasy
Armadillo, possum on the half shell
Crawdads
Shrimp
Crabs
Fresh water muscles, (yuk)
There may be others that my memory will not let me recall.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:52 pm

3leggedturtle wrote:Haven.t had carobou yet but have eaten:

iguana
rattlesnake
bullfrogs, plus all the other usual critters

7.62, what does walrus taste similar too?

I guess kind of like seal? I haven't eaten too much, and not fresh, so it is hard for me to really say.

Walrus eat clams, so they get their clams out of the bellies of walrus. They say that those clams are the best there are - the gastric juices of the walrus cook them and give them a really good flavor. I have not had the opportunity to try them.

Some of the marine mammals are interesting. As soon as you swallow, your body temperature spikes. When you first eat it, or if you haven't for some time, and then eat some, it will make you feel a bit weird.

Different people have different tastes. I have been in villages where everyone raves about beluga, yet in another village, everyone disdains beluga as being to strong and muddy flavored. In the same village where no one will eat a beluga, they eat seagulls, yet other villages laugh at them for it, and only eat ducks, geese, auklets, cormorants, puffins, etc.

I did not notice turtle in your list?

I have always wondered how that turtle ended up with only three legs, I thought maybe the mystery would be solved!

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 1:59 pm

M. M. Wright wrote: Possum, too greasy

The old-timer who cut my hair when I was in eastern Kentucky told me how he prepared possum:

Catch a possum, a small white one, never grey or black.
Put it in a pen and feed it only corn for 6 months.
Butcher and put in a pan in the oven, raised from the bottom of the pan.
When the pan gets full, put trays on the bottom rack filled with slices of bread to catch the grease that overflows.

Some people eat the greasy bread, some do not.

He took some to a church potlatch one day labeled "mystery meat." everyone raved about how good it was. After the meal he revealed it was possum, and suddenly the same people who loved it thought it had tasted horrible. There was an uproar and the pastor had to secure a promise from him to never bring possum to church again.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 2:38 pm

Good grief, don't you guys eat ANY beef?

Shark *
Sea Bass *
Halibut *
Stingray *
Mackerel *
Grouper *
Salmon *
Trout *
Catfish *
Lobster * (snorkeling)
Pike *
Havelina (levergun)
Pig
Rattlesnake *
Elk (levergun)
Blacktail (levergun)
Mule deer (levergun)
Whitetail (levergun)
Black Bear
Red deer
Sitka
Coues
and whatever it was that my cousi raises in NZ
Monkee on a stick, but it coulda been: Dog or Cat
Squirrel (levergun)
Possum (levergun)
Duck *
Turkey
Goose
Pheasant *
Quail *
Cottontail & Jack
Chicken * (chasin' that sucker around the yard worked up a greater appetite than the bird could fill, so now it's store bought only)!
Beef

But I've passed up on some oriental delicacies

* = caught or shot myself

JerryB · Post by **JerryB** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 3:16 pm

Don't have my listed yet, BUT I can tell you that ya'll are sure to be in big trouble when six point SIKA or what ever it is that talks about get here.

MrMurphy · Post by **MrMurphy** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:09 pm

Well Mike in Peru, you're not the only one who's eaten horse.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 6:34 pm

7.62 Precision wrote:
Turns out that their parents had spent considerable effort trying to hide the fact that meat came from actual live animals.
I suppose it spontaneously generates itself when you spread plastic wrap over a styrofoam tray ?

Nope............. haven't you ever heard of a Hamburger (etc) Tree ? .

.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:07 pm

JerryB wrote:Don't have my listed yet, BUT I can tell you that ya'll are sure to be in big trouble when six point SIKA or what ever it is that talks about get here.

Yep, I'm expecting bat . . .

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 8:17 pm

This thread has me laughing my butt off! This is going to be a classic one for sure!!!

I don't think I have had the opportunities for wild game you fellas have had. What wild game has come my way has been through friends or stores while traveling in the mid-west.

Ostrich
Buffalo (local ranch for that-very tasty!)
Moose (agree some of best wild game)
Elk (another favorite when I'm in CO)
Wild Canadian Geese (OMG did we prepare that one good in my deep fryer!!!)
Canadian Wild Duck=Mallard (Ditto!)
Muscovy Duck (different bird altogether and the best of the duck world!)
Pheasant
Wild Pig (hit or miss flavor wise)
Venison (Yum!)
Lamb (Yum!)
White and black tail deer (Yum!)
Korean style beef tartare (Raw marinaded beef-does that count as exotic?

)
Sushi grade Ahi Tuna, Squid, wild Alaskan salmon, shark, hali-butt steaks, sword fish, other usual fish but prefer the meaty ones!

Would like to try bear and some others already on your guys lists! Plenty of chicken of course, would like to try wild turkey just to see.

-Tutt

JerryB · Post by **JerryB** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 9:15 pm

Reckon it's time for me to start on mine, my wife has been calling off different meat all afternoon.
I usually just say everything that walks, crawls, flies, swims or slithers, that just about would cover mine from the Florida glades to the north woods of Michigan and states in between.
Gator tail, turtle leather back and gator snapper, rattlesnake, raw oysters and river mussel, muskrat fried in a cafe in Michigan. Groundhog, coon, everything that could be considered small game. All of the upland game birds north and south and turkey. Deer, hog, black bear, buffalo a friend shot in Texas. Elk, antelope, moose all at a wild game dinner onetime. Big wild birds, ducks, goose, coots, gallinule, snipe, rails. A man would be hard pressed to go hungry in the Florida glades there is such an abundance of good food there for the taking plus all the fish and swamp cabbage. I do believe I could survive there much better than the north woods if I had to.
Reckon this is about all, not real exotic but good food. This does not include farm raised and store bought meat or all the good eating when you are done cutting a bunch of calves or a couple dozen little boars, now that is some good fried eating.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:15 pm

CowboyTutt wrote: Would like to try bear and some others already on your guys lists! Plenty of chicken of course, would like to try wild turkey just to see.
-Tutt

I should soot a couple bear this spring and ship some meat down . . .

Still have some in the freezer.
Bear varies a lot depending on what it has been eating. We fed two bears to the chickens and ate the chickens one year when I was a kid - it was that bad. The flavor was much improved as eggs and fried chicken.
If they are eating berries and plants, you can feed it to people who won't eat wild meat and they won't know the difference, as long as you don't get any fat.

The last one I shot was very tender and very good.

I would like to try javelina - I go to Arizona almost every year, but I don't know how and where to best hunt them. Seen lots of tracks.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Mon Mar 10, 2014 10:40 pm

7.62, I would have to agree from what little I know that it depends on what the critters are eating!!!

To me, hunting is all about the quality of the food!! If I cant get quality meat, I don't think it would be worth my time, but that's just my opinion. I have had wild pig sausage from a friend of mine in Hollister, CA, and it was to die for!! It was extremely lean and tasty!!!

I recently participated in a "sausage party" in Ukiah, CA that involved turning 325 lbs of wild pig meat into sausage and if you ask me, the end results were kind of too chewy for my taste. Too much fat. Too course a grind maybe.

So I don't know if I will be doing it again.

-Tutt

Pop Watts · Post by **Pop Watts** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:37 am

Well I am way out of my league here.
Most of the animals you guys have eaten do not exist in Australia.
But I have eaten Echidna (google it)
Killed by an Aboriginal mate of mine.
He used a stick, because in certain parts of Australia traditional owners (Aboriginals) are permitted to hunt protected animals using traditional methods.
So you can also add Green Sea Turtle and Dugong, thanks to some Thursday Islanders I knew at the time.
Used to be a fan of Bear Grills and was shamed when he threw up after eating a goat testicle on one of his shows. So the next time I was shooting goats out near Mudgee I whipped off a testicle and ate some, just to show my mates I could go head to head with Bear. Maybe the testicle would have tasted better cooked, but at least I didn't throw up.
Sure would like to try Walrus though.
Pop.

piller · Post by **piller** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:54 am

I feel rather tame right about now. I have eaten Wildebeest, and it was good. Scimitar Horned Oryx was good (it is just another type of antelope). Water Buffalo is very tough and must be cooked slowly and for a long time to soften it. The taste is much like any other beef. I see that some others have eaten Ke Gogi, too. My favorite of all the wild game I have eaten is Ringneck Pheasant baked in Campbells Golden Mushroom soup. Hungarian Blue Pheasant comes very close.

3leggedturtle · Post by **3leggedturtle** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:12 am

7.62 Precision wrote:
3leggedturtle wrote:Haven.t had carobou yet but have eaten:

iguana
rattlesnake
bullfrogs, plus all the other usual critters

7.62, what does walrus taste similar too?
I guess kind of like seal?

I did not notice turtle in your list?

I have always wondered how that turtle ended up with only three legs, I thought maybe the mystery would be solved!

Don't know what seal tastes like either.

I have eaten snapping turtle. I got my name cuz I bicycle everywhere (used to) I always told people I'm like a 3-legged horse I always get there; only slower

wolfdog · Post by **wolfdog** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:15 am

If its dead and cooked, I will eat most anything, once at least.

rafter-7 · Post by **rafter-7** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:34 am

I have tried things, but really only like animals that have a hoof split or other wise

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 1:10 pm

CowboyTutt wrote: . . . turning 325 lbs of wild pig meat into sausage and if you ask me, the end results were kind of too chewy for my taste. Too much fat. Too course a grind maybe.

I know little about wild pig. (I stabbed a great big boar with my knife once, but he was moving fast, and I hit a shoulder and a rib and he ran off. Jumped down on one from above with an axe, but he heard me whistling through the air and spun out of the path of the ax just in time, and I caught a smallish one by the back leg with a noose made from a couple tie-down straps, but she kicked really hard and fast as I was pulling her up and kicked her leg free. So my total experience so far with pigs is Pigs 3 me 0. And I know they are very fast, with good reflexes. Lucky I didn't get ripped up - the one I stabbed had some wicked tusks.

With every meat though, care and prep is important. Some parts you just don't eat unless you have to. The problem with sausage is that so many people take bloodshot or tainted meat, gristle, cartilage, and other stuff you would not normally eat and chuck it in the grinder for sausage. Especially if you are combining meat from federal animals with several people involved, it is harder to control what you are getting. Good meat makes good sausage, just like everything else

Now I have not always eaten the best tasting animals - I have eaten old tough deer and stuff. I have eaten salmon that were past where most people will eat them, but I grew up where we did not have the luxury of running to the store to get some steaks. We had some tight times and sometimes you take what you can get (and some impossible shots, too) when you are getting hungry. For us a trip to the grocery meant walking down the boardwalk to the beach, running across the bay in an aluminum skiff to the airplane float, jumping on the mail plane that came once a week or on a plane that came in because it was chartered, and flying an hour to the nearest town with a store, or 12 to 20-some hours in a boat, depending on the weather and which way you went.

I have also never taken meat to a butcher. When I went to Upstate NY, I was surprised to find that everyone complained about the flavor of venison. (Actually, they did not know what venison was - if I said that word I got confusion until I explained and they said, "Oh, you mean deer meat!') I thought maybe the whitetails there were gamier, but we shot them and they were good. As I was there longer I realized that no one there knew how to butcher a deer, so they all went to butchers, often not even gutted.
So the average hunter there shot his deer, then artistically arranged it on his open tailgate with the head lolling and the feet dangling down, unless he did not have a tailgate, then he strapped it across his hood. Then he drove it around down for a couple days, strategically parking it in various busy parking lots and sitting with it so people could see his hunting prowess. Then he would take it home and hang it in the tree in front of his house for a day or two, and then drop it off at the butcher.
This was very disturbing to me as we hunted for food and I was always taught to respect the animal and care for the food; different culture, I guess.
Now some guys knew enough to care for the meat. They might gut the deer immediately and let it cool as quickly as possible. They might drive the deer straight to the butcher. But the butcher weighs the deer when he gets it and has a formula for how many pounds of each type of cut the hunter should get based on the weight. So he butchers all the deer that are brought in, packages the meat, and stores it in his freezer by cut, so when the guy who let his venison half rot come in to get his and the guy who cared for his comes in too, the butcher goes to the freezer and grabs packages and stacks them up for each - no telling who's venison you got. So everyone complains about how bad venison tastes, because they don't butcher themselves.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 8:08 pm

Good post Precision. We did have a pretty good team of us deboning the pig meat portions and cutting out bloodshot meat. These guys hunt with dogs and knives. The dogs do a lot of the work then one of my friends jump in and use a 9 inch knive into the heart behind the scapula if I'm not mistaken. They wiggle the blade around then jump back.

We might have added too much fat in some of the batches. We did run it through the grinder 3 times so maybe the initial pound I tasted the other day was just a bad sample. I worked the grinding station myself all night and picked out anything that didn't look right. I'm going to grill another package tonight and will report back.

You guys are way beyond me in all this stuff. If I were doing the hunting, I would have a cooler with ice on standby and gut, skin and quarter the meat on site and put it into the cooler. I hear smaller pre-adult pigs make for better eating. That and also what they are feeding on. I'm more concerned with good eating then how big the pig is. -Tutt

J35 · Post by **J35** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:18 pm

rafter-7 wrote:I have tried things, but really only like animals that have a hoof split or other wise

Same here, only exception for me has been rabbits, wild and domestic.

I was offered $50 once if I would try a bear steak, I declined.

------- J

J35 · Post by **J35** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 9:47 pm

The finest red meat and fish I ever ate came from Alaska.

Moose and Black Cod.

-----J

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:18 am

CowboyTutt wrote:These guys hunt with dogs and knives. The dogs do a lot of the work then one of my friends jump in and use a 9 inch knive into the heart behind the scapula if I'm not mistaken. They wiggle the blade around then jump back.

The flavor of some animals is affected if they are scared and running when killed, adrenalin and all that sort of thing, I guess? Could pigs be affected this way?

CowboyTutt wrote: If I were doing the hunting, I would have a cooler with ice on standby and gut, skin and quarter the meat on site and put it into the cooler.

That would be nice, but how would you pack the cooler and ice in? Especially one big enough?
Fortunately it is usually cool when we hunt up here - I have had times when I really had to race the freezing. My brother and I were working with this guy once who was from Outside somewhere. We went out one night and found some caribou, but it got dark and we didn't shoot any. I went out and shot a couple the next couple of days, and then this guy went out by himself a day or two later when we were busy and I was getting ready to fly out. He shot two caribou and left them on the ground on the tundra, and asked my brother to go out and get them the next day. They had not been gutted and were frozen solid, and frozen to the ground. It was only about a mile from the road, but my brother had to deal with butchering and packing those frozen things out. He was irate.

CowboyTutt wrote:I'm more concerned with good eating then how big the pig is. -Tutt

I have a taste for smaller, younger animals. I've never been much of a headhunter.

M. M. Wright · Post by **M. M. Wright** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 12:44 pm

Someone mentioned horse and I had forgotten that one. I ate a lot of horse when I was in high school cause the best hamburger stand in town served it on their hamburgers. We used to laugh about it when there would be a little notice in the paper where old Hank had paid a small fine for serving horse meat. Had some great chili down near the border and the proprietor told me it was burro. And I always thought whitetail made the best chili.
I'm sure I missed naming some of the swimming critters I've consumed too.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:42 pm

3leggedturtle wrote: Don't know what seal tastes like either.

Seal tends to be black when dried and is strong with a definite ocean flavor. If it is boiled and used like beef, it can be pretty mild, but still has a bit of the ocean flavor. I have heard it is really good BBQed, but have not had it that way. Have had it in a stir fry. When eaten dried, it spikes your body temperature. Dried makes me a little nervous, though, because seals can carry trichinosis. I don't think it is very common.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 1:46 pm

J35nut wrote:The finest red meat and fish I ever ate came from Alaska.

Moose and Black Cod.

-----J

Then you must not have had caribou or dall sheep or red snapper (yellow eye rockfish)!

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:32 pm

Horse is good, but I have learned not to talk about around stockmen here in the southwest; seems it is just one small step away from cannibalism, ( according to some ).

