Shot in the meat

[bigted]

Been a long time since hunting for table fare with a scatter gun. Reason ... still remember the painful experience of chomping on shot it the duck breast mom cooked up after hunting with dad. I stopped enjoying the shotgun gathered game rite then. Cracked tooth n all.

So after letting the game hang for a spell to get past the rigor ... how do you all deal with the shot that is left in the tasty meat of shotguned game ? Is there a tact for removing it all ... EVERY PIECE from Grouse, Rabbit and quail?

I long to go after Squirrel n such with my smoothy ... but ... have resisted since I want dearly to eat the resultant table fare.

Any advice on removing lead shot from my shotgun gathered game?

 

[FishDFly]

If anyone can answer this question, gotta be Britsmoothy.

Quick thought is chew slowly. Kinda like eating fish and finding a fish bone while eating.

 

[Britsmoothy]

None of my small game is cooked whole. In other words it's cut up and prepped allowing me to find any shot.
Fortunately a smoothbore muzzleloader don't get to much shot in a critter or deep for that matter. Noticing the track of a pellet in meat once cooked helps whilst eating and using a fork well during eating helps to find any missed ones. Just eat gently, don't rush.
Alternatively you could do what a friend does with his waterfowl.
He roasts a goose for nine hours in a tin with two spotlessly clean house bricks in the tin. After nine hours and regular basting he chucks the goose and eats the house bricks!

 

[Feltwad]

Been a long time since hunting for table fare with a scatter gun. Reason ... still remember the painful experience of chomping on shot it the duck breast mom cooked up after hunting with dad. I stopped enjoying the shotgun gathered game rite then. Cracked tooth n all.

So after letting the game hang for a spell to get past the rigor ... how do you all deal with the shot that is left in the tasty meat of shotguned game ? Is there a tact for removing it all ... EVERY PIECE from Grouse, Rabbit and quail?

I long to go after Squirrel n such with my smoothy ... but ... have resisted since I want dearly to eat the resultant table fare.

Any advice on removing lead shot from my shotgun gathered game?

It all depends on the type of shot and the quantity for a 12 bore more than a 11/8 oz of standard 6 shot is far too much a good sporting game shot will put most in the head and neck, if it is only a pot hunter type at sitting shots then more are in the body It is always best to inspect the carcase for shot and remove with a knife no doubt when cooked it will have a bitter taste at these points .
Feltwad

 

[Brokennock]

It is part of why I use #5 shot in cases that others use #6. The larger shot is easier to find, pattern might be a little thinner but it takes less pellets to do the job. Also spend some time at the patterning board, not just checking pattern density but learning how far off to hold so you don't put the full load into a squirrel or rabbit. Basically trying to take them with the edge of the pattern.

I rarely cook small game whole, bit even when I do, it is just to get the meat off the bones more easily. As it is boned and shredded I am looking for shot.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

To me it's like tea leaves, ...if you grew up with them it was never a problem.
If you see a shot hole in the meat, just track it with your knife and fork.
Using a fork and knife at the same time helps a whole lot!

Best,
R.

 

[FishDFly]

Fowl get breasted, easier to find the shot.

"After nine hours and regular basting he chucks the goose and eats the house bricks!"

I have heard of them referred to as "flying livers".

 

[Walkingeagle]

You have to track the shot through the holes created by the pellet. This is both to remove any lodged pellet and also any fur or feathers dragged along with that pellet into the meat. Failing to remove these will foul the taste and take away from the whole experience. Tweezers and a small sharp knife make quick work.
Walk

 

[nhmoose]

I was shown as a small boy how to get the shot out. Was in a magazine coulomb "Tap's Tips" Take a 6 penny or 8 penny nail flatten the end into a spear shape flattened, Push in every shot hole and twist while pulling it out. Shot and feathers or fur will come out. Works great!

The writer lived in Laconia NH the magazine was Sports Afield.

 

[Sidney Smith]

We shoot pheasant every year. There's always a piece of shot or three that get missed in the preparation process. I always told my boys to chew slow. We'd make a game out of who got the most shot by the end of the meal. The person with the most lead gets the biggest piece of pie.

 

[FishDFly]

"Tap's Tips, I remember him and his tips.

 

[Walkingeagle]

"Tap's Tips, I remember him and his tips.

Me too. I think he was in a few publications.
Walk

 

[Britsmoothy]

Fowl get breasted, easier to find the shot.

"After nine hours and regular basting he chucks the goose and eats the house bricks!"

I have heard of them referred to as "flying livers".

The other method is to roast the bird until the bricks are soft and tender. Then eat the bricks!

It's why I always make a meat loaf out of them. I can control the flavour that way!

 

[1950DAVE]

chucks the goose and eats the house bricks!

My sentiments about eating goose. Bricks are the tenderest and tastier with sufficient basting. Back to the OP I haven't eaten much shot killed gam game since I was a kid , more than 50 yrs ago. My dad was an avid quail hunter as was all my uncles and many neighbors in our area, ( not in the city). I season quail was on our table at least once a week and I remember rarely biting shot, but the taste of the meat definitely overcame the minor nuisance. I think Brits advice is sound.
Dave

 

[FishDFly]

My Father on ducks was a gut the duck, pick the duck and singe the duck. I hated singing ducks with a passion (hated the smell), picking was on the low side of fun as well.

I finally rebelled and said, I breast mine and you singe yours.

What I learned was the flavor went up in ducks. By breasting, you get rid of the shot easily, you get the impaled feathers out of the meat and I was amazed at the amount of coagulated blood trapped between the breast meat and breast bone that I found.

 

[MTGUNNER]

Been a long time since hunting for table fare with a scatter gun. Reason ... still remember the painful experience of chomping on shot it the duck breast mom cooked up after hunting with dad. I stopped enjoying the shotgun gathered game rite then. Cracked tooth n all.

So after letting the game hang for a spell to get past the rigor ... how do you all deal with the shot that is left in the tasty meat of shotguned game ? Is there a tact for removing it all ... EVERY PIECE from Grouse, Rabbit and quail?

I long to go after Squirrel n such with my smoothy ... but ... have resisted since I want dearly to eat the resultant table fare.

Any advice on removing lead shot from my shotgun gathered game?

Ted. I have found when shooting squirrels with a shotgun, if I use #4 shot, it usually all goes clean through the squirrel and there is none to pick out.
>> Jan <<

 

[tenngun]

Most of the time I boil and strip the meat off of squirrels then use the meat and broth in a made dish. Rabbits I disjoint. Turkey I roast whole but can generally track a shot pellets. In the body shot doesn’t make it much past the upper chest feathers.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Fortunately a smoothbore muzzleloader don't get to much shot in a critter or deep for that matter. Noticing the track of a pellet in meat once cooked helps whilst eating and using a fork well during eating helps to find any missed ones. Just eat gently, don't rush.

I've always been able to spot the shot before cooking, even when using something with a choke..., the shot normally takes a tiny bit of hair or feathers into the flesh. Often, I find most of the shot on the inside of the skin of the squirrel opposite to the side where I fired.

LD

 

[Troyfairweather]

I used a coffee straw before, works pretty good for getting the shot out of the hole.

 

[Sidney Smith]

My Father on ducks was a gut the duck, pick the duck and singe the duck. I hated singing ducks with a passion (hated the smell), picking was on the low side of fun as well.

I finally rebelled and said, I breast mine and you singe yours.

What I learned was the flavor went up in ducks. By breasting, you get rid of the shot easily, you get the impaled feathers out of the meat and I was amazed at the amount of coagulated blood trapped between the breast meat and breast bone that I found.

I breast out all my pheasants. I haven't plucked one in years. The breast meat is the best part of a ditch chicken anyway. The legs to me taste like liver, and I despise liver so they go in the garbage can. Rarely get lead in the breast meat but once in a while one or two still get my me.