Been wallaby hunting.

[spitfire]

I like the Bag and hat :thumbsup: !I guess you are called a Buckaroo? :haha:

 

[JeffinNZ]

A few questions; Can a tourist bring a rifle over and engage in pest extermination? At what altitude are wallaby found? How spooky are those little critters? (Do they hold tight if they think they're unseen or do they bolt as soon as they become aware of you?)Is there a lot of public land available, or is most of it privately owned? How is access to private holdings?

If it's anything like out here, most of the land where the varmints live is either privately owned or hard to get to without crossing private land. And unlike years past (when folks who wanted to shoot prairie poodles and coyotes were welcomed with open arms), ranchers have begun charging for the "privilege" of eliminating predatory animals from their property. :youcrazy: I hope you don't have to contend with the same mindset down there.

:thumbsup:

[/quote]


Hi

Yeap, you can bring your shooting iron here but you need an import permit from the NZ Police first. No handguns. Easily arranged at www.police.govt.nz

The game was mostly around 1000-1500 feet but they do hang out lower. Mostly from our hut the close in game get a hammering so we tend to go further a field to find the numbers we like. The game will bolt in semi open country but in the snow grass a roo could be 5 feet away and sit while you go by. A dog fixes that! Where we hunt, as you will see from the photo, is HARD country and a good level of fitness is required or the experience is not pleasurable.

Mostly private land and no real drama getting permission to shoot if you ask and are presentable. There is a little bit of paying to hunt creeping in but nothing serious as it is a REALLY bad precident to be setting. I would rather shoot paper than pay to exterminate someones pests :nono: :cursing:

cheers

J

 

[Greenmtnboy]

GMWW: Yeap, I skin the odd one and here is the result.3

Bag:

Hat atop Jeff:

Not bad plets thought the fur is a little coarse and shortish. I have gotten really good at skinning out the full face so as I get the eyelashes, ears, nose and all.

cheers

J

Thats great!!! How do you keep from jumpin up an down :rotf:
Really tho what do they tast like. are they gamey tasting , bitter or strong

 

[gmww]

I was wondering about the taste too. I figure if it's a strong game taste you can always Jerkey it. Seems to disguise most strong flavors with the smoke and marinate. :thumbsup:

 

[noahmercy]

Thanks for the reply and the link! From the pics, I figured the altitude was a bit more prodigous. I live at around 5000 and hunt between 7000 and 9000 feet, so that's actually lowlands for me. :winking:

And your gear is nice...like the calfhide vest especially. Unfortunately, my girth is such that I'd have to skin out one of the little fella's mates to make a vest to fit! :shake:

And I bet the meat tastes like 'possum (being a marsupial and all). I've eaten quite a bit of ol' didelphus virginiana and it is quite palatable when cooked properly. Okay...so my reasoning is questionable. I'm not even sure what a wallaby eats, but I honestly have only tried two animals in my life that were basically inedible...saltwater tarpon and porcupine.

:thumbsup:

 

[paulvallandigham]

The only way you get a " Strong Game Taste" is by either: 1. Letting the meat spoil by not cooling it down soon enough after the kill; or 2. not removing as much blood as you can from the meat before cooking. In a society that eats plastic wrapped meat for the most part, we are not used to eating meat that is bloody, and associate that taste with " Game". some say, " Gamey". There should be a difference. Gamey should mean " spoiled, or rotten" meat. Soak the meat in clean water, with some vinegar, or salt in the water, to draw out the blood. When an hour has past, drain off the blood filled water, rinse off the meat, and then soak the meat in clean water to get rid of the salt or vinegar. A little more blood will come out of the meat in the process. NOW, the meat is ready to cook, or freeze for later use. and it will taste like the animal it came from, and not taste " bloody", or "gamey".

 

[spitfire]

I agree :winking: ! I allways "kosher" my venision.I have eaten Kangaroo jerky,the seasoning masked the taste(although tasty).

 

[CoyoteJoe]

The only way you get a " Strong Game Taste" is by either: 1. Letting the meat spoil by not cooling it down soon enough after the kill; or 2. not removing as much blood as you can from the meat before cooking. In a society that eats plastic wrapped meat for the most part, we are not used to eating meat that is bloody, and associate that taste with " Game". some say, " Gamey". There should be a difference. Gamey should mean " spoiled, or rotten" meat. Soak the meat in clean water, with some vinegar, or salt in the water, to draw out the blood. When an hour has past, drain off the blood filled water, rinse off the meat, and then soak the meat in clean water to get rid of the salt or vinegar. A little more blood will come out of the meat in the process. NOW, the meat is ready to cook, or freeze for later use. and it will taste like the animal it came from, and not taste " bloody", or "gamey".