Mescalero · Post by **Mescalero** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 2:32 pm

Horse is good, but I have learned not to talk about around stockmen here in the southwest; seems it is just one small step away from cannibalism, ( according to some ).

jazman · Post by **jazman** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:27 pm

What, no snail love? Man, the butter and garlic alone is worth the trouble. My Grandma used to gather them in the yard, then put them in a shoe box with all kinds of leaves to fatten them up. Few weeks later they were nice and plump, so she would take out the leaves, add corn meal for them to eat and clean out, then cook them after a few days of corn meal eating. Outstanding.

CowboyTutt · Post by **CowboyTutt** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:38 pm

Precision, I would hope to have a cooler with ice waiting back at the truck after I packed the meat out. I hear it is easier to skin an animal when its still warm. I tend to agree that adrenaline probably does not add favorably to the taste of the meat which is why I would prefer a good, fast, humane kill. -Tutt

Homer · Post by **Homer** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 6:55 pm

Rattlesnake
Muktuk
Cui-ui
Chubs
Perch
Different kinds of Trout and Salmon
Rock Cod
Ling Cod
White Fish
Carp
Lobster and Crab
And a whole host of other fish to numerous to mention, including most common sea foods like shrimp, clams, mussels, etc.
Mudbugs (a personal favorite)
Turtle
Gator
Cottontail Rabbit
Jack Rabbit (my favorite rabbit)
Antelope Jack Rabbits
Domestic Rabbits
Mule Deer
Couse Deer
Antelope
Goats
Big Horn Sheep
Bison
Moose
Elk
Javalina (another favorite)
Ducks
Geese
Quail
Doves
Chukar
Pheasant
All kinds of domestic food animals, beef, pork, mutton, chicken, etc.

I know I'm leaving some out.

The two that I still want to try are dog (once, I almost ate a beagle my grandkids turned over to me, but didn't want to explain to them that I'd eaten their ex-pet, so I gave it away - it sure was tempting though - nice young, clean, healthy, well fed beagle) and black bear - particularly their fat (mostly brought on by reading mountain man books). Oh, and I also want to eat an eel (lamprey).

Missionary5155 - how did the dog taste?

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 7:51 pm

Homer wrote:and black bear - particularly their fat (mostly brought on by reading mountain man books). Oh, and I also want to eat an eel (lamprey).

Hmm . . . the fat. Once will probably be enough for you.

Met a missionary in SE Alaska on a remote job. I went to town and stopped by to visit one day, and smelled BEAR as soon as I stepped in the house. He took me to the oven and owned the door. Inside were two beautiful-looking pies. The smell of bear rolled out.
He said, "Take a smell of that."
"Smells like a bear," I replied.
He broke off a little piece of the crust. "Tell me what that tastes like."
It was delightfully light and flaky. "Tastes like a bear." I said.
They were a cherry pie and an apple pie. Someone told his wife she could use bear fat to make wonderful pastries.

They took the pies to church for a potluck. No one much ate them.

I have eaten several kinds of eel, but never ate lamprin.

Lastmohecken · Post by **Lastmohecken** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 8:49 pm

I ate a quarterpounder with cheese at McDonald's. Does that count? No telling what was in it.

I guess I have lived a sheltered life because I have only eaten stuff like Deer (a lot of deer, many with the levergun) Hog, Beef, Chicken, Duck, Dove, Quail, Pheasant, Chuker, Rabbit, Squirrel, Shark and a few other ocean fish, Bass, and most other fresh water game fish, Carp, Sucker, Red Horse, Shrimp, Frog legs (levergun), not sure what else. Well, I forgot, I have eaten several different meats after it was made into jerky.

I must say that two game birds that I have never really liked is Duck and Dove, they all taste like liver to me, so I usually give mine away.

2520WHV · Post by **2520WHV** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:45 pm

Has anyone eaten a crow?????

I know we all had to "eat crow" before.... But I mean really eat a crow?

I have asked this question at least 30 years now when these type of discussions come up.
AND NO ONE HAS EATEN CROW!

I would really like someone to tell me what they taste like.....

2520WHV

J35 · Post by **J35** » Wed Mar 12, 2014 11:30 pm

7.62 Precision wrote:
J35nut wrote:The finest red meat and fish I ever ate came from Alaska.

Moose and Black Cod.

-----J
Then you must not have had caribou or dall sheep or red snapper (yellow eye rockfish)!

Nope no wild sheep or caribou, plenty of Red Snapper.

We eat home grown grass fed Lamb three times a week, all year long.Chops, burger and stew.

-----J

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:38 am

Lastmohecken wrote: I must say that two game birds that I have never really liked is Duck and Dove, they all taste like liver to me, so I usually give mine away.

That's funny, because a duck (or goose) liver is the only liver I have tasted that does not really taste like a liver.

I don't eat liver.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:40 am

J35nut wrote:We eat home grown grass fed Lamb three times a week, all year long.Chops, burger and stew.

-----J

One of the things I miss about living in New Zealand - the lamb.

7.62 Precision · Post by **7.62 Precision** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:46 am

jazman wrote:What, no snail love?

Often when I was a kid and all the kids were playing on the beach we would build a fire when we got hungry and put a flat rock into one side of the fire. Once it was hot, we would place snails on the rock, foot down. Once they were cooked, lifting up the shell left the body on the rock, with the hard part stuck. Then we would just pick them off and eat them.

We would also cook limpets and bidarkis (Chitons), as well as the sweet little beach crabs and pinpoint gunnel heads. Mussels of course.

Post by **AmBraCol** » Tue Mar 18, 2014 9:47 pm

Well, let's see what I can dredge out of my memory... in no particular order:
(there's probably a bunch more - but I'm too sick and tired to think any more right now)

Mamals:
Armadillo
Squirrel
Agouti (Brazilian rodent - size of a decent rabbit - short ears)
Rabbit
Hare
Capybara (world's largest rodent)
Water buffalo
Domestic beef
Bison
Bear
Elk
Moose
Antelope (Pronghorn)
Lamb
Goat
Whitetail deer
Mule deer
Swamp deer (Brazilian)
Paca (another Brazilian rodent)
Tapir
Opossum
Catchytu (collared peccary)
Porcão (Brazilian boar)
Mystery meat (STILL don't know what it was - but it wasn't beef, pork or horse)

Reptiles:
Turtle (snapper)
Tortoise (Brazilian)
Alligator (Brazilian caiman)
Tegu (Brazilian lizard)
Anaconda

Fowls:
Chicken
Duck
Goose
Guinea fowl
Hawk
Dove
Dove
Dove (different species)
Feral Pigeon
Turkey
Partridge
Quail
Parrot
Maccaw
Anú Preto
wide variety of small Brazilian birds

Fish:
Piranha
Traíra
Shovel nose catfish
Channel catfish
Capáz catfish
Brown Trout
Rockie Mountain Brook Trout
US Rainbows
Cut throat trout
Andes Rainbows
Bass
Perch
Crappie
Sunfish
Bluegills
Pirarucú
Tucunaré
plecostomus
Pacú
a WIDE variety of "pet store fish" - but caught fresh from Amazon basin rivers

Amphibians
Frog (bullfrog)

Shellfish
Clams (different varieties)
Lobster
Prawns
Shrimp

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Wed Mar 19, 2014 8:43 pm

My brain hurts too much to try this. I've had most of the "usual". Raccoon, Ground Hog, Possem.
Turtle
In Korea:
Dog
Pogo (poison puffer fish)
So many different fish I can't possibly enumerate them.
Raw: Octopus, Squid, Sea Cucumber and heaven only knows what else.
eel
Had horse in Germany
In Panama, there was a old guy that would set up his brazier across from the main gate, and sell Meat Kabobs....Don't ask, Don't tell

All sorts of fish, lizard, caiman, pig, monkey, and once again, heavens knows what else....it was all good.
About the only thing I would absolutely turn down would be the sea cucumber

Edit: Every so often I'd catch skate in Puget Sound. The solid white "wing" meat was boneless and wonderful.