Your favorite “eating” game, and how you prepare it

[troy2000]

I shot my first and only mule deer two years ago. From the time I pulled the trigger until the time we had him skinned and hanging was leas than an hour. It was cool if not cold outside. That deer was the foulest most rank animal I've ever smelled or tasted. I simply could not eat it. It was not spoiled but had the most gamey / musky taste and smell imaginable. Our dog who is part beagle and will eat ANYTHING wouldn't even eat this deer. I felt horrible but most of it went in the trash.

All we have in this chunk of the desert is mule deer, and they taste just fine. Doesn't get much better than a smoked venison roast from one....

I've been told that sometimes they pick up flavors from what they eat - for example, if you shoot one where there's a lot of sage, it can have kind of a gamey sage taste - but that's second-hand knowledge; we don't have much sage around here.

 

[troy2000]

Call them what you want to, Rabbit, Cotten tail, Carrot chomper or bushy tail you can't beat it on a dinner plate! If the good Lord made anything better he kept it for himself! I had to edit,forgot to sayhow I like it,""""Fricasseed"""

Definitely fricasseed. I made chicken fricassee for years, before I realized I'd just been practicing until I could get my hands on some cottontails...

 

[Jim Wag]

When I was a kid, we'd throw carp in a 55 gallon barrel with a hose slowly dripping into it to keep the water fresh, and feed them corn meal for a week or so. Then we hung them by their tail, cut their throats like hogs and bled them. Seemed to firm up the meat, and get rid of the muddy taste.

I once caught a carp in my grandpa's
Irrigation ditch
I kept it in a
Wash tub
My grandpa's dog
Spike
Ate it

Jim in La Luz

 

[Ninering62]

Ruffed grouse; marinated a couple hours in Italian dressing then grilled a couple minutes on each side, still pink in the middle. Doesnt get any better than that.

Any while most people dont like woodcock, we breast them out, then slice each side in half. Put them in a half a jalapeno pepper, topped with cream cheese, then wrapped with a slice of bacon. Grilled until the bacon is done.

I asked my ex wife one time if she ever tried woodcock, she replied " yes, but only once because it left splinters in her lips. Is guys about died laughing.

 

[Ninering62]

When I was a kid, we'd throw carp in a 55 gallon barrel with a hose slowly dripping into it to keep the water fresh, and feed them corn meal for a week or so. Then we hung them by their tail, cut their throats like hogs and bled them. Seemed to firm up the meat, and get rid of the muddy taste.

I was raised country, I did a lot of light tackle carp fishing from the shore & many canoe trips up river branches while they were spawning. We would give them or trade them to some of the local blacks BC they'd eat them. We use .22's from the Jonboat & canoe to shoot muskrats too for target practice & barter with.
We had an old farmer friend of the fam tell us his fav way to have carp. He said " nail them through the head to a piece of plywood then lay it in the field for 30 days. Then scrape off what's left & eat the cardboard. He was pullin our legs but it was hilarious

 

[GREENSWLDE]

A braise of Grey Partridges roasted breast down with streaky bacon over and sliced fennel & goose fat roast potatoes. Another was Curlew. Dress the bird, put in a roasting brick, cook for 4 hours. When the brick cooled take out the Curlew and throw away. Eat the brick. Tasted much better.. OLD DOG..

 

[oldwood]

Ground venison with a little beef fat in the mix. Meat loaf , spaghetti sauce , chili, hamburger soup , cabbage rolls , stuffed pepper soup , and stuffed peppers , hamburgers.... Except for the back strap meat , the entire Cervid is ground...............I hate it when talking about this subject , I get soooo hungry. When I see and get a deer , I can't stop thinking how good it will taste.......................oldwood

 

[nhmoose]

Partridge (ruffled grouse for non New Englanders) Cooked down in a big pot of solider or Jacobs cattle beans, with salt pork and all by my Grand Ma's method. Remove bones and stir in when done. Serve with cream of tartar biscuits or corn bread. YUMMMM!

I do like moose roasts but get way more meals of partridge.

 

[Terry Lightle]

Best I ever had was moose slow cooked in a crock pot from a longbow and wood arrow bull I killed in Newfoundland.

 

[ML48]

My favorite meat that we hunt is elk....no matter how it's prepared, just great...way better than beef. Deer would come second. Grouse is a wonderful meal also.
We don't hunt Bison, but it is even better than elk and by a long shot better than beef. But, in a pinch, a good rib-eye satisfies me. Damn, good thing it's almost supper time.

 

[Brokennock]

Peach venison chili, but I cant share the specifics........

Interesting you bring up the peaches here now, used in a savory dish.

I was listening to an out of state radio station on a radio app the other day, station was out of Georgia. One of their advertisers was a pizza place who's current special is a prosciutto and peach pizza. I'll be thinking about that one a long time. If I could remember their location I'd be tempted to drive to Georgia just for a pizza.

Speaking of,,,, how well would your chili freeze and ship?????

 

[Ames]

Freezes well, but never makes it out of the kitchen!

 

[gruning]

Grilled cottontail with corn on the cob a little bit of spicy BBQ sauce.
Wild pig roast and sausage gravy, or low and slow. anyway is mouth watering... nothing like pig burritos with peppers.
Caribou, that was the best! Liver and sweet onion, roast, fried chops, stuffed heart, we even made baby food for our baby daughter it was her first meat!

 

[zerosprk]

Oryx first, followed closely by elk steaks, lightly rubbed with olive oil and sprinkled with 16-mesh black pepper and a small amount of kosher salt, seared on a hot grill and cooked to the rare side of medium-rare. Add a salad and baked potato plus the beverage of your choice and you have a meal fit for a king.

 

[Red Owl]

Bleed the Blue-fish right away and then smoke it- real good. On grouse, they say in late winter when they eat pine needles- not so good but I always shot them in October and outstanding- like the white meat on the "drummet" of a chicken wing. Now I'm down in Dixie- no grouse but lots of Doves. Shooting doves is great sport, easy to clean and taste great. I parboil a few minutes and use a spoon to scrap the breast meat off the bone, then either mushrooms and sherry, etc. or cacciatore. Squirrel is also a favorite.

 

[Wildrangeringreen]

Pigeon- Think Personal sized chicken, but mostly dark meat. Put a good rub on, stick em on a spit and fire roast em'. Don't take long to cook, ut you may want a cup of some thin sauce to baste on if they start looking a bit dry. Oven Roasting's good too, stuff herbs and a smidge of butter under the skin and roast like you would a chicken, just less time. Could part em out and fry them like chicken if you want. Growing up on a grain and cattle farm, never had a shortage of fat pigeons that feasted daily on spilt grain and wild seeds.

Wait for about 40 of them to cluster around a bit of grain and sit back 30 yards with 2.5oz of #8's and a 100gr charge of 2F with a cylinder choke lol. Fill the freezer in 1 shot haha. If you've ever seen a movie where they attack a fortification that has guns loaded with canister... it kinda works like that.

Rabbit- Oven roast them with onions and carrots, can bread and fry them too (season the breading), I suppose. Stews and soups are easy and stretch the meat out further. kale, chard, bacon, radishes, onions, potatoes, and carrots go well with rabbit in stew.

Venison (common deer and elk)- smoked/bbq, ground, cased sausage, pan seared, oven baked, spit roasted. I make a venison version of "shepards pie" sometimes.

Duck and goose- But I love me some Duck Confit with Orange sauce

 

[ML48]

All we have in this chunk of the desert is mule deer, and they taste just fine. Doesn't get much better than a smoked venison roast from one....

I've been told that sometimes they pick up flavors from what they eat - for example, if you shoot one where there's a lot of sage, it can have kind of a gamey sage taste - but that's second-hand knowledge; we don't have much sage around here.

That's about all we have here is mule deer. Never tasted a bad one unless it may have been gut shot, or like you said sagey. However, if it's eating sage, it's already partially seasoned. The steaks, backstraps, roasts, are delicious. And the burger mixed with mac & cheese....mmmmmmmmmm. When the wife does up a deer roast, it's better than beef. And she used to be a city girl.

 

[pooch156]

Venison neck roast in the crock pot with potatoes, carrots & onions. Make gravy with the broth.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

Venison tenderloin, sliced to 1/2" thick, put on a hot iron skillet with butter, salt and pepper, and garlic. Cook until the centers are warm and red, but no more. Serve with smoked bacon-fried onions and potatoes (the trick is not to drain the bacon fat off.) Wrap corn in foil and put along side the fire until the potatoes are done. Wash down with good whiskey and a few drops of branch water. Heaven.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[smo]

Squirrel & dumplings..