I guess I ment it's own flavor like a mule deer shot in the sage brush or a buck in the rutt or somthing like that, I grew up calling meat that tasted stange gamey. Like you said it usally ment that it it wasen't properly perpaired. But some animals prapaired right still have a distintive tast :hatsoff:

 

[gmww]

I humbly disagree. Animals are what they eat. Ever eaten a Bear feeding on salmon or eaten certain kinds of mud ducks of ducks feeding on the coast. Compare that to a Spring bear right out of its den or a duck feeding on grain away from the coast.

As far as field preparation I agree. I do all the necessary field cleaning and preparations to help keep the gamey taste to a minimum. Some animals just taste gamey because that's just the way they taste. I base this on years of trying to eat everthing from snakes :youcrazy: to Moose. :hatsoff:

 

[gmww]

The only exceptions I've heard of is that Spotted owl, Seagulls, and all them other protected animals taste like Chicken. That's why their endanged! :rotf: I just don't get why Seagulls are protected. :youcrazy:

 

[marwat06]

2. not removing as much blood as you can from the meat before cooking. In a society that eats plastic wrapped meat for the most part, we are not used to eating meat that is bloody, and associate that taste with " Game". some say, " Gamey".

We started buying a Cow and having it butched for us. Fresh Beef. First time I cook a steak from this fresh butched cow ... taste was different. Still beef but you could taste the blood ... now I can't eat store bought Beef. So I agree with your point.

 

[JeffinNZ]

Time to fess up.......I have yet to try wallaby meat. Cos they are pests we have this mind set that you don't eat them.

I swear next time I will and report in.

cheers

J

 

[paulvallandigham]

Of course animals taste like what they eat. And unless your taste buds are dead, you can tell the difference. My first deer was shot in the Shawnee National Forest in S. Illinois, and had a bitter taste because she was feeding on pine nuts. My next deer came from Central Illinois and had been eating corn and soybeans. Very sweet tasting.

As to wallabys, they eat grasses, so I would think they would taste something like other animals who eat grass. I would expect the meat to be dark, and be well marbled, or have fat around it.

One way to eat this would be to bone the meat, and then grind it up and make sausage. You may have to add some pork fat to help bind it together. But, it should make a very good sausage that way. If you need a sausage recipe, PM me, and I will send you the one I have that doesn't require casings.

 

[gmww]

Don't feel too pressed into eating something on our behalf. I've shot a few Varmits and really don't have the desire to see what they taste like. Ground hogs, ground squirels, coyotes, and a feral dog come to mind. :shake:

Sausage is a good way to fix strong flavors. I've also found ground meat made into a chilli is another. I still like to make jerky though. Freeze, cut into 1/8" strips, marinate in Yoshida's teriyaki sauce and smoke into a jerky. MMMMMMM MMMMM Good. Add some hot sauce for a little pick me up. :thumbsup:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Sorry Paul i am visiting CoyoteJoe and diden't relize that when I posted I posted as him.
You are right critters tast can be very much determined by what they eat.
Greenmtnboy

 

[paulvallandigham]

I know for a fact that ground hog makes some of the best summer sausage you can find. They get their names because they have pink flesh and are sweet tasting like hogs: ergo: Ground- HOG. ( OR WoodChuck). My recipe uses curing salt and liquid smoke to cook the sausage, wrapped in plastic wrap, which is then cook at slow heat to form a hard crust on the outside, and drain off the grease. I haven't eaten raccoon, or opposum, but I would like to try them. Beaver tastes like Beef, and makes an excellent barbeque meat. Cut away any fat, and sinew, and bone out the meat. Cook it in a crock pot, or in an old fashioned pressure cooker, if you are in a hurry. Add your favorite BBQ sauce, salt and spices and sit down to good eats.

 

[shmrck1]

Great photos...Beautiful country. Guy just signed
on from Tazmania, says he hunts them critters
also.
snake-eyes :hatsoff:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

I know for a fact that ground hog makes some of the best summer sausage you can find. They get their names because they have pink flesh and are sweet tasting like hogs: ergo: Ground- HOG. ( OR WoodChuck). My recipe uses curing salt and liquid smoke to cook the sausage, wrapped in plastic wrap, which is then cook at slow heat to form a hard crust on the outside, and drain off the grease. I haven't eaten raccoon, or opposum, but I would like to try them. Beaver tastes like Beef, and makes an excellent barbeque meat. Cut away any fat, and sinew, and bone out the meat. Cook it in a crock pot, or in an old fashioned pressure cooker, if you are in a hurry. Add your favorite BBQ sauce, salt and spices and sit down to good eats.

No doubt. About Augest I am out of elk, and deer and need somthing wild for our last Rondyvoo.
So out comes the 36 cal and I go marmot hunting.
I usally make a stew out of them and dang do thos whistle pigs tast good.
:hatsoff:

 

[Roy]

and dang do thos whistle pigs tast good.
:hatsoff:

:hatsoff: I like the younger ones if'n I can get em.

 

[gmww]

I read somewhere that Porcupines got scarce on the east coast way back when because they were easy to kill and tasted good. Anyone have a field report on how they eat? Porcupine Pie? :thumbsup: